The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1914-01-06

even go so far as to imagine that in
some blessing of the mil
lions who died during the four thou
sand years before He tasted death for
every man.
How foolish we were in trying thus
to deceive ourselyesl Plain honesty
would have helped us all a great deal.
We should have said, it is plain enough
that the millions of the four thousand
years before Christ died got no bless
ing through Him; and that the masses
of humanity, including the hundreds
of millions of heather, during the nine
teen centuries since He died have re-
ceived no blessing from Him. In hon.
esty we must confess that none except
the Church class have yet received a
blessing from the hands of Jesus.
After making this candid admission,
we should have looked more carefully
into the Bible for an explanation. and
no doubt we would the sooner have
become enlightened; but, deluding our
selves and claiming that all mankind
are having a fair trial, we have in
creased our darkness. Dishonesty Is
never advantageous. 1t Is especially
when exercised along
the lines of religion. Now, as we be-
come more honest with ourselves and
the facts, the darkness begins to flee
away; and the true teaching of the
Bible begins to shine out LUMINOSITY.
1.-THE Election Obtained It."
st. Paul draws our attention to the
fact that God proffered certain great
blessings to the Jewish people in their
Law Covenant, which they were I'M
able to acquire because of inherited
weaknesses common to mankind. He
tells US that when Jesus came, IsraePs
testing came; and that in rejecting
Him they rejected the chiefest Of
Gods blessings, but did not cut them
selves off entirely from His favor; for
Gods gifts and calling to Israel have
not been abrogated. He says, Israel
hath not obtained that which he seek
eth for 1.-THE highest favor of God];
but the Elect obtained it, and the rest
were blinded. Romans 11:7.
Here we have the key. God is max
ing an election. or selection. from
mankind. He desires Little
Flock of extremely faithful. self-sacri
ficing, sanity ones. to be joint-heirs
with their Redeemer in a great work
which Divine Wisdom and Love have
laid out for Him. This Little Flock.
the Elect. are to be Heirs of God and
joint-heirs with Jesus Christ their
Lord, in the Messianic Kingdom.
That Kingdom, when set up in great
power and glory, invisible to men. yet
all-powerful in their midst. will bring
to pass all the glorious promises OF
the Bible. st. Peter declares that at
the Second Coming of Jesus will come
Times of Restitution. times of bless
ing mankind in his earthly home. turn
ing it into paradise and bringing
mankind back into the image and like
ness of God That great work is to
be done by the Elect-The Christ
Jesus the Head and the Church His
Body-Jesus the Bridegroom and the
Church His Bride
Bride Makes Herself Ready.
The work of electing the Church has
been an individual one. requiring thus
far nearly nineteen centuries. But
God. who is rich in Wisdom. is using
the various members of the Church
during this period as His ambassa
doris, as His servants, to call one an
other, to build one another up In the
most holy faith Thus. as the Scrip
lures declare the Bride is to make
herself ready for the union with the
Heavenly Bridegroom, which is to BE-
accomplished at His Second Coming
when she shall have experienced the
change in the First Resurrection-to
Heavenly nature and Kingdom; for
flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Kingdom of God"
with the completion OF unIs dIaQem
class, this Royal Priesthood class, this
class that Is to be made partakers of
the Divine nature in the First Resur-
rection, the work of God for the hui
man family will be only beginning;
whereas we once supposed that there
1t would have ended We now see
that not until the Elect shall be glori-
fed will Gods blessing even begin to
come to the non-elect-all of whom, as
Adams children. were redeemed by
the precious blood of Christ
Only the Elect have been dealt with
thus far. The great mass of mankind
blinded and deafened. through the be-
wildering influence of error. have been
led captive by Satan at his will Only
the comparatively few have escaped
the condemnation which is upon the
world, by accepting Christ and be-
coming members of the New Creation
Him
The Battle and the Battlers.
Jesus, the Captain of our salvation,
was the first great Victor In conflict
with Sin, Satan. Death. He was
crowned because of His loyalty to
God and His faithfulness even unto
death. His victory was won by dying
a martyr. Similarly. all of His fol
lowers of this Gospel Age must prove
their loyalty unto death. If they would
be His associates In the Messianic
Kingdom.
For nineteen centuries Satan. Sin
and Death have seemed to triumph:
while in reality, from the Divine stand
point, Christ and His Church were tri
umphing. Their triumph will be man
ifested In the First Resurrection. when
will occur the General Assembly Of
the Church of the First borns, written
In Heaven" Then the battle will take
on new phase No longer will the
victors die, but the foes will perish
During the thousand years of Christ's
Reign, He will put down sin and death
proportionately lifting up mankind
from under their weights and burdens
back to human perfection. In His Day.
the righteous shall flourish, and the
evil-doer shall be cut off in the Second
Death
How grand the program, What honor
and glory it reflects upon the Creator
who formed the Plan: upon the great
Redeemer who is the Executor of that
Plan; and upon the Church of the
First-borns. who are to be associates
with the Redeemer in the execution of
that Plan! Finally the glorious con.
summation will be reached All igno
rance will have vanished Sin and
death will be no more. Wilful evil
doors will all be destroyed. Then er.
cry knee will bow. and every tongue
will confess. to the glory Of God