The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-07-18

| prepared in all its beauty for him.
All, how the moaning of the trees
must have sent shivering through the
spaces of the garden to the hearts
of that guilty pair these words of the
| righteous God, and how out on the
thorn-covered ground outside the
garden must have begun to be real
lied the meaning of this awful judg-
| ment for sin as the father and moth
er for the first time saw death in the
body as they gazed in anguish upon
the face of their dead boy, killed by
the hand of his brother, and that
hand Eerved to the deed by the sin Of
his parents! THE soul that sin
meth it shall diei" That judgment
of righteous God cannot be altered.
1t never has been altered and never
will be altered. But God, mot will
ing that any should perish" hath
provided a way of escape through the
Heaven-sent substitute. The sinless
| One became sin for us and bore the
guilt of the world in His body on the
tree and died for us that we might
be free from the guilt and conse-
| quences of sin. Herein is manifested
the perfect righteousness of God,
and the Spirit of God, having con-
victed the soul of sin, leads that soul
out into the light which sees Christ
as its Saviour and the way back to
the Fathers House and true sonship
| with God. Gods Son in the world,
| Gods Son on the cross, Gods Son in
the tomb, Gods Son triumphant over
death with the glory of the resurrec-
ton surrounding Him, Gods Son as
cended and at the right hand of the
Father. ooh. how wonderful! God
help us to understand such marvel
Gus truths and the infinite love that
gave them birthD Gods Son come
into the midst of the far country
and leading the way back Home to
Fathers love and care. Yes, "for as
many as are led by the Spirit of God"
realize their dead and lost condition
in sin and turn to Jesus Christ as
Saviour, and thus become true sons
of God.
Sons of God! Oh, friend, it will
take the years of eternity to fully
tell the riches and glory summed up
in that relationship. Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath be-
slowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God: therefore the
world knoweth us not, because it
knew Him not. Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when He shall appear, we
shall be like Him; for we shall see
Him as He is" The world hath moth
ing to offer which can compare with
this matchless provision which God
has made for man in finding his way
back to Him, and the glory and bless
ing of that sonship is not a future
hope beyond the grave, but a present
reality, for" our text goes on to
declare, I'VE have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear"
Fear of what2 Fear of sin and Satan.
Who else is there to fear but Satan?
For 1.-THE whole world lieth in the wick
ed one," and because your adversary,
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may de-
YOUR Yes, and again he comes as an
angel of light and would lead astray
the very elect if it were possible.
Perfect Deliverance.-But don't sup
pose for a moment that the devil has
everything his own way, for the sons
of God "have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear" Satan has no
longer any claim on you and can no
longer touch you if you, as a son of
God, take refuge in the One who has
completely overcome him. The Spirit,
leading you as a son of God, brings you
out into the light of His completed
work in the soul, as you realize the
meaning of the third part of His mis-
sion in the world, that of convincing
of Judgment, because the prince of this
world is judged"
Poor Christian on his way to the
celestial city, seeing the lions in the
path ahead, was filled with fear and
dread and hesitated to pass that point
until, as he drew nearer, he found that
the lions were chained. Blessed be God.
He has not left His sons to be torn by
unclaimed lions of the DEVILS breed
ing. They are chained here and now,
and can't touch us if we stay in the
narrow path and keep our eyes on
Jesus, our conquering Saviour. Dur
ing the millennial age the devil is to be
chained from the world, but praise
God, ever since the complete undoing
of Satan in Gethsemane and on CAL
vary, Satan has been chained from the
sons of God, and he can't touch them
unless they backslide into the far
country and fail to claim complete de-
liverance. What! Do you mean to
say that I do not need to fight the
Christian warfare? that Satan will
not buffet me and ensnare my feet In
his hidden traps? No, 1 did not say
that. You cannot expect to be any
freer from such experiences than was
ST. Paul, who was buffeted sorely, but
who fought a good fight and came
off more than conqueror through
Christ Jesus. But God does say, in
the text He has given us, that the sons
of God have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear" We have
to fight, and fight desperately some
times, until the cold sweat stands out
on our foreheads and everything fails
but our faith in God and His promise
that He will not permit us to be
tempted above that we are able. Yes,
we have to fight, but not in fear of
Satan, the enemy of our souls, but
in full confidence in Him who has won
the victory over him for us. The Spirit
bears in upon our souls the truth
that the prince of this world has
been judged, and that the sons of God
are free, and as we turn our faces
towards the Homeland and see our
Savicur's face we joyfully cry: Abba,
Father" and hear Him speaking back
L