The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1913-07-03

*23<A X$3@&Hl li'Ii ulie VI ilN 'ti
dresses, on t h @
~ &z text. Were there
llPASTOR RUSSElOl not ten cleansed:
| but where are the
nine? Only one hath returned to give
glory to God Luke 1I.lT. IS.
Leprosy, said the Pastor. has long
been regarded as incurable, and there
fore used as an Illustration Of sin.
which also is incurable. As only the
Masters word could heal leprosy, 50
only Divine remedy can cure sin. In
olden times lepers were required to
separate themselves from others and
whenever approached to cry. I'm
clean So sinners by Divine decree
are isolated from the pure. the holy
The Pastor then reminded his hear
ers that humanity constitutes but a
small proportion of Gods great family,
amongst whom are angels, cherubim,
seraphim. etc. who always have fel-
lowship with God and with each other.
But while the Scriptures declare that
mankind are sinners by heredity, all
cry aloud. Unclean! God wishes each
to realize that he comes short Of the
Divine standard of perfectiun-Of what
God would bless with everlasting life
While the Bible declares that all are
sinners. yet it does not uureas0nably
say there is no difference. 1t does say,
however, that the slightest degree Of
sin means that we are sinners; and
that the person with the least faint
would need the Savior need to be
cleansed Each must see his sin and
cry, Unclean Lord, save, or ] perish.
Many of us, said the Pastor, when
reading our Bibles forgot that perish
means to die. to lose life. Nothing in
the word signifies to be tortured 10 all
eternity THE wages of sin is death "
decentralization, if you please.
Had God not made provision for mans
recovery, there would have been no
future life for the race. Death would
have been rs hopeless state as lepro-
sy is a hopeless disease. from which
there is no recovery.
Jesus the Good Physician
Jesus alone can cure this leprOsy of
sin. God has SO arranged the matter
AS the penalty Of sin upon mankind
means death. so whoever would re
deem Adams race must be prepared to
pay his penalty before he could be as
sisted legally, justly. None OF Adam :
race could serve as rcdeemer be
cause all were born in sin, and there
fore as subject to the penalty as Adam
himself Nor could any be born sin
less. because the life of the race came
from Adam.
Whoever would redeem mankind
must have life separate from that of
Adam, and he willing to sacrifice it on
Adams behalf Amy Of the angels
could have become mans redeemer
had God made them the proposition
and any had chosen 10 accept it, But
He gave the first opportunity to the
very highest of His creatures, His
Only Begotten Son the Lo@os, Of
whom it is written that He was the
Beginning Of the creation of God the
First born Of every creature.
Pastor Russell then showed conclu
sively that not even Jehovah Himsel.
could demand that one holy creature
should die to redeem humanity; anC
that if the Logos had chosen not to ac
cept the Fathers proposition, it doubt
less would have been extended to 9th
g1rf "a
loyalty that to know Gods will was t
further it cheerfully. 81. Paul explains
that the Redeemer'S faithfuIneSs anC
loyalty in doing Gods will TO the eX
tent of laying down the human life be
came the basis of His still higher eN
altation-above His prehuman condi
ton Thus Jesus has been qualified {,
be made a Prince and a Savior, abb,
to grant forgiveness to all who come
unto the Father through Him.
What SIN Forgiveness Means.
Forgiveness of sins has two aspects
"a the cancellation of the legal con
sinner from his degradation Jesu
came into the world to accomplish boil
these results BY His death He coulC
legally satisfy Divine Justice giyin'
His life as instead of Adams forfeite,
life. Then, raised from the dead. will
plenitude of power. He would use tina
power for the recovery of mankin,
from the mental moral and physica
!. degradation brought about by sin
The Pastor then showed two classe
of sinners saved The mass of man
kind will need the severe lessons 0
Messiahs Kingdom to show how obedi
ence to God will bring a gradual re
covery from sin and death back to per
lection. The other class is the Churci
of the Gospel Age. His text well q
Illustrates these two classes of sinners.