Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-04-02
Pastor RusselPs Sermon


"Thou sowest not that body which |
shall be-" Il Corinthians $500 He |
declares that in the resurrection God |
will give some spirit body and others
human body. We are not question
ing the Divine Power to do anything,
but merely calling attention to the fact |
that what the Bible says on this sub
ject is thoroughly in harmony with rea-
son, and that our neglect Of the Bible
testimony got us into confuslon-charg-
ing absurditles to the Word Of God.
christ's Soul Not Left In sheol.
st. Pauls teaching is that the resur-
rection for the world in general con-
slsts of a re-awakening from the sleep
of death, In body similar to the one
which died; and that when thus awak-
ened, each member Of the race shall
have full opportunity Of being raised |
again to the image Of God in which
our race was created, from which we
all fell through ADAM and return to
which has been provided for us
through the death of Jesus, The time
set apart for this work is a thousand
years-Messlahs MlllennlRl Reign.
st. Paul speaks of better resurrec-
ton coming to the Ancient Worthless,
who proved their loyalty to God. Gle
brews 1850 Their reward will be
that instead of being awakened in an
imperfect condition, to rise gradually
with the rest of the world, they will
be awakened in perfect condition
Another class that will not share with
the world in the gradual resurrection
is the Church-not the nominal church
of mere professors, but the real Church
Of Christ-those who walk In the foot
steps of Jesus to the best of their
ability. This class had its beginning
at Pentecost.
There, through the merit Of Christ's
sacrifice, God began the acceptance
Of the Elect to be the Bride of Christ,
joint-heir in His Messlanic Kingdom.
Their special blessing begins by their
being begotten Of the Holy Spirit con-
stituting their start as spirit beings.
Thenceforth their portion is to become
dead to all earthly things and alive to
all Heavenly hopes, ambitions, etc.
As their change Of nature began
when they received the Holy Spirit, 1t
will be completed in the First Resur-
rection, when they will be given per-
feet spirit bodies, st. Paul says, speak
ing of this class, 1--WE shall all be
changed; for flesh and blood cannot
inherit the Kingdom of God" 4 Cor
inthiaus 1851, 50) This is the glori-
GUS hope set before US in the Gospel
Opportunity to gain part in this
First Resurrection is limited to this
Gospel Age. Only faithful followers
of Jesus have any promise Of share
In it.-Revelatlon 204.
Unbelef stagsers Some.
All familiar with their Bible know
well that the doctrine of the Resurrec-
| ton Of the Dead is one of its funda-
mentals But their faith staggers at
the thought of the Resurrection Of the
Dead, and this leads them to deny the
entire matter. They do not tell us
that they do not believe in the Resur-
rectlon Of the Dead; but they teach
that nobody is dead-that when people
appear to die they are really more
alive than they were before. Unwilling
to admit that the really dead could be
brought back to life, they claim that
death Is a transition from lower form
of life to higher one
After one takes this position, the
whole Bible becomes twisted. When
ever we deny the death penalty we
deny the Bible, whether we wish to do
so or not. The Bible does not say that
the soul that sinneth shall experience
transition, but THE soul that slnneth,
1t shall de-" Ezekiel 1874, 20) The
Bible does not say that the wages OF
sin is transition, but "The wages Of sin
is death" Romans G23) God did not
say to Father Adam and Mother Eve,
Because Of your dlsobedlence you shall
experience transition, but "Ye shall
surely DIE" Whoever would be loyal
to the Bible must face this question.
II he repudiates the Bible position be
gets more and more into darkness.
Those who say that death Is not
death, must logically ask themselves.
Where do those 90 who seem to die,
but really become more allve2 Then
come in human speculations; for the
Bible declares that the dead are dead
Jesus said mo man hath ascended into
Heaven" (John 313l St Peter said
that David the Prophet had not as
cended to Heaven.-Acts 2.34.
The Scriptures declare that the dead
are dsleep waiting for the morning Of
the resurrection The preaching Of the
Apostles in substance was that there is
no hope Of future life except by res.
direction Of the dead; and that there
could be no resurrection had not
Christ's death made possible the resur.
rectlon hope for mankind.-l Corinth'
ians 15:l2.22
God Able to Raise tho Dead.
Whoever realizes Gods Power as
manifested in the creation should have
no doubt whatever Of His Power to
resurrect the dead being, or soul God
is so high and has Power 80 much
greater than ours that we cannot com
= prebend Him. or understand the meth.
, ods Of His operations. They are so
, much beyond MS that we call them
! miracles. though surely they are In no
.,,,, dtmcuit for thp Almighty One