The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-05-25

IFOm CQe Qeau, d
Christ shall give thee light Ephe-
slams 5:14.
The Pastor introduced his theme
with the observation that the majority
Of humanity are not awake; that they
seem to be passing through life in a
dreamy state; that as a rule they are
not thinking about the important mat
tiers Of life, but about the trivfalities-
what to eat and drink, what to wear,
where to go, etc. The world, he de-
clared. spends it's time thinking about
these things rather than about the
things that pertain to God, to His will
and His ways, and to the everlasting
LIFE Of the future.
Then the Pastor reminded his audi
ence how this state of mental inactivi-
ty has been brought about. While the
world in general may be said to be
asleep, in one sense Of the word it is
dead. Thus the Apostle declares Of the
Church, "You " . . were dead in
trespasses and sins" The whole world
is under the sentence of death passed
upon Father Adam because Of his dis
obedience to the Divine command. Our
first parents sinned, and their posteri-
ty, all mankind, shared with them the
penalty, Dying, thou shalt die."-Gen-
esis 2:17, margin.
But this death sentence that WINS
passed upon all has been changed, the
speaker asserted, to be a sentence of
sleep, from which there is to be an
awakening. God foreknew the fall of
man, and purposed to redeem the hui
man family from death. In the Divine
Program Jesus was the Lamb of God
slain from before the foundation OF the
world. Therefore, because God had
purposed the redemption and restitu-
ton Of humanity by an awakening
from death, He always speaks of death
as a sleep, when communicating with
those who believe.
The Awakening Of tho Soul. -,
Proceeding to his text, the Pastor
discussed his theme in three divisions:
the awakening Of some Of the world In
the present time, the awakening OF the
Christian, and the future awakening
Of the world during the Messianic
Reign. To all who come to the Lord,
he declared, there came a time when
they began to think of subjects IN
thought Of before-the higher things,
those pertaining to God and the world
to come. Up to that time some had
been stepped in sin and degradation;
others had lived merely for the pres
ent and seemed never to think about
anything except the trivial affairs of
everyday life. But somehow they be-
gan to realize that they were sinners
and that there was a sentence against
them. Perhaps they got the right
view, that this sentence was one of
death; but more likely they got the
wrong view, that 1t was q sentence of
eternal torment. w. 4. .
Then the Pastor showed that the ma
jority of children reach this important
crisis between the ages Of twelve and
fifteen years. At that period there Is
a great change in human nature; and
therefore 1t is a most advantageous
time for the forces OF spiritual growth
to spring up Ia those who have reach
ed the age Of responsibility. The
speaker here dwelt upon the duties of
parents and teachers who have control
OF the young at this important stage of
development. While he fully believes
in the Importance Of training a child
in the nurtDre and admonition of the
Lord from the very beginning of its
existence, yet ne holds that both par
ents and teachers should be especially
alert with children at this most favor
able time for opening their mental eyes
to see things in a new light, for their
learning to look beyond the t~rivialities
Of the present life to the higher things
pertaining to the life to come.
"Arise From the Dead"
The Pastor next pointed out the falla-
cy OF the belief that the young must
sow their wild oats" and expressed re-
greet that even Christian parents seem
to be imbued with this false idea.
Those who sow wild oats, he main.
tanned, will reap wild oats; for what.
soever a man soweth, that shalIh he also
reap" according to the Scriptures. His
thought Is that from the beginning OF
Its existence the child mind should be
kept near the Divine standard. The
parents should be able to express to
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