South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-12-13
LOVE AND LIFE

1. The Extent OF Gods Love. The
text states that God 80" loved the
world, and there is a whole library
contained in that little word of two
letters. 1t is said that Peter Bales,
celebrated caligrapher in the days Of
Queen Elizabeth, wrote the whole
Bible so that it could be contained in
a common walnut as its casket, but
this wonderful feet Of condensation is
not to be compared with the world of
meaning contained in the little word
$50" of our text. God loves us as our
creator, preServer, and redeemer; he
loves US like mother loves her ailing
child. multiplied by all the stars in
the universe. That is to say, God
loves even sinners, with all the omnip-
otence of his nature. If one drop of
water fitting1y represents human
love, ii will take all the waters in the
universe to picture Gods infinite love
for mankind. The manifestation of
his love is seen throughout all the
ages: we see il in spring, summer, au-
tumn and winter; we inhale Ii in the
fragrance OF the flowers. and hear il
alike in the singing OF the birds and
the rush Of the cataract Above all, his
love is manifested in the gift of his be-
loved Son, who suffered and died for
our sins, that he might bling Us back
to God and prepare us for happg, use
full lives
.. God Loves the Whole World.
The view that God gave Jesus TO die
for a limited number of persons, for
tunately, has but few advocates in this
enlightened day; but the creeds which
teach this unwise doctrine are still in
existence. There is such a superSti
tious attachment TO the printed creeds
that even when so-called Arminian
and Calvinist church negotiate for un-
ion. they use the same sounding
nh 20 ali ~ "a
creeds which teach the limited atone
ment of Jesus. These modern confess
sions Of faith are fearfuliy and won
derfully made, their object being not
TO shock the historic faith of either of
the contracting parties, so that they
can be made TO mean almost anything
you wish. Superstition and veneretion
for ancient creeds die hard, but for
tunately the love and liberality of the
individuals composing the churches.
are growing with great rapidity, and
all good people, so far as ! know, now
teach that God loves everybody, and
that Jesus died TO save the whole
world. When it is stated that God
has selected a people out Of the world
to form his holy church. il is true, in
the sense that the selection has been
the free choice Of those who have &C
copied Gods offer, and that those who
have rejected, have done so from their
out anything in any plan OF God pre-
disposing them to reject.
3. We Only Need to Accept Christ
TO Be Saved. We do not need to do
in advance, any panance, or perform
any good works, for we are saved by
grace through faith. We need not
purchase salvation bv a process Of
holy living, because the salvation has
already been purchased for US by the
death of Jesus Christ and all we have
TO do is 70 reach out the hand Of faith
and take il. No attempt at holy liV-
ing can bring salvation. but the posses
sion of salvation does produce holy
living. The acceptance OF Christ
means, with the forgiveness of our
sins and our right 10 eternal life, the
attainment OF all the beatitudes as
taught by Jesus. We are enabled by
the power Of the Holy Ghost to be
poor in spirit TO be comforted when
we mourn, 10 inherit the earth through
our meekness, and 10 be filled with
righteousness because of our hunger
for God. We receive constant mercy
from God because we are merciful,
and we have the vision OF God be-
cause he has made our hearts pure;
we are called the children OF God be
cause we have become peacemakers.
and while we may be prosecuted for
righteousness. we know that ours is
the kingdom of heaven. When men
revilc and prosecute Us, and say all
manner Of evil against US falsely for
Christs sake. we are enabled to re-
joice and be exceedingly glad.
4. Those Who Believe Have Eter-
nal life. We do not wait until we get
10 heaven for life eternal: IL COM
nences the moment we put our trust
in Jesus. We were blind, but now we
see: We were poor but now We are
rich: We We're worse than orphans,
but now God Is our recognized Father.
We did not love God. but now we give
him ali the reverence of our natures.
We could neither see, nor hear God,
bur now our spiritual vision is clear.
and the voice of God is understood
By US: so 20 speak. we are able 20 see
with our eyes, hear with our inward
ears. and to put out our arms and
touch him with the hands OF faith.
(Copyright. 1913. by E. 3. Davidson-)