The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-05-10

-o4~ rebellious also,
that the Lord God might dwell among
them."-Psalm 6S:1S.
Pastor Russell declared that one Of
the serious errors e~ngrafted into the
Christian faith is the supposition that
Jesus is still a man in Heaven. He de-
clared that this thought has helped to
turn away many from the faith in the
premillennial coming Of Christ, and the
establishment of His Kingdom for
blessing the world, as the Bible de-
clares. Many Christians perceive that
a localized reign of Christ in the flesh
would be far inferior to a spiritual
reign, and hence the general rejection
Of all faith in the Second Coming Of
Christ and His Millennial Kingdom.
He pointed out that all Christians
firmly believe that Jesus was a spirit
being before He was made flesh, and
dweIt among u.s." All believe also that
a spirit being is of a higher order than
a human beiEg, and that Jesus made a
great stoop when He laid aside the
glory of His pre-human condition to
become "the Man Christ Jesus" st.
Paul's reference to this was quoted:
Though He was rich, yet for our
sakes He became poor, that we through
His poverty might become rich" He
Invested Himself of His glory and took
upon Himself the Seed of Abraham,
and was "found in fashion as a man"
A man is "a little lower than the an
gels"-even in his perfection.
The Pastor declared that no student
of the Bible could suppose that the
Heavenly Father has permanently de-
graded His Son from a station higher
than angels to one lotcer than angels.
Nobody believes this in his heart Of
hearts, and yet many profess this very
thing. The ascension Of Christ is
claimed to prove it. 1t is absurd to
suppose that with our Lord Jesus, ac-
customed to the spirit condition, and
made flesh for the short space Of thir-
ty-three and a half years, could be
otherwise than disconnected and Sc
riously dishonored by the Father, If
He now has a body Of flesh.
Aseends Where He Was Before.
The Pastor declared that mistaken
views respecting the word ascend"
helped to confuse Christian people.
The Apostle quoting and explaining
his text, shows that Jesus ascension
is to be considered in conjunction with
His descent. He that assembled Is the
same who thirty-four years before de-
scended. Did the descending have any
reference to the kind of body? Surely
not! Then the ascending has no refer
ence to the kind of body. The descend
ting signiied the humiliation, the leav-
ing Of spiritual glory, in order to be
born in the flesh.
The life Of the Iogos was transfer
red from the spirit body and became
the life germ of the babe, thas He
might become the Man Christ Jesus,
and give Himself sacrilcially for the
sins of the world. Similarly, the be-
getting Of the Holy Spirit came to Je-
sus at His baptism and during three
and one half years it gradually con
stituted Him a spiritual Priest, whose
work it was to "oner up Himself"
That offering ended at Calvary, when
He cried, "It is finished!" and died.
When on the third day, the Father
raised Him from the dead, it was the
Priest that was raised to glory, honor
and immortality. and not the animal.
or human, body which He had sacri-
feed. AS It is written, "a body hast
Thou prepared Me- 'for the suf-
fering OF DEATH" That feshly body
was never intended to be an incum-
brance throughout eternity, upon the
Only Begotten of the Father. HE
dieth no more" and therefore has no
further use for the body of flesh.
What became Of the f1eshly body.
the Pastor would not undertake to
say. It was not seer in the tomb.
We know 1T was the soul. not the
body, that was raised to life. Thou
wilt not leave My soul in Sheol"-in
Hades-the tomb. Thou wilt not suf-
fer Thine Holy One to see corruption"
Why . Body Of Flesh Was Used.
We must remember three things In
connection with this subject, said the
Pastor. The followers of Jesus were
required to have full faith ~ That Je-
sus was the Logos, who had descend
ed from the spirit plane to the human;
C2) That He had died scientifically; (l
That God raised Him from the dead.
Unless these points-that God raised
ELM from the ueau, A1u UnaC ne AS
cended to Heaven, where He was be-
fore" were fully established In the
minds OF the Apostles, they would not
be in a at condition to continue to be
the disciples of Jesus. On the other
hand, they were unable to receive spir.
ityal things until after the spirit-beget-
ting at Pentecost. Hence the instruc-
ton given them must necessarily be
along earthly lines.
Let rs suppose that Jesus had NOT
appeared I'm the flesh after His resurs
r~ection. Suppose that He had appear
ed as He did to Saul of Tarsus--as d
great light shining from Heaven, above
the hriehEnAss nf the snn1al,d assniza-s