The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current, March 10, 1913, Image 5

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    TiEloaTOFEvl
BY
THOMAS DK0N
Copyright,
1911. by
CHAPTER XXII.
Through Purple Curtains.
WHEN Nau made up her mind
she acted with lightning
rapidity. Sho would force
Stuart to an avowal of love
that would fix their relation be
rend disturbance by the little singer.
Kite had too tine a sense of values to
permit herself to become entangled
In an intrigue.
ghc could wait and gain In power
fof the waiting. Her physician had
toJQ her that Bivens days were num
bered. But on one thing she was deter
mined. She must know that Jim loved
her still, loved her passionately, mad
ly as she believed he did. Hut he
must say it. She had no difficulty in
persuading Bivens to urge Stuart to
rlblt their country estate in the moun
tains of North Carolina. The doctor
hiiQ ordered him there to live in the
open air..
The young lawyer refused to go at
first, but r.ivens urged with such pa
thetic eagerness he was compelled to
nccept.
It was a warm, beautiful morning
the last week In March when he alight
ed on the platform of the little railroad
station on the estate and took his seat
beside Nan In her big touring car. The
fruit trees were in full bloom, and their
perfume filled the air. The hum of
bees and the song of birds he had
known in his boyhood thrilled his heart.
"It's glorious, Nan!" he exclaimed.
"Your coming makes it perfect, Jim."
she answered tenderly.
As tho river made a graceful curve
BJvens' house swept Into full view a
stunning pile of marble 300 feet long,
its tower piercing the turquoise sky in
solemn grandeur. The stone parapet
on which its front wall was built rose
In massive strength n hundred feet
from the ledge in the granite clifT be
fore touching the first inc of the white
stones of tho house itself.
At the end n formal garden had been
bujlt on the foundations of masonry
which cost $100,000.
For an hour the car swept like a spir
it over tho miles of smooth macadam
private roads Bivens had built. At
earn graceful turn his wonder increas
ed at the luxurious outlay of millions.
From each hilltop as the huge gleam
ing castle came into view from a new
angle, revealing its marvelous beauty,
he thought with a touch of fiity of the
humbling figure of the stricken man
limping through Its halls helpless, lone-
miserable. What strange pranks
fate plays with the miglity as well as
the lowly! So frail was the broken
body now he did uot dare risk a cold
by taking a ride with his wife.
The machine turned suddenly up a
kill and glided through two Iron gates
oiR'iilng on the lawn, and' the great
wiiite chateau loomed before them in
a flash of blinding beauty. Stuart
caught his breath. He shook hand
with Bivens and was shocked to Hud
him so weak.
The little mini held his hand with a
lingering wlstfulness as ho looked Into
his friend's strong face.
"You don't know how rich you are.
Jim." he said feebly, "with this hand
that grips like iron. I'd give millions
to feel my heart beat like yours today."
"You'll get better down here." Stuart
answered cheerfully.
"I'm trying It anyhow," he said list
lessly. "Make yourself at home, old
boy. This house is my pride. I want
Nan to show you every nook and cor
ner in it. I wish I could trot around
with you. but 1 can't."
"As son as you've changed your
clothes." Nan said familiarly, "come
down to the library and I'll show you
arouud."
Stuart followed the man assigned as
tils vnlet to the electric elevator and
In a minute stepped out on the fourth
floor. He observed with a smile that
his room number was l.r7.
"The idea of living In a huge hotel
and calling it a home!" he mused.w Ith
crlin humor. "Room 157 great Scottl"
Ills hostess showed him first the
library. The magnificent roomcontalned
more than 40,(Kjo volumes, bound in
hand tooled morocco.
"Tho funuy thing, of course." Nan
whispered, "is that Cal has never read
one of these exquisitely bound books."
"Why on earth did he make this
room the most stately and beautiful
ne in the house V"
"Mnybo he didu't!" she laughed. "I'm
going to give you a privilege no mere
man has ever enjoyed in (his house
before I am going to show you my
own rooms."
