The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-25

purifying character, separating tho silver
from No Impurities that hido ~ luasor ana
beauty.
IN ideal OF purity, In 4 false aRe he held MP
truth; In = cynical, cold and undergraduates
ago he taught sympRthy. His character
and life wars = standing protest against
hia age. His proclamation went forth;
hnnd;' and IL tausht shat only liz silver 81
ohnracte conld entar the kingdom OF God.
which he had como to establish In tho carth.
Jnat ~ the government has its standard Of
purity Tor tho precious metals. 10 Christ has
His standard by which to test purity.
y n %ssa,aein nss show nMg,d that i b; hrsa a = & purity ssat,
ahall see lGod.'' Tbs life that would enter
hia kingdom must. be purged OF the dross OF
sin. So clear ID Christ upon this vital
point that be refers TO II as 4 new birth,
I've must 30 born again" or from above.
He shall l! sit as = rshner and purifier OF
silver The human soul u silver. ~ ever
has been silver. but " needs the divine re-
finer TO bring about it's beauty md worth.
IL lay for ages buried in the earth, url-
thought Of by the generations Of men vino
fitted by like the may-flies from one eter-
nifty to another, and not till Christ, tho
God-man. came did men realize that th6
soul had a worth untold. Egypt, Greece,
Rome, those grand old civilizations which
have cast their shadows across Africa, Asia.
Europe, mover valued the soul. n in their
highest attainments and ambitions they
left in the dark background the soul.
But when Christ comes he enthroneS the
sonl. He gives il the first place in his
thought and in his teachings. AZ compared
with it rank, position, wealth, honor, fame
were secondary, und while the common
IDEA was that these gave mon their real
worth, Christ gave forth the doctrine which
hua hoAn thu EAu. NrNo ri n krvvn aud vital
Christianity since that time, viz: that
these things which men value most were
but the accidents of life, the soul was the
silver; these but the dross. as compared
with it. The words Of Christ have. been
Resembling allgdown the Christian centu-
he gain the whole world and lose
his soul?" and while tens Of
thousands answer, 1T profiteth nothing
they 90 and live as il their answer was q
falsehood. How slow we are to catch the
meaning Of Christ's words. With many of
rash ~headlong from the cradle TO the grave
that We may gain, what? That which in the
divine Judgment, aye, and our own higher,
Calner judgment, il utterly worthless II In
our rush for it we lose our immortal souls.
To what shall wo liken il? To a man who,
in his hurry to reach the bank to deposit
his gold, in his rush lcavos the gold behind
him; he arrives before the doors close, but
has nothing to deposit. We should never
give the soul a secondary place. We
may make any pursuit in life that il
honorable minister to the real and true
purpose of all life, viz, to bring ont Of the
fires Of toll and struggle and experience q
character purified a. gold, a soul refined as
the silver Of God. Failing to do this, what
ever else We have gained, we have suffered
total, i~Restimabls, irretriovabls loss. Only
one chance. TIL first step IN the refining
and purifying process of the soul is when
the sinner realizes that he is a sinner, and
ut the call Of Christ turns from his sin, It
is when tbs sinner permits Christ to come
into his lifs with his purifying and ele-
waiting Influences.
Impure and selfish, the motives and pur-
poses of life become pure and unselish.
His desire 10 to initiate Christ in his self
higher aims and ideals are born within the
soul. But the man feels the intensity of
the struggle that is going on daily. The
old sins and desires assert Themselves again
and again. The appetites and passions
strive for the mastery and SO it is that daily
IL coming forth stronger and purer.
The aoul does not reach its heaven at a
single. bound. It must pass through the
heat Of fiery conflicts. Ii must wage a per-:
petual warfare against unaaen and subtla
foes. 1t must stand alone at times exposed
W buS btIARklllk HTGb OItIn0 enemy. #s
And thsn there comes the dark and drsar
night of atf1iction when the dearest to which
the heart chung are snatched away and the
soul ia left lonely and beroaved. What soul
is sufficient for these things? Is it possible
that there can be any COMPENSATION in all
these trials that come to men who arc try
ing to serve God? Yes. there is compensn-
ton if they but meet life in the right spirit.
The soul that would fllthe Christian ideal
must be strong, strong as we'll as beautiful
and pure. Strength is only attained by a
slow process. III muscle grows strong by
toll and labor. The rover or the athlete
who would he equal to the contest must
strength again and again. So with the
soul, who would reach the highest attain
msnts in the Christian life. He must have
been put again and again to the test. He
must have climbed the rugged steep and
bravod the ~fiercest tempest, he must have
passed through the dark flood and crested
the wild billow.
A man cannot have q consciousness of
strength who has mover tested his strength.
He cannot have. a soul refined and pure
who has no pure and high Ideals
which he has struggled hard to reach.
which reflects the image of the retiner as
the CLASSY surface of the lake reflects the
heavens? Would you possess a character
that shall stand the test of Gods fire.
You must attain these through conflict.
By an act of decision you must choose
Christ as against the ten thousand interests
that are opposed to his claims upon you.
You must choose him through good and
evil report.
Christ, for you. means character, and
character means conflict. Choose Him,
though in doing 30 you risk the soorn and
the jeer of your companions. Choose Him,
though in doing SO you must turn your
back upon some of life's pleasures.
In making him your choice you receive
that which far exceeds all you must throw
aside. Coming into tho heart and life
md casts out tho discord and sin.
He fills the life with highest ideals; He
enobles it with ~loftiest purposes; He en-
shrines it with tho trucst worship: He il
lumines it with the highest hopes; He glad
dens it with the purest joys. Serving Him
truly, life's joys and sorrows, its lights and
shadows, its hopes and disappointments, it's
gains and losses, its pleasures and pains, all
tend to the one end, viz, the development
and the purifying of character. This is
the highest goal of our ambition that we
mny SO live that death may find us with
Christ's image engraved deeply upon our
hearts, then when the triumph of God shall
sound its quickeninc note on the resurrec-
ton morn we shall awake in his likeness.
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