River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-07-30

the time to come, that they may lay
hold on eternal life." This he inter
prets to mean that those possessing
wealth should be willing to share with
others OF the brethren as members
Of a community, somewhat along the
lines Of Christian communism. The
word foundation. be declared, is here
used in the same sense as when we
say that a wealthy man gave a foun-
dalton Of a million dollars for col
lege. His gift constitutes the basis for
the carrying out of the college plans.
Thus. the speaker explained. Chris
tan VINO generously uses in the Lords
service his financial stewardship is lay
ing a foundation for the future-a
foundation for spiritual wealth.: and
the more of time. influence and wealth
any one can lay up thus in doing good.
In forwarding the interests of the
brethren and of the Lords work. the
more is that one piling up treasure in
Heaven. The advantage of this pro
cedure, he asserted. is that it helps to
center the hearts affections on the,
things above. and to wean them from
the things Of earth; for where our
treasure is. there will our hearts be
also And thus. says the Apostle, we
shall be able to LAY hold on eternal
life." now proffered to us.
At first many are inclined to say.
What difference does it make to the
Lord what | do with my time. money
influence. talents? He is able to sup
ply the needy without In the least i'm
poverishing Himself. Why, then.
should He desire His children. who
are far from rich in the worlds estima
ton. to sacrifice their little all Of tai
ent, money. time, influence? And why
should He make this a test to deter
mine whether or not they shall attain
the Kingdom? What is the philoso
ply of it?
The philosophy was declared to be
this: AS originally created in the Di
vine likeness man was tender-hearted
sympathetic. But after sin had enter
ed the world and the strife for living
began. selfishness gradually became
the predominant influence. producing
hard-heartednesS-ca OF the
interests Of Others-self-love
"Take Away the Stony Heart"
The speaker pointed out that during
the thousand years Of Messiah's Reign
Satan will be bound, his allurements
ended and the curse lifted Then the
earth will yield its increase. The stress
being removed it will be easier for
mankind to learn the lessons Of love
and Observation-Disclosures, and to rise out
of their present condition of meanness,
-heartedness and selfishness-bac
to the glorious image of God.
This will mean the dissolving of the
stony -heartedness Of the human race;
or. as the Scriptures put 1t, the Lord
will take away the stony heart out
of their flesh, and give them heart Of
fesh"-a heart of sympathy. All who
then refuse to return to harmony with
God will be destroyed in the Second
Death, as set forth in Acts 3:19-23
1t was pointed out however, that
while such a restitution under the ia
vorable conditions of the Messianic
Kingdom is Gods provision for the
world, He has a different provision for
the Church. now being called and
proven. By nature their hearts were
hard and selfish, and, as the Apostle
says, they 'toere children Of wrath,
even as others" But the fact that
God has called these to joint-heirship
with His Son In the glorious Kingdom
that is shortly to bless the world does
not signify that He will accept them in
their natural condition of hard-heart-
edness and sefshness.
On the contrary, If the Church are to
be the kings, priests and judges Of the
world, In association with their Lord
and Head, the great King, it is readily
seen that they must be rid Of this con-
dition themselves before they can prop
erly be capable of helping the world
up out of its hard-heartedness.
awe Walk by Faith"
Several differences were pointed out
between the Lords dealings with the
| Church at the present time and His
dealings with the world by and by.
These differences are due to the fact
that the Church are called to so high
an honor; and correspondingly 1t is ap-
propriate that they should manifest
more love and zeal than will be ex-
pected of the world.
To illustrate: The Church must walk
by faith and not by sight; they must
voluntarily accept the Lords provi
dences. and voluntarily cooperate with
Him In putting away the stony heart,
| aooonfiuo instead tho Shirt Of fhQ
Lord-a spirit of love, kindness, gen.
tleness. meekness, patience and long
suffering toward all. Moreover, during
the thousand years Of the worlds re-
covery from sin, selfshness and hard
heartedness, doubtless each individual