Orange County observer., 1890-06-28
IMPORTANTLY IL PRAYER.


This Is enforced by parable. 4 traveller, !
either belated or iourneying by night as was |
not infrequent in the East, TO avoid the heat
OF the day, knocks AT man house Al mid !
night for entertainment. The keeper is out
OF bread. blt true TO the Eastern laws OF
hospitality, which are sacred and binding
he goes 10 a neighbOr seeking three loaves.
The neighbor answers that the door is
locked. that he IS in bed. that his children
are in bed mot all 10 the same bed. but in
the same apartment. The whole family
often sleep in the same room. and that it is
too much trouble to get up and accom-
lnodate him.
This was natural enough, and especially
If, as some interpreters think. the request
was not simply for the loan of three loayes.
but that the neighbor should get up and
build fire and bake them because The other
mans meal had failed. Nevertheless, al
though the trouble was great and the friend
ship not equal to it, yet the importantly OF
the man asking for the three lOates succeed
ed. This importantly could not be turned
away. 1t was, as the original Greek means,
fairly shameless and impudent.
1t reused the sleeper and pounded away
at his door and begged so persistentiy and
Intensely for bread rs TO make it less dis
agreeable to get up and CRAFTY the demand
than it was to bear the noise AID resist the
supplications. Importantly prevailed, when
| humanity and friendship could not. This
shows us how We are TO continue in asking
until We receive; TO continue in seeking un-
| Ii we lind to continue in knocking until
| the heavenly gate Is opened for our entrance.
AZ TO CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.
In recent editorial in The Christian 1t
| Work we read, "Our Saviour certainly knew
all about human nature, and He gave COM
| maudment, BE We therefore perfect. even as
your Heavenly Father is perfect. y What
did He mean by this command: Certainly
not that we should be content with anything
| less than the best highest moral character
attainable No one is ready to offend his
own native sense by questioning this state
| ment 1t must be counted as the chief ex-
cellence remaining in our badly damaged
| nature, that this standard which Christ has
here set up IS our hope and not our despair!
| Every lover of his kind must approve aud
adopt the doctrine OF Christian perfection
when rightly presented. just here. how
ever, lies the difficulty and the fault has
been too largely in the manner Of its setting
forth. And now it would have a larger
number of intelligent friends if it had less
number of indiscreet champions. This i'm.
preston was intensified In the mind Of the
writer by what he heard y Bible reading
lately.
The selection was Heb. tx. l.9 and K ~
SO. Aside from much that was of merit In
the spirit and method Of the speaker. his
reading was vitiated by an exposition radi
Cne conspicuous inaccuracy.
He stated that the e plstle to tue Hebrew
contained three great arguments all the othe
parts were simply illustrations and accessoA
les. The design of these three argument
was to teach the Hebrew Christians that il
was their privilege to pass from regeneration
to sanctitication, from holiness begun int
holiness entire, or, as in the passage unde
consideration, from the HOLY Place of th
Temple into the Most Holy Place, from th
first vail through the second vail.
Now had the claim simply been that TIL
great truth was incidentally taught in thi
epistle, there had been no room for dissent
but to INSIST that this was the burden Of tn
epistles its mastering thought, was to do VIC
lence to all safe methods of Interpretation
was fanciful and rabinical. He expatiate
upon the circumstance that the high prie>
laid aside his shoes upon going into th
Most Holy Place, and drew from this tn
condition that the believer in seeking ~anct
fcation must completely dissociate hmsel
from the world. The force of this >pecis
deduction. however, is lo& IN the fact tha
all the priests, the high pA lest included, rt
moved their sandals when they otficated i
any part Of the temple. In style border
ing on the picturesque, the important di,
coyery was made known that just at the M
inent when the high priest was about to ma k
his annual entrance into the Holy of Holie,
Christ was expiring on Cavalry, and the va
OF the tempe Nas Tett III tWHlO IroI3 top [
bottom.
But certain facts here also prove trouble
; some. Christ was crucfied and the va
rent on the II Nissan, but the high priest er
tered the Holy Of HOLES only on the Dav {
Atonement which was the 10 Tisri Nisa
was the first month of the ecclesiastical yea
and Tisri was the seventh month. 4 >tnl
born hiatus of SIX months forbids the a:
sumed coincidence and this finely fashone
fiction with its precious freight Of in1erenc
goes TO pieces on the sharp rocks Of ike
dates
One cannot resist the reflection that wer
the doctrine Of Christians perfection depent
ent for its support and defense upon argl
ments like this. it would have but few.
any. adherents among the Well-informe
snd the well-balanced. But happily it
when properly understood and stated,
scrptural and reasonable. securely an
sefenely true that it may be ey pected to g!
dure the strain Of many such unfoldincs al
Intellectual proofs as the above tthis t.
seems to be its fate), and vet at the ,au
time broaden it. grasp upon the faith OF Il
studious and candid Rev. q. h. Str
bridge, D. D.