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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1913)
MOST PRECIOUS TEXT IN BIBLE How Differently It Reads From Wiiat We Once Supposed! LIGHT THROUGH THE FOG. Paster Rursell Say Unintentionally Wa Read Error Into Our Bible Our Eye We'a Oimmod by "Dark Age" 8moke The Fog Lift God' Glory Begin to Appear The Bible Shine. It Truth li the Balm of Gilead. Poor Ditcouraged Humanity Need Just Such a God 8hortly He Will Wip Away All Tears. Pasadeua, Cal., June 15. Pasa dena la favored. Pastor Russell waa to have apo kea today In Los Angeles, but the boat awlltortama were unavailable. Instead, he spoke this forenoon at Santa Ana. this afternoon and evonlng hore, giv ing Friday and Saturday to San Diego and Los An geles. Pastor RuhhcH addressed a thor oughly representative audience. Ilia afternoon topic was. "Beyond the (irave." Ills evening topic we report Ills text was, "God so lovod the world that Ho gave Ills Only Begotten Son, that whosoever bellcveth in Him should not perish, but hnve everlnstiug Ufe."-John 3:10. Forcefully the Pastor pointed out that once Christian people, even Bible students, misunderstood this text and read into it a conflicting thought dis honoring to God read it as though It said that God so loved the world as to keep them from perishing. In order thut tho few. the saintly Elect might attain to glory and look over the bat tlements of Heaven and seo all the re mainderJews, heathen and the mass es of Christendom writhing in tor ment to all eternity unable to perish forced to live, In order that they might, by. their sufferings, entertain the more fortunate, who were guaranteed bliss to the full. What right did we ever have, said the Pastor, to thus put into the mouth of our Savior, as our creeds have done, words which Ho never uttered words which nre very untrue indeed, a blas phemy against our Maker! Light Shine Through tho Fog. ' We are not faulting our forefathers Ilad we been In their place, doubtless we would have been us confused ns were they, and wo might have Indulged In heretic burning, etc. And had they lived In our wonderful day of great light knowledge, privilege, opportuni ty, education. Bibles, etc., doubtless they would have had hs noble Ideas as ourselves respecting tho proprieties of Christian conduct and Divine conduct and Love and Justice. The Bible tells us that Satan and his fallen ungels are responsible for those terrible "doc trines of demons" which have given thinking people such horrible night marcs, and driven so many of them away from God and the Bible Into un belief, ngnostli'lstn. and even atheism Let us rejoice In the light of the bet ter Day which has dawned. Let us be come Bible students In the highest sense of the term Never before has there been such an opportunity for knowing the real teaching of God's Book what It does contain and what it docs not contain. We have the Bi ble, concordances and helps, and we have the general education which per mits us to study them. Our forefa ' thers labored against lack of education, time, lack of Bibles, and lack of good artificial light. What the Word Periih Mean. When we come to think of It. the word perish contains not tho remotest suggestion of fire or torture. In our ignorance we read all that Into the text and into other texts of similar import; for Instance, the statement that God is not willing that any should perish, but would that all should come unto Him and live; and tho statement of St Peter that the wilfully ignorant shall perish like bruto beasts, made, to be taken and destroyed; and the state ment through tho Psalmist, "All the wicked will God destroy." now lurid these simple words became before our Inflamed and- perverted Imaginations! flow some of us rang tho changes on theso Bible terms hi a vain attempt to drive men toward God through fear, when God declares that He does not want such to come and has no pleasure whatever in their worship or service! Did not Jesus toll us that the Father seeketh such to worship Htm as wor ship Him lu spirit and in truth? (John 423.) And our perversions of the Divine Word and Plan ouly helped men away from God to such misun derstanding of Him that they could not worship Him In spirit and tn truth, and, at most, could worship only In form and ceremony. The Tastor told of an experience he had in India. Some of the higher casto Hindoos, wholly unapproachable by the missionaries, heard that ho was preaching a more reasonable