River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-07-08

Tie huOWlSu6S ~
imparts
There are three great words con-
tanned in this text, which it is our
purpose now to study.
The first word has only three let
tiers, and yet it is one of the biggest
words in the world. 1t covers all
space and time since the fall of man.
It's first letter is in the shape of a
serpent, and the hiss of the serpent
can be heard everywhere. The word
translated "sin'' in the New Testa-
ment means primarily, missing the
mark" The figure is taken from
archery. With bow and arrow in
hand the archer shoots wide of the
mark. So man has missed the mark:
he has failed; he has fallen short of
Gods standard; now God would give
him another chance through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
But there is more in sin than simply
missing the mark. 1t means disease,
sorrow death. Need we stop to prove
that we are sinners? Put in one
column all the words that mean some
thing bad and in another column all
the words that mean soemthing good,
and you will find that the bad words
outnumber the good. H.
And the text informs us that sin is
ours. 'He shall save his people from
their sins" You may have some
doubt as to the ownership Of your
house, your hat or coat, but there
can be no doubt about the ownership
of your sins. They belong to you.
God is not to blame for them; Adam
and Eve are not to blame; your neigh
Dor, though he may have tempted
you, is not to blame. Sin belongs to
the sinner, and the need of the day
is real confession of sin.
Jesus saves us from our sins. Sin
is the root, sins are the fruit. We
may differ in opinion as to whether
God destroys the root of sin or simply
destroys the fruit, but there should
be no difference of opinion about the
fact that he saves us from our sins.
He may leave the appetite for drink,
! but he will give grace to overcome.
There may be in us tendencies to
evil, but God can keep us from the
1
our theological hairsplitting. The fact
is that we may be saved from our
sins through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The sinful nature which is as old as
Adam, may remain with us, but it can
be kept under the control of divine
grace. Let us turn our sinful nature
to God and ask him to suppress, to
control, If not to eradicate. IL he will
remove, praise him forever, but If he
sees fit not to remove but to leave
it as a test of character, praise him
for the grace that can make us more
than conquerors through Jesus Christ.
A greater word than sin is saliva
ton. "He shall save his people from
their sins" 1t is neither form nor re-
form. It means life entering our
souls and overcoming death. The
method is simple. God has become
maifest in the flesh, born of virgin,
tempted by the devil, TRANSPORTED on
the mount, betrayed, crucified, raised
from the dead, assembled to heaven.
The Mont Blanc among these noun
tains of fact is Calvary. The death of
Jesus outshines in glory the transfg-
uration. The crucifixion was no Incl
dent. He came into the world as the
lamb of God He died for our sins.
with his stripes we are bealed." All
the blessings that he brings us can
be traced to the bloody scene on the
cross.
glance at the havoc which sin
makes in the individual life, in the
home, in the state, ought to turn us
from it with loathing, and when we
truly turn from sin we may be GER
tain that The Saviour is turning to us.
He wants to save us from it's effects,
from it's power, from it's very pres
ence. The hideous responsiveness Of
sin is only equaled by the attractive.
ness of Jesus, and when these two
forces are united how firmly the
heart becomes fixed upon Christ.
"Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their
sins" Will you not call his name
Jesus? Will you not take him as
your Saviour from every sin, and If
you have been enthralled by sinful
habit he can liberate you. If you
have become polluted in imagination,
and taste, and conscience, his blood
can cleanse and make whittier than
snow. If you have become so weak
in will that you cannot resist tempta-
ton. yield to him, and his almighty
mower will be 0xerted to strengthen
and keen you.