When the tour of inspection had been
completed sin- led him to her own suit.
Thomas Dixon
corner, overlooung tao maguiuceni
formal gardens with their artificial
lake, fountains, statuary and a wilder
ness of flowers, and farther on over
the beautiful valleys of the Swnnna
noa and the French Broad rivers. Be
yond the river valleys rose range after
range of mountains.
The magnificence of her bedroom
was stunning. Stuart rubbed his eyes
in amazement. She had taken herself
seriously in the creation of this room,
and had spent a round million on its
ivory bedstead, its purple and gold
velvet hangings. Its wonderful carv
ings.
The picture she made standing in
this wouilerful room was one that
never faded from his memory. The
poise of her superb form: the fire
that smouldered in the depths of her
eyes; the tenderness with which her
senses seemed to drink in the during
luxury: the smile that played about
her Hps, joyous, sensuous, cruel!
"It seems all a dream, Nan," ho said.
"I'll rub my eyes and wake up direct
ly. I thought your New York house a
miracle. This is fairyland."
"Perhaps It would le," she said
looking at him a moment through half
closed eyes, "if only the prince'
A look of pain unconsciously clouded
his face, and the sentence was not
finished.
On the fourth day Nan planned
coaching party to ascend Mount
Mitchell, the highest peak in the land
of the sky, the highest point of ground
that side the Rockies. She had taken
this trip with Stuart sixteen years be
fore. She was then but fifteen, and
ho had Just begun to danglo at her
heels. She did not tell him their des
tination. The party consisted of half a dozen
boys and girls whom Nan was chap
eroning. Stuart, the footman and
coachman. The start was made at
sunrise. The morning was glorious,
the air rich with the lull breath of a
southern spring.
At the foot of the first hill the
coach suddenly stopped beside the
banks of the Swannanoii river.
Nan leaped to the ground, drew
Stuart with her to the rear of the
coach, and raised lier arms.
"Lift me up." she cried, laughing.
He placed his hands under her arms
and with a leap and u cry of laughter
she was In the empty baggage rack.
"Now up with you!" she cried.
In a moment Stuart was seated snug
ly by her side and the big red roach
was rolling along tho old road.
"Now, sir." Nan whispered, "do you
know where you are going?"
Stuart nodded.
"To a certain peak among the clouds,
where you and 1 once went a thousand
years ago."
Nan nestled a little closer, or perhaps
it was the swaying of the coach that
made him think she did, and softly
said:
"You remember this road?"
"I've seen it a hundred times In my
dreams since that wonderful day. It
winds along the banks of the Swan
iiinoa for twenty miles, always climb
ing higher nnd higher until the river
becomes a limpid trout stream. We
stop at the old roadhouse. stay nil
night and next morning take the bridle
path with the funny pack horses and
climb to the first mountain top. still
following the little stream."
"Fine. Jimmy, tine!" she cried, with
girlish mockery. "Your geography les
son was perfect! You can walk home
with me after school."
Stuart looked at her and broke luto
a laugh. Again they were boy nnd girl,
nnd the only change he could see was
that she was more splendidly beautiful
at thirty-one than she had ever prom
ised to be at fifteen.
"You remember how shocked you
were In this same seat, Jim. that day
In the sweet long ago when the old
coach threw me into your arms?"
"Yes. I felt that 1 was taking a mean
advantnge of you."
"I thought you were au awful fool
not to accept more gracefully nnd
thankfully the providence which threw
n pretty girl your way."
The conch gave a sudden lurch and
threw her Into Stuart's arms again.
"And now?" he cried laughingly, as
he held her firmly for a moment to
prevent her falling.
She blushed furiously, threw the ring
lets of dark hair from her face and
drew back to her position.
"Now. of course, it's unlawful."
answered with sober playfulness.
The man watched her slyly for tho
next half mile. She was very, very
quiet.