message. They camo, entreating him for further meetings, declaring their respect for the intelligence of Christians, but that they could not believe the doctrines usually preached. They could not be y ! iL neve In a Gk1 unjust, so unnierei f:i!. s ni'-ke'l thiit Hf would torment ihei.t :iik1 their forefathers through nil eternity Ik'i'iiusc tlay did not believe cm Jesus, ulna tiny hml not so much as heard of I X i ait. They said that their gixls were not so unjust; for they for hnile men to torture even dumb brutes. They preferred to hold on to the rea sonable gods of their fathers rathjr tlmu to believe In the unjust one prearhed by the missionaries. Can we blame them? asked the Pas tor. On the contrary, he admitted that In the past himself and other Chris tians had seriously misinterpreted tli Bible. He urged his hearers to study the Bible itself and to Ignore the un reasonable teachings which are driving tueii away from the Bible and the God which It presents. Pastor Bussed found that the heath en do not really worship the Idols, but through the Idols seek to worship an unseen deity. At first he wondered that they could bow before such hide ous, awkard. vicious-looking linages. Then the thought came to hi m. that these poor heathen had formulated their gods of clay, stone, bronze, etc., but that we Christians bad formulate! Ours differently Instead of using ma terial substances we merely construct ed Ideals and described them, and that from this viewpoint, the creedal pic tures of the God of Love are farther astray than the images of stone, wood, etc. Import of tWe Text Look critically at our text Exercise the gray matter of your brains. What does it really say? It corroborates th account in Genesis 2, m explained by St. Paul In Romans &J12-18. By on man's disobedience sin entered into tho world and death as the result of sin, and death passed upon all men, because all men are sinners by herdl ty. This death penalty has been car rying down our race to the tomb for six thousand years. The present death rate is about ninety thousand per day. The declaration of the Bible Is that these all would have perished would have had no more future existence than bte-M(l not been .for God s coin passlonato mercy. "The great Love with which ne loved us" while we were yet sinners. Epheslans 2:4. 5. Our text comes in here, and assures us that this salvation of mankind from perishing comes only through God's I)ve and Mercy, operating through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wo ask, What did our Lord Jesus do for the race? The Bible promptly answers. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scrip tures"; "Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every man"; "He poured out Ills soul unto death"; He made "Ills soul an offering for sin." 1 Corinthians 15:3; Hebrews 2:0; Isaiah 53:10, 12. ICt us note carefully that as perishing does not mean eternnl torture, so the Redemption price which Jesus gave is not eternal torture nor purgatorial suf fering, but death. "Christ died for tho ungodly." Other Scriptures tell us that the death of Jesus was a Itansoin price. or price corresponding to the penalty that was upon Father Adam and Inherited by his race. The Bible thus explains that God, by providing an equivalent price for the sin-penalty against Adam can be Just In releasing us from the death pennlty. Ad Saved From Perishing. I The simple proposition of tho Bible lis that ns Adam and all of his race legally perished, so they have all been legally redeemed from that perished condition the death of Jesus being the Satisfaction price. It is because of this redemption that the Bible assures us that there Is to be "u resurrection of the dead, both of the Just and the unjust." because all were redeemed redeemed from tho perished condition. Hence the Bible lays great stress upon the resurrection of the dead, and, further. It assures us that the resurrec tion of mankind must wait until the completion of tho Church Then the Second Coining of Christ will be In order, that lie may exalt Ills Church with Himself as the reigning Power, the Spiritual Seed of Abraham, which God for four thousand years has prom ised shall be exalted to glory for the very purpose of blessing all the fam ilies of the earth the non-elect. "Them That Sleep In Jetui." Surely no Bible student worthy of the name has overlooked the fact that the Bible everywhere speaks of the dead as asleep nowhere does It tell about their being In Heavenly glory or purgatorial suffering, or In a hell of torment Neglect of the Word of God bos confused our poor. Imperfect Judg ments. We lost our way In tho fogs of the Dark Ages, conjured up by Sa tan in support of his lie, "Ye shall not Jurely die," and In contradiction of the Lord's Word, "The soul that slnneth it shall dle."