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March 16, 1910. THE PRESBYTERIA
dress the Church at large and the members individually
as to get the best possible present work from the
Church. And it may be that some of those one-sided
givers are doing for the best; it may be that upon their
doing so depend other providences making for the advancement
of the Kingdom, since "all things work together
for good to those that love God," etc.
However, this may be, it is clearly true that some men
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to determine freely the direction in which their gifts
are to be expended.
The Commission should never say to the Church,
therefore, Give us so much money, and we will divide
in the support'of such and such cases, in such and such
percentages. It should, for the percent, address itself
to the Church so as to get the best results from the
Church as it now exists.
III. The Commission should nevertheless urge givers
to give proportionately to all the causes, unless they
certainlv have pood reasons for doinpf otherwise. As n
good Presbyterian, honoring the highest Courts of the
Church, a man should believe that the General Assembly
has good reasons for calling for the sums for which
it calls. He should hold that if the Assembly asks for
an average of four dollars per member for Foreign Missions,
one dollar per member for Home Missions; thirty
cents per member for Ministerial Relief, then the Assembly's
asking creates a presumption that he should
give in the proportion of four dollars to Foreign Missions,
to one dollar to Home Missions, etc. There may
be reasons why he can conscientiously decide that he
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snouKi give in anotner proportion, in sucn a case nis
gift must be received and handled faithfully, but the
proportions fixed by the Assembly should express the
united wisdom of the Church, and the individual should
be exhorted to be cautious lest he push his prejudices
into the place of the well matured judgments of the
Church at large.
The Commission, taking this view, while using every
member of the Church as he can be used most advantageously
today, letting some give waywardly, may be
meanwhile bringing it to a nobler giving on tomorrow,?to
a giving proportioned according to the best
wisdom of the Church.
Richmond, Va.
Anything that proves a dissipation to you, though
seemingly harmless to others, you must shun. You
can not afford to destroy yourself by trying to be as
callous as somebody else.
DARKNESS?LIGHT.
By Margaret H. Barnett.
Over the land, in the brightness of noontide,
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\ His followers, watching, saw death claim the Master
The Friend, the Teacher they loved so well.
To them it seemed that all hope had fled,
The day when they looked on the Master, dead.
Over a world that in darkness was lying,
In the midnight gloom of sin and woe
Light, from the darkness of Calvary, shining,
Dispels the gloom of this earth below;
And man's only source of hope and light,
Is found in what seemed a hopeless night.
N OF THE SOUTH. 327
ABOUT PUNISHMENT.
I have of late been much impressed by some articles
I have read, with an idea as to the object of punishment
that is to a great extent erroneous. My conviction is
that the generally accepted opinion is that punishment
is inflicted for the purpose of the reformation of the
criminal and to prevent others from violating the law.
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ishmcnt. The primary reason is pain or suffering for
violated law; reformation and prevention of crime, are
secondary considerations. Punishment is given for violated
law. If there was no wrongdoing, 110 violation
of law, there would be no punishment, no suffering.
This, to my mind, is a question of fundamental importance,
and lies at the foundation of the doctrine of a
vicarious atonement.
We must not forget, that as the result of sin, the violator
of God's law, the soul of man, has become corrupt.
The whole character is changed. Instead of being pure
and holy, as created, man is unholy, impure, and unfitted
to be admitted to the presence of a pure and holy
God. Unless the character is changed and man restored
to his original state of holiness, he can never be accepted
in the sight of God, or be permitted to dwell with
holy beings; the heart is corrupt and instead of loving
God and doing His will, is in a state of alienation from
Him and is in a state of rebellion against Him, and living
in violation of His law; not subject to that law,
neither can be without a radical change in his character.
For this reason Christ declares "Ye must be born
again," <?r as the apostle says, "Made new creatures in
Christ Jesus."
The question arises then, If men suffer for the vio
lauon 01 uoq s laws, ana consequently are guilty and
obnoxious to that law; will or can any degree of suffering
restore them to the favor of the Lord; will punishment
remove the guilt, it matters not how great it may
be, or how long it may last? We must not forget that
by sin we are corrupt, the character is all out of harmony
with God, who is pure and holy, and no one can
be admitted to His presence or to the company of those
who dwell with Him unless pure and holy, even as they
are pure and holy. The command is, "Be ye holy for
I m holy, saith the Lord." By sin men have lost
that holiness of character in which they were created,
and there can be no question of the fact that holiness
must be secured in order to be accepted with God. In
order that this may be true, we must be made holy in
heart and life. Is it possible by anything we can do,
or will any degree of punishment that may be inflicted
for sin committed, restore that holiness of character
that has been lost by transgression of the law, or by failure
to comply with the demands of the law? Sin consists
not only by transgression, but also by want of conformity
to the law. We are just as guilty before God
for not doing what the law commands as by doing
what the law forbids. An unholy being can never do
a holy act. If the tree is bad, the fruit will be bad. This
shows the absolute necessity then for some means by
which the "tinner mh He marie hnlv We cee tlion flio
necessity for the work of Christ in His vicarious atonement.
The one grand truth from Genesis to Revelation
is that of substitution. We see it first in the declaration,
the seed of the-woman shall bruise the seri