Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-05-11

ly that they Will make their calling and
election sure They will be wise enough
to lay aside every weight and beset-
ting sin. and run with patience the
race set before them The foolish vir-
gins are those who. after having given
up the world and having accepted
Christ. will nevertheless try to hold
on to the world. while walking slow
Iy toward the Lord Ii this class keep
on In the narrow way at ali. they
will eventually he conquerors. yet they
will not he those "uOre than conquer
ors'' to whom abundant entrance into
the Kingdom will be granted.
These foolish virgins have been nll
their lifetime subject to bondage be-
cause of tldlr fear of death OF the
aesh-tle old nature They are not
courageous enough to follow the Lamb
whitherSocver He g0eth. although they
are loyal. faithful These. the Pastor
believes. will get the secondary prize
Instead of being OH the Throne with
our Lord. they will be before the
Throne; instead of wearing the crown.
they will have only palm branch.
When the foolish virgins shall have
passed through the great trihulation
mentioned In Revelation I. they will be
Il grand class }ut they might be in
the highest class II they were more
Jealous II remains with themselves
to make their calling and election sure
God nominated them, but they fail Of
election because they fail to have sufIi
cient zeal love and earnestneSs to gain
the great prize Of jOint-heirship with
Christ in the Messianic Kingdom,
These different classes. the Pastor
declared. are all one Body ut the pres
ent time; for all are called in the one
hope OF their calling. and there is no
decision yet as to the two classes. All
who receive the Holy Spirit are one
company now Put mt the end of this
Age the great Master will make the di
vision between the two classes of vir-
gins-between the wise and the foolish.
between the Great Company and the
Little Flock. At the present time, how
ever. nll who are hcgOtten of the Holy
Spirit belong to the probationary Body
Of Christ But after the division shall
have been made, only the Little Flock
will he Of the permanent Body of
Christ-thc Church in glory, clothed
with glory. honor. and Immortality.
Suffering With Christ.
Next the Pastor discussed various
texts which declare that all the follow
ers of Christ must suffer in the flesh,
even rs Jesus suffered. He pointed out
the nature of our Lords sufferings,
who was misunderstood, slandered.
misreprescntcd. etc. While the follow
ers Of Jesus cannot possibly expect to
suffer In all the ways that the Master
suffered. nevertheless they have sim
llnr experiences to His. 1t Is mis-
taken idea. the speaker maintulned to
believe that suffering Is II sign OF Di
vine displeasure. No Christian thinks
that the Father was displeased with
our Hetleemer; on the contrary. as the
Scriptures say. Jesus was holy. harI
less and separate from sinners. Aud
yet our Lord suffered nuch-it pleased
God to bruise Him. to put Him to
grief. to put Him to shame.
| The thought is not that the Fathc;
took pleasure in the sufferings of His
Son. but that In the great Divine Plan
it seemed wisest and best that He
should subject the Son to severe tests
in order that both angels and men
looking back at Jesus experiences
from Jordan to Calvary, could see that
He was faithful unto death; and in or
der that the reward of Jesus Obedi
ence might be manifest-that all might
see the condition upon which God
gives His choicest blessings. To nll
eternity this will be an incentive ia
any who mny have the opportunity OF
serving God; such will know that who
ever renders service to Him and EN-
dures suffering for righteousness sake
will have the spirit Of glory rest upon
him and will be amply rewarded.
The Pastor then dwelt mt length upon
the privilege of suffering with Christ
He quoted Scripture to demonstrate
that only those who suffer with Christ
shall reign with Him. Those who are
dead with Christ shall live with Him
IN the spiritual plane, partakers of His
| Divine nature, sharers of His glory.
All these blessings are conditional
upon their demonstrating that they are
worthy to be members of His Body
and are actuated by His spirit, Some
are privileged TO suffer more than do
others In presenting this thought, the
| Pastor used the diamond as an ilustra-
ton. large diamond requires much
more polishing than does small dia-
mond; yet II large diamond is worthy OF
much polishing. Our Lord and st. Paul
were large diamonds. Therefore they
were subjected to much affiiction
much difficulty. in order that they
might show forth more fully the
praises of Him who called them to His
marvellous glory.
The Pastor concluded his discourse
by calling attention to the wonderfu
blessings and privileges that are com
ing to the world today and to the in
creased knowledge and light upon all
subjects, but especially upon the Word
of God. He declared that Gods peo
pie see as never before the lengths