The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-12-21

groaning and Travelling in pain to-
gether, desire emancipation into the
glorious liberty of the sons of God.
Their desires have made them dream
and sing of the future victory of good,
of golden ages, and halcyon days.
And in Jesus Christ God has given
to the human race that rich immortal
inheritance of good, which exceeds
by far all that they had thought to
desire, or been able to conceive.
Hence he may be called emphatically,
The desire of all nations. "For this
purpose was the Son of God mani
tested, that he might destroy the
works of the devil" q John iii. 81
which are sin and its concomitant
evils. And God has purposed in
Christ not only to destroy evil, as far
as evil reigrs, but also to confer posi-
tive good as extensively, and even
more abundantly: "For where sin
abounded, grace did much more
abound; that as sin hath reigned un-
to death, even SO might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal
life. by Jesus Christ our Lord" "
Therefore as by the offence of one,
judgment came upon all men unto
condemnation; even SO by the right
eousness of one, the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of
life" Rom. V. IS, 20, 21.)
But have remarked that the mere
personal appearance of an individual,
by the name of Jesus Christ, in whom
God has no purpose of good for man
kind, would not constitute the de-
sire of all nations. Neither would
the fact that Christ has undertaken
purpose of good for the human race,
make him, by proper metonymy of
speech, the desire of all nations, if
that good purpose is ultimately to
fail. 1t is question then of infinite
interest to man, whether the purpose
which God hath purposed in Christ,
will be actually and fully accom-
plished. Will Christ make an end of
evil, and by his righteousness make
all men partakers of the gift of life
eternal, even as all men are partakers
of condemnation by the earthly
man? If not, then he is not in a
proper sense the desire of all ma
tions, since their desire shall not be
satisfied in him.
But is it so with Jesus, that he
shall fail? Our desires are toward
him. Our hopes are centered in
him. Our desires are not for our
selves alone; they are for our COM
panions, our children, our parents,
our friends, and our neighbors. God
commands us to love our neighbors
as ourselves. In the spirit of this
command, our desire is for our neigh
bors as ourselves. Shall our desire
in Christ be for ever unsatisfied?
In one of the past Indian wars, a
certain family of children, in the tenn
porary absence of their parents, were
seized by a horde of savages, and
dragged into the bowling wilderness.
The parents were Immediately ap-
priced of the distressing fact, and
were overwhelmed with anguish.
They turned their streaming eyes
around, in search of means for their
children's rescue. An officer, with a
company of troops, came to the af-
ficted parents, and undertook to
serve their wishes. He went with
his armed force to restore the captive
children. The desire of the half dis
tracted parents was turned to him;
the father went to his assistance, the
mother waited, = how tremblingly
alive in anxietyl They engaged in
combat with the savage captors of
those loved children, but they failed,
and fled back, scattered and wounded.
The father ran to the waiting moth
er, and exclaimed, "Our hope is lost!
Our desire which was towards our
kind captain and his host has failedw
20 my Godl" cried the swooning
mother, "My childrenl my children
Parents, are not your desires for
yourselves and your children, for
your and their eternal salvation from
death and every evil, turned toward
the blessed Jesusa Have you any
fears that he will fail7 But there are
some, even Christians by profession,
who at times seem not to turn their
desires to Christ. The parents see
their loved child ON the bed of death,
one who has made no profession of
religion here; and they watch with
eagerness, saying, % that we might
catch some word, some look, some
whisper, from which we might draw
a hope that our child may not be lost