They spent the night nt the same
old road home and blent on feather
beds." 'He'TadVt felt the touch of a
feath.r Id ia cars. He dreamed
hat he was :it school again. a man of
thirty-five. ;. laying marliios wttn a
crowd of towhc.'uh-d hoys, and tlwy
were beating him at the game while
Nan was standing near, her long plait
if black hair hanging down her back
aligning at him because tie was bare
footed!
They started next day at 8 o'clock
with the pack horses to nis.e the crip
along the dim bridle trail, fourteen
miles up the sides of frowning cliffs
and over the tops of balsam crowned
leaks to the summit of Mount
Mitchell.
Nan led tho way. mounted on a sure
footed young stallion, and Stuart fol
lowed her on a little blnck mule he
had selected from Hie barn for his
exact likeness to one he had raised
as a pet when a boy. The youngsters
came struggling after them, mounted
on an assortment of shaggy, scrubby
looking animals that knew the moun
tain pnth as a rabbit knows hi trail
in the Jungle.
At 1 o'clock they passed through the
first series of clouds and out into the
sunlight beyond. Tho next line of
clouds was dark and threatening nnd
suldcnly poured rain. Slowly but
surely the horses picked their way up
the mountain side through the storm
ind suddenly walked out Into the
sunlight again; they looked down on
the smooth flat surface of the clouds
through which they had passed.
It was dusk when the party reached
the summit. The horses were loosened
to graze in the open field and the
guides hurried to build a fire in front
of tho cave made by a projecting ledge
of rock beneath which the party was to
sleep.
The bed of balsam boughs was too
sharp a contrast to Nan's million dollar
room to permit Stuart much sleep. Be
sides, the youngsters were giggling
nnd laughing and Joking most of the
night. Only a big log marked the par
tition wall between the men's and
women's part of the cave. The space
was so limitod it was necessary to sleep
close together. The girls nnd boys nev
er grew tired cracking silly jokes about
the magnificence of their sleeping quar
ters. In vain Nan bogged for quiet. It
was 3 o'clock before they were still at
last and she fell into a deep sleep.
Stuart rose, sat before the log fire and
watched the regular rise and fall of her
osoin as she slept like a child. On a
distant mountain side he heard the
howl of a lonely wolf. Sixteen years
ago the mountains were full of them
and they came quite close. He was re
minded of the narrowing strip of the
savage world, fast disappearing before
the march of civilization. Somewhere
inside of him he heard the lonely cry
of another wolf.
"She's mine mine! Nature gave her
to me in the morning of life I was
fool. I should have taken her by force
if need be. and she would have thank
ed me in after years She has compiler
with the conventions of society and
trampled the highest law of life. Whv
not smash convention now at the n
of I law?"
Again the w olf h.iv. led in the distant
darkness, and it scorned the e!in of !i
own mad cry. lie waked from his rev
erie with an inigr.v Marl. He .-hud-deled
lha? lie eoit'd have li:i "bored the
thought for a moment.
The eastern l!,ri.on was beginning
to glow with tli" dawn lie roe
walked to he summit and sat down on
the pile of stones that marked the
grave of Professor Mitchell, lie watch
ed in .-Home until lie saw the sun's
red rim suddenly leap above the blue
black peaks of the east nnd drive the
last shadow of the night from the val
leys below. With their fading mists In
felt the darkness lift from his own
heart and the sunlight of reason st renin
in. A new joy welled up from the
depths of his spirit, fie was alive to
his finger tips, nnd his imagination
glowed with the consciousness that life
was strong nnd clean and worth while
"With the help of Cod I'll keep It so.
too!" he cried. "I'm ready for the fight
now. Let ii come."
lie knew instinctive!) tlint It was
coming. He felt it in every word that
had fallen from Nan's lips since they
left en this i rip He felt it most keenly
of all when sli- w;is silent, read it In
the tremor of her mouth, tho shadowy
tenderness of her eyes, the low. deep
tones of her voice
iTo He Continued.)
Yni can say gixnlliye 1 mu
st ipulinn Willi ;i clear conscience
if you use Chamberlain's Tablets.
