Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-06-21

ing. Hence they fell asleep again. A
great awakening Day, however, Is near
at hand, the Pastor declared.
He carried his hearers back to the
remote past. He reminded them Of
the record respecting Abraham, that
he slept with his fathers. He asked
who the fathers were and where they
slept. and replied that they Wsso Aea-
, then. He asked whether they could
! sleep in Heaven, or whether they
could sleep in so warm a place as Pur-
gatory is supposed to be. or in the still
more unreasonable hell. He took it for
granted. apparently. that his hearers
agreed with him that sleep under such
conditions would be impossible, and
that the only conclusion must be that
they slept in death.
The Pastor reminded them that simi-
lar expressions were used h respect to
the good and bad kings and judges and
prophets. They were gathered to their
fathers, they slept with their fathers.
Similarly, when st. Stephen was stoned
to death, we read that "he feIl on
sleep" He cited St Paul as teaching
that all the Church will sleep, except
those who are alive at the time of the
Second Coming Of Jesus I'VE shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed"
He quoted Jesus words, "All that are
in the graves shall hear His [Jesus'1
voice and shall come forth"-the faith
ful, the sanity. to a resurrection of
life-Derfection, honor; the remainder
Of mankind unto a resurrection Of trial,
testlng-1 Corinthians 1851.
Without the death of Jesus, said the
Pastor. all Of the race would be per-
ished, and only in the resurrection
have we any ground whatever for be-
lieving in salvation from death. Only
because Christ died is there an oppor-
, tunity for the Church during this Cos
pei Age to respond to high calling"
to the Divine nature Likewise only
through the merit of Christ's death
i will the world of mankind be saved
from perishing and have an opportu-
nifty during Messiah's Kingdom to be
! recovered from sin and death condi-
tlons, from ignorance, superstition,
etc.-from the tomb.
Gradually they will be raised up. up,
up, in the image and likeness of God
In the flesh. ultimately to enjoy Him
forever in n worldwide Paradise, from
which will be cut off in the Second
Death all wilful evll-doers, all who pre-
fer sin to righteousness, when the
Truth shall be made clear to them and
when the opportunity will be fully
within their grasp. Incidentally, the
Pastor mentioned a gross mlstransla-
ton Of the inspired Word in John
500, namely, resurrection Of damna-
tlon." The Greek word here, he said.
Is krisis, and has not in 1t the slightest
suggestion OF fire or torture or suffer
ing. The Revised Version renders this
verse properly "a resurrection Of
judgment"
Only "He That Believeth.r
l am not forgetting, said the speak
er, that our text proffers Divine bless
lngs only to believers. Neither am
forgetting that only few are believ-
ers in the Scrlptural sense now. Sta
tistics mention four hundred millions
Of Christians; but, as we all know, this
includes practically everybody In Eu-
rope and America, with few In Asia
and Africa. 1t includes many In pris-
ons and insane asylums, penitentaries,
etc. And that leaves three times as
many whom we call heather, who have
no knowledge Of Christ whatever
twelve hundred millions. Surely none
Of these are believers in the sense de-
fined by Jesus and the Apostles.
Jesus implies that II any one really
believes His Message. his faith will
transform his whole llfe-he would see
so great blessing promised to the
faithful follower OF Jesus that he
would count all other aims and ambi-
lions as loss and dross-and run with
patience the race set before him. Only
these are believers, and they are com
Iparatively few They are a fine com
pany They will get the prize, the
''pearl of great price, the Kingdom
joint-helrship with the Redeemer in
His glory, honor and Immortality.
But are no others to be blessed3 If
not, why did Jesus taste death for ev-
cry man? Does not that expression
imply that every man will have some
opportunity Of profting by Jesus
death? It surely doesl Those who
now hear, appreciate, believe, in the
Bible sense, alone will have un oppor.
tunity for sharing the First Resurrec-
ton Of the blessed and holy. But the
remainder, we are assured, will all
come forth from the tomb--to be grant
ed an opportunity then for hearing and
believing and gaining an inferior bless
ing. The blessing now is n spiritual
ione only; but the blessing to be offered
under Messlah's Kingdom will be an
earthly one Restitution, human per.
tectlon In an earthly Paradise eyerlast-
Ing,
The Bible tells all this, says Pastor
Russell. 1t declares that the god Of
this world, Satan, is now binding the
minds Of all except believers. 1t equal.
ly tells that in Gods due time, duriag
MesslOh's reign, all the blind eyes win
be opened, and all the deaf ears un.
stopped, isaiah 35;5l Then the whole
world viii be granted an opportunity
! OF enlightenment respecting the God of
Love, and His wise, Just and loving
terms OF reconciliation, and will be
blessed by the great Mediator Of the