Leaves Of Gold

A Call To Return To The Teaching Of The Bible

A ministry of Evangelist James A. Nelson   jan23@cox.net

Year III, No. 9                                          SEPTEMBER                                                     2009

 

 

 

Master Outline Number Forty Four

("The Christian Life Bible",  Thomas Nelson Publishers,  notes by Porter L. Barrington)

 

Enoch, a Man Who Walked with God                                                                       

The biography of Enoch is brief, only nine verses in all: five verses in Genesis, two in Hebrews and two in Jude. Yet this remarkable biography points the Bible student to a man who was unique among all men of all generations. For three hundred years Enoch put God first in his life. The Lord was preeminent in everything: in his thinking, in his ways, and in his walk. He was first in his love; his service, and the only One whom he worshiped. Following are some of the ways in which was unique:

(1) He was one of two men of whom the Scripture says that he "walked with God: The other v Noah (Gen. 6:9). We are not told how long Noah walked with God; however, we are told that Enoch "walked with God three hundred years" (Gen. 5:22).

(2) He was the first of two men who were taken to heaven without experiencing physical death, Elijah was the other (2 Kin. 2:11).              .

(3) Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam. Of all the generations before Enoch we read "And he died;" but with Enoch it was changed, for we read, "And he was not, for God took him", Genesis 5:24.

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(4) He became the father of the oldest man who ever lived, Methuselah, who lived 969 years , Genesis 5:21)

(5) He walked with God three hundred years. During those years he was a family man; he was a family man, he was the father of sons and daughters.           

     (6) Enoch was justified by faith; therefore he lived by faith (Heb. 10:38).                                    t

(7) Enoch prophesied that the Lord would come and execute judgment on the ungodly, Jude15.    

The remainder of the biography of Enoch will not be known until we, too, put on immortality and continue our walk with God in eternity.

44·A. Enoch Walked with God (Genesis 5:21-23)-"Enoch walked with God three hundred years" (v. 22). One day, as they walked together, it was as though the Lord said, "Enoch, come home and let us continue our walk in heaven." This is the way it might have happened, for the Scripture says, "Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him" (v. 24). Enoch continued his "walk with God" in glory, a walk that will never end. And all this began when, one day during his life on earth, Enoch got in step with God, walking with Him for three hundred years thereafter, without interruption. (1) To walk with God requires five things:

(a) Righteousness. This is not self-righteousness, which Isaiah calls "filthy rags" (Is. 64:6), hut the imputed righteousness of God (Rom. 10:1-4. Enoch was a righteous man, "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Eph. 6:10). He was "like a tree planted by the rivers of water" (Ps. 1:3) rooted and grounded in the truth (John 8:32). "The LORD knows the way of the righteous" (Ps. 1 :6), because they walk with Him in righteousness. But it is not so with the ungodly. They cannot walk with God; they are unstable in all their ways, they are like chaff in a windstorm, driven about by the doctrines of this world system, which are promulgated by the servants of Satan (John 8:44; 2 Cor. 4:4.

(b) Faith. Faith is required in the fact that God does exist and that He is the sovereign, almighty, eternal God. "For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6). Enoch sought the Lord by faith, found Him, and walked with Him by faith (Rom. 1 :17).

(c) Uprightness. Enoch was governed by high moral principles and adhered to all the virtues of a true believer. "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Ps. 84:11). Enoch walked with God uprightly and lived life abundantly (John 10:10).

(d) Humility. A truly humble person will not be afflicted with that common disease known as "inflated ego." John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). When you walk with God, the "I" (ego) will diminish to its proper limits and then the words of Paul will be understood: "If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself" (Gal. 6:3).

(e) Commitment. Total commitment is called for. This means that the whole person-spirit, soul, and body-is placed figuratively on the altar of God as a burnt sacrifice (a burnt sacrifice was completely consumed by fire). You are to be a "living sacrifice ... that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:1, 2). Enoch knew what it meant to commit his way to the lord (Ps. 37:5).

(2) When you walk with God:

(a) You will "fear no evil," even when He leads you through "the valley of the shadow of death" (Ps. 23:4). You will not be afraid, because you know that He is with you, and that His grace is sufficient for all of life's events (2 Cor. 12:9).

(b) You will never walk in darkness, because "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all ... if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another" (1 John 1:5-7). When we walk with God, as Enoch did, we have fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-and all the saints of God who are walking with Him. This is heavenly fellowship, and it is forever and ever.

(c) "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31, 32). The Truth that sets you free is the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6). To walk with God is to walk with the lord Jesus Christ, who is the living Word. John said, "The Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Enoch walked with the living Word.

