The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-11-02
THE NATURAL MAN
Strong Sunday Sermon Entitled: mans
Condition; Gods Remedy


LONDON. ESeLAND.--The following ad.
dress. entitled MANS Condition. Gods
Remedy" was DC deSerea y hI, AZ nDde.m 5ne m'Ena
The special subject assigned to. me is
"The Spiritual llelp.essness OF Man by
Nature, and the New Birth From Above.
] ain not here to defend the uognias that
Theology has based upon this truth. What
Concerns us is the truth Itself. | say tins
with emphasis, because of what is pass
ing around us.
And this should be our position ia re-
card to all the great doctrines of faith.
f'ho ace of creeds is passed. In days oil
chiya'iy, when men had respect for truth
and honor. crecds shut out those VINO
could not honestly accept them Bat now
they avail nothing 10 protect the gold
against thieves and robbers Men WIZ
publicly, and in the most solemn way
hedge their belief in every Christian
truth in order to gain Office in our
churches; and as soon as they secure tine
prestige and pay which oihce affords, they
use the pulpits 10 attack the very truths
they are pledged and subsidized to defend.
Thi. being so, lee us abandon the out
works of our creeds. and, falling bock
upon the Bible, stcnd four square in its
defense.
Iu this spirit / approach, my subject; |
am not ignorant of what theo.oN teaches
abou+ human depravty, nor of the con ro-
yersies respecting it which preceded ,he
eett,ement OF our creeds. But on tins
platform I will recognize no authority save
an open Bible. My reason for saying tins
j. because here, as on many other quSS-
tion., the opponents OF the truth owe their
vantage ground to what is called Chris
tiau doctrine on the subject. For the
doctrine il inconsistent with facts, where.
as between, truth and fact conflict is I'M
possible.
,ts.l u /.
not experienced the new birth. and who
has not the Spirit OF God, may live
lfS- OF the highest morality and rectItuic.
Scripture testifies that in these qualities
the Apostle Paul made no advance ai5er
his conversion. 1t Is no answer 70 lhlS
20 say that in his unconverted days he
came under the external influences OF di-
vine truth. The fact remains that they
were unconverted days, and that with
such an environment he was able to main.
tain such life OF purity and ptety and
zeal. albeit he was spiritually dead in sins.
He took to religion another man might
take to pleasure. or to study, or to trade,
or to drink But in this, as he himself
declares, he was only following his natural
bent-"the desires OF the flesh and of the
mind
Neither is it an objection that such a
case is exceptional. WHAT man has done
men may do. If the Fall made it impos'
sible for men to live pure and upright
lives IN would be unjust IN God to Judge
them for their vices.
There are two great standards or prn'
cip!es of divine judgment With thoSt
who hear the Gospel the consequences OF
accepting or rejecting Christ are final and
irreversible. As for the rest men viii be
Judged by the law OF their being, whether
as stamped on heart or conscience, or as
formulated in express commands at Sinai
THE NATURAL MAN.
The first three chapters of Romans CAIN
notice here. The first chapter describes
the condition in which the mass OF the
heather world was sunk even in days
when the tide of human progress aud cul'
ture was at the flood, and when, more
over, the great religious cults OF classic
Paganism held up standard OF life. a.
high as any that apostate Chrlstendonl
presents-cuts of which one at least had
such spiritual vitality that three centuries
afterwards it bid fair to suppant Chris
tianity as the religion Il am not speak
ing OF the true Christianity. of the true
Church of Cod maintained its ascend
ancy, it was first by penal laws OF ex
treme severity and second by adopting
OF the Paganism which it thus prosecuted
These things need stating il we are tc
understand Alright the closing words o
the first chapter OF Romans. The vile
practices OF tine heather world were not
a due to snoranGe They They knew knew that %s nSg ihs
ment of God that they who practiced sucf
things were worthy OF death, and yet they
practiced them.
But the case of Saul of Tarsus wa'
wholly different. Ii what men call con
science were the arbiter of human con
duct: If that were right which a mar
honestly believed to be right, his was
perfect life. AS judged by any and ever,
human standard, Saul of Tarsus was
pattern saint; but as judged by God HI
Nt.pD C.V, And 1 Dn
the middle verses of Romans 3 intelligent
ly, this is the lesson you will learn iron
them: 1t is Gods estimate Of the lif
of the natural man at his best-the life o
the upright, pious, jealous jew under law
"For that which is highly esteemed amonl
men is abomination in the sight of God.
The story is told of the first Duke o
Cambridge, that when, in the reading o
the Decalogue, the Seventh Commandment
was reached, instead of the orthodox re
sponse, he answered in an aside, that wa
plainly audible, II never did that" Blu
here was man who could make a lik
response to every commandment in tn
Decalogue. GAS touching the righteou.
ness that is in the law, blameless." Sue
was his pround boast.
You will say, perhaps, that this onl
proves that he was utterly blind and dead
But that is precisely what | am insistln
on; that so far is it from the truth tina
human nature is hopelessiy corrupt an
utpTdNeu, Us men 1uuke OF corruption an
depravity, that a natural man may live
life that would put to shame half tn
saints in the calendar. BY course of VI
Christian asceticsm and severe penance
for furnishing the body" these caenda
saints attained to what men deem sain
ship. But to this man saintship was
natural as sin was to many of the saint
OF the calendar.
One of the tests which people hold to
final is that man shall "do his best.
What more can possibly be expected
him? This man did his best" and h
best was a record" that has never bee
beaten. What purity Of life was hi,
What piety What burning zeal! Whi
selfsaerifcing devotion to what he b
lieved to be the cause of God! But lookr
back upon it ALL he writes, "Who was b
fore a blasphemer." And what a bla
phemer!
And so when he comes under the Divir
searchlight he declares himself the chi
OF sinners. Scanning the long line of a
the sinners Of the race, he takes his pa
at their head, "of whom i am the first
ii these were not the words of an j
spired Apostle in an inspired episte, v
might suspect exaggeration. And yet thu
only express the well recognized princip
that privilege increases responsibility al
responsibility deepens guilt. OF course
knew no better. But, that only made
case the worse, for ii ever there was
man who ought to have known better
was he.. And SO he takes his place