The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-04-11
Pastor RuSSell'S Sermon

| who not DULY desire to resist sin and
to escape from slavery to it. but who.
being made free. will enlist with all
their powers to oppose sin. under the
leadership Of Jesus-under the banner
Of the cross To these comes the as
surance of passing from sin to right
eousness. from death to life, through
the Redeemer.
For these. all the back charges of
condemnation to death on account of
sin are set aside. A new page of the
ledger of God is opened for them.
Thenceforth the record of their past
is Cancelled through the blood of Christ
Their sins of scarlet are removed.
Their hearts. figuratively speaking, are
as white as SNOW They are pure in
heart, although they have the treasure
of this new heart in an imperfect body.
The imperfections of their flesh. ever
present. will seek to assert themselves;
but they as New Creatures and sons
Of God through Christ are to resist
these steadfastly.
"Unspotted From the World"
Do YOU tell me that ] am setting too
high standard. and that the millions
who read my sermons weekly will be
discourse ed instead of being helped? l
answer that one with God is a majority;
and that the Scriptures cab upon me
to "Cry aloud and spare not;
show My people their sins" There are
approximately four hundred millions of
nominal Christians in the world; yet
nowhere on earth are these sins to be
found in so rank development, Of SO
deep q crimson, as amongst the pro-
feSsed followers Of Christ.
God knows, the Bible declares, that
none can do perfectly. But is this an
excuse for any of US? Should we not
do the best that we can to approximate
the Divine standard in our actions,
words and thoughts? What ice can do
is what God requires of us. All the
remainder, as we have seen. has been
fully provided for in the Savior, and the
mercy and forgiveness which He can
properly bestow upon the willing and
obedient OF heart, whose shortcomings
are merely those of hereditary weak
ness and unfavorable environment. 1t
is the purity Of heart, of intention, of
WHl. that constitutes saintship from
the Divine standpoint and not actual
perfection: for. as we read. There is
none righteous, no. not one."-Romans
$40.
1t is a part Of my duty, dear bearers,
as a minister Of God. TO speak His
Word. to awaken the conscieuces of
all those with whom have any influ.
ence. 1t is my duty to lift high the
Royal Standard Of perfection. that all
may see as in a mirror their own
shortcomings. and that. seeing these.
they may flee to the Master and lay
hold upon the grace of God provided
for all in Him. The Apostle speaks Of
the Church class as keeping them
selves unspotted FROM the world.
From what we have seen. dear friends.
the term world" includes nearly
everybody claiming to be Christian
The real Christians are few and far
between.
But | hold hatymany more would be
real Christians if the Truth were prop
erly presented to their minds. In
stead. millions come under the delu-
sion that they are Christians. when
they have not taken even the first step
of repentance and reformation And
of those who have repented and re-
formed. comparatively few have taken
the next step necessary to their Undue
tion into the family of God The sec
ond step is the acceptance Of the merit
atones for their sins More than this.
to attain the full blessed privileges of
the Body of Christ. which is the
Church" of the "First-bOrns' (Ephe-
SLAMS %. %; Hebrews 1929. it is
necessary to make full conservation
huence. everything. to the Lord-to be
His footstep followers.
This is the only call Of this Gospel
Age. Only those who hear it and ac-
cept 1t enter into present opportunities
and full privileges Of sonship. Only
these have opportunity of becoming
members Of the Royal Priesthood of
glory, members of 1.-The Bride. the
Lambs Wife," But others, as we have
seen, have measure of responsibility
for their conduct, even if they do not
come to Christ: and each will receive
stripes in proportion as he has done
wrong, or blessings in proportion as he
has given even cup OF cold water to
one of the Lords faithful saints.
It Will Be Different BY and BY.
After the elect class of this Age
shall have been perfected i'm the First
Resurrection, Messiahs Kingdom will
be set up. For this we pray. "Thy
Kingdom come; Thy will be done on
earth, even as it is done in Heaven"
Then matters will be different. No
longer will it be possible for men to
profit by wrong-doing. aud no longer
will any suffer for right-doing. Then
every doer of righteousness will have
blessing. an uplifting strengthen
ing. And every one following sin. I'M
righteousness, we are assured, will
have stripes, punishmcnts, intended to-
correct his wrong course aud point
him to the right way
The Lord 6guratively points to that
New Era and explains the change that
will then come. saying in respect to all
who desire to be i'm harmony with