The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-08-23

and more is crowded into human lives.
The race is lashed into fever of ex-
element. Excitement exhausts nerve
power, and hungry nerves crave stimu-
lation. We learn that there is more
liquor per head consumed in this
country than there was generation
ago. Can you take in the full signifi-
canoe Of this fact? Look at the armies
nf abstainers, greater than the
world ever saw before, who drink
none at all. How much then
must be consumed by those who do
drink, and what horrible thirst must
drive them to it! Attack the liquor
traffic in one form and it shows itself in
another. We never seem to be done
with it. And it is but one outlet for
the activities of the sleepless "Lords Of
He'll"
l must pass on. We have to fight
with "powcrs. This phrase points
out their vast will power, their terrible
energy. They know how to set human
wills on fire and these too become ter
rible and tyrannic in their intensity.
We seem to have an instructive horror
of tyranny. But no tyranny that ever
cursed the Old World was more savage
and heartless than that which shows its
head from time to time in the New
the tyranny of corporations, of unions,
of mobs. And remember the commune
is the natural harbingcr Of the autocrat,
just as the reign of terror in France
came to itsfull fruitage in Il Bonoparte.
Next comes a singular expression,
"the rulers of the darkness of this
world" This phrase has been puzzle
to translators. The revised version
gives u translation of it which, how
ever awkwardly expressed, has the
merit of being strictly literal-"world-
rulers of this darkness" Darkness!
Look at it. Paul saw it. We see it.
1t is all round us-the darkness of ig-
norance, the darkness of folly, the
darkness of despotism. the darkness Of
crime. DARKNESS covers the earth
and gross darkness the people,. :"
This darkness is controlled by
..world-rulers,' who take the
world as their sphere of in
tluence, who make forces thousands of
miles apart converge to a common re-
suit, who aim at Speeding all the dark
ness through all the world, so that
whatever is bad in any part of the world
may ovcrspread and curse every part Of
the world. And SO Continental Europe,
sends us its Atheism and Nihili>m
the Chinaman is establishing his opium
dens, while Oriental Buddhism is im-
ported to furnish weapons against the
Bible. On the other hand Americans
bring their swagger and buster, their
whiskey and blasphemy, their dice and
their dollar-worship to many foreign
port, and American infidelity is scat
tered by the book-pedlers of India and
Japan.
We now come to phrase that might
well frighten us,-'spiritual wicked
ness in high places" or the
revised version has it,-"in the
heavenly places" That is a
heavenly place where we bow in pene-
tcnce before the cross. That is Il heav-
enly place where God speaks peace to
our souls. But there are on earth
places still hcavenlier,-the place OF
communion with God; the place of toll
for men; the place of contemplation
where our rapt and reyerent gaze dis
covers secret after secret con-
cerning things high and holy;
the place where to gathered
worshippers there comes Pentecest
of rushing influences and tongues OF
flame. But these heavenly places are
haunted by wicked spirits. There we
are particularly exposed to 1.-the wiles
of the Devil" The higher we rise in
the Divine life, the more insidious are
are our temptations. Show me a
man who is more than ordinarily
holy and you show me man who is
in more than ordinary danger. Some
very sincere and earnest men love no
one outside Of their own little sect.
Others are always riding some religious
hobby. Others have an unwarranted
reliance on special Divine illumination
such as dwarfs their manhood and
makes them forget that God expects us
to use our common sense. knew a
man who professed to be guided by
God in all things. On being sympa-
thiZed with on account of his financial
embarrassments, he said that they did
not trouble him at all, for if God want
ed him to pay his debts God would pro-
vide him the means. What did the
man mean? God has said in his word,
lowe no man anything but to love one
another" and where God has already
spoken it is idle to ask Him for any
further expression of His will. If the
man had been working his hardest and
denying himself Of all but necessaries,
l could admire his calmness and com.
posure, but could not observe that he
hurt himself by either tolls or sacri.
fees.
This glance at our enemies may give
us some idea of the warfare we have
to wage. We have seen that the Devil
has to great extent permeated the
world with his influence making it moi
only his slave but his ally. This makes
the world our enemy and gives God:
soldiers plenty of hghting to do. The
flesh too is an enemy. Our nature
is sinful. 1t is very sensitive
to diabolical influence. The hear,
is a great battle field. All
the thoughts that devils can suggest,
all the desires they can inflame. all
the habits they can nurture, all thu
prejudices they can instill, all tn.
doubts they can inject. all the malics
they can inspire, all the laziness into
which they can lull us-these are oul
enemies.
III. Our armor is next described
Take unto you,' says the apostle
"the whole armor of God, that ye ma,
be able to withstand in the evil day. ;
This implies that we shall be attacked
that tho attack will be tierce,-..al
evil day. and that we cannot spare
any piece in the panoply of God. An,
what does God expect of us when tn,
attack is over? To quit the field? II
surrender? To yield to fatigue or un
watchfullness? No! but ..having done
all to stand" Defeat and disaster art
not impossible, but if we 60 into tn.
fight fully armed we shall be able t.