The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-03-17

anu year Dy year. Win Une J6rrlDlo
consciousness that these sweet affec-
tions will soon be severed forever
And how could they assume the re-
sponsibility of bringing souls into the
world whose existence might be an end
less cursor Again, if God is Father,
there is no such thing as probation,
either here or hereafter. Who ever
heard of probation in a family govern
mentP There is parental government,
discipline and education, but not pro-
baton. AS far as Gods dealings with
us are concerned, this world is the be-
ginning, the infancy Of our existence,
and what God does for the souls of men
in this state, is but the commencement
of glorious education in wisdom, pur-
ity and love, nearer approximation to
God, that shall be carried on through a
never-ending future.
There is no such thing as probation
in the family, nor is the word proba-
ton found in the Bible. You are re-
sponsible for the existence of your
children, and that responsibility can
never be shifted or cease. Are you
more helpful or better than God? You
give your child not simply chance,
but assistance, advice, encouragement,
help, sympathy, self-sacrifce and pun.
ishment, if need be. You shall do
everything and suffer everything for
the good of the child, that labor and
effort shall never cease while life or
thought or being lasts, or Immortality
endures. Paul declares in the thir-
teenth chapter of I'd Corinthians that
love never fails, never gives up, never
ends. Does God give his children only
a little chance on this globe? Does he
cease all fatherly effort in the next
life? Does his love die when the body
dies? How is his character revealed in
the parable of the lost sheep2 Does
the shepherd only give the sheep
chance No, he seeks it. How long
does he seek it ? Until he has gone
over fve-acre field2 No, he seeks
until he finds it; and then he lays it
upon his shoulders and bears it home
rejoicing. This is great deal better
than chance. Go, doubling mortal, and
lay yourself by the oceans side, and
there drink dry its trackless abyss, and
when you have done this, talk about
exhausting the grace and mercy of the
good God in heaven. If the light Of
the sun, the waters of the earth, and
the air that surrounds it, can be enjoyed
by all the creatures that inhabit them
without impoverishing the quantity,
how much more the grace and mercy Of
God without impoverishing that i'm
measurable fountain from whence they
proceed.
Now hear Paul in the 5th Of
Romans: AS by the offense Of
one, judgment came upon all men
unto condemnation, so by the right
eousness of one, the free gift came upon
all men unto the justification of life.
Moreover the law entered that the Of
Tense might abound, that where sin
alb ounded grace did much more
abound" Now if sin is everlasting,
how can grace outrun it; and if it is to
abound throughout eternity, how is
grace to abound much more? Or if
sin extends over the whole human race
and grace only extends to part, is not
the reverse true? Does not sin
abound much more than grace? But the
apostle declares that grace shall be the
victor, universal and complete. "For
as sin hath reigned unto death, even
so might grace reign through right
eousness unto eternal life through Je-
sus Christ our Lord"
1 wish to remark that Universalism
does not advocate the silly idea that
m IN is to be saved anyhow" Whoever
has made this statement is profoundly
ignorant, or else he intends to mislead
the public mind. My only hope Of
heaven for myself or for my race is
through the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Neither is it forced upon us,
but accepted of our own free will
and choice. Neither is it a salvation
from hell, but from sin. Sin is more
to be dreaded than anything else in the
universe, and deliverance from its
power and dominion is the greatest
good that even God himself can confer.
In saving men the divine and human
agency cooperate. "God works in us to
do and to will of his own great pleas
ure." God don't save us contrary to our
wills. "My people shall be made
willing in the day of my power"
Hence we say that the faith that teach
es the recovery of all souls is the crown
ing excellence of revealed religion; the
richest glory of God; the highest honor
of Christ; the fullest joy of the saints;
the sweetest answer to prayer; the
strongest motive to praise; the most
potent charm of Christian faith; a
fountain of consolation in life and a
holy triumph in death; the joy of an
gels and the spirits of just men made