 

44 B. Enoch Walked by Faith with God (Hebrews 11:5, 6)-God's Word reveals seven things that Enoch did by faith:

(1)i By faith Enoch walked with God three hundred years. His faith must have been tested and tried many times.  But there is no evidence that he ever lowered the "shield of faith," with which he was able to quench Satan's fiery darts (Eph. 6:16).

(2) By faith Enoch was "taken away," that is, taken up to heaven-body, soul, and spirit. And his body ph was glorified because "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 15:50-55).

(3) By faith Enoch "did not see death" (v. 5). Enoch is a type of all born-again believers who will be alive when Jesus comes back to this world. The dead in Christ will be resurrected, and the living will be caught up the resurrected saints to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

(4) By faith Enoch pleased God. Because Enoch walked with God by faith, all who knew him knew that leased God. "He had this testimony, that he pleased God" (v. 5). Enoch had faith that could be seen by tho knew him-by the way he, talked, lived, and worked. Faith can be seen in our manner of life. Jesus was teaching in a house in Capernaum, and four men brought a paralytic to Him. When they could  notenter (because the house was filled with people), they went up on top of the house, removed a section the roof, and let the man down on his bed before Jesus. And the Scripture says, "When Jesus saw their faith He forgave the sins of the paralytic and healed him (Mark 2:1-5). Can your loved ones, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances see the proof of your faith?

(5) By faith Enoch believed that Almighty God did exist. "For he who comes to God must believe that  He is" (v. 6). Where did Enoch get such great faith? He did not have the Bible or any books of the Bible. God must have manifested Himself to Enoch, as He did to others, before the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, became man. Enoch had an ever-present witness of God.

               He also had God's creation: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge" (Ps. 19:1, 2). Creation reveals the glory of the Creator, day and night. When Enoch looked at God's creation, he saw more than the sun, moon, and stars. He saw more than mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, streams, and seas.  He saw more than trees, flowers, the birds of the air, the beast of the fields, the fish of the sea, or man who was treated in the image of God. Enoch, by faith, saw the reflection of the Creator in His creation. He sought the Creator God, and found Him, because he sought Him with his whole heart (Ps. 119:2).

(6) By faith Enoch was rewarded. He was not rewarded with eternal life, because eternal life is God's gift; it cannot be earned (Eph. 2:8,9).  God rewarded Enoch by allowing him to walk with Himself.

(7) By faith Enoch diligently sought God. We do not know how long he sought Him before God invited Enoch to walk with Him; it could have been sixty-five years. The years of seeking were years of growing. As he sought God one day, his growth in grace and knowledge was sufficient, and he walked by faith into the very heavenly presence of God.

44-C. Enoch Walked Humbly with God (Micah 6:8)-AII who walk with God are required to "walk humbly. (v. 8) with Him. We know that Enoch was a humble man, because he "walked with God three hundred years" (Gen. 5:22). To understand true humility we must know some of the characteristic of a humble person.

(1) He is gentle, but never weak. Jesus said of Himself, "I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matt. 1). He was the most meek person this world will ever know-yet He once took a whip and drove moneychangers from the temple (John 2:13-16). This was not the act of a weak man..

      (2) He is bold for the Lord, but never brazen. "Now when they [the Sanhedrin] saw the boldness of Ipeter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:1-22). Peter and John were bold because they had accompanied Jesus for three years, and had witnessed His death, burial, and resurrection.

(3) He is aggressive for the Lord, but never contentious or hostile. The apostles never held back with the gospel of Jesus Christ, even though the Sanhedrin warned them, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this His blood on us!" (Acts 5:22-32).

(4) He is poor in spirit, but never spiritually poor (Matt. 5:3). The poor in spirit never think more highly of themselves than they ought (Rom. 12:3). They believe themselves to be a new creation in Christ, knowing that "old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 ~ 5:17). The poor in spirit know that before honor can come their way, they must walk humbly v God (v. 8), who gives to the humble preference and honor among those in Christ. There is no  room for arrogance, pride, or jealousy in the heart or mind of the person who walks humbly with God (Prov. 15:33). .

44-D. Enoch Walked in Agreement with God (Amos 3:3)-"Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" (v. 3). Enoch walked in agreement with God for three hundred years, continuously conforming his life to the counsel of God. He must have learned that "the LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing ... [but] the counsel of the LORD stands forever" (Ps. 33:10, 11). Enoch chose to walk into eternity with the {infinite God; and as he traveled, he was guided by God's counsel day after day until he was translated into His heavenly presence (Ps. 73:24). Enoch had a choice, to walk in agreement with God, or to walk in the counsel of the ungodly (Ps. 1:1).

