The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-12-15


not shake them off They dog our footsteps
wheresover we go. They lie in ambush
beside our every pathway, prepared to spring
upon and work us woe at every ungnarded mo-
meut; and this not only when we are alone, but
when III the company of others against whom
they ever seek 10 stir us up To do them wrong.
BY means of the revelation He has sent us ia
His word, our Heavenly Father has enabled Vi
to name and catalogue these unseen though
ever present foes, at eass the leaders of them,
for the rank and file are nmerous as the er1
thoughts and desires which nad their way ing
human minds and hearts. FirSt, all thSS -
propensites which lead us to violate the xe<e 81
greatest of all the commandments Q,rFsS
worship the Lord thy God, and i'm olI4Ss'Sss
thou serve" The chief and father OF these Is
called seiflove. His potent followers and lieu-
tenants are idleness, selfindulgence, profanity,
disregard OF the holy Sabbath day, disobedieBce
TO parents on the part OF the young, or to tlla
laws OF our country, or the preeepts of the
church, with those who older. There also
may be idOl-wOrship; not of wood stone, per
haps, but the setting up OF some earthly and
darling object or purpose, above the king dom OK
God and HIS righteousness. All these ana many
others belong to self-lOve, rhe greatest and most
hated enemy of our Lord and Savior, one that
ever rises up against Him in our hearts Another
com pany OF our foes is headed by one only less
formidable than selfove - that enemy who
would ever induce us to violate the second
great commandment, "Thou shalt love thy
neighbOr as myself" This foe Is called the ''love
OF the world" Need we name even the chief of
impurity of every kind and degree;
theft, whether working within the law
or without, accompanied by his never-failinC
companions, fasehood, envy, pride, cOvetous-
ness. These are some Of their Names in subtle
forms and protean shapes, in deep disguise OF in
mighty temptation, they beset and approach
every human heart, and with relentless cruelty
seek to work its destruction.
Ana not only are our foes thus named and
numbered Tor us, but their manner of attack
may also be known. They seldom equal to
open contest, but they ever seek, strange to say,
to make us love them, to win our hearts 20 them
selves and away from onr heavenly Father and
our own best interests. They enemies whom
it is dangerously is death-tO love. They are
foes whom it is safety and 1t is life hate. The
more decidedly and utterly we can do this, the
better for
that such man is reliable and likely to succeed
because he is "good hater." Hate, when dt
rected against a fellow man, is OF course lncom
patibe with the Christian life, but nevertheless.
this maxim has a truth ut the bottom of it. Il
indicates certain decision and earnestness o.:
character which leads TO success in anything.
The man who Thoroughly loves his friends and
hates his enemies, when he comes to believe that
no felow-man should really be his foe, but that
only the evils of his own heart should come I'M
der that category. such man will, in all prOba-
blty, love and follow the truth with all his
heart, and hate evil and falsity in the same man
ner. 1t is your listless, Indifferent Christian,
who scarcely seems to know whether this
with his foes, who is lukewarm
to his friends. who touches dainuy
the accursed thing, or whoever becomes weary
OF the blessed, who most easily falls prey 70
his spiritual enemies. OF such the Lord says:
81 would thou vert either cold or hot, bnt now
because that art lukewarn, or neither cold nor
hot Will spew thee out of my mouth" REV.
ill., 1916. such a Christian cannot from his
heart say the words of our text, ''Do not hate
them, o Lord, that hate Theei | count
them mine enemies" The church of the Lord
in this w9rld is church militant. 1t is,
ought to be, ever fighting His enemies. which
are also its own. Every member of the church
is "a soldier whose duty it is 10 repel, to
hate and to hold no parey with these foes. The
true soldier OF the cross is watchful, he Is alert,
and he renders implicit obedience to orders,
which are the commandments issued by tha
Captain OF his salVatlon.
1t is we'll worth observing here, also, that tho
efficiency of an army in the fields entirely de-
ponds upon its unity. Any dissention between
its parts places it at once at the mercy of lts
foes 1t is trebly so with the army 10 which the
Christian belongs. The warehwOrd of that army
is love the brethren" Its safety lies in mutual
protection from the foe. That church, breth-
rem, is worth but little whose memners dare not
chide or reproVe each other when wrong. Ought
not fellow-soldler to warn his comrade whom
he sees approaching an ambuscade covering the
common enemy2 1t is TO be feared that Chris
tians nowadays seldom get near enough to each
other to be able to say with the Psalmist Let
the righteous smite me, IL shah be a Kindness.
Let him reprove me. IL shall be an excellent oil
which shall not break my head"-Ps. ex 3.
Hence we INFER that a too great sensitivtness,
quickness to take onense from brother, does
not comport with that thorough hat red OF the
enemies of the Lord which our text enjuins.
This subject of the necessity and duty OF hat
ing and ahhorring our spiritual foes is a fruitful
theme, especially when we remember that all
the and fighting recorded in the sacred
pages are but the typical phases of that warfare
in which all regenerating souls must engage.
Well might we enlarge on the wonders of a con-
fiict so ordered by the wisdom of the commander
that only victory can result provided orders are,
obeyed; wherein the soldier only seems to fight,
his omn1present leader being ever ready at hand
to 'take up shield and buckler and stand up for
his help" and wherein 1t is promised lone shall
chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thou
sand to flight" Deut xxi, 30.) The mracu-
lOus strength with which the soul is endowed
that honestly hates its foes is but Swallowed
forth in the exploits of the sacred heroes, in
Joshua, and Gideon. and Jephthah, and Jonathan
and David, the king. All these hated the enc
mics of the Lord with perfect hatred.
In conclusion, let us not fail to observe how
completely this method of interpretat ton vind-
Gates the word of the Lord. When we know that
in our fallen and sinful condition. evil affections
and false principles are born and multiply in
our hearts; how they form those families, with
fathers and mothers in unholy wedlOck prOduc-
ing with accursed fecundity children and chill
dren's children, all of whom are enemies and
foes to the influx of the saving grace of the
Lord our God, we may well understand why we
should desire that these enemies should be blot
ted out, utterly cut oil and destroyed, even as
David prayed might befall his foes, in the 109th
Psalm. And this is the prayer we should pray
are ever ready TO lead us astraY.
Dear friends, are we this day truly enlisted and
faithful soldiers of the cross? Can we from the
heart say, "Do not | hate them. D Lord, that
hate Thee2 Am not I grieved with them that
rise up against Theel" When tempted into
wrong-doing, do WE seek to excuse ourselves, to
palliate the otfense, to lull ourselves into COM
placency, sOothe the stings of offended con-
seience9 Or, do we lament for every sin, des-
pise and abhor and seek to atone for the wrong
we have done? Are we gentle. Undetermined,
grateful for well-meant reproof, mindful OF our
dependence upon the help of our brethren in
doing aud UNFOLDING the rightq Or, are we
proud and sensitive, .over-conservative OF our
individuality and independence; those whom
the brethren fear to 0ffendf However these
things be with us, let us, now ana here. resolve
no longer to entertain in our hearts the thing
that is evil or, in any manner OF thought or life,
to compromise with the thing that Is false. SO
shall we be able to say of such, az hate them
with perfect hatred. count them mine enc
mics" So also. may we be able sincerely to pray
the prayer which Immediately follows text
and closes this wOndrous Psalm as if with a
clear declaration OF its spiritual meaning:
Teach me, o God, and know my heart Try
me and know my thoughts, and see if there he
any wicked way in me, and lead me IN the way
eYerlasting"-(Psa cxXxlX, 1924.