The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1878-03-08
Fdiiea Leaves.
BIT JOHN REYNOLDS.

We all do Fade as a Leaf.-Isaiah, Lxiv.. 6.
In beholding the wonderful works in nature.
the handy work Of the Almighty, in its various
forms and hues the unlimited variety In Its
adornments, we allow the poet in his descrIp-
ton of it's great latitude, and looses reins to
his imagination. But amusing and ingenious
as the picture OF the fallen leaves In Mr..
Sesrles' sermon may be, is not to take the
place of Gods word on go grave a subject, as
that Of death. To me il seems boyish If not
impious, to ATTEMPT to establish doctrine on
the growth and decay OF leaf. In this at
tempt think he has gone beyond the liberty
allowed the point. | heard Of person who
claimed to be able to make good soup out OF
horse shoe, and it was said that he did it by
begging sufficient quantity of the necessary
ingredients to fill the bill And once heard
a man preach from the letter s, and he made
il stand for sin, salvation savior, and the like,
He might have applied it to soft soap, with
equal propriety and profit. think Mr.. Seares'
leaty Sermon at least, novel production. In
the first place the text has no relation to the
subject OF death, he could just as well have
selected text from one of Doctor Walkers
vinegar bi.ters advertisements-for the chapter
in which his text 10 found from beginning to
end, is in the form and spirit of a prayer for
the Jewish nation while in bondage, the prophet
confesses for the nation that they were all
corrupt and unclean that they had sinned, and
for that reason God had hid his face from them
and that the nation had faded and shriveled
from their former glory and as a leaf is driven
away with the wind, 80 their inlquities had
taken them away and consumed them. Please
read the whole OF Isaiah 81, read carefully the
5th and Sth inclusive and you can see that the
time was lit emblem Of their faded and fallen
condition, but not of death. Mr.. Searles says
Adam did not die physically on the day that he
transgressed, but that he died spirituslly-the
Devil made that same SPECIAL plea when he
beguled the woman and it has been repeated
from Adams time to the present, but / shall
add my affirmation to the Ten thousand who
declare that Adam did die physically and
spiritually on the day that he transgressed and
that sln was the cause Of It. The difficulty to
apprehend the truth in this great question is
only in appearance and not in fact When we
consider that God is omnipresent, in every
place at the same time and that the past, pres
ent and future are one eternal-now with him
the difficulty vanishes and has no foundation
God saw that man would transgress and die,
and timely provided savior in the person Of
his son, the lamb Of God, slam from the foun-
dation Of the world which secured to Adam
and his descendants a probationary state in
which to regain what they had lost in the trans
gression-otherwise Adam and Eve would have
instantly died and went to perdition and this
earth been uninhsbited and the devil would
have triumphed. There 10 no more difficulty
in understanding the fact that man lives here
in the flesh few years before the death per
manently is executed than to understand how
Jesus was slain IN the mind OF the Almighty
and accepted as . sufficient sacrifice for the
sins Of the whole world from the foundation
OF the world and not literally done until four
thousand years had rolled back in the past
but to the law and to the testimony let it be
understood that Adam was IN possession OF
eternal life by virtue OF the tree Of life from
which God drove him.-Geness ill.,, %, "a.
Further, physical death was q part of the con-
sequences and punishment for the sin of Adam
as may be seen by reference to the sentence
pronounced against him-Gen. lii, II. 19,-in
the 10th verse it is said, for dust thou art and
unto dust shalt thou return. This truth is
also supported by the prophets who consider
and treat death as an enemy over which God
declares himself victor. Isaiah 25 sth, and
Hosea 10, IA. will ransom them from the
power of the grave will redeem them from
death death, 1 will be thy plaques! o
grave, I will be thy destruction. The Apostle
Paul also inculcates the same dea-1st Cor,
XIV, Il, 22,-for since by man came death, by
man caure also the resurrection of the dead for
as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all
be made alive. The death here spoken OF is
physical death, spoken Of by the Apostle, with
reference to the resurrection OF the physical
body. for the whole chapter is an argument to
prove that the body is to DO raised by Christ.
as victory over death, by which both soul and
body were held in bondage. Physical death in
this case is an enemy-1st Cor. XIV. 26-the last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death-conse-
quently not normal condition OF man, so
easy aud natural as MIR. searles pretends. No
where in Scripture is there any effort to prove
that the lower animals and vegetation is to be
resurrected How absurd the idea that be-
cause boasts, birds, snakes, together with
vegetables, are found in the lower strate As of
earth IN state of fossilizatlon therefore
natural death must be the condition of man
the word of God to the contrary notwithstsnd-
ing, but we will say with the Apostle Paul.
thanks be to God WHICH gveth us the victory
| throuph our Iord Tasns .oa ~