The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1911-02-07

tHul We SnOulu De WILING 10 JON III
traduclng our Creator. IN order to oh.
tain this resultI We answer. no, Il
thousand times. No. In our Judgment
the perverSiUlls Of the Truth. the dis
honoring of our Maker. the lnSillllag
of misc OH options into the minds OF
the ppuule. * un awful cost to pay.
even If - results should he II hundred
times as great as promised Well did
Jesus say. "Ye compass sea- and land
10 make one prUselyte and when he IL
gained. sou make him twO-fOld more a
hid of destruction than yourselves
tMutthew XXiii. l5i. The conversions
achieved by Misrepresentation of God
siStl Il poison into the heart difficult
TO eradicate. lmperviOus to the Truth.
1t grleves me to be obliged conscier
tiOusly thus to characterize u move
ment which has. at least. un outward
appearance of gOdlinesS. 1t will at
tract to me the venom of those whose
hypocrisies | criticize. 1t IL not the
money that they will collect that
grieves me. for those who give 1t hon.
estly. thinking thus to serve the Lord.
will surely be blessed by him. 1t Is
the hypo risy of the thing. the misrep-
reSentutlon of their own belief aud un-
belief and the SANDER against the holy
name of the Creator and the further
bamboOzllng and throwing of dust into
the eyes Of the common people-this
awakens. and should awaken, right
eous Indignation And the more 9th
ers do not speak. the more | must
speak In denunciation and in warning
to the people to search the Scriptures
and become undeceivcd
Hearkcn Now to Our Text
The teachings of all of the creeds
of the Dark Ages" which have come
down to us. although they contain
mnny good things. are so befogged
with misrepresentation of God as to
be stencil to our nostrils and men
. q to our spiritual health They pic
tire TO US God either reckless and
careless Of the future interests of his
human creatures. or else MS powcress
to aid any but the few. They picture
TO us millions going down to torture
during the four thousand years be-
fore Jesus came into the world to seek
and to save that which was lost. They
picture to MS that since his coming
only handful, comparatively. of the
human family have become his dis.
ciples. fOotstep followers. Meet for
the inheritance Of the saints In light"
All the others. according to our Prot
estant creeds. CaIvinistlc and Armini-
an. have gone down TO eternal torture.
From this standpoint 1t Is that DR..
Chapman and Mr. Alexander are the
heroes of the hour. saving few more
whom God would have otherwise neg
lerted. or. as some might say, saving
them I'm spite of Divine foreordination
to the contrary.
But what sny the Scriptures? Does
the Bible substantlate such theories?
My, nay! In harmony with our text,
the entire Bible reveals to US God
as Infinite In his Wisdom and Power
as In his Justice and Love. Our text
tells us that he is mindful of his crea-
tures-humunity. He was mindful in
the very beginning when he created
man and foreknew his fall. Away
back there he foretold that "the Seed
OF the woman should ultimately brulse
the Serpent's head" Awny back there
ne Indicated his Divine purpose. In
due time, to redeem man from destruc-
tlon mot from eternal tor,nent, for
none were sentenced TO tormenb.
The skins which covered the naked
ness OF our first parents cost the lives
OF animals, and thus God typlcally
nrophesled "better sacrifices" for the
perfect covering of mans sin and
shame In Gods dealings with the ma
ton OF Israel. he gave numerous types
foreshadowlng the later blessings, fol-
lowing "the better sacrifices" of the
unttyplcal Atonoment Day blessing
all the families Of the earth,
God was mindful of mans interests
all that time Qor over forty-two cen
turlesl, even though, during that long
period. nothing was actually accom-
plished The salvation was purpOsed.
was planned, was assured. but must
he waited for until Gods due time.
Reconciliation by "5etter Sacrifices"
When Jesus appeared the world was
still IN sn--even the one little nation
of Israel was stil under Divine con
domination because OF SIN because
their typical sacrifices were insufficient
and merely foreshndows OF "thc better
sacrifices" which God was mindful
later TO bring TO pass,
Those better sacrifices" are not yet
completed, though nearly so, we be-
lleve. They consist OF "thc Man Christ
Jesus WHO gave himself Ransom
for nll," 9nd also of the faithful few
whom he has accepted as his disciples
aud who are walking In his steps.
'presentlng their bodies living sacri-
ilces. holy and acceptable to God"
through their ltrdeemer from. xii, II.
God Is still mindful OF humanity.
He has not forgotten his responsible
ties as Creator The theory that
God shiriys his responsibility and nj
lows the ninety thousand who die
daily TO drop Into eternal torment be-
cause OF cnreessness or Indifference
on our part II not true-ls not Scrip
turIi.