The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1915-07-27

A N o ng OtAeF
things he said:
This Is one of
the most wonder
ful texts In the
- - Bible. When we
l94kK kk22EA1 think how great
God Is and how
little man is, when we consider that
sin has blotted out in very large meas
ure whatever there was of Gods I'm
age In humanity. we are constrained
to wonder what this text can mean.
We are not surprised that the Father
loves the angels, who are perfect, with
out blemish In any sense Of the word.
But how could He love mankind? We
read, God 30 loved the world that He
gave His Only Begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth In Him might not
perish, but have everlasting nfe."
John 3:16) This text tells OF some
kind Of great love that God had for
the whole world of mankind.
Code Love For the World.
God had a sympathetic love Tor hui
manity, not an affectionate love; for
there was nothing In fallen man wor-
thy Of Divine love. He felt just as we
would feel for some poor injured dog
or cat-we would bind up its paw and
give 1t something to eat So Gods
sympathy for the world takes notice
OF the fact that mankind have gotten
into great deal Of trouble through
the curse which came upon Father
Adam through disobedience to his
Creators command Divine mercy and
sympathy have gone out toward our
race to such an extent that God has
provided great Plan of Salvation for
mankind. He has provided the death
Of our Lord Jesus Christ to be our Re
demption- price-not to recover us from
eternal torture, but from death. On
less we were rescued from that per-
ishing condition of death, we would
have no future life whatever.
His first great step on behalf of man
kind turned our dying condition into a
sleeping condition Instead Of perish
ing as do the brute beasts, men merely
fall asleep, to wait for the morning Of
the New Dispensation, when our Lord
win call forth those sleepers from the
tomb. John 6:2S. 30 They viii be
called forth to an opportunity for res
titution to human perfection In
worldwide Paradise-a restitution for
which God has made provision based
upon the death Of our Lord Jesus
Christ--a restitution lifting mankind
out of sin, misery and death back to
all that was lost in Eden. st. Peter
tells US that this Restitution is men
toned By all the Holy Prophets (Acts
3d923) In their writings are repeat
ed references to the time when all the
willing and obedient shall be brought
back into fellowship with God, and all
the wicked shall be destroyed In the
Second Death.
Gods Love For tho Church.
Over and above Divine love for man
kind In general comes the love men
toned in our text God so loved the
world that He provided for their re-
demption from sin and death. But to
the Church our Lord Jesus says, 1.-THE
Father Himself loveth you" No one
belongs to this class except the saints
those In covenant relationship with
Him through Christ psalm 50:5) 1t
does not include those who merely
have turned from sin to say, 81 will
not lead wicked life any longer" To
these the Father il paying no atten-
ton They are still of the world, still
condemned, still children of wrath,
even as others; for they have not Ia
ken the only step which win transfer
them from being children of wrath TO
being children Of God.
We are not TO think Of the Heavenly
Father as exercising no discretion in
bestowing His love. II He loves any
one, He loves that person for some
reason. 90 In the character Of those
TO whom our Lord Jesus referred there
must have been something which con-
stituted them worthy Of the Fathers
love. The commendable thing In their
character was that they had given
themselves to God TO do His will.
They had come back into Gods fam
lly as sons.-John ia, 18.
Adam Forfeited Code Love.
Adam had been a son Of God; but he
sinned and forfeited the Fathers love.
When he came under the sentence Of
death dying. thou shalt de-" he was
cut or from Fellowship with God. He
and all his posterity became sinners
under the death sentence, unworthy Of
Divine notice or care. While God has
permitted certain blessings to come to
mankind-the sunshine, the rain and
other material favors-yet He has kept
Himself aloof from our race. and has
treated mankind as aliens and stran-
gers. Tnsir claim upsn Him was TOR.
fsited when disobedisncs came In.
Since all mankind were born In that
condition which would not be pleasing
to God. and since the Church are still
In very much the same condition, why
does the Father love those who have
given themselves to Him In consecra-
ttOn2 1t Ia because from the Bible
viewpoint very great change took
place when they came into the family
OF God. There Is only one way back
into harmony and Fellowship with the
Father. Jesus is the way; for, as the
Bible points out, In harmony with the
Fathers Plan our Lord gave Himself
sacrifcially, with all the rights which
He had as a man: and In due time the
merit OF His sacrifice Is to be applica-
Die 10 Adam and all his race. Christ's
death Is the satisfactorily price for the
sin OF the whole world. And although
1t has not yet been appropriated for
the whole world, God Is inviting a GER
tain class to come out of the world In
advance of the remainder of our race
OF these our Lord said. 'sThey are not
of the world. even as am not of the
world John 1T:16.
justification the First Step.
Those disciples whom Jesus was ad-
dressing had come out of the world
They had left everything that they
might be His pupils and do just the
right thing IN the right way. Thus to
be children of God was their chief aim
and ambition. The first step in this
direction Is justifcation-the being
made right, just. Justification and
righteousness mean the same thing;
they are different ways Of expressing
the same thought. We must be made
right with God before He win deal
with ms at all.
God has permitted six great Thou
sand-Year Days for the world to have
experience with sin and death. Dur
ing all this time He has let mankind
see what they could do to help them