The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-08-21

ture. thenceforth. was hunger and
| thirst for God. which was not graft
fed. A barrier had come between the
Creator and His creatures.
Estraneed From Birth.
The arrangement which our FIRST
parents experienced, dating from the
time of their sin. is one which all
mankind has inherited from them. The
Prophet David speaks of this. saying
that the world is estranged from birth;
and, speaking of himself. declares, 81
was shapen in iniquty, in sin did my
| mother conceive me" psalm II. ~.
| God Is not to be charged with the
| responsibility of this estrangement.
| It comes TO all as the result or out
working of sin. All are sinners and
| all feel themselves unworthy sof the
fellowship of their Creator. and real
ize themselves undeservirg of His
| blessing. The fear which drove our
first parents to hide has since then
| driven many still further from God
| as they have delved yet more deeply
| into sin, not only because of heredlty,
but also through taking a perverse
course themselves. The fear has in
creased. and today one of the most
| terrible maladles on earth is fear
dread. 1t is not surprising that we
find the heather. thousands of mill
Ions. fearing. dreadlng. not with that
fear which is the beginning of wisdom,
and which leads back to God, but with
that fear or terror which leads them
TO think of Him as great Demon,
who has provided for their eternal
| torture.
The same principle operates in the
minds of people born in civilized lands.
There Is fear, dread respecting the
| future, dread which takes hold also
upon things of the present life. This
fear toward God, the Scriptures de-
clare, Is wrong, saying. "Their fear
toward Me is taught by the precepts
Of men, Qsa. 2013) These precepts
of men are represented in our various
creeds, all of which claim, to be the
| Word of the Lord. but all of which are
the product of fearful, human minds
Gods Word does not uphold n single
| NiNiu vi uONN u Slll-
gle creed Of Christendom uphold Gods
| Word. They all contain certain ele-
ments of Truth. around which great
| masses of error have gathered. How
| ever, IL only such as conscientiously
believe every feature of their creeds
| should remain with them, and IL all
others were to step out. honestly and
10 pIa I.~ a.. g. 4
to have very few worshipers. They
are fetlshes of idol worship. surely dis
| pleasing to the Lord. Let every one
| oppose this fear which has done so
much to discredit God and His Word
and so much to turn the hearts and
minds of the best people in the world
| away from God aud the Bible.
"Where Art Thou, Snner"
While our FIRST parents hid from God,
and all of our race have the same dis
position because of fear, God. never
theless, has not hidden from his crea-
lures. AS He called after Adam, say
ing, "Where art thouT and brought
Adam forth from his hiding place, so
| in due time all of Adams children will
be pursued by His grace and mercy
until all shall come to know OF the love
of God which passeth all human un-
derstanding.
We are not Informed that our first
parents afterward hearkened TO God
and repented of their disobedielce.
We merely know that they could not
retrnce their steps. The sentence of
death upon them was enforced. They
were driven out of Eden-away from
the life-sustaining fruits. The Divine
sentence against them was, "Dying,
thou shalt die" Gradually the dying
process operated against the perfect
man until. after nine hundred and
thirty years of struggling, he sue
cumbed-he was dead. The Divine
sentence against our first parents de-
scended to their posterity. AS God
said TO Mother Eve, II will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy concep-
tlon," so has 1t been with all of her
daughters.
And God said to Adam. "In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread
until thou return unto the ground from
whence thou vast taken" So Adams
sons also have contended with the
thorns and thist.es, and, in sweat of
face. have labored for sustenance,
gradually succumbing to the cares of
human lfe-dust TO dust returning.
But as God called after the sinner In
Eden, so He has called after the sin
ner since, but remarkably few have
had the hearing ear.
Amongst those mentioned in the
Bible who heard the voice of God and
obtained reconciliation, we remember
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
and all the prophets, the Apostles,
etc. But the masses of mankind have
not at any time been ready to hearken
to Gods voice. Fear has driven them
further and further away from the
Only Name. The question is II proper
one here. How long will God call aft
er the sinner? How long will the sin
ner continue to be fearful of his Crea-
tor, and continue to go further from
Him? And is God calling as loudly as
Divine Justice. Wisdom. Love and
Power. can calli If NOT whv not9