-Exeklel 1S:4. 20. Now we remember that Jesus plain ly said, "No man hath ascended up to Heaven." Now we romember that nei ther Laaaros nor any awakenod from death had any talos to toll respecting the things seeu or beard when dead. Now we remember the particular dec laration of God's Word, "The dead know not anything." Now wa remem ber that the Scriptures teach that the dead are asleepour own unconscious ness every night being an Illustration to us, if we had only heeded the Word of God lnstoad of tho word of men. Now we se that the death state is call ed a sleep, becanso of God's Intention to have n great awakening, or resurrec tion of the dead. It will come in the morning of the New Dispensation. The Ono who died for man's sin Is to be tho great Restorer who will awaken all the sleeping ones. Did He not Il lustrate this ut Ills First Advent and thus show forth the glories of Ills com ing Kingdom? Did He not declare that Jalrus' daughter was asleep, and awaken her? And did He not say, "fjiannn sleepelh." and awaken hliu? He did not resurrect any of these They were merely awakened and be fore tin? time lor the general awakeu lug Hcni-e they fell asleep again. A great awakening Day, however, Is near at hand, the Pastor declared. He carried his hearers back to the remote past. He reminded them of the record respecting Abraham, that he slept with his fathers. He usked who the fathers were and where they slept, and replied that they Were hea then He asked whether they could sleep in Heaven, or whether they could sleep in so warm a place as Pur gatory Is supposed to be, or In the still I more unreasonable hell. He took It for granted, apparently, that his hearers agreed with him that sleep under such conditions would be Impossible, and that the only conclusion must be that they slept In death. The Pastor reminded them that simi lar expressions were used In respect to the good and bad kings and judges and prophets. They were gathered to their fathers, they slept with their fathers. Similarly, when St. Stephen was stoned to death, we read that "he fell on sleep." He cited St Paul as teaching that all the Church will sleep, except those who are alive at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." lie quoted Jesus' words. "All that are tn the graves shall hear His Jesus' Yolce and shall come forth" -the faith ful, the saintly, to a resurrection of Hfe perfection, honor; the remainder of mankind unto a resurrection of trial, testing. 1 Corinthians 15:31. Without the death of Jesus, said the Pastor, all of the race would be per ished, and only In the resurrection have we any ground whatever for be lieving In a salvation from death. Only because Christ died is there an oppor tunity for the Church during this Gos pel Age to respond to a "high calling" to the Divine nature. Likewise only through the merit of Christ's death will the world of mankind be saved from perishing and have an opportu nity durlug Messiah's Kingdom to be recovered from sin and death condi tions, from ignorance, superstition, etc. from the tomb. Gradually they will be raised up, up, up. in the image and likeness of God in tho flesh, ultimately to enjoy Him forever in a world-wide Paradise, from which will be cut off In the Second Death all wilful evil-doers, all who pre fer sin to righteousness, when the Truth shall be made clear to them and when the opportunity will be fnily within their grasp. Incidentally, the Pastor mentioned u gross mistransla tion of the Inspired Word In John 5:21), nnWly, "resurrection of damna tion." The Crock word here, he said. Is krlis, nud has not in it the slightest suggestion of Are or torture or suffer ing. The Revised Version renders this verse properly "a resurrection of Judgment." Only "He That Believeth." I am not forgetting, said the speak er, that our text proffers Divine bless ings only to believers. Neither am 1 forgetting that only a few are believ ers In the Scriptural sense now. Sta tistics mention four hundred millions of Christians; but as we nil know, this includes practically everybody In Eu rope and America, with a few In Asia and Africa. It Includes many in pris ons and Insane