                 God gave Judah a choice before He sent them into seventy years of captivity: " 'Come now, and let us reason together,' says the LORD, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though (they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool'" (Is. 1:18): Judah was out of step with God, its people walking in the counsel of the ungodly. When they refused to walk with Him, He sent them into captivity. Every nation and individual has this choice: they can walk in agreement with God, as Enoch did, or walk in the way that seems right to man, though the end of the walk that seems right to man is eternal , separation from God (Prov. 14:12).

Enoch began his walk with God in the year that Methuselah was born (Gen. 5:21, 22). For three hundred years Enoch walked in faith, and in agreement with God.

44-E. Enoch Walked All the Way to Heaven with God (Genesis 5:24)-"Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (v. 24). This verse says three things about Enoch that deserve our attention. Each statement is brief, direct, simple, and yet profound. To discover the depth of this verse and the riches of its simplicity, we go to the New Testament.

(1) "Enoch walked with God." As he walked by faith "he had this testimony, that he pleased God" (Heb. 11:5). Enoch's walk with God was no secret; all who knew him must have said, "There goes a man who pleases God." He prophesied the second coming of Christ, and the judgments of God upon the ungodly in the last days (Jude 14, 15). First, he lived his testimony; and second, he preached the good news of the coming of the Lord. What is meant when it is said that Enoch walked with God by faith?

(a) It means that he got in step with God, and made spiritual progress one step at a time; he grew in the grace and knowledge of God (2 Pet. 3:17, 18). He was steadfast in his walk with God, all the way to heaven.

(b) It means that he could no longer go in his own way (Isa, 53:6), or walk according to the course of this world system, which is satanic (Eph. 2:1, 2). If he would walk with God, he must seek God's way and walk in it (Matt. 6:33).

(c) It implies total commitment to the revealed will of God (Rom. 12:1, 2). Enoch's life demonstrates the good and perfect will of God. He could say with David, "I delight to do Your will, 0 my God" (Ps. 40:8).

(2) "Enoch walked with God; and he was not." One day Enoch vanished, disappeared, and was taken up into heaven in the presence of witnesses. When Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind, Elisha witnessed his translation (2 Kin. 2:1-13). When Jesus was taken up, the disciples were

witnesses  (Acts 1:9-11,) Enoch had his ungodly critics, as does anyone who walks with God. Because of them, had there .1 when he was translated, there would probably have been no record of his translation. Witnesses is found in the New Testament. "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not ~s not found'" (Heb. 11:5). Unbelievers may have searched for him to prove that his translation was a religious hoax. When Elisha brought word to the school of the prophets that Elijah had been translated,, they doubted Elisha and formed search parties and looked in vain for him. People searched for Enoch, but he "was not found, because God had taken him."

(3)  Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.". Again we go to the New Testament for a better understanding of this brief and beautiful statement, "for God took him." And we read, "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death" (Heb. 11:5). His spirit and soul were not separated from his body of flesh. Had he died physically, his spirit and soul would have left his body, and search parties would have found it and buried it. Enoch was taken up (translated) because he pleased God who please God by faith will be resurrected and caught up like Enoch at the Rapture, and Wed bodies (1 Thess. 4:16, 17). "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev, 22:20)    (These studies will continue)

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

Bible Doctrine of Depravity or Original Sin

"Baptist Doctrine" A Study Course by E. C. Gillentine, Bogard Press, Texarkana, Ark. Tx.

Properly speaking, the subject for this chapter is:

"Hereditary, Total Depravity, or Original Sin." By the word "hereditary" we mean passing from an an­cestor to a descendant. Hereditary means the trans­mission of mental or physical characteristics or quali­ties from parent to child. By the term "total de­pravity" is meant that all of man-the whole being of man-is depraved-sinful. The correct meaning of "total depravity" is that man is entirely destitute of holiness and there is in his heart no love for God. There is, however, in many unregenerate persons amia­ble qualities and social virtues which render them de­sirable neighbors and useful citizens, but there is in them no spark of spiritual holiness. The influence of many things they say and do is often very beneficial society, and many of their examples are worthy of Imitation, but they do nothing with a view to honor and glorify God. Man in his natural state is the enemy of God, Rom. 5:10; James 4:4. In Rom. 8:7 we read: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for It IS not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Man did not come into this world with a pure, holy, .sinless nature, as some teach. If hey did they would be able to rear some of their offspring to ma­turity a sinless son or daughter-they are sinful, both by nature and by practice.                '

I.        THE FALL OF MAN, OR HOW MAN BECAME A SINNER.

The fall of man involves three questions: (1) Man's ability to sin. (2) The cause of his first sin which re­sulted in his fall. (3) The occasion of the fall.

