THE KING’S BUSINESS
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come. Therefore, Christ arose from the dead and became the first fruits o f them that slept; consequently, there must be the second fruits. He arose for our justifica tion. He ascended for our glorification. By His resurrection He guaranteed the resurrection o f our human bodies. He was the first fruits; we are the subsequent fruits. I speak reverentially when I say God cannot keep this body from being raised again. I do not care what you do with my body when the soul leaves it. You may bury it, cremate it, feed it to the birds, or give it to the fishes, there is no^ power to prevent God from bringing it back a resurrected, glorified body. He makes it over anew every seven years. Why can’t He make it over again after the soul has left it. At the resurrection my mortal body shall put on immortality; it shall lose its corruption and become immortal. Into that immortal body the soul will again enter and five with Christ forever and ever. Resurrection by Christ. RETURN OF CHRIST Christ came into the world to establish His Father’s kingdom, but they rejected the King and the Kingdom. When He ascended to heaven and began His media torial work it was with the distinct promise that He would return and gather the Church unto Himself. This is the period o f the church. Christ is coming again-in the manner in which He ascended. I do not know when He will return, am not interested in the date, do not care, would like to see Him come at once. He has said that no man knew, not even the angels, when He would return. Only His Father knows the time o f His second advent. I know He is coming before the millennium and I rejoice in the fact. When He comes He will gather the church unto Himself in the clouds; then He and the church will come to earth to reign a thousand years. After the millennium He will take the church with Him into heaven. He has said to His disciples, to His children, to His church, “Where I am there you shall be forever and ever.” Wherever Christ is
human, plus divinity. His humanity becomes righteous, and his righteousness is the righteousness o f Christ working Itself out in his thoughts, words, deeds and acts. SOCIAL SERVICE FADS It is amusing to hear the social service faddists, cranks and parasites talk about the value .of social service. Nearly all of them are either creating or seeking some kind' o f employment, and are parasites on the body o f the Church as well as the body politic. There is no social service nor reformation worthy o f the name which is not the direct product of regeneration. The first social service board ever organized was the board o f deacons organized by the Holy Ghost at the very beginning o f the Christian era. He orgaflized that board out o f Holy Ghost men, such as Stephen. They were required to render every social service possible ta the widow, the orphan, the dependent, the sick, the outcast, the depressed, the enslaved, the half-paid, the starved, the mistreated and the ostracized o f the home, the church and the commu nity. The only social service agent is the Church o f Jesus Christ and the practice o f real Christianity is the only social-ser vice labor worthy o f credence. All the reformations o f the world that are o f real value are the direct products o f Christian ity. Christianity is the moit aggressive, progressive and successful force in the world, and it is nothing more nor less than the life o f Jesus Christ imparted to the regenerated soul, and by that individ ual worked out in daily practice. The acts o f the Holy Spirit in the fives o f present- day Christians show real reformation. RESURRECTION BY CHRIST The soul has always been immortal. It cannot be touched-by death. Christianity is a present-day power and force. Men are lost now. Men are saved now, not hereafter. Therefore, Christianity is pre sented to them at this time, and the gospel is brought to them in their lost and ruined condition. Jesus Christ came after them and offers them salvation now» It is for this world. It is also for the world to
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