The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-03-19


& -~-~-----@-r,t text was: God
gkAaE2k kg29LALU hath appointed a
Day In the which
He will judge the world" (Acts xvii,
81.) He said:
Enroute to your city, I visited Ath-
ems. As l stood upon Mars Hill and
made a short address, my mind revert
ed to the account of Saint Paul's
preaching there, and have chosen
some Of His words on that occasion as
my text AS St. Paul made no impress
SION there it is quite improbable that l
made any Indeed, the city today
might well be described In the Ian
guage Of eighteen centuries ago, as
wholly given up to idolatry.
True, it is not today fashionable in
civilized communities. to worship i'm
ages; and yet In another sense it is
still fashionable. There is still great
worship of man throughout the civil
ised world, but in a different form
from that of old No longer do we bow
before wooden images, but before in
ward images-the images of our minds.
our mental aspirations-with some,
wealth and fame; with others, ease
and pleasure, and with still others, the
creed idols of our forefathers, misera-
BILE Misrepresentation of the true God
The Day of Judgment.
Saint Paul on Mars Hill preached
Jesus and the resurrectton-Jesu as
the Redeemer from the death sentence,
making possible the resurrection Of the
dead by satisfying the demands Of Di-
vine Law against the sinner-the resur
rection as the means or agency through
which the blessing of the Savior's
death will reach Adam and all the
families of the earth. As we follow
Saint Pauls thought we will surely be
blessed by his view of the Gospel.
Addressing the Gentiles, the Apos-
tie explains that for long time God
had "winked" at Polytheism and image
worship, 'but now" he says, God
commander all men everywhere to re-
pent." Let US note the meaning of
these words. How did God wink at
sin and idolatry? And does He still
wink" at 1t? And why did He change
and when did He begin to command all
men to repent?
The answer is that for four thousand
years idolatry prevailed and God
"winked" at or took no notice of 1t.
He did not wink" at the idolaters' d.
ing In their ignorance and say to the
devils, "Take these poor creatures who
know 10 betterl Roast them to all
eternityi" Nothing of the kind Our
forefathers merely imagined that and
by false reasoning convinced them
selves, and twisted some texts of
Scripture which they did not properly
understand in support Of this theory;
and then they handed it down to US to
our perplexity and to the testing of
our faith in God
God "winked" at idolatry and sin
for four thousand years in the sense
Of not noticing it, making no comment
on it, sending no reproofs, leaving the
heather in their ignorance. The only
exception to this was Gods dealings
with the little nation of Israel. To the
Jews He gave Law Covenant which
offered eternal life on the condition of
their thorough obedience to the Divine
law, the measure Of a perfect mans
ability, which they were unable to com
ply with; and hence they died the same
as did the heather. All went to the
Bible hell--to the tomb-to sheOl to
hsdes, the state or condition of death
an unconscious state, sleep"
Jesus the Redeemer.
God was in no haste to send the Re
deemer: 412S years elapsed before
Jesus was born, and thirty years more
before He began His ministry. Had
1t been true, as some aver, that mil
lions, for all those centuries were blind
~ stumbling into eternal torture for
lack of Divine revelation, we may be
sure that our gracious God would not
have left them without it. Who can
think Of a just and loving God as
soink5ng at the going of millions Of His
creatures to eternal torture? But since
they merely fell asleep" in death, He
could very well wink" at the matter
in view of His future plans, which we
win consider shortly.
The fact is that no real offer from
death could possibly be made until the
Redemption price had been provided
for the original sin under which they
were condemned to death. This is the
Apostles argument, viz, that "n0i0 Coo
commanded all men everywhere to re-
pent." The moo implies that He did
not command men previously to re
pent; and the reason why He did not
do so is manifest, for all the repenting
they could do and all the righteous
living possible to them would not have
saved them-they would have died any
way. Hence there could have been no
message sent to them, for If the mes
senger had come and had said, ''Re-
pent, and live contrary to your fallen
tastes and appetites," the people might
enough have said, why, for
what reason should we practice self
denial, self-restraint? Would it bring
rs any blessing of everlasting life or
harmony with GodT The truthful an
swer would have been, mo, because
you are already under a death SEN
tence and alienated from God as sin
ners."
Hence, God merely overlooked or
''wtnked" at the ignorance and super
stition of the period from Adam to the |
close Of the 4161 years. But as soon
as Jesus had died, ''the Just for the un-
Just" to make reconciliation for in |
quity1mmediately the message went |
torth-God offered forgiveness and /
to those who would be-
Iieve In Jesus and would accept the
Divine terms. Such have their sins /
forgiven. Such may come back to fell
owship with God. And, in the next
Age, such may eventually attain full
human perfection by restitution proc
ssses, up. up to all that was lost In
Adam and redeemed at Calvary.
Gods Appointed Day.
Let us note carefully what the Apos-
lie says respecting Gods appointed
Day for the judging of the world. He
'ays that the command to repent now
goes forth to all men everywhere, 'be-
sause God hath appointed a [future]
Day, In which He will Judge the world"
The Apostle does not refer to that Day
10 already begun, but as merely APP
pointed or arranged for in advance. He
means that in arranging that Jesus,
y the grace of God, should taste death
or every man." God was arranging
hat every man might have judgment
u trial, to determine whether or not
Ne will be worthy Of this blessing
which Jesus death provides him an
lpportunitY to secure. The Day was