asylums, penitentiaries, etc. And that leaves three times as many whom we call heathen, who have no knowledge of Christ whatever twelve hundred millions. Surely none of these are believers In the sense de fined by Jesus and tho Apotitlea. Jesus implies that if any one renlly believes Ills Message, his faith will transform bis whole life bo would see so great a blessing promiseu to tuo faithful follower of Jesus that he would count all other alms and ambi tions ns loss and dross and run with patience the raco set before him. Only these nre believers, and they are com paratively few. They nre a fine com pany. They will get the prize, the "pearl of great price." the Kingdom Joint -heirship with the Redeemer in Ills glory, honor and Immortality. But are no others to be blessed? If not. why did Jesus taste death for ev ery man? Does not that expression Imply that every man will have some opportunity of profiting by Jesus' death? It surely does! Those who now hear, appreciate, believe, lu the Bible sense, alone will have an oppor tunity for sharing the First Resurrec tion of tho blessed and holy. But the remainder, we are assured, will all come forth from the tomb to bo grant ed on opportunity then for hearing and believing and gaining an Inferior bless ing. The blessing now is a spiritual one only; but the blessing to be offered under Messiah's Kingdom will be an earthly ono Restitution, human per (ectlon in an earthly Taradlso everlast ing. Tho Bible tells all this, says Pastor Russell. It declares that the god of this world, Satan, Is now blinding the minds of nil except believers. It equal ly tolls that In God's due time, during Messiah's reign, all the blind eyes will be opened, and all the deaf ears un stopped, (Isaiah 85:5.) Then the whole world will be granted an opportunity of enlightenment respecting the God of Love, and His wise, Just and loving terms of reconciliation, and will be blessed by the great Mediator of the New Covenant Note bow this Is ex plained by the Apostle: God wills to have all men come to a knowledge of the Truth, that they may be saved. To this end He has provided that Jesus shall be the Mediator between Mm wif and mauklnd. In harmony with the ! ather s Plan, Jesus Is now select lng the Church class, to be a Royal Priesthood, a Bride class, to share with Him In His Klugdom glory and Media torial work for the world. It was to tb end that lie gave Himself a Ran som for nil to bp testified In due time. -1 Timothy 2:1 (i THEMEET1NGSAT IDE LARGE IEIIT Notwithstanding the Threatening Weather There was a Very Large Attendance. The cyclone which isited Omaha and other places al East ertide has left its impression un; the minds of the people to that extent that I hey shy at a cloud and a refreshing breeze. Last evening at I he tent, during the) very interesting discourse of Itev. Smith, when the breeze which everyone had been desir ing, arrived, the congregation be came affrighted like a timid child and skurried home, probably to put the windows down; anyway, the meeting was brought abruptly to a close. During the evening until that time the meeting had been a very good one in all its features; the music and singing had been an especial treat and had consisted in the chorus and congregation singing, besides a chorus sung by a number of little girls, which sounded very beautiful. Mis9 Mathilda Vallery rendered a very pleasing number, which was en joyed by all present, as well as was the one by Mr. Klinger, the "Ninety and Nine." Another feature of the singing was the male quartet, which was strong in its pleasing features. The subject of the evening was "The Backslider," and it was handled in an admirable manner until the wind frightened the audience away. Tonight the sub ject will be "The Love of iod," and will be the musical evening of the week. Among other good features will be a solo by Mrs. E. II. Wesroll and another will be one of I he favorites by the male quartet. Al the lent yesterday after noon was held the men's meeting, and I here were gal tiered a large number of men. who were very much entertained and interested by the story of I lie rescue of "Win" MrClure. I he engineer on I he Iowa Central railway. There was much line music during Hie afternoon meeting and it was well attended. notwithstanding the heat. The won i sm meeting, which was held at I lie Christian church al the same lime thai the men's meeting was being conducted in the tent was well attended and much interest was manifested. At