Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1906-05-31
The Manner of Gods Love.

The Manner of Gods Love.
We know that when He shall appear
We shall he like Him for we shalt see
Mim as He Isl John. 3. ..
Very tenderly John speaks to his
with the Father. Five times in that
beautiful second chapter of his first
epistle he calls them little children"
Once he speaks of them as brethren,
and once he makes the distinction of
fathers and sons, but Immediately
goes back and directs his words to
the little children he evidently has so
In mind. Then all at once, as il an
overwhelming sense of Gods good
ness had come rushing over him, he
cries out: Behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon
Us!" But what is this wonderful
manner OF love? John stands for
q moment as if thinking it over,
and then with voice. all full OF the
emotion the thought brings to him he
whispers, That we should be called
the sons Of God" We, the unworthy,
so stained by sin; we who have so
many times turned away from him,
wasting the store of affection he has
lavished upon us; we, who more times
than we can think or know, have
closed our hearts to every appeal and
gone away into the wilderness to live
in riOting. we are still the sons of
God! 1t seems as if John knew all
nluRnC n % n
little while before he says, "If we say
that we have not sinned, we deceive
ourselves and the truth Is not in us"
Even John, so tender and true, the
beloved disciple, in whom we should
not expect to find any of the deep cur
rents Of evil which played such havoc
with the other disciples, even he
understood all about the deadly
forces of sin.
But is he discouraged that sin Goes
so abound? Oh, no. "If we confess
our sins he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrlghteousness. And this
not because Of any goodness of ours,
but because we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the
righteous" But grand as this thought
Is, it is not all that Is in store for
Gods beloved. For the moment we
are filed with Joy at the thought that
in spite Of all we have done to grieve
the Father, he is yet ready to take
us back as sons if we confess and
return; but John sees still greater
things in store for us Still greater
blessings for us? Yes. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God: an( it
doth not yet appear we shall be like
him. for we shall see him as he is"
what glorious heights this thought
carries us to. Sweeping away beyond
earth and sky, all else forgot, we are
TO be like God. How can we ever
understand this? Is it not too much
for our poor minds to grasp, that
we shall ever rise to the dignity of
character that dwells only with the
Heavenly Father? Surely, some great
things must be expected Of us in re-
turn for such divine gift. Here John
has not left us in doubt. He says
him purifieth himself, even as he Is
pure" He will want to do it-he will
be ashamed not to do so. Then John
says, when we come to realize the
blessings in store for us, we will abide
in God. We will do righteousness
we will love the brethren; we will
lay down our lives for the brethren
keeping the commandments and fully
believing in the name. of Jesus Christ
These are just what the loving heart
will want to do. There will be nc
thought of hardship about 1t. We will
long to do all this, and whatever
move may come in our way to do
And this is the manner of Gods love
How boundless; how Incompetent
sible; how divine! God help us to
'est on this love and makes 1t forever
SNrs.-Edgar L. Vincent.