The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-06-21

heve In God SO unjust, SO .unmerci-
ful, so wicked that He would torment
them and their forefathers through all
eternity because they did not believe
on Jesus, when they had not so much
as heard Of Him. They said that their
gods were not so unjust: for they for
bade men to torture even dumb brutes.
They preferred to hold on to the rea.
sonable gods OF their fathers rather
than to believe in the unjust one
preached by the missionaries.
Can we blame them? asked the Pas
tor. On the contrary. he admitted that
IN the past himself and other Chris
tians had seriously misinterpreted the
Bible. He urged his hearers to study
the Bible itself and to ignore the un-
reasonable teachings which are driving
men away from the Bible and the God
which It presents.
Pastor Russell found that the heath
en- do not really worship the idols, but
through the Idols seek to worship an
unseen deity. AT first he wondered
that they could bow before such hide
| ous. awkard. Notwithstanding images.
Then the thought came to him, that
these poor heather had formulated
their gods OF clay. stone, bronze. etc,
but that we Christians had formulated
ours diiTerently-instead of using mn
terial substances we merely construct
ed ideals and described them. and that
from this viewpoint. the crcedal pic
lures Of the God Of Love are farther
astray than the images of stone, wood,
etc.
Import Of the Text.
Look critically Mt our text. Exercise
the gray matter Of your brains. What
docs 1t realty say? 1t corroborates the
account In Genesis .. ms explained by
st. Paul in Romans 5:12-1S. BY one
mans disobedience sin entered into
the world and death as the result of
sin. and death passed upon all men.
because all rucn are sinners-by fierii-
V. This death penalty has been car.
rying down our race to the tomb for
six thousand years. The present death
rate is about ninety thousand per day.
The declaration Of the Bible is that
these aif would have perished-wouid
have had no more future existence than
brnte-had 1t not been for Gods com.
passionate mercy. 1.-The great Love
with which He loved us" while we
were yet sinners.-Ephcsians "a. s.
Our text comes III here. and assures
us that this salvation Of mankind from
perlShing comes only through Gods
Love and Mercy. operating through our
Lord Jesus Christ. We nsk, What did
our Lord Jesus do for the race? The
Bible promptly answers. Christ died
for our sins according to the Scrip.
lures; Jesus Christ by the grace of
God tasted death for every man; "He
poured out Ills soul unto death: He
made Ills soul IN offering for SIM
Corintlans 1873: Hebrews 30. Isniah
53:l0, II.
Let us note carefully thatas pcrishing
does not mean eternal torture. so thu
Redemption price which Jesus gave Is
not eternal torture nor purgatorial suf.
fering. but-dcdth. Christ died for the
ungodly." Other Scriptures tell us that
the death Of Jesus was Ransom.
price. or price corresponding to the
penalty that was upon Father Adam
and inherited by his race. The Bible
ny ,tntt hnt al h,., ia;
an equivalent price for the sin.penalty
against Adam can be Just in releasing
us from the death penalty.
All Saved From Perishins.
The simple proposition Of the Bible
is that us Adam and all of his race
legally persisted, so they have all been
legally redeemed from that persisted
cOnlition-the death OF Jesus being the
Satisfaction price. 1t Is because OF
this redemption that the Bible assures
us that there Is to be n resurrection
of the dead, both Of the just and the
unjust" because all were redeemed
redeemed from the persisted condition.
Hence the Bible lays great stress
upon the resurrection OF the dead. and.
ton of mankind must wait until the
| completion of the Church. Then the
Second Coming OF Christ will be In
| order. that He may cXalt His Church
with Himself rs the reigalH, Power.
the Spiritual Seed Of Abraham. which