the lent last night there were nearly live hundred present, notwithstanding- the excessive heal during the earlier pol l ion of the evening. The lent was very comfortable, as a slight draft crept under the canvass and in a measure made I he heat seem less slifling than it had been out side during tne day. Tomorrow evening the afler- noon meeiing win ne uem hi t.r instead of at :i:30, as here fore. This will lie just before the evening service, which will be it H o'clock, and the subject will Profit and Loss," ami will lit a ( .hrisl lan business discourse, afternoon meetings 1'lie oilier will be al n .'10 as heretofore. ANOTHER PIONEED LADY PASSES TO THE BEYOND Yesterday morning al 8:15 Mrs. Jennie It. Wells passed away al the home of her son, . E Wells, in lied Oak, Iowa, after an Iness covering about a year from heart trouble. Mrs. Wells was a resident of this city and county for many years, the fam ily having resided in South Bend and this city, and was a lady be. loved and highly esteemed by al who had the pleasure of knowing her, and in her death the sym nathv of the entire community will go out to the bereaved fam ily in their hour of grief. The body of the deceased will be brought to this city tomorrow afternoon at 3:20 and be taken to the St. Luke's church, where services will be held and the in terment made in Oak Hill ceme terv beside her husband, who preceded her in death some year ago. LOST Between Plattsmouth and Louisville a Presto-o-lite Tank. Finder please leave same at this or the Louisville Conrit olllce and receive reward. Farm for Sale. Anvone wanting to buy a farm would do well to see W. It. Bryan county assessor. Correct Statement of Accident. In the article in regard to the in.iinv to Frank Slaac-k, which occurred at the shops Friday, the statement was made tie was in jured on the air compressor, when the accident occurred on a pneu matic air machine operated from the air compressor. Mr. Slavacek has been working on this ma chine for some time, being se lected on account of his long and careful service for the shops, for the job of running this machine, which requires a great deal of kill, and the accident was due to pulling the lever controling the machine in the wrong direction. THE TEMPERANCE APOS TLE" AT THE T. J. SOK OL HALL SUNDAY NIGHT There was a large crowd pres ent last evening at the T. J. Sokol lall, in the west portion of the city, to witness the presentation "The Temperance Apostle," a three-act farce comedy given by the members of the dramatic club f South Omaha, and it was pronounced by all who witnessed it as one of the best dramatic of ferings ever given in this city in the Bohemian language, and the clever work of the excellent com pany of actors met with the warm approval of the audience. During the progress of the play several pleasing vocal numbers were given by different members of the company, the accompaniment be ing played by the Holly orchestra of this city, who also gave several excellent numbers between the acts of the play. There was a arge number here from South Omaha, driving down in cars, and number arrived on the Missouri Pacific at 1.' :10 yesterday noon tud spent a delightful day at the ool and comfortable park of the society. After the play the visit ors were entertained at a social anee for several hours, and al though many were kept away by tin' threatening weather, still the for ccasion was most enjoyable ill who attended. CHAPTER F P. E. 0. ENTERTAINS CHAPTER H, OF SOUTH OMAHA Saturday, June 1 i, was a gala iv in the annals of Ihe l. E. O. sisterhood ot Piallsuioulli, when they entertained Chapter M of South Omaha. Ihe visiting ladies were met at, thw noon Missouri 'acilic train and taken by auto to Ihe home of Mrs. Fannie Dick son, where an appetizing four- ourse luncheon awaited them. Ihe house bore a most festive ap pearance, with tin? chapter colors, yellow and white, entering into Ihe decorations, and the chapter (lower, the Marguerite, was every where in evidence. In honor of Flag day the spacious porches were convened into a vername lower of red, white and blue. A musical and literary program followed Ihe luncheon, after which "gelling acquainted" was the order of Hie hour. Chapter F of our city has hail many de lightful occasions, but. none more thoroughly enjoyed than Ihe one with their sister chapter last Sat urday. A mutual feeling of re gret prevailed when train-time drew near and departure was in evitable. A number of the local chapter