Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1924-05-16

Many OF the older
theologians and teachers made much
Of the wrath Of God they spoke their
anathemas as some pope would speak
them. With them the method OF the
bludgeOn was the best Many Of the
later theologians and teachers, prob
ably including most modern preachers,
make much Of the love OF God and
they preach love, as they call 1t.
They quote very gllbly and very fire.
quently all the Scripture expressions
in which love Is prominent. In quot
ing Romans 8 IS they entirely overlook
verse Q. The beatitudes of the fifth
Of Matthews are Haunted before the
multltudes, as also the thirteenth of
| Corinthians. God is so certainly
and strongly set forth as n God Of love
that there is no place for Him as
God Of consuming fire Now In these
days when the excuses Of men are to
be guarded against. 1t is wise to guard
against excessive emphasis on either
love or wrath, or. to put 1t negatively,
the minimizing OF the one or the other.
Love Commended.
What Is said Of the love of God1 1t
is commended by God. "In that while
we were yet sinners Christ died for
US" Men dying in sin, already con
demned, God loving them enough to
send His Son to die for them. What
love! Love not for lovable persons,
not as a response TO love on the part
Of men, but love In spite of hate TO,
ward God, in spite of love for the
things God hates. We cannot but no
tlce the form Of the expression Of that
love-"In that while we were yet sin
ners Christ died for us" 1t is utterly
impossible to praise Gods love too
much, God was under no obligation
to send His Son to die for men, nor
to show mercy Of any kind, but He
loved so much.
Saved From Wrath.
But there is another side to the
picture 1--WE shall be saved from
wrath through Him" We need only
to recall the words of Jesus Himself
as recorded in John 3:36, He that be
lieveth on the Son hath everlasting
life: and he that belleveth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath
Of God abldeth on him" Let us note
very carefully the solemn words,
Saved from wrath" In the passage
in John we find the wrath Of God al
ready the portion Of some and we
know from Scripture that wrath Of
God Is yet TO come; so We have pres
ent wrath and impending wrath. Pres
ent wrath Is something that is pro-
yided for by the great love Of God. II
man does not respond to the appeals
Of God. that wrath hangs over him
perpetually. But II need not hang
there. The moment a man accepts
Jesus Christ as Savior. that wrath is
taken away.
But there is another aspect of wrath
that cannot be overlooked-the aspect
Of the coming wrath. A study OF
the last few days Of the earthly life Of
our Lord gives proof Of love such as
the world has never seen. but even
then He pronounced a future wrath
on Jerusalem and those who were put
ting Him to death. Who can fully I'M
derstand the meaning Of the words,
your house Is left unto you desOlate"?
Beautiful Jerusalem! Royal Jerusa-
lem To be in a few years utterly
destroyed, the burial place of more
than a million human beings Wrath
WRATH WRATH
The coming wrath has Its intlma-
tons in the late awful war, in the
present conflicts of human society all
over the world, in multltudes suffer
ing the pangs of starvation, and the
destruction OF hundreds and thou
sands by earthquakes The race Of
mankind Is filling up its cup Of
wrath Let not the woes pronounced
by the prophets on Edom, Tyre, Is
rael, Judah and Jerusalem be forgot
ten. Let not the woes uttered by
Jesus. Himself the very incarnation Of
the love Of God, on the Pharlsees and
| Sadducees be forgotten.
In emphasizing the love and wrath
Of God, let not the pendulum swing
too far in either direction, but let It
reach each limit of Its oscillation /;
else the whole machinery of human
destiny will be ruined.