The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-05-09

Pastor RUSSELL Sermon

accord with the Lord.
Another channel of blessing to the
world will he the Ancient Worthless.
who Will be made princes in all the
earth. These will constitute the earth
ly phase of the Heavenly Kingdom.
Under the rule of righteousness every
evil deed will be promptly punished.
and every good deed will be promptly
blessed and rewarded When the
Judgments Of The Lord are abroad in
the earth the inlla bitants will learn
righteousness, and Every knee shall
bow and every tongue confess"
The Gifts to the Church.
But we are specially interested In
! Gods gifts to the Church. secured by
our Redeemer's victory over sin and
death. He made it possible for us to
become His foGtstep followers and by
suffering with Him to become joint
heirs in His Kingdom. Then He gave
us the various gifts for our develop
ment. Not all appreciate the gsfts of
the remote past. Not all realize that
the writings of the Apostles constitute
the Key to the Bible.
Jesus words were not so intended.
bles and dark sayings Jesus teach
ings are made luminous to us through
the Holy Spirit given to the Apostles.
just as Jesus promised. Gohn 1879
This was accomplished, not by mirac-
ulous operation upon each individual,
but through the gifts of the Spirit.
or the gifts specified. some We're gen
eral; others were particular. Thus the
Church still has the gift of teaching
given to the Apostles for our blessing
Thus we still have pastors and teach
ers. 10 assist the Church to an under
landing of the Divine Word and to the
proving of all things by that Word.
And this was to continue until all the
Church shall have been edited. built
up. and the Body of Christ shall have
been completed. Moreover, each mem
Der Of the Body has need of this edi-
flying work. that he may be qualified
for his place in the Body According
TO the Apostles explanation. all these
gifts of the Spirit are of the Lord, ex-
ercised throughout this Gospel Age un
der the supervision of our glorious
Head and Master-Jesus.
Other gifts Of the Spirit were local and
temporary; gifts Of miracles. tongues.
interpretations. etc The early Church
contained not many great. wise or
learned Few of them would have
been capable of reading the Bible. If
they had had one Few. if any. of the
little classes. We're posSeSsors of the
Old Testament Scriptures These could
be heard read every Sabbath in the
synagogues. but not otherwise They
were kept very sacredly guarded. and
especially We're they refused to heretics.
as the Jews thought the Christians
to be.
The New Testament Scriptures. we
must remember, We're not written until
considerable time after Pentecost.
and it was not until the close of the
first century that they began to be col
lated, and two or three centuries before
the question was finally decided which
Books should constitute the canon of
the New Testament
We may suppose that even then these
were reverencel more as heirlooms
than as the only existing Divinely in
spired authority. The doctrine of Apos
tolic succession came In about that
time. Not having Scripture. and realiz- /!
ing that the power to work miracles |
had descended as kind Of legacy from
our Lord to the Apostles. many We're |
led TO believe this doctrine almost III :
stinctively. and to rank the living bish-
ops as equal to the Twelve Apostles.
Moreover. to receive instruction from I
a living teacher is always easier than |
to receive it from the study of book. I
Therefore the writings Of the Apostles |
and indeed of all the Rible-fell into !
disuse. to the injury Of the Household !
of Faith. A greater appreciation of I
the gift which the Lord had poured !
out upon His followers the Holy Spirit /
and the fruits which that Spirit de-
velOped, Joy. peace. faith. love, etc
would have kept them from such error. |
They would have been more appreci- |
ative of the inspired Record. and CORE
iCoS VI tuC
inspired words of all other men,
We see however. that under exist /
ing conditions at that time-the alb
sence of Scriptural writings-the gifts |
bestowed at PentecOst Visible mani /
festations of supernatural power,
were very essential to the early |
Church. Well would it have been for
them and their successors if. after hav-
ing made use of these miraculous man
ifestations at the beginning of the
Age. and being prepared by them for
the written Word. they had further
the Importance of the
Word of the Lord through the inspired
Apostles. This would have guarded
them from grievous errors which are
still troubling the Lords followers.
The Fruits Of the Spirit.
Quite distinction Is to be observed
between the gifts Of the Spirit and the
fruits of the Spirit. The gifts We're
those miraculous powers already ex
planned. and the special gifts of Apos
tolic qualification Rut these gifts
passed away. as God had
Instead. the Lord looked
FOR the fruits of the Spirit. which the
loyal and obedient are to cultivate
All who have received the imparta
ton Of the Lords Spirit. are expected
10 manifest the fruits OF His Spirit.