1. On the first question we remark: (1) Man's ability to sin lay in his ability to exercise his own will. He had a will and could exercise it as it pleased him. (2) He. had power to obey God and live or disobey him and die .. In order that man be a rational and responsible being, capable of rendering acceptable obedience to his Creator as an expression of love, it was neces­sary that he be given a free will, and power to exer­cise it. Forced obedience is not acceptable to God. Man was not created like a machine, to do only such things as Its maker designs for it to do, but man was given free will, and was left entirely on his own responsibility as to the exercise of this will. What is commonly called the "Moral free agency of man" is the secret of his ability to commit sin.

2. On the second question we remark: (1) In his first estate man was "very good," Gen. 1:31. (2) He was under the blessings of God, Gen. 1:27, 28. (3) He was placed under God's law, Gen. 2:16, 17. Although he was placed under God's law he was not forced to obey: (4) Not withstanding that man was "very good," at his creation, he was capable of being tempted to sin, Gen. 3:1-6.

After God created all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness and true holiness, after His own image, having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it; and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change.ok

The cause of man's fall into sin is in Satan. Before Satan tempted Eve with his lie there was nothing in the universe for woman to believe except the truth of God's Word. All creation was founded on truth, and was one vast harmony of truth, of which man was a part. It was during this period of harmonious bliss that the "Morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." In Gen. 3:13 we read: "And the Lord said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Thus we see that Eve was "be­guiled," that is, she was deceived, deluded and the good that was in her life by creation, Gen. 1:31, was perverted by the charms and seductive powers of the most subtle of God's creatures, Satan, Gen. 3:1-6. In II Cor. 11:3 we read: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." Both Adam and Eve fell into sin through the powe'r and influence of Satan. The ser­pent perverted the good that was in mother Eve; and she in turn perverted the good that was in Adam. We understand from the teaching of Jesus as set forth. in John 8:44 that every wicked thought is planted in the human heart by Satan. He is the father, the begetter, the sole originator of all evil, all crime, all shame, all misery, and of every falsehood

3. On the third question we remark as follows:

                The occasion of the fall was when Adam disobeyed God's command "not to eat." In Rom. 7:8-14 we read: "But sin, taking OCCASION by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For with­out the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin re­vived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking OCCASION by the commandment, deceived (beguiled) me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin".

Paul, in the above passage, is speaking of the Mosaic law, which had as its object the spiritual. life of man, and using it to illustrate the command given .by God to Adam which had as its object the physical life of man.  As the Mosaic law was the "occasion" of Paul's fall into spiritual death, so the command of God given to Adam,  "Thou shalt not eat of it" was the "occasion" of Adam's fall into both physical and spiritual death. Spiritual death, separation from God, came as a direct result of his disobedience, and physical death came as a part of the curse placed on man, Gen. 3:17-19. In verse 19 we read: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground' for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." Read also in this connection, I Cor. 15:22, "For as in Adam all die"; and Heb. 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

"As the result of Adam's transgression, all his pos­terity are born in the same state into which he fell."

The Scriptures represent man as being totally depraved; totally destitute of that love to .God which constitutes the fundamental and all inclusive demand of the law; totally destitute of ability within himself to bring himself back into favor with God.

Sin is transgression of the law, I John 3:4: All un­righteousness is sin, I John 5: 17. The word sin means error or failure. If I make an error or If I fail in trying to accomplish something which I have undertaken it is because I am imperfect and sinful. Sin means to miss the mark. If I miss the mark of perfection, I sin. Read Psalm 51:9; 103:10; Rom. 2:12. In Rom. 3:23 we read: "All have sinned (missed the mark), and come short of the glory of God." Sin means the violation of God's rule of duty; God's children sin when they fail to do what God says for them to do, Heb. 10:25. Sinners sin when they fail to repent, Acts 17:30. Jesus traced all obedience to a root of love. John 14:23: "If a man loves me, he will keep my words." All disobedience is traced to a counter principle.

The watchword of the law promulgated by Moses was: "He who offends in one point is guilty of all," James 2:10; Deut. 27:26; Matt. 5:19.

Under the law sin showed itself as a revolt against a personal God.

