La Grande evening observer., August 03, 1918, Image 5

Salvation
a Gift
By REV. J. H. RALSTON. D. D.
Secretary of Corrnpondence Dtprtmeat
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TEXT And I b!v unto them eternal
IIe.-JoIn 10:2&
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Jesus Christ said that ho hml came
Into this world that men might have
eternal life. The
bestowal of eter
n n 1 1 1 f o was,
therefore, the
purpose of his
coming. A cer
tain young man
asked, "Good eir,
what .must I do
to inherit eternal
life?" Christ's dis
ciples had some
conception of eter
nal life for. they
said to Jesus,
"Thou hast tho
words of etornul
life."
What Is eternal
life? Jesus himself gave an answer
In his great Intercessory prayer, "And
tills Is life eternal,- that they might
know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom thou linst sent I"
With the ordinary student of the
Bible, the Idea of eternal life Is a life
of endless dutatlon, the word "eternal"
being made synonymous with "ever
lasting." But eternal life Is not alto
gether a question of duration but of
quality. Tho proper conception of
eternal life' embraces both quality and
quantity. Terms of Inherent value and
timo measurement must be in mind.
The man 'Who possesses eternal life
then has something that is fnr raised
above anything that tho earth lias to
offer. It is n llfo that may bo realized
this side of death and has its thou
sands of Illustrators in all the world
and among all classes of persons with-1
out respect to age, ruce, pecuniary
condition, education or social stand
ing, i
i Now the question arises, presuming
tho man does not possess, this eternal
life. How is he to get it?' The rich
young ruler thought it was by doing
something to Inherit it, or rather merit
It. - ...'Probably the vast 'majority, of
people have that Idea. ! It is thought
man must do something to win eternal
life, as a kind of trophy of his efforts,
or mnke himself a worthy recipient of
It. Unfortunately, the nobility of man
Is often' appealed to, ns If man had
something of merit to offer God. , Pre
cisely the opposite Is the situation.
Man must come to the plnce where he
will see his utter helplessness and ac
cept salvation as a gift.
Man Is not In n position to have
eternal life offered to him, and to ac
cept It or reject It, as In any trurt
sense nn equal of the offerer. - Ho Is
not In n position to deal with God.
Ills standing before God Is one of
hopeless need. He stands before God
as one guilty, unworthy and hell-deserving.
The only thing that ho can
do Is to look upon God ns offering to
him salvation out of his mercy.
The comparison of eternal JIfo with
what the best man could-do to merit
It would be ridiculous. Some conclu
sion might be readily arrived at with
respect to what'eternal life means In
this life, but as before stated, the
value of eternal life beyond Is fur
more than man can calculate.
5 Upsides this, there is already an
adequate equivalent to' eternal llfo
presented to man in the Infinite mer
its of Jesus Christ himself, the Son of
God, Hie Infinite one, who lived a
most marvelous life and died a most
wonderful death. It would seem to
be something almost amounting td di
rect Insult ,to God to make any sug
gestion thn man could merit eternal
life, when It in clearly proclaIine1 in
the Word thnt Jesus ' Christ has al
ready merited it, and stands offering
It to us. As the text nays, Jesus
Christ gives this life, and this because
he purchased It with a surrender of
his own precious life.
The Word of God emphatically and
categorically tenches us tmit eternal
life is a gift. Support to our text is
given in thnt remarkable saying in
Isaiah 55:1: "Ho, every one that
thlrsteth, come ye to the waters; yen,
come, buy wine and milk .without
money nnd without price." Certainly
John 3 :10, MGod so loved the- world
that hegave his only begotten Sou
that whosoever belleyeth on . him
should not perish, hut hnvo everlasting
life" is In plnce, as also the words of
Paul, "The gift of God Is eternal llfo
through Jesus Christ our Lord." The
text Itself soys, "I give unto theni
cternnl life." And another considera
tion Is thnt those who give evidence
of possessing eternal life, die those
who concede that what they have has
been the gift of God.
