The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-10-18

facts and laws Of the moral and splr-
itual constitution Of man. Take the
parable of the "lost sheep" and the
''prodisal SON." How does the Good
Shepherd seek His lost sheep? How
does the Father restore the lost child?
The Divine mercy and love seeks and
Influences the children of men Ill
countless ways. God seeks man IN the
very fact that sin itself is foreign TO
mans higher nature. The i;fe Of sin,
of alienation from goodness, is disap-
pointment. Its pleasures are apples OF
Sodom. The evil course, in the END,
eXhausts itself. The prodiGal gets 10
the end of his resources; then he re-
calls that he is his fathers child. 1t
is so with all Kinds of sin. In the laws
of mans moral and spiritual being, 1t
is ordained that there shall be reac-
ton of the divine, the good III man.
against the evil within and around
him. I do not know how far men may
90 toward destroying the posslbllltles
of good in themselves. No finite mln0
can dogmatiZe on such a question. l
oply know that Jesus never despa!red,
and that He teaches us to despair OF no
man.
In seeking and restoring sinful men
TO their true lives. the ministry or q
loving and sympathetic humanity has
the largest place of any other instru-
mentality. It is a continuation Of the
ministry of Jesus. His ministry was
not in His words alone; it was chiefly
in His wonderful personality. HIS
gentleness, His faith in man, inspired
faith and hope and courage in tncse
He ministered to. Men are sought ana
found through goodness and love ana
pity in their fellow-men. Jesus SAID:
do good, despairing Of no man." BE
merciful, even as your Father IN
heaven is merciful;" "If ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will forgive you" Make the heavenly
Father real to men by being incarna'
tions of His love and goodness.
The love of God is seen chiefly III
love and pity in the heart OF man.
In the ancient liturgy OF the Cnurch
there is q phrase that says, GOD hath
given power and commandment to HIS
ministers to declare and pronounce TO
His people, being penitent, the abso.
luton and remission Of their sins.
There is a wonderful truth in those
ancient words. God hath given sucn
mower, not to ordained clergymen
alone but to every sympathetic ana
ministering soul. The law OF divine
forgiveness and spiritual renewal IS the
central law Of the evangel OF Jesus.
I stand by the side of man in the
spiritual agony of remorse. He las
drunk the horrible cup Of iniquity. lie
is sin-sick. He feels the crushing bur-
den of his own wrong-doing. He longs
for deliverance, for ease Of conscience,
for sense of divine forgiveness. He is
sorry for his sin. The inward oark.
ness of his soul has projected 1tselt
upon the heavens. He thinks tnat COO
is angry with him. He is AFRAID or
his Father.
The message to such is that tho
Fathers love and grace are waiting 20
receive and to renew him, that COO
"waiteth to be gracious" II man
is truly sorry for his sin, and wants to
lead a new life. I can say to him: Ihy
sins are forgiven. Go in peace, and sin
no more. God is your Father, and in
that name there is eternal commence
and ground for faith in His forglTlns
love. In the very act of believing this,
love springs up in the soul, and the
peace that passeth understanding taxes
the place of doubt and fear.
Love re-creates the soul, ard the
man becomes "a new creation" He
begins to live a new life and to fight
n winning battle with sin and tempta'
ton. He knows and feels that power
is in him that is all sufficient for every
need and every emergency Of his lie.
All this is of the free grace and love
of the Father. "Not by works or
Righteousness that we have done, nut
according to His mercy He saves u.s."
The relationo OF q child toa father does
not stand upon any legal formally; II
is not conditioned upon any service
that may be done by the child. This
is nre-eminently true of the relation
between the Heavenly Father and his
human children.
The love and grace OF God come
through no contract. st. Paul tells
of those who live as servants in the
Fathers house. Their spirit is one OF
bondage, not Of joyous trust ana spir-
itual freedom. The effort TO obtain IL"
sense of forgiveness and spiritual peace
and joy by diligent discharge OF outI
leaves the tender conscience IN doubt
and fear, because 'the commandment
is so exceeding broad" that at BEST
mans endeavors must be imperfect, or
else it leads to Pharisaic Self-com-
placency. 1t turns the moral life into
a legal routine Of duty. Between thal
kind Of legal service which we may
render under hope Of winning Gods
favor. and the free service to when we
are constrained by the sense OF divine
sonship and love, the distance IS I'M
measurable. 1t is to Jesus that the
world is indebted for showing us thls'
and enabling us to pass from the srate
of servile obedience to God Whom we
fear, to the joyous service OF tatne.
whom we love. We accept this view Oh
the relation between our souls and COD
upon the authority Of Jesus as our
great Master and Leader in the things
of the spirit, as from one who staEus
supremely above us in spiritual lnsignt.
Love creates a loving and obedient Ere.
1t destroys selfshness from the heart.
1t makes character; and character is
salvation, in this and in all worlds.
The kingdom Of heaven on earth is
the kingdom of love, q society of men
and women who live the loving ana
Christ-like life; who believe thar TINS
is Gods world, and who live upon TINS
principle every day; who believe that
all men are brothers and sons OF Cod,
and act toward all men as if they
really believed this.
These principles of the religion OF