Newspaper Page Text
December 27, 1911] 1 fl ? J
on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom 1 will have compassion."
"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth
"For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoli.
rEven for this same purpose have I raised thee
up, that I might shew my power in thee, and
that my name might be declared throughout all
the earth."
The same predestination is made evident concerning
Moses for the tremendous work God
laid upon his shoulders. Moses in the divine
oracles is more celebrated than Joseph. But we
perceive the very same spiritual characteristics.
He was prepared from infancy for his commission.
Heb. 11:23. Made according to grace
a man of faith and devotion. After rising to
great distinction in his native city, he refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, preferring
to suffer affliction with the people of
God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season; regarding the afflictions of Christ as better,
far better, than the splendors and emoluments
of an Egyptian throne. These are the
nvirlor?AAo ^ p
v.iutuv-ca ui u. new uuru mail, ior no man would,
do these things except he be born from above;
that is, fcxcept he be predestinated to be conformed
to the image of his Son.
The mantle of Moses fell upon Joshua, whose
very name proclaims that he had crossed the
great gulf separating the world from God. His
religion was deep seated and went with him in
undiinmed beauty to the end. Josh. 24:15.
(b) Samson was a judge and ruler in Israel;
his birth was miraculous; he was a Nazarite
from the womb and filled with the Holy Spirit,
which not only constantly operated upon his
mind and heart, but gave to his very muscles
tremendous power. After a great slaughter of
me rninstines lie was divinely supplied with
a pool of water. And he was sore athirst, and
called on the Lord, and said, Thou hust given
this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant;
and now shall 1 die of thirst and fall into
the hand of the uncircumcised? Judges 15:18.
God heard the prayer and granted the request.
Observe, he was a man of faith and prayer;
again he attributes his victory over his enemies
to Jehovah; he brands his enemies as the uncircumcised
and calls himself God's servant.
These things are proofs of his possessing spiritual
and eternal life.
(c) I can say with Paul time would fail me
to mention Otliniel, Deborah, liarak, Gideon,
Jephthah and others who through faith wrought
righteousness, subdued kingdoms, out of weakness
were made strong, waxed valiant in battle,
and put to iiig) I the armies of ti.e aliens.
?l*i 1- ?i.. - i *? ' - *
.ituin, uiuiuUgii uuiy u ucuuuiUl iviuaci'. <'SS dC
first, was incorporated into the sacred line by
marriage. God in his infinite mercy made her
a member of the Church of Christ. Her determination
to cleave to Jehovah and his people
is charmingly recorded in Ruth 1:15-18, and
is also evidence of the scriptural changes conferred
by grace. Entreat me not to leave thee,
O Naomi, for where thou gocst I will go, thy
people shall be my people and thy God, my God.
Boaz says, "Thou hast come to take refugo
1 under the wings of Jehovah and may his reward
be abundant." She was not only blessed with
all worldly thing3, but so highly honored as to
be one of the ancestors of Christ. Her son's
Dame was Obed, the father of Jesse the father
of Da\id Pavid is: another illustrious example
of God's peculiar blessing. Celebrated for his
genius as poet and statesman of Israel, eminent
for his devotion to God, richly endowed with
spiritual gifts and attainments. Ilis age and
influence mark a grand period in the history
oi the Church. This brings us down to about
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE 80
a thousand years after Abraham and the line
is still veracious and brilliant.
(d) Samuel, prophet and priest contemporary
with David, celebrates his praises as a
man alter uod's own heart. Let us see what
God says about this distinguished priest and
prophet. He was the son of Elltanah, a pious
Jew dwelling in Mount Ephraini with two wives,
Hannah and Perinnah. Hannah was barren for
many years; this disgrace and the insults of the
other wife drove her, in her wretchedness, to
prayer and Jehovah. She begged for a son
and promised the Lord to dedicate him from
his infancy to his service. Jehovah heard and
answered her prayer, gave her the desired son
and she, true to her word, "lent him to the Lord
for life." The Hebrew word "lent" signifies
"return" as a loan. Hannah seems to think
that Samuel was only a loan from God and she
felt bound to return it. He was therefore called,
justified and in the end glorified.
(e) Let us summarize as to what we have
passed over, perhaps the teaching may become
more plain. Predestination grows on a man by
study. It is as fundamental to the kingdom
of God as the eternal veracity of Nature. The
kingdom of God, made up of his elect, is the
grandest enterprise God ever undertook or can
undertake. The earth may pass away, the sun
refuse to shine, the material universe revert into
its original nothingness; but the kingdom of
Jesus deepens and widens through the eternal
ages. He is a Priest "forever, after the order
of Melchizedek;" the gospel is "an everlasting
gospel;" ours is "an eternal redemption."
