The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-10-11
SIN AND SALVATION
THE THEME
REV. HENRY VAN ENGELEN'S
EVENING SERMON AT THE
BAPTIST CHURCH.

At the Baptist church, last night,
Rev. Henry Van Engeten preached
upon the theme. our Great Redeem
err The text was taken from ROM
ans. !: 34-25: .Wretched man that L
am, who shall deliver me out of the
body OF this DEATH | thank God
through Jesus Christ, our Lord" In
rart. Mr. Van Engelen spoke as fol-
lows: .-s~a z@sE ss- +- "a .-.a
Sin and salvation are the two great
words of the Bible. How Christ came
to deliver us from the pollution and
oppression of sin is its vital and
cheering message to humanity. Its
one great function is, therefore. first
of ALL to create a n-consciousness
and so its history. law and prophecy.
its gospels and episties deal with the
origin. nature and development of sin.
In order that man may be convinced
of his deepest need and thus eagerly
accept the wonderful deiiverance pro-
v!ded. Not only is the appalling
nature of sin and its fearful conse-
quences clearly set forth i'll scripture
and re-echoed in such masterpieces
of literature as Faust and Para
disc Lost" but every man carries the
proof Of human deprivity in his own
bosom. ~s"e
Only a defective or diseased mind,
one stifled by the fumes of inequit,
into a spiritual coma, could be un-
conscious OF sin. We may try to
smother this unpleasant and painful
consciousness, yet at the same time,
deep down in our hearts we realize
that If we say that We have no sin we
make God liar and 1--WE deceive our
selves and the truth is not in u.s.
1t does not, by and means. follow,
however. that the average man is
wholly abandoned to evil Paul would
have US think of man as possessed
of dual nature. u strange mixture
of good and evil. Two forces seem
to be warning in his bosom, the one
having Il downward and the other an
upward tendency. That oft-quoted
expression about so much bad in the
best of us and 50 much good in the
worst of us is in perfect accord with
the apostles conception of mans
nature. To bring harmony out of this
moral chaos within, and SO to unity
The forces of our being as to enable
ahe better self to conquer is the great
problem which God iias9 to
solve in providing 10y, man.a deliver
ance. II / III .4+lf.kst
Inaided by God. man finds Ii i'm
possible to bring his life into harmony
With the perfect law of God, which
he may have learned to admire but
which he. nevertheless. continually vi
olates. In childhood he liz a little AMI
mai. with passions and oappeaites that,
If not carefully. controlled, a, he Crews
up. will run away With him and
wreck him. Trus. he il rational being
and soon his mimi begins to develop
and. by worthily, awaiting himself of
his opportunities for intellectual train ]
ing he may maryeIously expand the
horizon Of his being. But he Is not
only physical being but he il an
+ intellectual and spiritual being as
WE'LL and his soul powers ARE his
ruling powers. What If, therefore. his
moral and spiritual environments at
nome and elsewhere should be un-
favorable for the true culture of HIS
soul: What poor unworthy speel-
men of manhood he would be with the
highest capacities of his being stunted
and dwarfed
hut, on account of sin, mans con-
dition Is such that. even under the
most favorable conditions, living I'm
an Ideal environment and enfoyinp
the best helps for the highest deyelop-
ment of all his capacities, even then
ne would utterly fail unless helm came
To him from God. Even then he
would find himself. by reason of sin.
contending in an unequal struggle and
again and again finding himself baf
lied and defeated. he at last must
cry out In the language of the apostle.
VINO shall deliver me from the body
OF THIS DEATH" When We thus ra
alize the need Of ii helper. a deliyerer. ]
a savior. this cry of conscious need
Is quickly followed by the first note
oi victory. as We exclaim Triumphant
~ with the apostle. L thank God.
through Jesus Christ. our Lord
10 then what II utterly impossible
Tor man 10 do for himself. what the
"hSoronment can never do. what
even the perfect law Of God fails To
do Tor him. that Gods infinite love
can do for him, God So loved us that
He sent His son To be our Savior
and we must invoke His help. Then
our drawfed faculties will vet be
normally derelc ped and our latent
powers will be revived. Our will NAV
be weak and we may be disposed to
hesitate, but We must use our com
mon sense and call upon our Savior
at once. He will meet MS more than
half way, and as we get acquainted
with Him our life will be like a plant
that was dropping in Il cold. dark
the warm rays of the sun fall upnu
it. Thus our lives thrive with a ,.,,. !