St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-02-20

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H4z.N.- nigh unto God
tY3S.If " 49, Paul is writing tt
2N41S Gentle Christians
0O and in twofolG
- sense the Gentiles
-. were far from God
UP 10 the coming of Christ into the
world and the fulfillment in Him of ali
the Old Testament promises, God haG
dealt with the Gentle world through
the children of Israel, His chosen PEG.
PIE. The promises were first to the
Jews and through them to the Gentiles
LOT IN Abraham and his seed all the ma.
ions OF the earth were to be blessed
FOR this reason and in this sense the
Jews were near to God and the Gentle:
lar OH. But this middle wall of parti-
ZION was broken down by Jesus
Christ, and His sacrifice was without
reference to any particular people, tribe
or nation. "All had sinned and come
short OF the glory of Cod" whether
Jews or Gentiles. and all alike needed
redemption. Christ by the sacrifice on
the cross reconciled unto God both Jews
and Gentiles, and "came and preached
peace to the Gentiles which were afar
on. and to the Jews which were nigh
And now through Christ both Jews and
Gentiles have access by one Spirit unto
fhnrof0ro ha 1oc
are nomore strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saints, and of
the household of God" But, as Jesus de-
clared to the Samaritan woman at ia
cob's well, who was inclined to dispute
the claims of the Jews, salvation was
of the Jews" The Jews held a pc
culiar and intimate relationship to
God. and through them was accom-
plished the wonderful scheme of re-
demption. And God still has definite
plans and peculiar blessings for the
Jews. They have occupied and shall
yet occupy unique and exalted place
In the marvellous fuufllment of proph-
ecy. And because of the unmeasured
blessings which have come to the world
through the Jews, and because the Jews
are to be again gathered as nation in
Palestine, and are to welcome as their
Messiah and King the One whom they
rejected and rucided-because of all
this, the Christian Of to-day, the Cen
tile Christian, ought to pray for the Jew
and for the peace of Jerusalem, ''for they
shall prosper that love Thee In the
above sense then the Jews were nigh
to God and the Gentiles afar off, but in
a broader and more general sense all
are far from God until brought nigh by
the blood Of Christ.
N AN is far from God because of sim
wi When God created man in His
own image it was for His Gods
glory, and the purpose was that the rela-
tionship between the Creator and the
created should be close and intimate.
Before sin entered into the world, God
came and walked in sweet fellowship
with Adam in the garden, but when
man by his own choice disobeyed God,
sin entered into the world, and separa-
ton from God by reason of sin. The ex-
pulsion from the garden-the place
where God had walked arm in arm with
man and communed with him-the shut
ting OF the gate against him and the
placing OF the guard of cherubims and
the flaming sword to keep the way of the
tree of life, all typify the awful fact of
separation from God by reason of sin.
Man henceforth was far from God. Sin
was the awful barrier which rose between
the holy, pure and righteous God, and
man. There are three facts in regard to
sin which must be emphasized: Gods
hatred OF sin, the certain punishment
Of sin, and Gods unchanged and I'M
changeable attitude towards sin. 1t is
as Impossible for sin to abide in the
presence OF God as it is for darkness to
come into the flooding light Of the glo-
rious sun. There Is no sin in Heaven,
not even the most infinitesimal faint or
speck OF sin, for God is there. This
marks the chief difference between earth
and Heaven. Sin is in the earth, but
there is no sin in Heaven. It Is abso-
lutely impossible for it to gain entrance
there. And every soul that goes from
earth to Heaven must be cleansed and
purified from all sin before 1t can enter
there.
1OD hates sin, and sin must be pun
| 4 ished. "The wages of sin is DEATH
God has never altered His decree.
Sin cannot escape the devouring wrath OF
God any more than Sodom and Gomor-
rah could escape the fire Of Gods judg-
ment. And although God has been dealing
in patience and mercy with this old world
for ages. and is still waiting for it to re-
nent and be saved through faith in
Jesus Christ, His hatred of sin has not
grown less, nor has His judgment upol
sin been modified or changed in the lease
degree. God changes not. But conceptions
If Cod do change, and there is an easy
belief nowadays that God is too good
and loving to punish sin. and the one
who clings to sin. But this mlsconcep-
tion this lie of the devil Che began to
tell 1t away back in the garden, and he
has kept faithfully at it ever since) is
only another evidence of the fact that
in some respects the world is getting
farther and farther away from God as
the day of grace shortens, and the night
Of Judgment approaches. There is moth
ing in Gods Word from Genesis to Rev- !
elation which gives warrant for believ-
ing that God hates sin less, or that His
judgment upon sin has changed in the
slightest degree.