Many have been permanently
cured by their use. For sale by F.
G. Fricke 6t Co.
Better than
Spanking!
Spanking will not cure children of
wetting the bed, because it is not
babit but a dangerous disease. The C.
H. Rowan Drug Co., Dept. D 10G3,
Chicago, III., have discovered a strictly
harmless remedy for this distressing
disease and to make known its merits
they will send a 6.1c package securely
wrepped and prepaid Absolutely Free
to any ready of the Journal. This
remedy also cures frequent desire to
urinate and inability to control urine
during the night or day in old or young.
The C. H. Rowan Drug Co, is an Old
Reliable House. Write to them today
for the free medicine. Cure the afflicted
members of your family, then tell your
neghbora and friendB about this remedy
THE GRANDEST OF
INAUGURATIONS
The Inauguration of Messiah's
' Kingdom Will Eclipse
All Others.
It Will Be a Marriage Feast and an In
augural Ceremony Combined Jesus'
Victory Through Death Constituted
His Divine Election to Be King of
Kings and Lord of Lords Immedi
ately He Betrothed a Bride Eighteen
Centuries of Wedding Garment Prep
aration.
Washington, D.
C, March 9. Pas
tor Hussell arriv
ed here this morn
ing on his return
from Tana ma,
Kingston, Havana,
Key West, Tampa
and Pensacola. Ills
coming was eager
ly awaited by tho
Washington Tem
ple Congregation.
He took for his
text Jesus' words,
"When the Son of Mau shall come in
Ills glory, and all the holy angels with
Him, then shall He sit upon the Throne
of His glory." (Matthew 23:31.) lie
said:
When six thousand years ago man
transgressed the Divine command and
came under the sentence. "Dying, thou
shnlt die." he was cast out of Eden,
that In the unprepared earth ho might
pay the death penalty, with labor and
sweat of face going down to the tomb.
Even then, In the declaration that the
Seed of the woman would eventually
bruise the serpent's head. Cod Implied
an ultimate victory for humanity, over
Satan and sin and its death penalty.
Later. God's Covennnt with Abraham
told that tho victory would come
through his posterity, but still did not
explain how. Centuries later, Abra
ham's favored posterity became tho
Jewish nntion. nnd came into covenant
relationship with God through Moses,
the mediator of tho Law Covenant.
Their hope was that they could so thor
oughly keep Cod's Law ns to merit
everlasting life; nnd that learning bow
to practlso this self-control, and gain
the victory over sin, they would bo
competent to teach all nations, and to
deliver mnnklnd from sin and death,
However, centuries of effort proved
that uono were able to keep the Divine
Law satisfactorily; for all continued
to die.
The next Divine lesson was one of
faith in (ind. Israel could not keep
the Law Covenant satisfactorily conld
not. therefore, have everlasting life
Hence they could uot teach others to
do w hat ,'hey could not do. The les
son of faith was that they should look
forward to a coming Messiah. "A
Prince and a Savior." Through Him
all the promises would he fulfilled.
For centuries they waited for Him.
and sou,:ht to apply Moses' words: "A
Prophet shall the Lord your Cod raise
up unto you from amongst your breth
ren, like unto me the antitype of
Mosesl; Him shall ye hear in all
things whatsoever He shall say unto
you And - every soul which
will not hear that Prophet, shall be
destroyed from among the people."
Acts 3:22. 23.
Various were the hopes nnd imagin
ings respecting Messlnh. He was to
be the antitype of both David nnd Sol
omon, the nntitype of Aaron nnd Mel-
chledek very great! He wns to reign
from sea to sea. (Psalm 72:8.) Ulti
mately, so successful would be Ills
reign that the knowledge of the Lord
should fill the whole earth, as the wa
ters cover the deep. iHabnkkuk 2:14.)
Not only Israel would be blessed by
Him, but all nations, peoples, kindreds
and tongues. Unto Illm every knee
would bow and every tongue cou
fess. to the glory of Cod. rhllipplnns
2:10. 11.
