The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-07-13

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The kingdom OF God is a spiritual
|kangdOnh, That doesn't mean that 1t
is s0metting so; intangible that it
does not really exist, or that 1t is
something in 1.-THE far distant future
about which we need not bother our
heads or our hearts.
/ There are spiritual forces that are
far more powerful than the material
To some people the cross is merely a
wooden emblem. Of the church, To
the Jew it was a stumbling block,
and to the Greeks it was foOlishness
but to the Christian it is the power of
God. Wherever the cross has gone
with it's message of love and mercy
it has worked miracles, and whenever
the gospel Of Gods kingdom has been
preached it has wrought salvation In
the hearts and lives of those who ac-
cept it's message. Saul, the persecut-
Tor, became Paul the preacher and mis-
sionary. John Bunyan the profane
became John Bunyan the God-fearing
minister of the gospel. John New
ton the blasphemer, became John
Newton the hymn-writer. And thous-
ands of others who were notorious
in their wickedness. have been trans
formed ny the power of Gods king
DOM.
Gods kingdom is an eternal king
dom. Earthly Kingdoms rise and
fall. Like Babylon of old they pass
away and leave nothing of their an
cient glory except memory. The
works of man will in time pass away.
Gibraltar will crumble, the Pyramids
will disappear, and even the noun
tains are doomed to decay. The stars
ard suns which light up the abyss
viii cease their shining and man will
sit down amid the ruins Of his life
and confess that his idols have been
shivered one by one. But Gods king
dom will last forever. And every
thing connected with it will last for
FEVER. Heaven will last forever. Its
rest will last forever; its joy will be
eternal; it's peace will be eternal; its
friendships and love will be eternal;
all that Gods kingdom consists OF
will endure when all else is but a
memory.
Now what are the qualifications
for entering Gods kingdom? Jesus
tells us we must be born again, or
in other words. we must be born a
second time. To some people this is
strange language. In order to un-
derstand it we need to remember
that God tells us that man in the
beginning was in the image of his
creator; his mind could understand
the things of God; his will took de.
light in the things of God; and his
heart lived the things of God. But
man yielded to temptation and SIN
ned, and then Gods spirit, left him
AS result of this man was ruined
and the race was ruined. In the book
of Genesis we read, "'And Adam be-
got a son in his own image" His sor
was in his image and not in the i'm
age of God. And ever since then mar
has been ''born in sin and shapen II
iniquity," as the Bible says.
And now Jesus Christ says. the i'm
age of God must be restored in thu
life by the incoming of Gods spiri
before we can see the kingdom O
God. Until this takes place in you
life you are spiritually dead and can
not appreciate the things of God
Hence we understand that to be borr
4 again means the incoming of Cod:
holy spirit.
i You must have the nature of Coz
in you in order to understand tn
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