The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1911-02-07

There is a genius In human nature
for perverting right things There Is
n bent To disobedience. And Eowhere
is this bent. or genius manifestcd more
alpably than IN respect OF the very
sweetest truths OF the gospel rhess
truths often suffer reverse OF repr"seu-
tatIon at the hands OF our evil genius
For example The fultilment of Jaw
by Jesus Christ Is, by this genius often
spelled--negation OF law. Law tas
been swept away. The free forgive
ness of sins Is translated into freedom
God freely. without. or apart from. the
lee.is OF the law. is regarded as license
40 lawlessness And the old rule OF
oDccience, mder the laxity OF an
ether gospel that is no gospel, ts 1871
on the table BY large majority. And
thinking thus, willing thus, acting
thus, men become what the old theo-
| logians used TO call Antinomians J. Q.
anti -Lawists, or. as We know inc A. IN
the more familiar term OF today, An
archists. as touching the Kingdom OF
God
/ am strongly constrained. therefore.
to speak now on the topic OF THE
Obedience OF the gospel" And ] begin
our consideration by reminding you OF
the fact that the gospel Is grounded
Listen TO this word OF holy writ As
by one mans disobedience many were
made sinners. so by the obedience OF
~
What is disclosed here? This: That
disobedience is the essence of ain. one
dience Is the essence OF salvation from
sin. There could have been no gospl.
no good news OF salvation from sin Tor
the world. had not One been ohedi"nt
for the whole world Your failure
and mine 10 be 'obedient TO the perfect
law of God, may be forgiven and Tor
gotten only because OF this obedient
one made good for our failure.
In his great book on POSITIVE
Preaching and the Modern Mind, Dr,
Forsyth has. among many others these
two striking sentences: THE gospel
IL Gods act of redemption before IL -
mans message Of T. IL Is an eternal,
perennial act OF God. Now drive
those two thoughts together ana you
have the truth that the gospel Is, run
damentally. Gods act. and that act IL
eternal. Then let me add TO that state
ment that Gods eternal gospel act IL
obedience. Test this eternal act py
our temporal observation OF u as III
crosses the stage OF history. ana vow
see that God. moving toward reuemp-
Of obedience. He wrought through
the patriarchs for obedience, He strove
through the law for obedience. lie
sang through the psalmtsts and poets,
OF obedience. He preached, through
the prophets. obedience. And In christ
coming 10 express the mind of God 10
men. obedience was persistent and per-
feet.
God manifest in the flesh" was UNI
failingly obedent lie came into the
world In obedience TO tire Fathers Civ
ing and willing. lie came with the
distinct and definite determination 20
do. not Ills own will. but. the Fathers.
At His baptism. which John forbade,
He insisted because thus AZ became
Him TO fulhll all righteousness. In
dark Gethsemane" His Shrinking
flesh was completely submissive 10 Ills
obedient viii. which cried. Not Ny
Will. but Thine, be done And on CAL
Ell ali Ia
even the death of the cross This.
for all time, Is tho worlds supreme
spectacle Of obedience. No law in hea-
ven above. or i'm the earth beneath
ever did. or ever can, demand a fuller
measure OF obedience than Jesus Christ
completed on the cross--thc double
measure OF perfect life and OF pe-
nal sacrifice for the sins of the whole
world a fulhllmeut 81 law by obeying
~. and another fulhllment OF ~ ~
bearing It's penalty, the only two ways
by which the most perfect of laws may
be satisfied And by this browning deed
of obedience, tho Lord made obedience
the formation On which the gospel
rests. the ATMOSPHERIC IN which u lives
and the spirit in which 10 acts
obedience q Test of Our LOYALTY.
AGAIN CHRIST, 10 wnom tire gospel
centers. makes obedience the test OF
our love ana Loyalty to HIM. The
night previous To hIs passion, Jesus
said TO Ills disciples. "lc are my
friends if''---an awcsone ana constrain-
ing particIc--"yc 90 whatsoever I COM
mand YOU
This then. Is the test OF our friend
ship to CHRIST and of our\ fricnolincsS
to Ills gospcl--obediancc 60 Him. 10
a. not our good oplnior" ~ Him that
Jesus asks, particularly, though Al ~
importan, TO us what We think OF Him.
An IL not our Condesccndant patronage
Of Him, our well-turned phrases ~
commitment. that Jesus seeks II ~ not
merely TO be morally decent ia our
communities To- be kind and indulcent
To- our families and To have an honest
care OF our creditors that Jesus wants.
though He does want all these virtues
and many more. hut lie wants our
obedience ~ IL not merely To ne "'fine-
Nv sensitive 10 the situation, and to
smile and smile and To make others
smile. that Jesus wants In us. There
ia no virtue In a visRge Of vinegar. but
Il sometimes think there Is ground for
fearing that. perhaps. Jesus did not
crowd quite so much meaning Into
mere smiling" a. We. in our SNUG
PHILOSOPHY. seem sometimes 10 90.
Non. OF these surface things -tre a
zeal test OF love u christ The test
Ia simple. rugged. honest ol'csliruCv.
l. the test fair7 calm rcaspa ans
wers Yes" sind IL argutr. further
fripudahiI that haa in