The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1917-08-02

L w cir SACRIFICES
and feastings. but
the trouble be-
tween them and God was not removed.
II was fortunate for them that they
had some religious leaders that knew
things spiritual. and who were faithful
In telling the people that they were
not doing what was pleasing to God
at all.
Charge Of WoridiIness.
II the application of these words
were made to the church today, which
would be very proper. the charge
would not be wise II IL were made In
the form Of details or the naming of
peccadillos Of improper conduct, but
II the church were charged with world
illness, with betrayal of pure doctrine.
with robbery as far as Withholding Of
ferings to God are concerned, then
the charge would attract attention.
The church Of God today In Its sinful
condition stands as a buffer between
God and the unsaved world. A great
load OF guilt Is on II today on this par
ticular account. II Is a misrepresen-
tation Of what Christ and his religion
are. The world does not today read
Christ properly because II reads the
perverted message of Christ that the
. church presents In Its life.
But the shortcomings of the church
will not redeem any unsaved man, nor
be an excuse for not getting right with
God. Here every tub must stand on
Its own bottom. What is wrong with
the unsaved man1 Simply that he is
out Of right relationship with God;
there is lack Of adjustment. A man
can fence all he pleases. and try to
throw the blame on God. but ultimate
ly the trouble Is with himself. His
sins have separated between him and
God, and these must be got out of
the way. God must be faithful to
man. and to show his love he says
through his ministers, "Your sins
have hid his face from you that he
will not hear"
Gods Part and Mans.
The charging Of sin is Gods part;
the confessing Of sin Is mans part.
Fortunately. the people to whom the
prophet spoke needed his word, and
we read that they made detailed con-
fesslon. Confession Is in q way
the same thing as repentance. and
some men have shown themselves to
be strong In repentance, indeed. there
is no explanation Of their standing be-
fore God. except conceding that they
knew how to repent. We have David
and Peter as examples. Such confess
sion Is coming out candidly and &C.
cepting the righteousness Of the charge
Of God. God has passed judgment. his
charge is made and man must. like one
Of ancient times. acknowledge the
charge In order that God may be JUS
tilted when he speaks and be clear
when he judges. We might note In
this part Of the confession that the In
dlvidual says "his sins are multiplied
before him"-that is, they are In an
exaggerated form. really what they
are. as compared with what he has
heretofore considered them to be. He
comedies. also, that his sins belong to
himself.
The need Of the day In which we
find ourselves Is confession. national
confession. church confession. individ-
ual confession. Some nations today
are on their knees. They are on their
way to true blessing because they are
going to get right with God. The or
ganized church is hardly on its feet
yet. and II is slipping further and fur.
Their away from the truth Of God. and
not until II gets to Its knees and con-
fesses its attachment to the world, its |
departure from truth. its failure to
understand its true mission, will II
have Gods favor.
The Blessing.
The inevitable follows confession OF
sin, namely. blessing. In the text we
are told that the Redeemer shall come
to Zion. The trouble with the world
and with the church and the individ.
ual Is. that the Redeemer Is not pres
ent. This coming Of the Redeemer
may fairly be considered In the first
place as a spiritual coming. The ideal
situation is expressed by the term I'm.
manuel, which means "God with u.s."
but God cannot be with US II we hold
to our sins and do not confess and for
sake them. God remains away from
nations and churches and individuals
as far as his blessings are concerned.
who do not confess their sins and re-
turn TO him.