Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1903-06-24
THE WRATH OF GOD,

wrath of God abldeth on him.--John
ill.,, SO.
These are precious, and. at the same
time, awful words: They come with
the sanction Of divine authority and
echo the voices of the prophets. They
were spoken by John. the herald of
Jesus, the Messiah, who confirmed
them by his teaching; and their truth
is proven by human experience.
Note the term life" means the
perfect possession of every power of
human nature. This includes the will
to use each power. To - perfect
body would be glorious. but none pos
sesses 1t. When Socrates saw one that
seemed &C nplete he cried, "Jove, how
beautiful" We have his enthusiasm.
More splendid is the life of the spirit
in man. and it is to this these words
refer. Each of US knows some one
who possesses in rare degree this life;
such interpret to us the divine; we in
stinctively feel they are of God. ION
God and Godlike men we build our
trust" But even these have their
faults; only one has ever lived on earth
perfect in all things. l.. fiction I'M
less righted, tends to dc We can
not stand still; we fight sainst the
downward tendency. seeking help from
such as we think can help us grow bet
ter. So we tie ourselves to the physi-
elan, the teacher the friend. Is it not
true that the best wish of your best
moments is that you may become bet
ter? And we have all found that, be-
yond a certain point, there is no help
In man. Once there came unto our
world perfect man, 1.-The Son of God,
with power" He gave himself to the
work of redeeming men from death to
life, and, through his spirit, he is a
constant savior HE that believeth in
the Son hath everlasting life"
''Belieyeth." 1t means more than
assent to the statement of the gospel.
Faith is willing self-surrender to God.
Only thus can his vitality impart itself
to us. This is possible for every one.
They are self-deceived who think other
wise. All about us are those as ignor-
ant, weak, and hard pressed as you
are who, because they open heart and
mind TO him, are growing better. Are
not they who refuse to do this fools
and blind?
The condition for every one is obedi-
ence. 1t is so in ali relationships. To
effect a cure the physician must be
obeyed, the teacher must be followed,
the friend honored, and if the Redeem
er is to save from death to life our
part is to honor, follow and obey.
And now. note the alternative: HE
that obeyeth not the Son shall not see
Efe; but the wrath of God abideth on
him." Perhaps you persuade yourself
that this is visionary statement and
are Indifferent to it, Remember there
is relationship between you and God.
He is yoer heavenly father" God
cannot be different to you. You are
and Away will be his child. 1t is tie
worst b,under one can make to think
that God is careless about him.
Do the words. "the wrath of Cod"
seem cruel words? Nevertheless, our
human relationships explain them. We
are more than inhabitants; we are citi-
Zens of New York, having certain in
herent rights and obligations. It's laws
are the measure of these. If choose
TO go contrary to these rules of con-
duct and commit a crime the wrath of
the city, the penalty of infringement
of law, is incurred The convicted
criminal is still part of New York.
The same conditions hold in the family
life. Does it seem strange that the
divine government is illustrated by
these analogies? Remember the laws
of God are not arbitrary; they are es-
sential to life. Still the problem faces
us, how can the God of love ever be
wrathflil toward his child? Well, I'M
doubleday the Bible proclaims this, and
so does nature. She works by law, and
TO the obedient is beneficial Electric
ity carries your message and moves
your cars, but disobey her and she
kills you This is the meaning of ap-
piled science. And in the moral world
the same principle holds 1t is thus
in friendship; refuse to love and honor
your friend and how her life rebukes
you. BY and by you hate the goodness
which you will not initiate Judas was
cursed by the same friendship tnat en-
nobled John. A great teacher said:
MEN are ruined by their best and dear
est friends, not by their indulgent
fondness, /but by the noble example
that is never followed and the noble
invitation that is never answered" Ex-
perience has taught some of US that
this is true.
Now so long as God is, every sout
must feel his power. He that love.
and obeys is blessed in the thought of
God. The revelation of his kindness $
unfailing, and it transforms the char
acter that gratefully receives. 1t is
equally true that he { a disobeys must
suffer loss of good. Fo" each soul hat
to touch Cod, and as they do this hs
becomes blessing or curse. You are
either better or 4 worse man oeca use
God is. And this is rhe gospel. You
recall how Jesus loved Jerusalem as
she had never been loved by a son, and
she rejected him. Then it was him
self he could not save her people from.
20 Jerusalem! If / had not core and
spoken unto them they had not had
SIN" Here is the awful power of dis
obedience. Men are not judged OF 10i
arbitrarily; they bring the doom on
themselves. If You viii to d Ney.
Gods wrath must abide on you. mere
Is no privilege you may not turn into