The hearts of Israel looked forward
with pride to that day when Messiah
would exalt them very highly In the
earth and associate them with Himself
In the ruling and blessing of all people.
Ahl they thought, tho Inauguration day
will come, when ns King of kings and
Lord of lords Israel's Messiah will
wield a scepter which all will recognize
and under which nil will receive a
blessing! These good hopes held to
gether tho "chosen peoplo," as no oth
er nation or people have ever been held
together. They are waiting still,
though disconcerted by tho length of
time nnd by the various evidences that
others are in somo respects more fa
vored than themselves.
At last Israel's Star of Hope laps
ing! At last the prophecies tell that
tho morning of joy Is about to dawu
aud "tho desire of all nations shall
come." Not merely Jews are claiming
that Messiah's Day is nigh, and that
tho Divine blessing Is about to come
upon Jerusalem nnd all tho people of
God, but Christian Bible students see
the same. Mohammedans are claim
ing the name. Free Masons are claim
ing tho same. All men are In expecta
tion of something wonderful, Just at
tho door.
The blessing multiplied upon us Id
the inventions of the Inst half-century
all bespeak the New Dispensation, the
relgu of the King of kings. And If tho
preparation nre on so grand a scnle.
what will he (lie grandeur of the bi
ouQiirution nnd of the rrfpn Itself!
-.y
I Truly the Siripiuiv- say that "eye hnth
not seen, nor ear heard the things that
; (!d hath in reservation for them that
j lore Him." 1 Corinthians 2:0.
Inauguration Scene of Our Text.
Leading in the grand procession pic
ture is The Son of Man. following
whom will be all the holy me-scngc;
but with Illm upon His glorious
Throne will be His Bride class -a
saintly few. Thus it is written. "When
Christ shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with Hint in glo
ry" (Colossians 3:4); again, "''o him
that overcometh will I grant to sit
with Me in My Throne."-Revolution
8:21.
Through the Prophets of old tho pic
ture was given us of the triumphal en
trance of Messiah, saying, "Lift up
your heads. O ye gates; nnd be ye
lifted up, ye everlasting doors, nnd the
King of glory shall come In
Jehovah of Hosts, Ho Is tho King of
glory." (Psalm 24:7, 10.) It is Jelio
vah's Kingdom that is to bo establish
ed when Messiah conies; for Messiah
is the godlike One, Jehovah's Repre
sentative, who for a thousand years
will rule the world for the abolishment
of sin and death, nnd the uplifting of
Israel and all the nations.
Messiah Is spoken of as the Seed of
David, who should Inherit his throne.
(Luke 1:31-33.1 He who wns accord
ing to the flesh Dnvld's Son is accord
ing to the Spirit David's Lord, and He
It is that shall sit upon tho Throne.
Hut as the throne upon which David
sat was the Throue of Jehovah, so the
Throne of Messiah will be Jehovah's
Throue also.
"Oil, that will he a crowning
Buch ns earth has never known.
When Christ Ills Kingdom ehnll receive,
Before tho Krent white Throne!"
Grand as have been the Inaugural
services of the pnst week, they were ns
nothing In contrast with the glorious
crowning Day for which the earth has
been waiting six thousand years. Hap
py, earnest and hopeful ns wore the
faces that greeted the President, the
picture was tamo ns compared with the
light and Joy and confidence that will
fill the world when mnnklnd come to
realize that during the pnst bIx thou
snnd years God has been making prep
aration for this grent Day that Is even
now dawning.
Then gratitude will go up to the
Lord from faithful hearts. Then truly
on tho grandest possible scale all that
trust In Messiah will shout, "Hosannn
to the Son of David! Blessed Is He
that comcth in tho name of tho Lord!
Hosannn in the highest!" Then Mes
siah will take nis Kingdom as God's
Representative, Ills noly One to rule
tho earth, and to dispense the blessings
which God promised In the Abrnhamlc
Covennnt and reiterated "by the mouth
of all Ills Holy Prophets since the
world began."
