The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-02-27

GASIe@HUsaELD the text, Il pray
not for the ,corId,
bnt for those ,rhou, Thou hast 1ircn me-
q, John XVII. ~. He said
When. years ago. / believed that an
! eternity OF torture awaited all who do
not accept Gods ''calI' OF the present
time, had great difficulty with this
! text. asked. Is 1t possible that our
Redcemer was seiectiveiy unjust in his
dealings with our, race? Can It be
true that the Heavenly Father merely
calls and draws q predestlnated few
to himself and to everlasting bliss?
Can It be true. as our catechlsms re-
! cite. that God md Jesus .passcd by"
the great mass Of mankind without
drawing them, without calling them.
without giving them the hearing ear,
without opening the eyes OF thcir un-
dcrstanding? Can, 1t be that all these
blind and deaf, unsought. undrAwn.
uucaifed and unprayed for by the
Savior are going down to eternal tor
mcnt? Ny heart answered. No! But
my brain was confused by the errors.
the neutrality-suspicious. OF the Bible.
which | had received.
John WosIey's "Free Grace"
Trained in the Doctrine OF Election
and Reconstruction Like hosts Of 9TH
ers. felt somehow that Brother Wes-
ley's Touching Of Free Grace. was mare
noble. more God.likc. than Brother
Calvin's teaching respecting Election
and Prcdestinntlon.
Nevertheless. when l reasoned on
the subject said. Car l think Of the
omniscient God preparing n great place
Of sufficient size to hold the entire hu-
man family and QUILTED with every
devtlish appliance for tlieir torture,
and yet being ignorant OF the condi.
tons under which they would be born?
Can l think that he did not know that
we would be born In sin mud sbaI,en
In inlquity? Can j. think That he did
not know Of the present reign Of Sa.
tan. Sin and Death and that 1t would
last for six thousand years and injl.
riously affect our Entire race?4
Brother Wesley's theory OF Gods
Love and good intentions-of his en-
deavor TO save everybody-secIns in.
consistent when. contra with his
teachinS that only a sanity few reach
eternal bliss aud that the thousands
OF millions must, spend eternity In tor
turc. THUS / was once confused. as
millions are still confused today. In
respect to The Divine Character as OK.
cmpliied In the Divine plan of the
ages. So far as | can see. Brother
Calvin had n wise and powerful God
such as ! could admire and reverence.
If he had only been kind and loving
instead of diabolical. And Brother
Wesley had n kind and loving God
such MS could admire and worship.
II he had only had the wisdom and
power Of Calvin's theory.
So long MS we have such confusion
In our minds faith aud hope and love
and trust shake upon tue foundations
of our reason. We recognize that we
know nothing OF the future of our.
selves: that we arc wholly dependent
upon Divine Revelation. But we can.
not expect that our Creator would
give us n Revelation which to sancti.
fed minds would appear Satanic in.
stend Of Divine. We must remember
TINT oir Creator Invites It's to reason.
saying. Come. let us reason together;
though your sins be us scarlet. they
shall be white as snow" Surely n
right understanding OF the Divine Rev.
citation. the Bible. should be n reason.
able n to n sanctiGcd mind.
IIcarken to the Word OF the Lord:
Their fear toward me Is not Of me.
but Is tnusht by the rrecepts OF men!
(1saiah xxx. 1877
Hearken again: "As the heavens are
higher than the earth. so are my meth
DDS higher than your methods and my
plans higher than your plans" isaiah
". %. And 50 VIC find. my dear
friends : Gods Word Is true. His
Character is glorious. Only the mist
and smoke OF the dark ngcs'' have
confused things for us and mystiHed
matters and darkened the eyes Of our
understanding.
Predestination Of tho Bible.
Now MS the six thousand years have
passed and We have entered upon the