The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1916-04-08

word OF that great
inspired SENTENCED! He" 1t is no
mere man of whom this pronoun
speaks, but "the mighty God, the Fa-
Their Of Eternity, the Prince of
Peace" as Isaiah testifies. "Imman-
uel, which, being interpreted, is God
with u.s. as Matthew echoes. Oh,
wonder of wonders, that the Eternal
God, in the person of his Son, should
have become incarnate of the Virgin
Mary. It will take us all eternity
to grasp the thought.
WAS delivered" Who delivered"
him? We think of Judas, who be-
treyed him, of the Roman soldiers who
arrested him, of the Jewish sanhedrin
who prosecuted him, of Pontius Pr
late who illegally tried him, of the
cruel executioners who nailed him to
the cross. And yet it was the hand
and the counsel of his Father that had
before determined it should be done,
or else these wicked men had had
no power. Far back in the counsels
of eternity God so loved US as to
freely offer his Son on our behalf.
For our offenses." We are born
into a state of, sin, but that is not
all, for the mofpent we arrive at a
point of moral Consciousness, we &C
tually transgress the law of God. I'm
many things we offend all" as the
epistle of James says. There Is o nj
righteous, no, not one," we are taught
in DnnonC Man do not 1i1yn RI hnor
this, They resent it, they hate it.
But, Oh, what love, that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for u.s."
The very ones who hate to hear of
mans sinfulness, are those who talk
about divine love. But who a sound
the depths of that love until he &C
cepts the truth of the cross of Cal
vary. And it is that truth which this
text presents most fully.
"And was raised again." The same
one who died was the one who was
raised. This truth must not be mini
mized. We must hold with all the
~tenacity of faith to the bodily resurrec-
ton of our Lord and Savior. We must
do this not because our peace de-
ponds upon it, but because the Bible
teaches it, and because history proves
it. HE showed himself alive after
his passion by many infallible proofs
Historic Christianity is a testimony
to Christ's resurrection which cannot
be accounted for unless he arose
from the dead. The change of the
day of rest and worship from the sew
enth to the first is another proof
which meets and challenges the skep-
tic So times a year.
For our justification" That word,
our" how we should love it and
praise God for 1t. Deliver for our Of
lenses" raised again for our justifica-
ton" What kindness to the human
race is in that word! How close it
brings the heart of God to our hearts.
What interest. it should awake on our
part to learn all we can about 1t from
the Holy Scriptures.
And Justification" what does that
mean? Sometimes when Christians
thing of salvation, they get no fur
Their than the forgiveness of sin; and
indeed that were glorious enough even
if it stopped there. But one might
be forgiven for the past and still be
very wretched for the present and the
future. Justification therefore is a
bigger word, and stands for a greater
thing than simply forgiveness. The
justified man is one who stands in
Gods sight free from the guilt, the
- - Ill 1;n nnCf nrnCnnf and
to come! The reason of this is that
his penalty has been paid, not by him
self, but by another, whose resurrec-
ton from the dead is the proof of it.
That event is Gods testimony, to his
acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of
his Son.
This is what the song calls The
Old, Old Story" Those who know 1t
best seem hungering and thirsting
to hear it like the rest" and no apol-
ogy need be made to them for repeat
ing it, especially at this season of
the year.
There are others, however, who
have heard it and whose hearts are
hardened against it. One pities them
because they have cut away their
only hope.
Let me lovingly urge them to
yield, to step over the line today, to
make this the acceptable time for
their salvation. Oh, hat the resurrec-
ton of the year might witness the
awakening of faith, and hope, and life
within them through receiving Jesus
Christ as their Savior and Lordl