The Southern herald., 1913-07-11

~ gods sufficient to
compensate t or
the wrong done" Hence they brought
presents of fruit and flowers, gold and
silver, and sometimes they even Of.
fered their own children as a sacrifice
tc the gods. They were always look
ing for some way of pleasing God
without right living. The heather
method is still a favorite one even in
Christian lands. Many a man serves
the devil all his life, and then builds
library or endows a hospital to
atone for his sins.
II. Others say that the way for a
sinner to get right with God is to
keep the commandments. Three things
are to be said about this method;
(a) Keeping the law does not atone
for past sins. If one were to obey
Gods law perfectly from this time on
that would not atone for the sins Of
the past.
(b) The law never was designed to
save men from sin, but only to show
them that they are sinners. When
Mr., Moodys boys were young he said
to one of them, 81 am going down to
the field, and when return, if you
will have on clean dress, and If your
face is clean, l will take you out for
a ride" The little fellow ran to his
mother at once and had his face
washed and his clothes changed. Be-
fore his father returned however, his
face and dress were soiled again.
When his father arrived the boy
claimed the promised ride, but his
father said, "Ah, my boy, l promised
you a ride on condition that your
face and dress we're clean, but they
are not" ooh, yes" said the boy.
"They must be clean, for mamma put
on fresh dress and scrubbed my face
with soap and water" AS the boy in
sisted, the father took him in his
arms and carrying him into the
house, held him up before the mirror,
and let him look at himself. He used
the mirror to show the boy that his
face was not clean, but he did not
use the mirror to wash his face, did
he? No, he used water for that. Now
the Decalogue is simply Gods mirror
to show man that he is sinner, but
there is no power in the law to save
a man from sin. 1t requires grace to
do that
(c) No one ever kept the law Of
God perfectly except the Lord Jesus
Christ, for "All have sinned and come
short Of the glory of God" This meth
cd of getting right with God is an ut
ter failure.
III. Paul's answer to the question
is this; justification through faith in
Christ 1--WE believed on Christ Jesus
that we might be justified by faith in
Christ, and not by the works of the
law: because by the works Of the law
shall no flesh be justified" (Gal. 2;
16).
Since man has broken away from
God by sin, it is evident that if any
reconciliation is made, the overture
must come from God, since man has
nothing to offer.
When God told Abraham to take his
only son Isaac, and offer him as a sac
rifice on Mount Moriah, the aged
patriarch obeyed instantly. He even
arose early in the morning" and set
out on his sad journey. When they
had reached the appointed place, Isaac
said to his father, Behold the fire
and the wood; but where is the lamb
for a burnt offering?" And Abraham
answered, "My son, God will provide
himself the lamb for a burnt offering"
and God did.
So in all the ages the moral sense
of mankind has been searching the
universe for some adequate atonement
for sin. The best they could find did
not satisfy their own sense of justice.
The position of the heather world
without the Bible is this, Lord, this
IL the best we can find. 1t is not suit
able nor sufficient we know, but what
can we do? Behold the wood and the
fire. but where is the lamb for burnt
offering?" Revelation answers, God
: will provide himself the lamb for the
Offering" and he has, even the lamb
of God who taketh away the sin Of
the world "He was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for
our iniouities. All we like sheep have
, gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way; and the lord
hath laid on him the iniquity Of US
all"
This then is the scripture method of
getting right with God-justification
through faith in Jesus Christ.
Three things are to be remembered
! By the death of Christ we are de-
uvered from the guilt Of sin.
By the life OF Christ in Us we are
, delivered from the power of sin.
BY the coming Of Christ we shall b.
, delivered from the presenea of ain