The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-10-02

] present time covers the earth. and
| gross darkness the heather, makes
faith In the present time a very pre-
cious thing indeed which only compsr-
atively few can or will exercise.
| But, when the shadows and dark
ness shall dee away. when the True
! Light shall shine. when "the knowl-
| edge of the glory of the Lord shall
| Gil the whole earth as the waters COW
er the great deep"-tben faith will not
be at its present premium, because it
! will then be very easy to exercise
faith. Moreover. while perfect works
! are impossible now, because Of our Inn
projections Of the flesh, perfect works
| will gradually become possible to the
world in the next Age. because as they
progress in the light and in obedience
to the laws of that Kingdom they will
gradually be recovering the perfection
of the flesh. mental. moral and phys
ical. And as they recover these pow
ers correspondngly more and better
works will be required each year, each
century, of their experience.
Finally, before the glorious Epoch
shall concludc-before Messiah shall
turn over the Kingdom to Justice-ail
the willing and obedient will have
come to full perfection and hence to
full capacity for perfect works and
God will demand them; they will
therefore be the standard or test in
the worlds trial Day-"They shall be
Judged every man. according to his
works" In both these Judgments we
see Justice and Mercy tremendously
working together in the interests of
those on trial, the differences between
the two operations being such merely
as adapt them to the conditions of the
individuals on trial.
Come Now to Our Text.
A glance at our text shows that it re-
lates to the present Age and not to the
period of Messiah's Kingdom. The
Apostle is addressing those called to
joint heirship in the Kingdom, of
whom he says in the context that
God in mercy hath quickened us with
Christ and raised us up together to a
heavenly station in Christ Jesus, that
in the Ages to come we might show
the exceeding riches of His grace in
His kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus" Without question these words
apply to the Elect Church, and with
equal certainty they cannot properly
be applied to the non-elect world,
whose opportunity for blessing belongs
to the next Age and will come to them
from the Father, through the Son, by
the Church in glory.
Our text contains another statement
which has been the cause Of much dis
pute. namely, the one which declares
that I'VE are saved by grace through
faith, and that not of ourselves, it is
stand the forepart of this statement
that we are saved by grace. and easy
also to understand the last part, name
ly, that we are not saved by works and
that, therefore, none of us has any
ground for boastinG in our salvation.
'By nature we were children of wrath.
even as others" We were under the
sentence of death and could not recov-
err ourselves from that condition What
ever. therefore. should be done for us
to help us out of our condemnation and
fallen condition would necessarily be of
grace, and also of God. Now we come
to the more difficult part of our text.
"That Not of Yourselves
How shall we understand the sug-
gestion that the faith is not of our
selves but is the gift Of God? Surely
God does not exercise faith for us, and
surely also He does not develop the
faith in us by some miraculous power,
for in either of these cases the saints
would be merely machines. reacting AS
acted upon. This would neither de-
velop nor prove character, nor in any
wise fit and prepare us for the glorious
work to which we have been called
How is it Gods gift?
There is one view of this statement
which we believe clears 1t Of all mys-
terry and makes it entirely harmonious
with Divine Justice and our response
biity. 1t is this;
Faith is possible only where there
is basis OF knowledge; in proportion.
therefore. as Divine providence grants
us knowledge OF Himself and of His
great Plan. in that proportion is 1t
possible for us to exercise faith in
that Plan. and by our endeavors to
demonstrate the strength and sincerity
of our faith. While It is true that our
knowledge depends in large measure
upon our application in the study of
the Divine Word-upon our use Of the
means and opportunities placed within
our reach by kind Providence-nev-
ertheless there are millions of our race
who have had no opportunity what
ever for knowledge
! For instance, during the more than
i four thousand years from Adam TO the
! days OF Jesus. knowledge and oppor-
| tunity for faith were very limited
| For more than two thousand years
| God made no direct revelation what
| ever of His good intentions in respect
TO sending Savior, and the delivery
OF our race from the bondage of sill
| and death. Then the Message sent
| was sem-private. To Abraham Goo
declared His intention of blessing the
world eventually, and further that this
! blessing would come through Abra
| hams posterity. But what did the
| cuossac Of mankind nj thaf tirna knoN