Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1897-12-17
lpwOsra LEAGUE
Lesson For the Week Beginning Dec. 10.
Comment by Rev. W. ). Yates, A. M.
Top,c.-rne yv,tn..s n, a.. s..,-,.

Aesson For the week beginning Dec. 10.
Comment by Rev. w. J. Yates, A. M.
Topic,-The witness Of the Spirit.
SCRIPTURE READING. Rom. viii, IA, IS,
iei ', 81 xiv, n; XIV, IS.
It is now quite generally recog-
nized among evangelical Christians
that person may have clear assur.
ance that his sins are forgiven and
be conscious of the presence and
favor of God. This truth has not
always been held by the Christian
church in full view. Multitudes of
earnest souls have earnestly sought
God and served Him faithfully ac-
cording to the light they possessed
who yet never dared be sure that
God was pleased with them and
their labors.
1t was the mission of Methodism
TO emphasize the Ssriptural teach
ing that man may not only be
saved from his sins by the grace OF
God, but he may also have the wit.
ness of his own soul and of the Holy
Spirit to the fact of his salvation
In recent years this "witness of the
Spirit" has been made particularly
prominent in the preaching of many
professional evengelists in all the
different denominations and is an
experience which is recognized as
that which should be possessed by
every true Christian.
Before the days of Wesley and
indeed until the Wesleyan teaching
had pervaded the church at large it
was generally supposed that all one
could be certain of regarding his
salvation was that if he was one of
the "elect" he would be surely
saved at last; if not one of the
select" he would be surely lost.
He could during life only
"hope" he might be saved. He
would never be certain that he was
saved till the day of Judgment.
1t is now seen that Christ re-
deemed every one of the race, that
God offers eternal life to all. 1.-THE
free gift came upon all men unto
Justification of life" Every one
enters this life saved and so con-
tinues till actual sin is committed.
Even then he is not abandoned, but
the Holy Spirit witnesses with his
own Spirit that he is wrong, sinful
and condemned and persuades to re-
peDtance and trust in God If he
turns from the evil and chooses the
good, his conversion is attested by
his own soul, and his pardon is testi-
fed to by the Holy Spirit of God
when in unwavering trustfulDess he
accepts the offers of pardon and
peace made by God through Jesus
Christ.
No one need ever wander into
actual sin. 1t is possible though
sadly infrequent for one from earli-
est childhood to remain innocent
and grow up in conscious virtue and
favor with God. This is the normal
Christian development. Years of
wickedness, remorse and bitter re-
pentance is the usual but abnormal
course in which men find salvation.
Too frequently after one has be-
come a Christian neglect of duties
and privileges causes a loss of joy
and conscious acceptance with God.
Every one should occasionally ex-
anime his own heart experience and
closely question himself as to his
possession of the witness of the
Holy Spirit. 1t is as unreasonable
and dangerous for person to live
without this clear evidence of Gods
favor as for one to be careless of the
deeds which give him his title to
lands and houses and worldly possess
sions. "Have ye received the Holy
Ghost since ye believed"