Wherein Did the Jaws FaitT
Tho Jews did not fall. All tho prom
ises of God mnde to them nro still
theirs. He never offered them spiritual
favors. Ho never suggested that He
would tnko them to Heaven. The
strongest promise made, even to Abra
ham. was that all the land which could
bo wen would be given to him and to
ids seed. All the blessings of Israel
were to come through Messiah, whose
Kingdom Is about to be inaugurated.
What God did for tho Jews nt the
First Advent of Jesus was something
more thnn Ho ever promi ud to do for
them. He foretold through tho Proph
ets that Messiah would suffer; yen, that
"as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of
Man be lifted up." The Jews merely
fulfilled n part of tho Divine Program
Had Messiah gone to another nation
doubtless there would have been slnil
lar results. No other nation, indeed
wns so well prepared ns the Jews by
Divine Instruction through the Law
and the Prophets.
What God did for that natien more
thnn He promised to do was that llo
gave them an opportunity of becoming
more than the natural seed of Abra
bain. He gave them the opportunity of
becoming spirit beings members o
Spiritual Israel. So many as receive
Jesus, nnd became consecrated to bo
Ills disciples, were received of th
Father, begotten of tho Holy Spirit, re
celved Into tho family of God ns Splr
itunl Israelites, as the Spiritual Seed of
Abraham. Rut these were few.
Then Divine favor turned to the Gen
tiles, and gave to them a similar oppor
tunity of coming into membership with
the Spirltunl Seed of Abraham. This
work lias required nearly nineteen cen
turies and is now nbout completed. In
other words, we understand that the
Messiah class is about complete Jesus
the Head, faithful Jews next, the faith
ful from the Gentiles next.
Jesus the Head long ago entered Into
Ills glory. Some of Ills members have
already entered in, and soon the lust
members will pass beyond the veil.
Thon the preparatory work of ranking
up the Messianic class will be com
pleted. ,
Immediately on the Inauguration of
The Messiah, His work of ruling and
blessing will begin. At that point, ac
cording to the Scriptures, Natural Is
rael will return to God's favor, and be
granted the chief blessing under the
new administration. And through the
Kingdom of Israel, as the earthly rep
resentative of Messiah's Invisible, Spir
ltunl Kingdom, tho blessing of Jeho
vah will reach to all the families of the
earthGenesis 12:3; 22:17. IS.
What Israel Did Not See.
The Jewish people failed to note
those portions of prophecy which fore
told Messiah's sufferings. As a sheep
before her shearers Is dumb, so He
would neither open His mouth nor use
any of Ills superior powers to hinder
the accomplishment of God's will In re
spect to Ills death. (Isaiah 53:7.1 The
chastisement for human sin wns borne
by Him. In order that, as man's Re
deemer. He might have the right to
forgive human sin and to raise man
kind out of their degradation and bring
them back Into harmony with God's
Law, fully Justified through the blood
of the Redeemer. Not only the Jews
failed to see the necessity for a dying
Savior, but the whole Gentile world
may be said to equally fail to grasp the
imiort of Jesus' death.
The death of Jesus was necessary for
two reasons; (1) As man's redemption
price; (2) As evidencing His own faith
fulness to God, His own loyalty even
unto death, and consequently Ills right
to the Divine promise of a glorious ex
altation, compensating Ills devotion,
His self-sacrifice, and honoring His
name above every name making nim
partaker of tho Divine nature. With
out His redemptive work, the penalty
of Divine Justice would have rested
forever upon the human race, and
none could have been resurrected from
the dead. The sentence of death upon
man would bring him to the same con
dition of nonentity as the dying of the
rute accomplishes in him. Rut God
knew in ndvnnee of Ills own purpose
to nrrnnge for mankind the payment
of the penalty through Ills Son, who
died, tho Just for tho unjust, to bring
them back into harmony with God.
It is for this reason that none living
prior to Jesus were accepted to sonshlp
in God's family, nfter Father Adam
lost that privilege through disobedi
ence. Only after the redemption could
the Invitation to sonshlp bo extended.