accompanied their guests to the Missouri Pacific station and a hearty "come again" re sounded as tin train pulled out. Take Plenty of Time to Eat. There is a saying that "rapid eating is slow suicide." If you have formed the habit of eating too rapidly you are most likely suffering from indigestion or constipation, which will result eventually in serious illness, un less corrected. Digestion begins in the mouth. Food should be thoroughly masticated and in salivated. Then when you have a fullness of the stomach or feel dull and stupid after eating, take one of Chamberlain's Tablets. Many severe cases of stomach trouble and constipation have been cured by the use of these tablets. They are easy to take and most agreeable in effect. Sold by all dealers. Mrs. C. M. Parker was a pas senger Ibis morning on the early Burlington train for Omaha, where she will visit for Ihe day with her sister, Mrs. I. L. Long worth, who is just recovering from the effects of an operation. MRS. PETER A. WELCH SUB MITS TO SURGICAL OPERATION Mr. Peter A. Welch of Omaha, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. August Bach, sr.. this city, submitted I" a surgical operation Saturday morning for gall stones, and while the operation was quite serious, the patient is getting along nicely up to the present, time. The operation was per formed' at the St. Kalherine hos pital, and Mr. and Mrs. Bach were with their daughter at the time, returning home Saturday evening. Mrs. Welch had been suffering for some time, and the operation was postponed upon the surviving of each attack until the condition of the patient became quite serious, and over forty stones were removed. The many friends of Mrs. Welch in this city hope thai her recovery may be rapid and permanent. REPORT OF SERIOUS TROUB LE OVER AT CEOAR GREEK This morning about 10:30 Sheriff Quinton received a tele phone message from Cedar Creek announcing that a man had been shot at that place about 9:30 and the sheriff at once started for Cedar Creek in an automobile to look into' the matter. As far as can be learned the wounded man was seated with some companions near the river, when the report of a shot was heard and parties hastening to the scene of the shooting discovered one of the men to be suffering from a wound indicted from a weapon which it is reported (he men were handling, and the circumstances as far as heard in this city point to the shooting as accidental. Dr. Worlinan of Louisville was sum moned to Cedar Creek to attend to the case. MURDOCH Hev. C. Cole was in Lincoln one day last week. Mrs. Edna Jones was a Omaha visitor Monday. Lewis Hornbeck was shopping in Omaha Thursday. (ieorge . Skylies was shopping in Elmwood last Friday. F. O. Beal was a Omaha busi ness visitor Monday. Mrs. fireeii of South Bend was on' our streets last Friday. Master I'll is entertaining Master I.ish of South Bend this week. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Taylor of Louisville were in town one day last week. Born To Mr. and Mrs. John Schurin. a 10-pound baby girl, last Sunday. (ieorge Williamson and Id Hornbeck were in Syracuse last Tuesday. " Do you want a car ride? If so, ask George Williamson; he has a new Ford car. From recent reports we hear that Murdock is to have a "band" again. Aren't you glad? Nellie Hush left Sunday even ing for Lincoln, where she in tends to go to summer school. The Murdock It. N. A. nl tended a banquet given by the Omaha Ft. N. A. last Wednesday evening. Miss Cora E. Sin it It and her niece. Fawn Camera, were visit ing with friends Saturday and Sunday. The M. E. church is preparing for Children's day next Sunday, June l,r. Everybody come and see what old and young can do. Miss Neva Elliott of Havelock, who has been visiting her friend, Miss Edna Joehanson, the past week, lias now returned home. Mrs. J. W. Hughes, who has been seriously ill in the hospital al Omaha, is now home again and is feeling as well as can be ex pected. Wild strawberries are now ripe. Get your baskets and pails and go lo the country for berries be fore the other fellow beats you there. Buys Ralph Mwllls Home. Dr. O. K. Bachmann has just concluded the purchase of the home of Ralph Mullis, on North Sixth street. This is a com modious and comfortable house of eight rooms, with two full lots and an abundance of shade trees, and wilh the improvements Ihe doctor contemplates will make him a beautiful home. The sale was effected through O. F. S. Burton. The Journal for Calling Card a.