4' This great fact of the Gospel may
Bccm to humiliate man, but nothing Is
needed "more. We are living In, nn
ago when men glory In their shame,
They demand notice ontthc ground of
merit, nnd nothing IS needed more
than something to make man feel his
absolute dependence upon God; In
deed, feel that he Is deserving only
of God's wrath and the visitation of
his judgment. Whether men think It.
or not, they nre daily recipients of
God's gifts'. The atmosphere they
breathe the iins!i!:n the continuation
of life, the health they possess, are
all the sirt of find. fr which man
can glv.- p-ihlt'c ;n .r ""-.
.'TSpPORT of Home Industries j
E ll'lJ i (W Form nf Patriotism U
WOMEN Are Purchasing Agents in Host
if homes. Their rnnnerflfinn is necessary
r . . r . -- i
DAY-ROLL Money Stays at home
helps make Oregon prosperous
iSSS fruits. 1
' VEGETABLES VP.
l fegii mm
OLYMPIC
PANCAKE I
FLOUR I
Its. the daily break
fast in thousands of
western homes. , i
Thcro Is no othar m dlgHtlble j
aad healthful.
Honestly recDntmsfded a the dally J
diet of tho entire housohold. . i
. " Because the injii'rslipat am soblpndod as to produce a food that is
- ipctitiairiR und perfectly digested.' '...,. ;.'; . ... - ..':. ,:.
Those who have fm,aj other pancakes Indigestible will find OLYMPIC'
agrees with tfie inost delicate stoauieh; : ' , 'v;. , ,' ;;.
The Portland Flouring Mills Co. .
' ' Send tn the 'end of the 'tmckagt)
M itroetio Top.
und receive by return ciai! a
j Purolaitet Prorations ;
J ,?Mdv;Medicinal ; Remedies- are 1 J
I r Gnaranteed'. to Please. - I 1
jjrTUB;p La Grunu: Sells .tlicm.'
UNION MEAT CO.
North Portland,
Oregon ,
Mil
A Product of Home Industry
Government Inspected
Economical and highly dependable
; wherever a high grade shortening
Is desired.
DISTINCTIVELY DELICIOUS
Steel Cut
COFFEE
t
' ; For particular pcopic
At all Leading Grocer..',
"You'll never kmiw I:
A A Y
DIAMOND "V,;'
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10 J it is until you've tried it."
,i i wT.cr ior
..,1;JD rR0DUCT3
Wadtn-s - Company
Grocers.
tt S 16 i MI t
j ' - -! I k;. , Manuf aicturiss: . antl '. ;"jal,'sale
'mmmrW' L ouradversising
For otnealih's sake! Jl v )
- . )
;.CRQWrj; FLOUR
i -ii
i
"FEELING ONIvSljATS,'
. : 'Isjft familiar': expression growing
out of the well established fact that'
eating oats producua vigor and
energy. , x ,;,
GOLDEN ROD OATS
:- Are milled fronr the choicest pata H
obtainabloj are freo rem hulls and
can bo used in many: delightful dish-i-
i. cs besides porridge. (. . ,
t . Write for Our Liberty Recipes. -
! y I
What They Left Behind.
' We know nf a lot of nipn who didn't
lpnve mtu'li iM'hlnd them In the way
of arttal n'h aocnmnlatpd hat thpy
did leave families rich In the memories
of the haMiincsi they had while they
wero gllrc.
iax, W - .
THE PURE FOOD FLOUR
CROWN FI.OUU is made from the choicest of wheal
in the best nfiU'on the coast. Tliercfore, bleaching or arti
ficial coloring ja not necessary. -
If you are usinfc- another brand of flour it is probably
bUjache a.tcoriy ail veatcra mills employ artificial roetW.
l in csV.rins their flour. - i .
Use Cr v.rr. I-tour and eliminate any possibility of get-,
t i - flour that has been artificially colored. - , ;
" Ask your Grocer for CROWN FLOUR.
The Modern
Laundry-
0B5ERVER:A0S BRING RESULTS
OUTINGS
Good Times
Summer CSoihcs
Soiled
Our Laundry Department, is
prepared to take care of the
Wash Goods. m -
OurDry Cleaning Department
the wools and non-washables
STANDARD
LAUNDiY
COMPANY
.... . .- -i
Phone Main Five-Six
'