The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-12-02
People Repent Of Sins.

VI UNIVERSAL ana general character
are absolute or unconditional, is true.
People Repent Of Sins.
Jonah 3: 4, 5, And Jonah began to
enter into the city days journey.
and he cried and said: yet forty days
and Ninevah shall be overthrown. So
the people of Ninevah believed God,
and proclaimed a fast. and put on
sack-cloth, from the greatest Of them
even to the least OF them Why did
they proclaim a fast, and put on sack
cloth" Because they believed that
there was some condition implied in
the threat. Was there such? Read
verse 10, And God saw their works,
that they turned from their evil way;
and God repented Of the evil, that He
said He would do unto them; and He
did 1t not The universalist is forced
to take one OF the three following
grounds: 1. Either the Lord told a
falsehood: or 2. the Ninevites were
actually destroyed: or 3, that there
was condition implied in the threat
Tue plain common sense fnterpre-
tation Of this matter Is that the people
OF Ninevah understood that II they
did not repent they would be destroy
ed. They therefore repented, and God
did not destroy them.
In Sam. %: 1913 we read that the
Lord told David who was being sought
by Saul, that ii he did not get out Of
Keilah, the men Of Keilah would de-
liver him up to Saul Here are the
words Of the Lord to David, following
David's inquiry, They will deliver thee
up and there Is no condition express
ed in the declaration OF the Lord.
But did they deliver up David to Saul9
No. Why? Because David knew that
If he staid they would. so he got out
OF Keilah. And 1t was told Saul that
David Was escaped from Keilah; and
he forbare to go forth Universaltsm
is forced to say that either Saul came
to Ketlah and the men OF Keilah do
Hvered David to him and he killed
him, or the Bible is false by the terms
of their doctrine, for there Is no con-
dttion expressed in the words, They
will deliver thee up notwithstanding
the fact that David reigned king in
Israel many years after Saul's death
They are compelled to acknowledge
the condition implied or deny the truth
Of the scriptures.
The Promise to Others.
God promised Abraham that his
seed after a sojourn Of four hundred
and twenty years In strange land, in
the fourth generation shall come
hither again. that is, that the Israel
ties after the Egyptian bondage should
come again into the land OF Canaan.
But did that arm of Isra elites leaving
Egypt enter the promised land? II
not, why not? The promise was I'M
conditional according to universalism,
inasmuch as there is no condition ex-
pressed in the promise But Mum. IA
tells us that God said to these same
people, Your carcasses shall fall in
the wilderness, and all that were num-
bered Of you according to your whole
number, from twenty years old and
upwards, which have murmured
against Me, doubtless ye shall not
come into the land concerning which
l swear to make you dwell therein,
save Caleb the son Of Jephunneh, and
Joshua the SOD of Nun God had pro-
vided Canaan for these people and
promised them that they might enter
into it, why this punishment? Paul
says, They could not enter because OF
unbelief' Then we are to understand
that the promise, IN the fourth gen
GRAFTON they shall come hither again
was conditioned upon their belief In
God. The scripture tells us that none
but Caleb and Joshua, out of the null
titude that left Egypt, entered Canaan.
The multitude that did enter with
these two were born in the wilderness.
God has provided heaven for the
human family, and hell for the devil
and his angels, but If We enter heaven
we must meet the heav emily conditions.
We must become members Of the fam
lily of Christ. For If we be Christs,
then are we Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise But
I desire to ask the Apostle Paul what
he means by the statement, If We be
Christ's.' Here is his answer, They
that are Christ's have crucifled the
flesh with the affections and lusts.'
Now, brethren, understand from
the above that to be an heir is condi-
toned upon being children, for Paul
says in Romans SIT, And If children
then heirs Again he says, we all
are the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus II you would enter
heaven, believe on the Lord Jesus. and
thou shalt be saved There is no