The Penn's Grove record., 1911-04-14

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A runs a conception of sin
VEN. as of something dreadful,
NW#NK beyond the power Of words
@s to express; and. strange
to tell the righteous men
who wrote the various histories,
prophecies, psalms and epistles that
fill the sacred volume were them
selves one and all conscious OF
sin, and that, too, apparently, IN
proportion to their righteousness.
He who does not know that a
was the chief of the apostles
knows but little Of the history OF
Christianity, and he that does not
know that Paul regarded hlmseH
as the chief OF sinners knows
but little about Paul. There Is MOTH
ing lighthearted in Paul's confession
of sin. 1t comes from the soul. He
had looked down upon himself from
the third heaven. He knew his sins
for what they were. Neither could
he speak of his sins as II they were
altogether things of the past or. IN
deed, in any proper sense OF d
past at all. He never said, by d
device of the Devil l used to be a
sinner" but "By the grace of God l
am what 1 am" / deserve death and,
indeed, l was dead; yet ] live, or
rather Christ liveth in me. If for a
moment he contemplated himself as
apart from the living power n pres
ence of Christ, he was filled with dis
may and horror that wrung from him
the cry: 20 wretched man that l
am! who shall deliver me from the
body of this death?"
Those Who Have Seen Christ.
This hunting out of sin seems
strange to many Bible students. Our
evangelists confess their long-past
transgressions very light-heartediy
and jauntily; our scholars con-
fess anything; our t~heologians dis
cuss sin in the impersonal way In
which an evolutionist would discuss
a fossil in which he might recognize
the remains Of a possible ancestor.
There are exceptions. no doubt.
There always must be. And the ex-
ceptions are those who, like Paul,
have seen Christ.
No age has ever been altogether
without the heaven vision. Job saw
and heard more clearly than many
others. perhaps because he had come
into the Divine Presence through a
great fight of Affections. When the
vision burst upon him, he said: I
have heard of thee by the hearing OF
the ear; but now mine eye seeth
thee. Whereupon l abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes" AS
long as he compared himself with
other men he could maintain that he
was righteous, but God had placed
before him a higher standard.
Realization Of Sin.
II by some magical power a beast
could become a man, he would at
once find himself a sinner, for his
beast heart would not be suited to
human relations. Not only would his
habits need reforming, but new ideas,
new motives and even new instincts
would be necessary. If a peasant
could become a prince, he would need
a similar change of heart. If a man
hears the call of Christ, and, follow
ing him, passes out of the world into
the kingdom of God, he feels as he
never felt before that he is a sinner.
He feels the need of a mentor that
may teach him the rules of the new
social plane on which he essays to
live. He cannot keep in right paths
unless he hears the voice: "This is
the way, walk We in it." He needs
more than a guide and mentor. He
needs a thorough transformation.
Somewhere in the far-distant fu-
ture the past may be forgotten. The
"old man" may die. He that stitch
upon the throne will say: Behold, I
make all things new" But until that
time, at least, the mar who has been
made a partaker of the powers Of that
new world must look into his former
life and self as into the depths of a
pit, and his song will be: Unto him
that hath loved US and washed us in
His own blood."-Nashyille Christian
Advocate.