Those who accepted needed to wait
until Pentecost to receive it They
waited until Jesus, who died for their
sins, ascended up on nigh to make
reconciliation on our behalf. Forth
with the Father accepted all who came
unto Illm through Christ, nnd the Holy
Spirit enme upon Buch. Inducting rheui
into the Divine family ns sons.
Tho difference between tho Church
and tho world is that the Church is
called out from the world now, when
everything Is unfavorable, while Satan
Is unbound, while ignorance nnd su
perstition hold sway, and while the
reign of sin and death is In progress.
These circumstances make for the
Church a narrow way of self-sacrifice
in walking In the footsteps of Jesus.
But because of this severer trial of the
narrow way, the Church is to have the
superior blessing also glory, honor,
immortality, Divine nature, the First
Resurrection from earthly to Heaven
ly conditions.
Then will come the general blessing
which God has provided, through Mes
siah's sacrifice, for the world. All sin
ned In tho one mnn Adam. All have
been redeemed by the other Man
Christ Jesus. (1 Corinthians 15:21.)
All aro to be awakened from the sleep
of death. All are to have a full op
portunity to come to a knowledge of
tho Truth. And all are to be given,
everlasting life, who develop the spir
it of holiness. Only the Incorrigible,
those who love iniquity and bate right
eousness, will eventually be sentenced
to the Second Death, from which there
will be no recovery.
Necessity For Christ's Reign.
More nnd moro we realize that edu
cation will not do for the world all
that we once hoped. Many of us hoped
that the education of the heathen would
make saints of them, forgetting that
education in tho home-land has not
made saints very generally. There are
good people, moral people, trustworthy
people, who are not Christians nt all.
Rut they nre tho exceptions. Tho ma
jority of peoplo nre not sufficiently
strong of chnracter to stsnd thus alone
without tho help of Christ.
The great mass of mnnklnd seem to
need something In the wny of chastise
ment, punishment, to offset the down
ward tendencies of their own fallen
flesh. A few possibly have been re
strained by the absurd teaching of
eternal torment nt the hands of de
mons, presented for n long time in the
name of Christianity. But the major
ity reason that whoever else gets
these experiences, they will not. Thus
we find that nearly nil the murderers
imprisoned nre such as have known the
erroneous teaching of eternal torment,
nnd yet have been unabashed thereby.
In other words, they have given an
outward assent to the teaching, bnt
really have never believed It or been
influenced by It
What the world needs Is a strong
government, which will hold in re
straint the weaker nnd baser elements
of society, and seek to help them op
out of their difficulties. Rut no gov
ernment yet devised Is either strong
enough or wise enough to accomplish
much along these lines. This is evi
denced by tho fact that crime increases
In proportion with intelligence: so
much so thnt using all of our modern
appliances-telephones, telegraphs, dic
tographs, etc. we are scarcely able to
keep even with Inw-brciikers.
All who have anything to do with
police affairs shudder nt the thought of
what might occur should the time ever
come when the majority of n city
should become stubborn and vir ion
through Inck of work, wnnt of bread,
etc. They tell us thnt Rtich condition
would let loose the tiger of humnn pas
sions as It has never before been known
In the world; for the tiger Is now edu
cated, and the masses nre on a par
with the mnsters-soclnl. financial and
political.
Whnt we need is Messiah' Kingdom
the very Kingdom described to us In
the Word of God. Ills rule will be that
of Justice nnd equity, nnd will give i
fair opportunity to the poor and the
needy. (Psnlm 72:4. Ills Kingdom
will subdue vice nnd crush It out. an I
punish sin. In both rich nnd poor
Kingdom will Iny righteousness to (he
line nnd Justice to the plummet, an I
will sweep away the refuge of lies nnd
subterfuges under which Injustice l
now so often cloaked. No wonder the
Scriptures tell us that Messiah's King
dom will be "the desire of all peoples!"
-nnggal 2:7: Isaiah 28:17.