The Grenada sentinel., 1902-10-11

5S44
Z hnow not hov the Spirit moves.
Convincing men of sin.
Revealing Je9us through Tho Word.
. cseAt,ng faith Ia Him.
..But 7 know whom have believed.
10 keep that which have commlttsd
Unto Him against that day"
The Pattern.--As in every Workshop
ufactured into articles useful and or
namental, there Is the pattern, the
working model which - followed,
20 II is in the workshop Of God. The
perfect man, Christ Jesus, II the mod
el after which all the constructive
work Of the shop is carried on.
The first Adam disobeyed God and be-
came subject to death - . conse-
quence Of sin. All nodded after his
pattern in the world since then have
borne the same disfguring marks Of
sin and death. You cannot expect the
machine which 10 constructed after
the imperfect model will be free
from defects. It was necessary,
therefore, if man was to be recon-
structed, recreated, q new and perfect
model must be secured. For centuries
God was busy preparing for this tre-
mendously important event in the
world. In the fullness of time He
chose His dearest treasure, His only
begotten Son. to go to the earth and by
His life among men, and as man, sup
ply the perfect pattern after which the
new and Heavenly race was to be con-
structed. He perfectly kept the law
of God and did His Fathers will. He
was tempted in all points like as we
are, yet without sin. Wherein Adam
the First failed, He won glorious VIC
tory over Satan and forever put the
arch deceiver Of mankind to fight.
As the perfect pattern He stood upon
the mountain of TRANSPORTATION and
the glory of God transformed Him and
He was revealed to the eyes of sim
full man as the perfect man. He was
ready to 60 back to God, as far 40 He
Himself was concerned.
But from heholding the face Of His
Father in Heaven He turned His gaze
back to- earth and saw the sons of
Adam the First dead in trespasses and
sins. He had demonstrated His own
purity and holiness. Now came the
working out of plan by which death
as punishment for sin could be over
come and man could be recreated
after the perfect pattern. And this was
the subject of conversation between
Christ Jesus, the perfect man, and
Moses and Elijah. He talked with
them concerning His decease, or ex-
odus, which He should accomplish at
Jerusalem. He was to become more
than the pattern. He was to become
the vitalizing force by which the dead
soul was to be called into life again.
He was perfectly ready to step
back into His place in Heaven, but He SO
loved the world that He came down into
it's midst again and became "sin for
us, Who knew no sin; that we might
be made the Righteousness of God in
Him." He became our substitute for
sin, for "the Lord hath laid on Him
the iniquity Of us ALL" Thus in Christ
man escapes the consequences Of sin,
while at the same time Gods judg-
ment against sin 10 perfectly salts
fed. He triumphed over death in His
resurrection, and thus became not only
the perfect pattern to be used in Gods
workshop, but the vitalizing force as
we'll.
The newborn babe does not sud-
denly spring into manhood but de-
velops step by step from babyhood to
maturity. So in Gods workshop, the
newborn soul is not suddenly crowd
ed to the measure of the stature OF
the fullness Of Christ" the perfec:
model, but grows step by step into His
likeness. And herein is where the
workshop Of God is kept constantly
busy. The Holy Spirit, the Active
Agent, ''naketh intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be ut.
tered" for with His eyes on the per
feet model He sees what is needful td
shape us into that likeness. And God
begins to cut off here and smooth
down there, to mold and polish the
soul into the perfect likeness of the pat
tern And the process goes on glori
ously if we will be submissive, fol
'whom the Lord loveth He chasten'
eth" until some day we come into
His presence and are made in all full
ness like Him.
Good Works.-Man in his workshop
| builds machines to perform. certain
work. They are expected to- do that
work or be cast aside as worthless
No less is this true in Gods workshop
! .sFor we are His workmanship. createt
in Christ Jesus, unto good works." Coz
cannot he satisfied with the soul which