The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-21
A PRISONERS MESSAGE.
international Sunday School Lesson
for March 22-"PauI's Message to tbs
Ephesians"-Eph. 2:1-1O.

Most of our grandfathers were bet
ter thinkers than most of their grand
children. They did not think about as
many subjects, but they thought more
thoroughly and clearly These are days
Of loose thinking Few persons, com
paratively are accustomed to think
through big and hard subject We
are accustomed to take our opinions
on difficult topics ready made from the
newspapers. Especially vague is mems
thinking on religious questions And,
naturally, the less men think on that
queen of the sciences" theology, the
more haZy become their views. 1t is
tonic as we'll as a task. for our ener-
waited minds to read such a profound
and closely-wrought bit of literature
as this letter penned by Paul, the
greatest of philosophers, who. at the
time he wrote these words was a pris-
oner for the sake of the views he
taught and the name he loved This
Eplstle to the Ephesians is strong meat
Tor minds accustomed to nothing more
serious than the daily paper, but there
Is none of us who will not be the better
and wiser for an honest effort to mas
ter its profound teachings concerning
SIN, salvation and the risen life
Life Out of Death.
The Bible is startling in the things
that 1T takes for granted. 1t assumes
that sin is death, and leaves the reader
to reason out how inevitably true the
statement is. 1t is proved by human
experience. AS the Iibertine can never
know the sweetness and joy of true
love, and as the boiler maker who
spends his days amid the din OF re-
sounding metal must be insensible to
the finer strains of choicest music. so
the spirit that has given itself up to
SIN can never know the more spiritual
and delicate emotions The conse-
quences of sin is spiritual death. in
this present world as in the world to
come. So to be saved out of sin is
to be made alive, as ST Paul wrote to
the Ephesian converts.
Is There a Devil?
Just as frankly as it recognizes the
deadly nature of sin, the Bible accepts
the fact of Satan as a personality. PAM
did not hesitate to give him his due
as the prince Of the power of the
air" the source of all SHINING and the
lord of all who are servants of sin
Nowadays the devil has gone out of
fashion, but not out of business. Men
call him Incredibly" natural tenden-
cies,' environment" and all sorts of
other indefinite names, but he is the
devil still, and as real a power In the
world today as in the time of Paul.
Indeed, we have but to face fearlessly
our own experience to admit that the
devil is as personal as he was when
our Puritan forefathers used to talk Of
their conflicts with him. Satan is a
master with many servants. Some of
them are angels of darkness, and some
of them are men and women in whom
he seems almost to have become In
carnate.
And one does not have to study deep
ly the world about him TO perceive that
the course of this world" is still "ac-
cordfng to the prince of the powers of
the air." He is the promoter of the
f1eshy life, the arch-enemy of all who
would live by the spirit The black
picture which the apostle draws in the
third verse of this lesson is but par
tial portrait of the work of Satan
among men.
The Greatest Wealth in the World.
The other day [ heard a colored no.
tel porter singing Justify as he work
ed, I'm the Child of King" He did
not have the words correct but he
came out strongly on the houses and
land" "silver and gold" He was of
those who love to think of the gates
of pearl and the streets of gold. But
these are not the great riches of God
The wealth of the King of kings is in
dictated by Paul: God, who is rich
marCV- o.
him. His infinite compassion is his,
greatest riches. 1t is this store that
is the hope of our poverty. Miserable
indeed would men be were it not for
the riches of grace which we have
found in God. Following the gloomy.
picture of Satan and his works, the
inspired writer portrays in brilliant
colors the love of God, whereby the
power of Satan is COMPOUNDED. Be
cause of His great love wherewith He
loved US" Zone of the choice phrases
of this wonderful letter. we are made
awe from the death into which we
had fallen.
Ever since the night when Jesus told
Nicodemus that God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whatsoever believeth on Him
should not perish but have everlast-
ing life" and then substantiated His
words by the sacrifice of Calvary. men
n1ficance of that saying. A plummet
has been invented that will sound the
debths Of the ocean. but no plummet
has yet been made that can measure
the depths of Gods love. Mr. Moody
told of a preacher who was invited to
speak at one of his worlds fair
meetings. The man chose for his
text John ill.,, Is, just quoted. He was
asked to speak again the next night
and again he chose the same text. So
he continued through many nights
two weeks, if 1 remember Mr.. Moodys
words aright-each time preaching
new sermon, and at the end leaving
the subject uneXhausted. The love Of
God is past mans finding out, though
not past his receiving.
A New Identity
The keyword of this epistIe is Gin
Christ" The phrase, or it's equivalent.
occurs more than twenty times in the
book. 1t is in Christ" that the wealth
of Gods love is revealed. 1t is in
Him" that we are raised up from the
death of sin, and it is lin Him" that
we are made alive and permitted TO
sit together in heavenly places" This
is one of the deepest teachings of the
Scriptures. The believer in Jesus loses
his old identity, and henceforth he is
looked upon in the person of the Son
of God. God gives us a new identity
making us one with His Son, and all
the favor that he would extend to His
Son He shares with US. A young man
applied to a manufacturer for a DO
sition few months ago. The employ
er had reason to be offended at the
young man for something that had
happened in the past, but the appli-
cant's brother was his friend. So he
said, IF | give YOU this position II