The Madisonian. (Richmond, Ky.) 1913-1914, 1914-07-07

through sufferings."
To bring sons to glory is Gods great
purpose in Jesus Christ. The words
sons should be emphasized, for God
first must call men to be sons, and
after that bring them to glory even as
the epistle to the Romans says: IF
sons, then heirs" BY nature men are
not Gods sons in this sense. but be-
come so by the regeneration of the
Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus
Christ. Have you experienced this
mighty and vital change? For they
only have the hope of glory who thus
receive the spirit of adoption whereby
they can cry, Abba, Father
When the text speaks of Jesus
Christ as the captain of our salvation,
a comparison is drawn between him
and Joshua, who was the captain of
the hosts of Israel in their entrance
into Canaan. He was to lead them into
their inheritance under the Abrahan1ic
| covenant, but Jesus Christ leads US
into our inheritance under the gospel,
! In the former case only they persisted
| in the wilderness who either out of
love unto the flesh pots of Egypt, or
through terror at the hardships of the
way refused to- go up under their lead
er's command. And so in the case of
those who through faith have become
sons of God, there Is no doubt of ulti-
mate victory in the following of Jesus
] Christ
Christ's Dedication
Our captain was dedicated to his
work through sufferings, for that is
the meaning of perfect" in the text
It. was often used among the heather
| to signify the initiation of man into
the mysteries of their religion in order
to become leader of others in the
same religion. Sometimes these rites
we're accompanied by much pain, and
the inspired writer employs the figure
to illustrate the sufferings of our
Lord These sufferings were of two
kinds. His life sufferings and his
death sufferings. In life he suffered
for righteousness sake, that is through
sympathy with man, but great as this
was, it was very different from his
death sufferings. These were the hid
ing of his Fathers face and the awful
darkness of Calvary when he bore
our guilt upon the accursed tree. To
come extent we may sympathize with
him in his life sufferings, but who
can know anything of his death suffer
ings? AS one says, man can paint
the cursed tree, but who can paint
the curse of the Lord that made it so ?
Man may describe the soldiers spear,
bit not the cup of wrath he drained
to the last drop"
And how the mystery deepens as we
read that it became God to do this.
It was not only right and proper, but
it behooved him to employ this meth
cd In bringing many sons into glory.
He could not do differently and accom-
plish it, because of the desert of sin
and the unchangeableness of his JUS
tice. He might have suffered all men
to perish in their sins, but once hav-
ing, in love, determined to redeem
them, there was no other way in
which it could be righteously carried
out. Truth failed, and as Isaiah says:
The Lord saw it, and is displeased
him that there was no Judgment. And
he saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no inter
cessor; therefore his arm brought sal.
walton unto him; and his righteous
ness, it sustained him." Isaiah So:
Is, Is.
What Inference Follows.
|, If. it became God to adopt this plan
to save US, who are we to question its
, wisdom or necessity? Who are we to
hesitate in bringing our convictions
!, and conduct into harmony with his
great purpose? And if the object God
had was to bring sons to glory should
we not earnestly inquire if we are
sons? 1t is said of Jesus Christ in
: Johns gospel Q:12) that, "as many
as received him to them gave he au
thority to become the sons of God.
J Have we received him? Does he by
his blessed Spirit dwell within and
rule US? Let US not take this fol-
granted; let us be assured of it by
: the testimony of the Word of God
and the answer of our experience.