What is sin? Sin is the difference between what I was meant to be and what I am. "God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions," Eccl. 7:29. God made him sinless, but he became sin­ful; God made him perfect, "very good," Gen. 1:31, but he has become very imperfect. God made man right­eous, but he sinned and became unrighteous. Sin alien­ates men from God, Isaiah 59:2; Eph. 2:12; Gen. 3:24; sin makes man an enemy to God, Rom. 5:10. Sin is deceptive, through it Eve was deceived. Evil circum­vents us with deep and delicate snares, until even those who walk warily hardly walk surely. Sin, sometimes, comes to us in the guise of love; sometimes it iden­tifies itself with beauty; it sometimes assumes the fes­tal aspect; it glides in on us in the disguise of fashion, and is sometimes incarnated as glory. Satan tells a wo­man that she will look more beautiful and men will think her more glorious if she will do so and so-she falls into his snare and thus degrades herself in the eyes of virtuous men. Sin often comes in the guise of virtue and religion. The master stroke of evil is to play itself off as holiness and devotion, I Peter 5:8-9. "

II. THE EXTENT OF SIN-THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE.

"But the scripture hath concluded all under sin," Gal. 3:22; Rom. 3:9-10: "What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin' as it is written, there is none righteous, no, .not one." Read also in this connection Eccl. 7:20; Isa. 64:6' I John 1:8-10.            '

It is not meant to teach by the doctrine of total depravity that man is as bad as he can be, but that he is all bad, that is, in his natural state there is no good­ness in man.

                Man is not as bad as he can be, but he is all bad:

1. His heart is evil, Jer. 17:9: "The heart is de­ceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (ex­ceedingly corrupt); who can know it?" Mark 7:21-23: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man."

2. His mind and thoughts are evil. Gen. 6:5: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was 'great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

3. His understanding and desires are evil, Rom. 3:11: "There is none that understand, there is none that seeketh after God."

4. His ways are bad, Romans 3:12.  There is not even so many as one that doeth good....not one.

5. His throat is bad, Romans 3:13.

6. His tongue is evil, Romans 3:13.

7. His lips are evil, Romans 3:13

8. His mouth is full of evil things, Romans 3:14; James 3:10.

9. His feet are evil, Romans 3:15; Proverbs 1:16; Isaiah 59:7.

10. His eyes are evil, Romans 3:18; 1John 2:16.

11. His head is evil, Isa. 1:5, 6: "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither molli­fied with ointment."

12. He was born evil, Psalm 51:5: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me"; Psalm 58:3: "The wicked are estranged· (sep­arated) from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Man is by nature a child of wrath, Eph. 2:3: " ... And were by nature children of wrath, even as others." "Children of wrath," that is, they are born exposed to the wrath of God. I quote from the New Modern Speech New Testament: " ... And were in our original state deserving of anger like all others."

The question is asked, "If children are born into the world sinners, what becomes of them if they die in

infancy?"                                                    _

That children are born in sin we refer you to the following passa€$es of Scripture: Psalm 51:5; 58:3; John 9:4; Rom. 3:23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3; John 3:6, 8:41-47, et al.

That there is a time when children are not account­able for their sins we quote: "Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your chil­dren, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it," Deut. 1:39. "For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings," Isa. 7:16. Compare Gen. 2:17: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

The sin that comes through the sinful nature that we inherit through our parents is all atoned for in the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary, I Cor. 15:22; John 1:9, and 29, a part of which we quote: "Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Read also Isa. 42:5-7.

The infant that dies is saved in death, because the death it receives in Adam is removed by the death of Christ. Hence every mother who has lost a child in infancy is permitted to gaze with delight on this bow of promise. David saw it and rejoiced, II Sam. 12:23. The teaching of Jesus concerning/infants confirms this view: "Then were there brought unto him little chil­dren, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suf­fer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven," Matt. 19:13. Read also Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17 and Gen. 27:38. Of all who have died almost half of them were infants, hence, Jesus said, "Of such is the king­dom of heaven." Most people who are saved are saved before they are twenty years of age. According to the Scripture that is the best time, EccI.. 12:1.

"The little babe is gone to rest, To live with God for ever blest; Its little tongue will always praise, A Savior's love, redeeming grace.

"Far from a world of sin and strife, ., It now enjoys a heavenly life;

And joins to praise and shout and sing, And makes the heavenly arches ring.

"Could we but hear its little voice, So sweetly sing the heavenly song; Could we but see its smiling face, Delighted with the happy place.

"We could not wish it back again, But say, 'Dear Babe, with God remain':

We'll one day gain that peaceful shore, Where those who meet shall part no more.

"Now let us strive the prize to gain, Let's follow Christ, with Him remain; Then we shall share in Jesus' love, And meet the little babe above."

-Arranged.

 

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