The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-05-13

saved from sin all these years? ?" NO
she admitted honestly, 81 cannot say
that / have" Have you been saved
from sickness?" NO" she replied |
sadly; II have been terrible sufferer
for years. did your salvation in /
clude deliverence from heartacne, |
from fear, from worry, from povertyF
NO" she said; Il suppose my saliva |
ton was reserved entirely for the fu-
ture life"
Jesus Definite Instructions.
It is not strange, this seemingly uni
versal misunderstanding among pro-
Tossing Christians regarding the teach
ings of Jesus upon this vital point
Many Christian denominations unite
in teaching the attainment of heaven
and of spirituality through death, as
well as the possibility of an eternal
punishment for those who have
strayed. Now the fact of the matter
is that such notions have absolutely
no connection with Jesus teachings.
Before his coming the Jews believed
that the faithful were gathered to
Abraham's bosom Jesus would have
brought no new message had ne
taught the gaining Of heaven through
dying. The Chinese have always be-
lived in an after life, and even the
Indians have chung to hope IN
happy hunting ground. Let US exam
| inc the instructions given by Jesus 70
| his students, as recorded in the TENN
i chapter of Mathew: GO Is. to the
lost sheep of the house OF Israel. And
as We go, preach, saying, The kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out devils; freely We have received,
freely give Provided neither gold,
nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
for the workman is worthy OF his
meat"
THE kingdom of heaven is at
hand!" In the Christian Science text
book we read that heaven is harmony.
Therefore the message of the Savior,
which indeed is good tidings OF great
joy to the bound and afflicted OF earth,
is that harmony, deliverance, saliva
ton, are at hand, and are to be real
lied in the proportion that we lift our
thought from the material and lay
hold on the spiritual facts of being.
Eternal Punishment Unthinkable
The notion of place of eternal tor
ment is absolutely foreign to the
teachings of him whose keynote was
Love divine. In the parable OF the
prodigal son Christ Jesus shows tina
the suffering and punishment OF the
hayward boy were not inflicted b!
: the father, but the results of sin, ant
lasted only while the sin lasted.
You remember, do you not, that thu
: young man goes into a far country ant
, there wastes his substance with riot
: Gus living" And we read that "Whel
: he had spent all, there arose might.
q famine in that land; and he began t.
: be in want. And he went and joine'
himself to a citizen of that country
and he sent him into his fields to fee
!, swine. And he would fain have file
), his belly with the husks that tn
swine did eat: and no man gave unit
him"
! 1t had been my privilege to address
1 the prisoners in several penitentiarle
this last year, and on each occasion
: have read to the men this parable
/ the prodigal SON. When I have com
I to the words just quoted, | hay
/ stopped, and said to the prisoner!
T Men, where was that man?' On eac
I occasion, absolutely unprompted. ha
y come this one response, In hell!
) Yes, he was in hell. He was in tn
: only hell there was, and those poe
prisoners knew all about it. The
recognized it the moment they hear
: it. But, said to them, here is fe;
: ture of Jesus teachings which has a.
!, parently escaped many of US all thes
u years: Here is a man who was abb
y y to get out of hell. We read that "whe
- y he came to himself'-in other word
= when he had suffered enough to tut
?, him from his sin with loathing, /
- said: How many hired servants
:, my fathers have bread enough and
! spare, and l perish with hunger!
will arise and go to my father, ar
will say unto him, Father, I hay
!, sinned against heaven, and befol
- thee, and am no more worthy to
70 called thy son: make me as one
~ thy hired servants. And he arose, al
:, came to his father" Now had Jesl
:, meant to teach the idea of place
- everlasting punishment, of torme
~ or hell-fire from which Their was ]
- possible escape, here would have BET
= his opportunity to have shown Il
"A fathers gate closed to the erring chill
-, and the father standing there sayin
= mo, son-no! 1t is too late, too lat
- The sin has been too grlevous, Il