will not wabble on the gudgeon and go up hill till we reach the celestial city above. There to dwell on the hill of delight, CHAPTER VI. THE WORST AND BEST OF HUMAN EXISTENCE. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Rom. 6: 22. HUMAN existence is very largely composed of the worst or the best, in this present world; and will be the worst or the best in eternity. When we are made to realize the fact that we are approaching the end of our earthly career, it is certainly a matter of profound interest for all of us to know how to act and what to be, in order to shun the worst and to possess the best. In the text the apostle speaks of certain conditions, and concludes by saying, "and the end, everlasting life." The opposite is everlasting death. Everlasting death is the worst and everlasting life is the best, and the conditions of the two states of existence are what we want to investigate in this article. The first thought in the text is freedom from sin, which we understand to be the first thing necessary in order to realize that we are in possession of the principles of Christianity. Freedom from sin, among all things, is the one thing especially to be desired and sought after. When man sinned in the Garden of Eden by plucking and eating the forbidden fruit, he went into bondage. He became a prisoner with the devil as the jail-keeper, keeping him in the castle of doubt, locked with the key of iniquity. While in the dark dungeon, a way of escape was provided. God sent his Son into the world to open the prison doors and set at liberty those who are bound. Read Isaiah 42: 7, for the full account of what Christ came to do. With the key of righteousness he unlocked the prison doors and made it possible for the prisoners to make their escape and become free. Free from what? From sin, from its love and from its guilt. What is the one thing that calls for the greatest sacrifice? It is freedom or liberty. There is nothing that we possess but what we will sacrifice in order to enjoy freedom. Without freedom there is no enjoyment. There have been more wars and bloodshed in order that men might enjoy their freedom than over any other one thing. It is a very great blessing to have our freedom in a physical sense, and much more so to have it in a spiritual sense. Paul, in the text, as I understand it, was talking about being free in a spiritual sense. To be in bondage in a spiritual sense is the worst thing, and to be free in a spiritual sense is the best thing. The first step in the Christian life is to be made free from sin, not altogether from some of the effects of sin, but free from the love and guilt of sin. Having made the above statements with regard to the importance of being made free from sin, we will proceed to discuss something about the power that performs the wonderful act. Christ came into this world not only to save the human race from the penalty of sin in eternity, but from its enslaving power in this present world. He came to free men from the love of sin. In St. John 8:36, you can read from the statement of Christ himself, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Freedom from sin is not the work of physical power but the power of Jesus Christ. When the work is done by him we are free indeed. He takes the love of sin out of the heart and prepares the heart to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. We are admonished in 2 Cor. 13: 5, to examine ourselves-to prove ourselves. When we are ready to examine ourselves, what is the first thing to look for? See if we are free from the love of sin, when free from the love of sin, the next step is that we become to be servants of God. Every human being is the servant of what he loves. If free from sin we love God and serve God: for where your treasure is there will your heart be also. Matt. 6: 21. A little self examination will reveal the fact from an experimental standpoint that every creature is the servant of what he loves. After careful observation on the subject, the conclusion has been reached that the most difficult task in the world is to try to be a servant of God without being made free from sin; without first being made free from sin by the only One that can free us-Christ, the only name under heaven or among men whereby we can be saved. Acts 4: 12. When free from sin God's service is a delightful service, the best service in the world. FRUIT BEARING. In the most wonderful sermon ever delivered, as was delivered by Christ on the mount, he taught us that a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, neither can a good tree bring forth evil fruit. The fruit partakes of the nature of the tree. Among the trees a corrupt tree is the worst and a good tree is the best. The fruit of a corrupt tree is the worst and and fruit of a good tree is the best. Trees are used as symbols representing men. A bad man brings forth evil fruit. A good man brings forth good fruit. One the worst, the other the best. A long time ago I heard the story of the Upas tree that was so poisonous that every living creature that came near it was poisoned to death. I am not familiar with the facts as to the existence of the Upas tree, whether there is only one or many; but among men there are many that are the antitype of a Upas tree: they poison everything that comes near them with vulgarity, profanity, evil habits, etc. They make a display of the worst on almost all occasions. Instead of bringing forth fruit unto holiness, they bring forth fruit unto death. Those who are not freed from sin are the servants of the devil. They bring forth corrupt fruit and the end with such will be everlasting death, everlasting misery, the worst that can be imagined. While all those who have been made free from sin, and are the servants of God, having brought forth fruit unto holiness, with them the end will be everlasting life, the very best that an all-wise Creator can prepare for his redeemed children. One or the other awaits all of us and there is no escape. Eternal death the worst, everlasting life the best. We are all on the current of time and are moving toward the last stage of our existence. What will the final end be? It is so exceedingly strange that so many are feasting on the pleasures of sin when inspiration declares that the wages of sin is death. Rom. 6: 23. I am indebted to Rev. S. H. Braly, of Henderson, Tenn., for the following very forceful illustration illustrating the folly of feasting on sin while the end is certain death. The illustration runs thus: At a time of high water on the Missouri River the carcass of a dead buffalo was floating down the current of the river. The keen eye of an eagle saw the floating carcass and desired to partake of the dead flesh. Descending from its lofty height the eagle lit upon it and commenced feasting upon the decayed flesh, expecting to make its escape before reaching the great waterfall down the river. The wind was blowing cold, and before it was aware of it its talons had become frozen to the dead carcass, and when it realized its near approach to danger it made a desperate but unsuccessful effort to escape; hard frozen to the dead carcass, it could not fly away. Millions of the human race are feasting on the dead carcass of sin, expecting to break loose before they go down never to rise again; but alas! alas! fastened by the love of sin. Oh, that men everywhere would stop and consider what wonderful power sin has to hold them until they reach the bot |