The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-02-15

N"ACah vi, C.D
OOl r.-.--~---.
ly of yuus npighbUrs us you would
have them speak of yuuI Or do you
hold up their imper.rriiUus to ridit ule
uS you would lie 10 have them hold
up yours! DO you guard your tongue
50 that ynu speak only things you
would thlnk proper for your npighbOr
to speak respecting you. If you changed
placeSI
cimpe Justiee-NothineM More.
Do you not begin to see. Gear friends,
that wnlt God requires of u Is much
beyond what the majority have been
rendcrngI DO you sand appalled, and
| tell M that II would bp impossible to
live fully np 10 that stu@dWd? agree
| with you And 81 Paul agrees. say
] ing. I'VE cnnnul do the things which
| we wDdld The Scriptures again
a%rep und declare There Is none
righteous. no. not ore Ill have sin.
ned aud come short of the glory of
GCd."
what shall we do? shall we say
! that because we are unable to live up
| to our own conceptions aud stand
ards Of Justice we viii make no at
tempt 10 do so. but abandon those
| standards entirely: God forbid We
are weak enough aud imperfect enough
| as II Is. 70 lCuure our best ideals of
! justice would be to take OF all the
| brakes ard permit the downward tend
encips Of our Gpprnved natures to 20
rapidly frOm bad to wOrSp--tO carry us
! further and furthp from God and the
| standards of character which he np-
! proves. We can surely be content to
| Go nothing less than our very best to
! live up to our own ideals ANA TO raise
The Divine slandlrd.
What Would De the Use2
Suppose we do our very best daily
| to measure up to our highest cOucCp
/ lions OF our Gud-Siven ideals aud
/ standards. would God accept Of this
ard count uS worthy of his favor and
Of eternal lifeI Surely not The Law
of the Lord Is perfect. Justice is
Justice Not the heurcr of n law. not
the wPll.wishing. receives the reward,
but the dopr. the obedient. Here. then.
we tiud ourselves In difficulty With
| our hearts. our minds. we approve
/ GCd's Law ard desire to be obelient
to him, but Gud, as 81 Paul says. that
many things we wish to do we fail
to nccOmplSh and many of the things
we do not wish to do we cannot avoid.
I'VE cannot do the things that we
would" We approve the excellent de
mandS Of Gods Law. We disapprOve
the lmperfections Of our own flesh.
! Like 81. Paul, we cry out. 20 wretch
ed man that am! who shall deliver
me from this dead bOdy"-thiS body
that is imperfect through inherited
sin and weaknesses. With our minds
we serve Gods Law and approve 1t;
but with our bodies we come short,
What IL our hopeI How shall we be
delivered? Can we prevail upon God
to change the reasonable requirement
of our text so that 1t shall read. What
doth God require Of me but to will
justly and do imperfectly? We can
not hope for such change In the
Divine Law. Are we then hopeless us
respects Divine approval aud eternal
life? Womans vii, lT-2ii
Tho Gift of God Is Eternal Life.
In our moment of perpexity we
hear Gods message speaking peace
through Jesus Christ our Lord" The
message of peace Is that what we
could not do for ourselves In the way
OF lifting ourselves up to Divine ap-
prova God has provided shall he done
for us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our failure to Keep the Law marks us
as unworthy of eternal life. and
worthy OF the wages of sln--not eter.
nal torment. but death. God In mercy
concluded to offer us eternal life as a
0Ht-bccause of our not actually merit
Ing Ii under his legal requirements.
Thus we read, The wages of sin Is
death; but the gin of God IL eternal
llfc through Jesus Christ our LORD
WOmans vi, 23l, What we could not
obtain legally under the Divine re-
quIrements God prol'ers to us as n
glft. But the gift Is conditional one
! as expressed IN the words, Through
Jesus Christ our Lord" Only those
who accept Jesus Christ as the Way,
/ the Truth, and the Life" may have
/ Gods gift OF eternal life, Hence 1t
whl be seen that 1t Is wholly mistake
to suppose that the heather nt home
| or abroad can get eternal life. the gift
Of God, In ignorance OF Christ. All the
| Scriptures confirm this ana declare not
! only that We cannot save ourselves by
| obedience TO the terms of Gods Law,
/ but that "therc is none other name un-
der heaven given among men. whereby
| we must be saved" through faith In
his name through faith In his blood
| tActS iv. l2l.
But how Is this done justly? and,
why does God so limit his gift Of eter-
| nal lie?
Gods Law represents himself and
cannot change. He cannot require less
than perfection. To do so would be TO
al the Universe to all eternity with