The Mena weekly star. (Mena, Ark.) 1904-1977, 1911-05-25


Importance. and ought to engage the
attention of every thoughtful, candid
honest mind, because 1t has TO do with
our present welfare. and our eternai
destiny This subject may properly be
divided into several divisions, namely
the guilt, the promise, the call by
faith, the fulfilled promise. First, the
guilt. We read from the sacred rec
ord: "In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth, beautifylng
1t with plant life, with herbs ana
fruits, and making 1t rich by the pro-
duction of animal life, for the use OF
the coming man. and God formed man
of the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath OF life;
and man became a living soul" Gen.
81.
The Lord God also planted garden
In Eden. The word Eden signifies
pleasure or delight From this word
the ancients borrowed their Ideas OF
the gardens OF Hesperides. where the
trees bore golden fruit, hence the or
igin of sacred gardens. Into the gar
den of Eden man was placed by the
hand of God, to dress 1t and Keep IT,
with only one positive precept, Gen.
PIT. but of the tree of the knowl--
edge of good and evil thou shalt not
eat of it,"
An intelligent creature without
law to regulate his conduct Is an alb
surditv. Man must ever feel God as
his sovereign, act under his author
ity, which he cannot do unless he have
a rule Of conduct. The sacred histor-
ian records the mournful words: !
heard thy voice in the garden and ]
was afraid, because | was naked, ana
I hid myself" Almost six thousand
years have rolled their unceasing cir
cles around since the guilty pair, who
had wilfully disobeyed the just COM
mand of God were at Gods command
driven out of the beautiful Edenic
home, while the flaming sword OF JUS
tice, in the hand of Cherubirn, barri-
caded the gateway to Eden, and the
Tree of Life, to earn their bread by
the sweat of their faces. but ere this
Judgment had been pronounced on
man we hear the voice Of the Creator,
speaking forth like the chime of sill
yer bells. or the laughing music of the
mountain brooklet, the sweet, hopeful
words of CD The Promise.
Scarcely had the deceiver and temp
ter. Satan, who appeared under the
guise of a serpent, and by words of
hattery and promises of wisdom per-
suaded the innocent pair to disobey
God and bring themselves under the
Empire of Death and the awful sting
of sin, completed the work of ruin,
than Gods voice spoke, the words of
the promise Of a Deliverer. Gen. S-15.
Ia Ao4xx hac
and the woman and between thy seed,
and her seed 1t shall bruise thy head
This pornfse was literally fulfilled in
the most wonderful manner in the mi
raculous conception and the birth OF
Jesus Christ.
CD The Call by Faith. Something
like three thousand eight hundred and
thirty-two years have spread them
selves over the rise and fall of mighty
nations and the crumbling Of great
empires since the call of God reached
the ear and touched the heart of
man named Abram, in the city of Ur
and country of the Chaldees, and with
his call. and acceptance began 20 shine
with increasing light on a sinful
world the great plan of salvation by
faith, for the writer of the Epistle to
the Hebrews declares: Heb. 11:S. "By
faith Abraham, when he was called to
go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance obeyed,
and by that obedience and faithful
performance of his duty Gods voice
is again heard, declaring that through
him all nations of the earth should be
blessed, and we find fourteen hundred
and ninety one years before Christ's
birth a great multitude of human be-
ings encamped before a cloud capped
mountain, from whose top there rolled
unceasiug volleys of the artillery of
the skies, and from tine thick darkness
forked tongues of liquid fire chased
each other from peak to peak. and the
God of Glory appeared, giving the Law
on tablets of stone to the faithful
leader of the Israelitish nation. What
was the Law for? 1t was added be
cause of transgressions, and Is the
school master TO bring us to Christ
Without Law, there is no government
and without the enforcement of Law
the welfare and safety of all citizens
Is jeopardized. wherefore the Law Is
holy, and the commandment holy and
just and good. Rom. TIP.
90 The Promise FULFILLED. Now the
scene has changed again. The year is
A. NJ 4o33 and A. d. 90 The thun
ders of Sinai are not heard, and the
flashing lightnings are not seen, but
now 1t is Mount Calvary, and nailed to
a rough wooden cross, on either side
a thief, and Jesus in the midst, is the
dying expression of Gods unchange-
able love for guilty humanity, and he
who was the fullness of the God head
bodily, bows his head. and says II is
finished, the blazing sun draws a man
tie of impenetrable gloom before his
face, the earth is shrouded in darkness
and quakes and trembles. and all ma
ture seems to weep as the pure holy. |
sinless Christ pays the debt of divine |
Justice, and mercy marches forth a |
glorious victor. The blazing sword /
that was TO keep the way of the Tree |
OF Life Is now held back, and the noon
DAY of full redemption has come in all |
It's wondrous glory, and every tribe
and nation, are to be the happy recip- |
tents OF Gods Free Grace, and bound |
less mercy, IL only they win accent II
How shall we escape. If we neglect SO
great salvation7
rms question, propounded by the
apostle Is as solemn as death, and as
'ar-reaching as eternity. II they who
enjoyed fewer privileges than we do to
Nhom GOD spoke. in divers manners.
~ angels and prophets. were visited
with sore destruction for their DISC
,euience' invoking the displeasure Of
Sod' how shall we escape the iudr-
nent of God If we neglect tho saliva.
Ion provided for ne o,a ...n.,t |