The Grenada sentinel., 1904-01-16

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<6kl&H IT, second as the
x fES2 stern. all-power-
-&s-[ full God compell-
ing in tho end
the bending OF every knee to Him
and the confessing OF every tongue
tina: He is Lord. The day in which
the sou! may look TO God and be
saved is to be followed by the day
in ;Ec which those who have resisted
Ills offer OF mercy will feel the power
o. His Judgment against SIM Nov
IS the accepted time. now is the day
Of :alvation." now is the day Of
grace. but the period of grace is to be
fnilo"ed by the judgment.
just before the fall of Sardis the
in:;bicants refused the overtures Of
Cyr:.S the Great who was besieginS
the city with his powerful Persian
ar:n.-. But after the capture Of the
c:':: tho conquered people came to
the victorious monarch aud offered
'I7i. Submission. to which proposal
C!"ns replied by the following keen
and pointed parable: "A fisherman
wanted the fish to dance for him. so
he Dla:ci tune on the flute, but the
fis;, 5e;:s still. Then lie took his net
and drew them out on the shore. and
the, ali began to leap and dance.
Bat the fisherman said: a truce to
year dancing now. since you would
not dance when wanted you >"
SardiS had missed the day of grace,
and was come to judgment. So it is
with every soul. While God stands
anl makes overtures of peace and
pardon it may find safety in submis-
sion. bui when the soul persists in
its rebellion it is taken at last by
force and brought into judgment.
where every knee must bow and
every tongue swear" What it would
in ;he end yield by compulsion For
ultimately unto God every knee shall
boz; a::d every tongue swear"
=; lie prophet Isaiah may have failed
! to recognize the full import of his
wurts AID perhaps held the view, quite
cc:n2:Cn to-day, that the bowing OF
every knee and the confession of every
tongue was TO be the glorious consum-
nation CT Gods cali to look TO Him and
to saved. all ye ends of the Garth" Blu,
tia. there was wide separation be-
tween The twenry-secCnd and twenty
thict. verses in point Of time and condi-
tic1s is clear from Paul's quotation OF
this passage. In the fourteenth chapte,
OF Romans he declares that I'VE shall al
stand before the judgment seat of God,
and follows this with Isaiah's prophecy
that every knee should bow and every
tongue swear. The day of grace was no1
70 see ali in the earth looking to God and
being saved, but the day of judgment
was to compe! the bOwing of every knee
in subsection to God. Isaiah sees Goo
as Saviour. standing and pleading fol
the lost world to look to Him and b.
saved, and then in prophetic vision h,
beholGs the Lord in final triumph with
every soul bowed before Him, but ther,
is wide gulf between the two. Oh tha
1t were true that as God calls the worlt
to repentance and salvation. every
kaes would bow and every tongue con
Tess to God. But the word of God ant
past experience do rot sustain any sucl
view MANY are called but few ar,
chosen" 1t was a remnant of Israe
which was to be saved, and it is to be
part OF the world which is to believe OF
the Lord Jesus Chris and be saved No
because God has decreed it So but be
cause the will of man refuses TO have j
otherwise.
N7HAl q picture this brings befor
w Us. Every creature at last recos
ni:ing the sovereignty and power Q
Cod. but oh, the tragedy of that hou,
s;on:c will bend the Knee and confes
w:,h the tongue that the Lord is Coo
but il viii be a submission and acknOwl
eGg:nent which will bring no JOY to tn
heart OF hope 10 the soul. 1t will be tn
submission which the guilty prisoner be
fore the court yields TO the judge as h
pronounces sentence upon him. 1t wi
be al acknowledges of the power an
authority such as the convicted law
breaker is forced to make s.s he is thru!
behind the prison gates and set at til
task in the Jail workshop. The erebe
lious soul that during the day of graz
had been deaf to the cry which went o,
from Heaven into all the earth: ''Loc
unto Me and be We saved" will with SUI
den and awful terror be quickened
hear God as He speaks, and forced
obey as He pronounces Judgment upc
him. How can he escape in the day
judgment, inasmuch as he has nel
lected SO great salvation during the d;
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