Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1913-06-05

SSss&s6SsSsssssSSA S&SssY nell OF the Dark
llPASl0R RUSSELLl) Ages, which. he
said, still casts a
gloom over the masses and binders a
proper appreciation Of the Divine char.
acter re Love and Justice He took a
combination text: o Sheol HE'LL, |
will he thy Instruction. 0Iosea 13:14.)
80 Hades [helll, where is thy victory?''
L Corinthians 1856.
My text, said the Pastor, teaches that
Jesus will destroy the hell of the Ri.
ble-the state of death. He will do this
by delivering all mankind from death
by the resurrection. Thus ultimately
He will gain His great victory over
sin and death, and deliver humanity
from their power. no one but Jesus
can do this. Hence we must wait for
the appointed time the establishment
of the Messianic Kingdom. Meantime
1t Is ours to batter down the hell of
torment which for centuries has trou-
bled Gods saints, and turned the
hearts of many from their Creator.
The Pastor dealt some vigorous blows
at the doctrine he condemned. They
were not blows of anger nor of senti.
ment, but of logic and of Scripture
His opponents are comparatively few,
he said, and of two classes: Some are
good and honest, but ignorant Others
thoroughly informed, no more believe
in hell of torture than does the Pas.
tor, but dodge the question and give
the impression that they believe 1t, SO
as to hoodwink the people, and keep
them in darkness on a subject of most
vital Importance to human happiness
now and throughout eternity.
The masses Of Christian ministers are
educated. Preachers in general know
well that the Bible does not teach a
hell of torture-that the words Sheol,
Hades, Gehenna and Tartarus do not
signify a place of torture, where all
except the sanity will eternally suffer.
These ministers do not come forth into
the open with me to battle the error,
presumably because they do not real
iZe, with us, that this terrible bias
phemy against the Divine character
lies at the bottom of nearly all the god
the Divine Word now prevalent. To
me it is evident said the Pastor, that
reverence toward God and faith in the
Bible cannot be restored until this
great MolOch of false teaching be de-
molished This explains my zeal in
exposing the errors of the past, and
for the revealment of the truth on the
subject of future punishment.
The Pastor did not on this occasion
attempt explanations. of the three or
four parallels, which, by mistransla-
tons, misunderstanding and interpola-
tons, have been made to support the
Notwithstanding doctrine that eternal
torture is the wages of sin, in contra
diction of the Bible statement, The
wages of sin is death" He cOntented
himself with reminding his hearers
that ne had already preached on the
parable of THE Rich Man and Laza.
rus" of THE Sheep and the Goats"
and the Lords statement, where their
worm dieth not and their fire is not
quenched;' and from the Revelation,
about the devil, the beast and the false
prophet being cast into torment, TO
those who have neither heard nor read
his sermons on these subjects. he offer
ed to send his views in printed form,
free upon postcard application.
The God Of All Grace.
The God of the Bible, said the Pas
tor. is such one as every human
heart needs and Graves. He is God
Of sympathy and love, respecting
whom 1t is declared that He looked
down from His holy habitation and be.
held, and heard the groaning of the
prisoners. psalm 102:19, 20.) "Then
His own Arm brought salvation" lisa
iah 63:5J The groaning of the pris-
oners was not in some far-away fur
mace, but here on earth-in every
home. Our race gfoans because we
are slaves of sin, and sin is paying us
the prescribed penalty-death.
Jesus work at the First Advent was
only preparatory. His death was nee
essary as the corresponding price foi
the sin of Adam. Only by paying that
penalty could He obtain the right to