Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-12-13
Pastor RusseIIs Sermon

equally inspired authorities and mouth
pieces Of Christ. Thus the doctrine OF
Apostolic Succession was gradually es-
tablished Jesus prophesied Of these,
describing them as false apostles,
(which say they are apostles and are
not" but do lie. Revelation 2:2.) As
the bishops received credit as being
living Apostles, the inspired words Of
Jesus and The Twelve Apostles whom
He appointed took second place. and
with the masses Bible study ceased as
wholly unnecessary.
Upon this foundation, the great Ad-
versary built. item by item, the ter
rlble doctrines Of purgatory and Of
eternal torture. When finally, In the
Sixteenth Century, the Bible again
began to be consulted, Satan so work
ed matters that some Of our forefa-
theirs retained the Hell Of lndescrlbable
torture for all except the elect few
repudlatlng because not Scriptural the
only ameliorating feature-the purga-
torial theory.
Their eyes blinded with the errors Of
fourteen centuries of no Bible study
the errors of human theories and doc
trines Of demOns-can we wonder that
the enlightenment of the past three
centuries has come very slowly? Even
when we were getting free from the
errors Satan. our willy foe. entrapped
our forefathers into the making of
creeds, and thus hindered further prog
ress out Of the darkness into the light,
for which we all cry out,
"Lead, Kindly Light, Amid tho En-
eirelng Glooml"
The seducing spirits mentioned by
st. Paul are surely none others than
the fallen angels, of whom Satan is
the chief. or "prlnce OF devils" AS St
Paul suggests. there is similarity
between the deception of the Church
and the original deception of Mother
Eve. Eve was begulled into believing
that Gods threat "Dying, thou shalt
die" could not be true. The serpent
declared, "Ye shall not surely die"
Thus deceived by the serpent's lie.
Mother Eve was ensnared and led her
husband and our race Into death.
And now note the parallel. The Sc
duclng spirits, the fallen angels. have
sought to perpetuate in the Church
the very same falsehood which misled
Mother Eve And they have succeed
ed. BY visions, dreams. tipping tables.
trance mediums, clairaudlent powers.
mesmeric powers, hypnotic powers,
they have deceived the Christian
Church, even as they had previously
deceived the heather, into thinking
that the dead are really alive. Upon
that foundation they have built the
doctrine OF the tortures Of He'll and
Purgatory. and subsequently. doctrines
Of masses and prayers for the deliver
anee Of the dead from Purghtory, and
doctrines respecting Gods having fore
ordained and predestlnated all except
the Elect to eternal anguish.
The Pastors Thanksgiving.
On Thursday last when my heart
went out to God in special thanksgiv-
ing for all the mercies Of life. gave
Him special thanks that gradually the
eyes OF my understanding are opening.
enabling me to see Him in the glorious
light Of His great, loving Plan Of Sal
vatlon for the church and for the
world. My thanks for all temporal
mercies and blessings were dwarfed
MS the anthem Of my soul went up,
and repeated the text Of today, Holy.
holy, holy Lord OF Hosts!'
Ahl II is blessed thought that God
has already made provision that Mes
sah's Kingdom shall be established;
that SatarI shall be bound and shall
deceive men no more; and that instead
Of the darkness OF ignorance and super
stitlon, the glorious light Of Gods
goodness shall shine forth, causing the
earth to be filled with His pralsesl
With great patience God has permit
ted His plans and His character to be
misrepresented and traduced, Yet we
can see wisdom IN this; for even
tually, when all the blind eyes shall be
opened and all the deaf ears shall be
unstopped, when all the delusions Of the
past-the hobgobllns OF seduclng spirits
and the doctrines OF devis--shall have
gone, the Lords precious character
and loving provision for our fallen race
will stand forth IN glorious radiance.
Whom 10 Know 10 Life.
The Savior declares, "Thls Is life
eternal, that they might know Thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom Thou hast sent" John 17'3l
Evidently He meant by this that who
ever would have an Intimate acQuaint
ance with God must be received again
into Gods family; that those who DC
not come bNck into Gods family will
never know Him In the true sense OF
the word-be able to appreciate the
glories OF His grand character His
Justice His Wisdom, His Power and
His Love, Such knowledge is impart'
ed only to thovc brought into the fam.
fly aud made pOrtakors Of Gods Spirit
In the present time only 4 very few
OF our fallen ruce are able to take the
steps which lead TO this intense, deep
knowledge OF Jehovah, The great
mass of mankind are blinded by igno-
rance, superstition and the weaknesses
OF their fallen nature, But God Is not
content that merely the elect Church