"The eternal God is our refuge," our salvation
1 is an eternal salvation, our reward is an eternal
weight of glory." These things are so farreaching,
fraught with such infinite interest
and happiness, the infinite wisdom of God could
not trust them to the sublimity of luck. But
returning?Abel was taken and Cain left. David
was taken and Goliath left. Solomon was
taken and Jeroboam left. Good King A^a was
3 a. j j ' ? ? * *
L?i\cii u-Liu me uepraveu vjmri leu; J eiiosiiapiiat
was taken and the wicked Ahab left; Hannah
was taken and Jezebel left. Elijah, the brave
prophet was taken and the priests of Baal left.
Elisha was taken and wicked Ilazael left. The
good Shumanite, whose son Elisha restored to
life was taken and the infamous Athalia left.
Jehoshebah, the wife of the priest Jehoida, was
taken and the idolatrous Queen of Ahab left.
The holy prophets Joel, Amos, and Isaiah, 800
years B. C. were men of God, inspired by the
Spirit and mighty in God's kingdom?these
were taken and the priests of Moleck left.
(f) About 750 B; C. we have the good King
Jothain; thirty-two years after the pious King
Hezekiah, and 117 years after Jotham the godly
prince and King Josiah, one of the most holy
and devoted of the Jewish kings. These noble
Israelites were saved by God's mercy and grace
rnnnurn/1 Vixr J x! - J 1 xU- ?
uj me kjpxi.iL tinu jusuiicu uy tile potential
blood of Christ. Kings like Jeroboam,
Ahab and Ahaz, and others were given up by
Jehovah to live and die in their sins. 2 Kings
16:2. Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began
to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem,
and did not that which was right in the
sight of the Lord his God, like David his father.
But he walked in the way of the kings of
Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through
the fire, according to the abominations of the
heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before
the children of Israel.
And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the
high places, and on the hills, and under every
green tree."
This closes the teaching of the Old Testament.
The New Testament grows deeper and stronger.
Christ knew more than the prophets. We
u T B (1227) 3
may say he begins his preaching with the do<v
trine of predestination underlying his doctrine
and philosophy. He calls Paul to interpret and
enforce what was so clearly revealed in the Old
Testament. If predestination had been ungodly
he would have denounced and condemned it.
Oil thp M mint Viix nnor>A/^ Uio ^ J A A
? ? w?-w ---Vw mv Alio UlUUlii ClliU taugn 1/ I
Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are the
meek; blessed are those who hunger and thirst
after righteousness; blessed are the pure in
heart. But who are these? Do such heavenly
traits of character come from a man whose heart
is puffed up with pride, enmity against God,
not subject to his law nor can be ? Nay, verily!
Poverty of spirit, purity of heart, hunger and
thirst after righteousness, patience and love under
bitter persecution are traits and properties
of the new born man, not of the natural man;
he loves sin and death, not holiness and life.
Rnmnnrto J ? 1 1 '
uuijiugo, ?iuiukis, urunKenness, reveiings,
and such like; of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance; against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ's have crucified the
flesh with the affections and lusts."
If Jesus Christ ever drew the picture of a
true Christian it is in his Sermon on the Mount.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law
and the prophets. I say unto you till heaven
and earth pass away one jot or tittle shall in
no wise pass from the law, etc. Except your
righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and
Pharisees you shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven.
Again, Christ keeps up the old classification:
"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out
of thine own eye; give not that which is holy
to the dofifS. nor cast vnnr npnrle Hpfnro "
Observe here are "hypocrites" and true saints;
dogs and true saints; swine and true saints.
Enter in at the straight gate, because straight
is the gate and narrow the way which leads into
life and few there be that find it. A good tree
cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor a corrupt tree
good fruit.
As we go further Jesus becomes deeper and
yet more explicit.
Y e have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain;
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my
name, he may give it you.
No man can come unto me, except by the
Father which hath sent me to draw him? nnJ T
will raise him up at the last day.
I pray for them; I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me; for
they are mine.
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine;
and I am glorified in them.
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which sent me,
that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day.
The next letter discusses the question, What
light does science shed on the subject ?
Hamburg, Ark.
LITTLE THINGS.
"Only a smile of gladness,
A little thing, my dear,
To cheer* a heart of sadness
And bring the sunlight near.
"Only a small word spoken,
'Twill brighten up the day
For some poor heart that's broken;
So smiles and kind words pay."
?Jewels