The Southern herald., 1913-01-10

- y
His Son to
49, redeem TIL m
that were under the law"
Why this delay? Why did not the
birth Of the second Adam follow I'm.
mediately upon the fall Of the firstT
Why was a diseased race allowed t0
suffer in the absence Of the only ply
sician who could give relief?
Some Of the most interesting ana
thoughtful answers to this question
are in great sermon on this text
BY the eloquent Robert Hall, an Eng
lish Baptist clergyman Of an earlier
generation, from whom ] quote 10
part.
In the first place, 1t may have been
Gods purpose to impress the race
with the great lessons Of It's apostasys
and the fearful consequences OF re-
bellion. Thus to restrain our naughty
spirits from acting in the future LIE
as we have acted here.
In the second place, II 1t was nee.
essary in any sense that salvation
should be prepared for man, 1t may
, have been equally so that man should
have been prepared for salvation
Man needed to have true knowledge
of his sinfulness and the misery it
produces. as we'll as his moral inabiE
ity to overcome It in his own wisdom
, and strength 1t needed time for man
to find this out, for he must exhaust
,. everything that nature could DO be-
: fore he would be prepared to receive
!, the grace of God in the present work
:. Of his son.
Z, Another reason for the delay ~
!. found in the necessity for the accumu-
lation of prophetic evidence concern
ing the Savior, that when he came
he might be identified beyond doubt.
When Jesus came 1t was at the mo.
ment when all the prophecies concern.
ing his advent had reached a focus.
The Most Favorable Time In History.
Finally, in this connection It may
be added that Of all the periods Ia
the worlds history that which was
selected for the advent Of the son OF
God was the most favorable IN at
least three particulars:
~ It was a time Of great intel
lectual refinement, when the human
mind had been cultivated to the last
degree, and was therefore able to de'
tect and prevent imposture as at no
preyious time. Tom Paine or Robert
Ingersoll did not live then, but such
rush lights as they could not have
been seen among the luminaries q
the Augustan age. In other words, \
Christianity stood the test Of the nrs'
century, it has nothing TO fear IRON
the present one.
(2) It was the time OF central
lied human government, and kom'
was in the heydsy of It's power SIni
made the whole Of the civilized WORT
easily accessible, furnishing an oppci
Il tunity for the propagation of the gos
pel message to mankind eyeryWhers
1 (s) It was the age Of the perfe'
III ton of the Greek language, which 70
| many years had been under process
| of cultivation. This was tongue pr
eminently adapted to illustrate spi
itual truth, and to assist later ages
discovering the meaning of its word
Whatever was written in Greek wa
accessible to ALL and at any earii'
period the want of such a vehicle
thought would have made the gener
teaching of the bible almost prof
bited.
The Lessons for Us.
And. finally, whatever may be 50
as to the delay Of the father In sen
ing the son into the wrold, the y
noints to be considered now q
these:
In the first place, the delay caus
no Injustice to the preceding ag
for the mediation OF the son Of g
su' looked backward as well as forwa
''i''' and his sacrifice on Calvary aton
- for the faithful who had died bef'
. 9'l that event as well as for those y
- ~ follow after
'en And IN the second place, Now .
lna' "once in the end of the world hath
WY appeared to put away sin by the
riaoe of himself" 1t behooves us
ma ,n1ulre whether he has yet been
ceived into our hearts. This sno
be our chief concern on this a
versarv occasion. This is the "fuln
anger Of the time lol 80, ss' .Sos,s os come
n per that tne oppottui''sy ,.',,a.s Ne were
othes go ano ieaVe us ~ 49, .,,a chTIst
t yoI fore. Ihe way ~ oc,,ss,as n,.S.s 90, h me
cold In the earth vn, 'ssi-,,' rh~,st Nv
u pro Ia to receive 9esus us 4 q
re-. d es personal SAW ~ ~ wsn VIM
for Il unspeakaDle ~. oous ~ ~ ANA rief
,Sa o,ons Inv son9 II Is SO simple, ana q
vital. Do It now,