The Raymer enterprise., 1916-04-13

| pregnant Ii every
word Of that great
inspired sentence! He" It is no
mere man Of whom this pronoun
speaks. but the mighty God, the Fs.
ther OF Eternity. the Prince Of
Peace" as Isaiah testifes. "Imman.
uel. which. being interpreted, 10 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. 1t will take US all eternity
to grasp the thought.
Was delivered" Who delivered"
him? We think OF Judas, who be-
trsyed him. OF the Roman soldiers who
arrested him, Of the Jewish sanhedrin
who prosecuted him, Of Pontius Pi-
late who illegally tried him, Of tho
cruel executioners who nailed him 70
the cross. And yet 1t was the hand
and the counsel OF his Father that had
before determined 1t 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 state Of sin. but that IL NOT
all. for the moment we arrive at q
point of moral consciousness, we &C.
tually transgress the law of God. In
many things We offend all,' as the
epistle of James says. There is none
righteous. no, not one" we are taught
in Romans. Men do not like to hear
this. They resent 1t. they hate It.
But. Oh. what love, that while NO
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 can 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.
m!zed. We must hold with all tho
tenacity OF faith to the bodily resurrec-
tion OF our Lord and Savior We must
do this not because our peace de-
pends upon it, but because the Bible
teaches 1t. and because history proves
1t. He showed himself alive after
his passion by many infallible proofs"
Historic Christianity is q 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-s
tic so times year.
For our Justification" That word,
our how we should love It and
praise God for 1t. Deliver for our Of.
fenses.' raised again for our justifica-
tion." What kindness to the human
race is in that word! How close It
brings the heart of God to our hearts.
What interest 1t should awake on our
part to learn all we can about It from
the Holy Scriptures.
And Justification" what does that
mean? Sometimes whep Christians
thing of salvation. they get NO fur
ther than the forgiveness of sin; and
indeed that were glorious enough even
II 1t stopped there. But one might
be forgiven for the past and still be
very wretched for the present and the
future. justification therefore is q
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
penalty OF all sin. past, present and
to come! The reason OF this Ia that
his penalty has been paid. not by him
self, but by another. whose resurrec-
tion from the dead is the proof Of 1t.
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 II
best seem hungering and thirsting
to hear 1t like the rest" and no apol-
ogy need be made to them for repeat
ing 1t, especially at this season of
the year.
There are others, however, who
have heard 1t 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, that the resurrec.
tion Of the year might witness the
awakening Of faith. and hope. and life
within them through receiving Jesus
| Christ na THAR 0avfor and .nrdf