Newport weekly independent., 1903-12-04

iSdOlu LII WOlQSy lSSI IAAN SAS'
 Christ should be made void" And It is this simple old story of the cross which we want to proclaim that there- by perhaps some may be delivered rom aheir folly and come to see and know ha the cross the power of God. To those who have experienced salvation and thus have come to know Gods mercl- 3ul provision for mankind i'll His plan Df redemption, it seems strange that there should be those who fail to un- derstand God or realize their need of redemption. And yet such there are. It is condition and not theory which ye meet. On every hand there are found those who for reasons which are manifold do not come to a knowledge Df the truth. Skepticism and unbelief aistort the cross and make Gods mar vicious plan of salvation appear unreal and foolish. The finite mind of man tries to reason out and understand the infinite God; he exercises his own wis dom and evolves his own theories as to God and His methods with man. Per Eshlng in the very presence of the cross because unbelief will not give a true vision of the souls need and of the sruclfied Lord, even as many perished m the wilderness because they would not turn their eyes to the brazen serpent which Moses held up, a type of the Christ
 VEN as the brazen serpent marked As the line of separation between the dead and the living, so the cross of Christ marks the division of humanity to-day, between the perishing and the being saved. This division was strik- angiy set forth upon the very day of the 71Tucihxion, when between the two thieves the Christ was placed. To one Thief the cross of Christ meant the power of God which was able to deliver his soul from worse death than that into which his body was sinking, and the SayIour's promise came to cheer his Aeart tn the terrible hour: This day Shait thou be with Me in paradise" But to the other thief came no such re- assuring message, for his heart of un- belief shut out the true vision of the aross of Christ and made it appear as fooIfshness unto him. And the line of separation which existed between these two sinners has continued down to this day. The cross of Christ continues to ahose who are perishing, foolishness, but unto those being saved it is still the power of God unto salyation It is the difference between light and darkness; life and death. On one side the eternal blessing of God and His Christ is being shed. forth and on the other is found the eIo ,,0FI standing in the light of the glory of that aross the power of God is known and felt, but where the darkness and shad- 8w are, there the cross appears as fool fshness. While the soul is carrying the burden of sin the power of the cross is not felt, but when the burden of sin EoiIs into the grave at it's foot, then the soul knows what God has wrought through that cross for him. It is no longer foolishness, but power and wis dom Divine.
 "I' HE cross of Christ is the power and
 1 wisdom of God because of its ne- eessity. The sin of the world could not Ae atoned for in any other way, for without the shedding of blood is no re- mission" Jesus declared of Himself that 'as Moses lifted up the serpent in Ehe wilderness, so must the Son of Man De lifted up, that whosoever believeth ln Him should not perish but have eter- Eal life" Gods justice demanded the punishment of sin. Gods mercy pro- vided a sacrifice for sin. The cross re- reals the power of God. The one su- 2reme thought of God through the ages was the redemption of man, and His mighty power and resources were exert sd in and through man to the accom- giishment of this great salvation" The aross reveals the wisdom of God. He sEanned from the foundation of the world for the redemption of man. And now marvelously He has wrought out His plans through the ages. Only the infinite wisdom of great God could 3ring them to successful culmination. The cross of Christ reveals the love of Sod That wonderful sixteenth verse If the third chapter of John declares that God so loved" His love was so mmeasurably great that the best gift He sould offer was none too good for Him 50 give, and so He gave His only be- gotten Son. Some one has said that T there is any bright side to human sin, f is that it serves as a background on which God can paint with rainbow brightness the colors of His grace and love; it is that 1t serves to bring out aeauties in the Divine character which possibly we could not know if we had aot rebelled against Him. Oh, the love n God which passeth all understanding!