The Raymer enterprise., 1916-11-02

Il oA ohS SihSt sSts
N the JOY bells ring.
ing In ones heart !;
the truth on the other side tolls out
a dolorous sound like death knell.
One part of the text is filed with
the sunshine that kisses the roses and
the lilies into bloom; the truth on the
other side is like the blackness OF
midnight. One side tells us about
wages; the other side speaks hope
fully of gift. Wages or gift,
which?
Let us look at the somber side of
the text. ''The wages of sin is DEATH"
Wages come to one In return for la
Dor given. They are supposed to be
the just compensation for services rem
dered. Sin here is represented as
paying wages. / presume some have
never thought of sin In just that way
before. Sin has been considered as
something over which we have con-
troll; when the fact Is, sin is master
of the one who commits 1t. This is
the truth Christ states when he says
whatsoever commltteth sin is the
servant of sin" (John S:34).
Now the text tells US that the slave
of sin receives as his wage, death. The
Scriptures make clear what this wage
Is. 1tis In the first place
Physical Death.
Contrary to the modern view that
the death of man is natural, the Scrip
lures teach that 1t is unnatural.
Man is, according to the Scriptures,
triune being; body, soul, and spirit
Il Thes. s :23). 1t is the union of these
three that constitutes his complete
personality. The body, the soul, the
spirit is each a part Of himself and
death which mutilates man by sever
ing this union Is physical conse-
quence Of sin: wherefore as by one
man sin entered into the world and
death by sin; and 30 death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned"
from. 5:12).
Whatever else the modern view
may deny Of the teaching Of the Word,
1t is in perfect agreement with this
statement of the universal reign of
death over man. This is an obvious
fact that cannot be denied.
But physical death is by no means
all Of the wage sin pays Awful as 1t
is, more terrible by far is the
Spiritual Death,
which, because Of sin, has passed upon
all men.
There is no truth against which man
more strenuously rebels than this one,
that he Is spiritually dead; for If there
Is one thing he believes about himself,
1t Is that he is very much alive. And
so he may be in many ways, but not
spiritually. The verdict Of the Word
Of God Is that he Is dead through
trespasses and sins" (Ephes. 2:1-2).
Thus our Lord Indicated when he said,
verify, verify. / say unto you, the
hour Is coming and now Is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God: And they that hear shall live"
John :25). 1t was not of the phys
ically dead Christ was speaking, for
shortly after this be spoke Of those
who are in their graves as hearing
his voice and coming forth, some unto
everlasting life and some unto the
resurrection of damnation (vv. 2s-29).
The truth as Christ presents 1t is that
as he has power to raise the physically
dead, and will; so he has power to
raise the spiritually dead; to quicken
whom he will.
But physical and spiritual death are
not all Of the wage sin pays. They
are only the prelude to the full and
final wages Of sin which Is
Eternal Death.
Spiritual death has already taken
place In men. This Is true of the en-
tire human race, but blessed be God,
spiritually dead men may live: "For
the hour is coming and now is, when
the dead shall hear the voice Of God:
and they that hear shall live" (Jno.
6 :25).
To Nlcodemus, Christ made 1t plain
what men spiritually dead must do In
order to live: "As Moses lifted up the
serpent In the wilderness, even so,"
said Jesus, must the Son of Man be
lifted up that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have eternal
life." (John 3:14-15).
Not to look In faith to the Lord
Jesus Christ as ones Savior is to re-
main spiritually dead and to remain
spiritually dead is to receive finally
the full wages of sin-eternal death
(John 1:12; 3:38).
What an awful solemnlzing truth.
But over against 1t Is the blessed word
that "the gift OF God Is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord" Which
shall 1t be, wages or a giftf