The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1869-04-08
JACKSON G. H, OHIO THURSDAY, APRIL s. 1861

WateIestreeC rnfhan TO keep his bands
from his wife's throat, through fear Of
the gallows, than not to have that fear
and throttle her. Although the fear Of
the gallows is a mere Jebusite, il is
better than the wild beast which takes
its place and throttles the woman.
The Jebusites had done much needed
work in the Promised Land. They
had kept down tie wild beasts, and
cleared away forests, and built bridges,
and made roads, and brought large
tracts under cultivation, and done a
deal ofhonest work all through the land.
And if they should all be swept off with
one blast of Gods breath, their fertile
fields would relapse into barren wastes,
and the land become bowling wilder
ness, "and the beasts of the feld would
multiply against" the Israelites, to a
calamitous degree. And so God says,
"By little and little will drive them
out from before thee, until thou be in
creased and inherit the land"
And SO it is in the regenerating hu-
man heart, of which the Promised
Land is a symbol. 1t has its native
iDhabitants-its Jebusites. which repre-
sents the evil dispositions and wicked
lusts of man. And when the Israelites
that is the religious virtues-uuder
the leadership of Gods spirit, enter
that domain, the great fight Of regen-
Grafton begins, and goes on "httle By
Htle," and with ever varying aspects
To this day the Jebusites do nearly
all the useful work of the world; that
is to say, nearly all the useful work Of
the world is done on Jebusitical prin-
ciples, and is inspired by Jebusitical
motives. Our railroads, canals, tele-
graphs, turnpikes, ships, colleges,
schools, and in fact nearly all useful
things come through Jebusitical chan
nels-aIe made, and built, and sought
for the profit of man and not for the
glory of God. :v5
1t is a Jebusitical love of self and of
the world, and not the love of God
and our neighbor, which ever carries
civilization towards the setting sun, and
makes the wilderness blossom as the
rose. And God deals, and in His d.
vine order aud economy has to deal
with the Jebusites of the human heart,
Just as he dealt with the Jebusites Of
Canaan. He ''drives them out little by
little,p and why7 Because, if they
should be driven out any faster than
our spiritual Israelites are ready to take
their places, the soul would become
spiritually desolate, and the worst in
fuenees of hell would utterly perVade
and possess it. Let God at once annihi-
late all such evil principles as are now
in the human heart and the race weald
be in danger of actual extinction by the
overwhelming influx of spiritual wild
beasts, which would rush in to occupy
the places of the exterminated Jebusites.
This is an important point, andIone
that should be clearly understood, for
thereby much back-sliding would be
prevented. When a convert is left tc
suppose that he has received ga new
heart''-a bran-new and pure heart, ,and
that be had been in fact regenerated
whereas he has in truth only been con
verted-thatis, turned about-and theI
in a short time begins to find that BIZ
"new heart is but precious little bet
ter than his. old one; that he is JUS
as prone to evil as he was before; tbs
even while on his knees and agonizine
in prayer to God, that "new heart" o.
his is full of all manner of hncleanliness
he begins to think that he was mistaker
that he has not been conyerted-that
: he has committed the objectionable sin
! and SO gives way first to discourage
! ment, and then to Indifference, and Fl
nally lapses into what is known as
backslidden state.1 Id aot sa-i.I ts.
! But if that earnest soul, honestly
r seeking salvation, only knew that con
teraon is merely facing about toward
} Heaven, and that regeneration is con
J tinhons and gradual process; and tina
} the Jebusites of the heart are driver
, out ''little by little" by the Lord; ant
also, that it is no matter how often h
may be overcome by the native evils o
T his heart, if he only loyalty fights o.
J and does his best that, in fact, his de
! feats are of Providence as much as h!
victories are; and that the Captain Q
! his Salvation never deserts a followe
l who is faithful to the end, and make
the best fight he can, no matter ho'
feeble that fight may be he would no
9 be discouraged by any spiritual misha
! whatever, and would never, or seldom
I think of backsliding. ha'tt oI
: The whole practical business not onl
Of getting religion, but also of keeping il
centfes in this driving of the Jebusit
cal dispositions out Of our hearts, an
the putting of Israelitish ones in the
places. And now to the practical que
c ton, How is this to be donei Let !
n see:
= A good Christian man goes hon
7 from church to his Sunday dinner an
= finds the dinner spoiled. The beef
. burnt to a ciuder; the potatoes are W
. J soaked, and everything is in Il
% highest state of unpalatableness. III
y good mans work Of regeneration hi
4 begun, ,bdtitisfar from being complet
= Large sections of his spiritual ,Csual
y vet swarm with Jebusites, and d
l sight of that spoiled dinner sets the
I" I, On the rampage. He looks AZ his pc
wife with lowering Visage and shovil
kook G.nr, tha tahia eava.