The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1912-09-24

IL.N|#I"L W. hAS 800 NHHH
yeM4M1 from his intelli.
gence and reason.
Ing powers and faculty OF speech, but
from the definite testimony Of Scrip
ture which Identifies him with the
devil and Satan (Rev. 1879, 2O:2).
There. are many in these days who
say that there IL no devil nor Satan,
but the wise understand and are gov.
erned by the word OF God In this
matter. Read especially Ephesians
6:12.
2. lts Nature. And he said unto
the woman. Yea, hath God said. 20
shall not eat Of every tree OF the
g%arden?' The denial OF Gods word
Is the essence OF ell sin. When Sa-
tan employed the interrogation point
in this case, II were equivalent to say
Ing, God hath not spoken anything,
and II he hath done so, who cares?'
Is not this, In the last analysis, what
every sin amounts to? Is II not
declaring that we have no authorita-
tive revelation OF the divine will, and
II we have, "Who is the Almighty,
that we should serve him." Nor is
this the conviction and the boast
chiefly Of u u~nregenerate clyiliza.
ton. but the teaching Of some so
called pulpits under the blight Of a ra.
tionalistic theology. Speaking OF that
theology. n Of its prominent expo
nents recently said, "While recogniz-
ing the Bible as a unique record OF
religious experience, 1t handles 1t as
freely and as critically as II would
any other book" This is what OK.
plains the lawlessness characterlzing
all classes Of society today, and which
will continue to characterize them un.
Ill the lawless one himself has been
revealed.
3. Its object. God doth know that
in the day ye eat thereof, then ye
shall be as God. knowing good and
evil" Aye! there's the rub II the
nature OF sin is the denial OF Gods
word, the object OF II is the dethrone-
ment OF God altogether. II was by
pride that Satan himself fell, think.
ing the godhead a prize to be grasped
at, and It was by pride in the same
direction that he dragged man down
after him. The raison d etre of sin,
so far as the a ce is conscious of 1t.
ID the dedication OF humanity. When
at the end Of this age the lawless one
shall be revealed. he will be found
sitting In the temple Of God. showing
that he himself is God tl Thes. 2:4).
But who is the lawless one? lie is
simply humanity deihed In the con.
crete. And the trend Of the false the.
ology just referred to Is all in this di.
rection. Its starting point is belief
in the immanence OF God and the es-
sential oneness OF God and man. II
believes there Is no real distinction
between humanity and deity, and that
our being is the same as Gods. How
much this sounds like an echo from
the garden Of Edenl
4. lts Method. when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food,
and that II was pleasant to the eye,
and a tree to be desired to make
one wise" The method of sin is
threefold. l John 2:16 describes It
as the lust Of the flesh, the lust OF
the eyes, and the pride of life" II
was along this line that the second
Adam was tempted as we'll as the first
luke 4:1-13), and 1t is along this
line that Satan works with all OF US.
lie cares mo- whether he takes us
with a coarse sieve or n fine one. II
only he takes us. Some are over.
come through the lower and baser ap.
petites OF the body, the lust OF the
flesh. Others are OF a finer grade,
though still coarse, and are overcome
by the vain glory of the world, its spar.
kle and beauty, its wealth and luxury,
It's fame and power, the lust OF the
eye. But there is a third class, the
finest Of all, over whom the flesh and
the world have little power. and with
whom the pride OF life is the exalta.
ton OF their own reason above the
revelation OF God. These affect to
point out n new way to attain INTO
highness that men seek. a new kind
of and a new approach unto right
eousness is the desideratum they have
before them. They are philosophers
and scientists 1t may be; they are
reformers and r%eligionists, some are
honest and sincere in what they
teach, and clean and upright in their
lives. They fall from the high pima.
Gle, but their end is the same, and
that OF those who fall with them.
May God keep us true to the Bible
and his revealed word, and true to
Jesus Christ as the only and official
Savior of our souls.