Graham guardian., 1916-06-09

Of Him who hath
called you out Of darkness into His
marvellous light Peter 90.
The discourse brought to view sew.
eral marked COrreSpOndCnCies between
| the Jewish ChurCh-"Israel after the
fesh"-and the Christian Church
'The Israel Of God" Some OF these
| cOrrespondencies open up fruitful
| field of thought for every Bible stu
dent The Pastor first briefly re
viewed the history of Natural Israel
| God called them to be His chosen peO-
For over eighteen hundred years they
were in training under the Law. to
demonstrate whether they were worthy
to be Gods people. God fOreKnew,
however, that even with their best
endeavOrs they could not keep the
Law and thus gain the prize Of ever
lasting life; for no imperfect being
could keep a perfect Law. But He had
arranged for the redemption Of Israel
and all the world through Jesus death.
and knew that the Law would be their
sChOolmaStcr to lead the Jews In due
time to Christ.-Galatians 1924.
Natural Israel hoped that God would
make of them great people to rule
the world as Gods Kingdom. They
were Abraham's seed. and considered
it n forcgone conclusion that the Lords
Promise to Abraham Genesis 12:3l
could mean no others but Themselves
They overlooked the fact that the tue
Seed would have the faith, the heart
obedience of Neutrality-suspicious. which
they as a nation lacked. When the
lOng-eXpected Messiah came, they re-
icctcd and slew Him Only a few.
the "IsraeliteS indeed" of humble.
teachablc heart, received Him. God
fOrCknCw the national rejection Of His
Son. and had pre- arranged that when
the faithful few had been gathered
from Israel the call for the Seed class
should go to the Gentiles.
In JehOvah'S Plan this AbrahamiC
Seed which would bless the world was
to he composed Of III ,00O-12, 900 from
each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Hence when the 10000 or more Israel
ties who were worthy were brought
into the Christian Church. the Gospel
Message was sent to the GentileS to
take out Il sufficient number to fill up
what was lacking from each tribe of
Israel The Gcntiles thus chosen be-
came members of Spiritual Israel-the
Church of Christ. All these have had
the faith Of Abraham.
Spiritual IsraeI-A New Nation.
Natural Israel having been rejected
as regarded the Gospel Can, new ma
tion began to be formed. composed Of
the faithful few from both Jews and
Gentiles. God had opened up a new
way of life, through Christ. QHebrews
lO:l9-22D The calling and preparing
of this New Nation for their great fu-
ture work has been the work Of the
Gospel Age. The way opened to the
Gospel Church has not been failure.
as was that opened for Natural Israel.
The Gospel Church is not under law,
but under grace. Gods provision In
Christ enables those to succeed who
are walking in the new way to life.
They keep Gods Law in spirit. and the
i robe of ChriSt's merit covers all their
| unavoidable blcmishcs, impcrfectiOns
This chosen class st. Peter calls "a
Royal Priesthood, a holy nation. a
10 Ia, Of N l. " ~
is TO rule; that of priest Is to teach,
, to heal and to bless. These two offices
will be united in the work which this
lass will perform when exalted IN the
+ MeSsianic Kingdom. They have be-
come separate from all other peoples
They are strangers and pilgrims on
the earth" They will constitute, with
, their Head. Christ Jesus, the New Gov
ernmCnt to be set up in the earth upon
the ruins of the present order. Not
rs human beings but as spirit beings,
will this class reign. teach and bless
the world, after their glorifCatiOn in
the First Resurrection.
The character tests applied to this
company Of prospective rulers are very
rigid They must first learn to govern
themselves before they would be fit to
govern others They are placed in the
School of Christ to he taught Of Him
lessons Of mccknCSS. sclf-cOntrol, pa
thence. faith. gcntIcncss, sympathy,
lovc-Qualitirs without which they
could not property deal with the sin
fun. fallen world. Each Of them has
entered into an especial covenant with
Jehovah a covenant by sacrifice, as
did their Master. This covenant re-
Quircs n full surrender OF their wills
to God, a conservation to Him Of their
lives and all that they possess. and
faithfulnCss In carrying out its terms.
Good Roads for Graham County