Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-03-21

Tan, put-and this is the point-the
"ollu VIII set it down to the inability
Oh Christ and His faith.
christians are, in the eye of the
Motlu' the opponents Of Christine
representative OF his faith and gospel.
ne issue between the power of Christ
anu that OF the God OF this world is
continually going forth, 20 servant OF
the living God, is thy Cod whom thou
serVesI continually, able to deliver
thee Can Christ, can the Gospel,
can tne religion which you profess and
70 when you seem to cling, can He or
IL ueliVef you from these lions which
IaVage the heart and moral character
OF men OF the world? Can thy God
deliver thee, 0 Christian. from impun-
lty, from covetousness, from selfish
ness? Can Christ give thee power to
be truthful in the midst of falsehood,
honest IN the midst Of fraud, temperate
IN the midst Of indulgence pure in the
midst of the most seductive vice? Is
my Goa able to make thee use power
with discretion, bear reverses with for
tltude, meet death with resignation?
You, who call yourselves Christians,
may shrink from being thus made TO
answer for Christ; you may indeed
point away from yourselves to the holy
books which record the words and prin-
ciples Of the Master, the Founder of the
Faith; but the world will not let you
divert their eyes, nor obscure the point
OF their stern Interrogation. The ques-
tion is not whether the Bible be a bet
ter, more truthful and holy book than
the Koran Of Mahomet. or the book
of Mormon-but, are you, lover of that
Book, the professed servant of its
author, the defender of it's faith, the
commander Of it's authority as the sole
rule OF faith and practice-are you a
better man than the Mohammetan or
the Mormon, or the man who makes no
pretention to serve Christ, and to in
yoke the spirit Of the living God?
This is the question, and the unbe-
lever will hold each Christian to its
answer. And for one, though it hum
bles me to say so, | trust that each
Christian will be so held by the world J;
SO held to it's answer, that we shall
confess publicly that we are con-
sciousiy Inconsistent; and, reused by a
deeper sense of our responsibility, de-
termine to claim and use the grace Of
fered, so as to be indeed Christ's rep
resentatives in the world-the light,
and the salt of this dark and corrupt
ing mass of a fallen humanity.
The appeal Servant of the living
God, is thy God able?" ought to be an
swered. We should each one be able
to say: I have, by the grace of God, by
Christ in me, and not of myself, a
power which the servants of sin and
the devil have not. The Lord Jesus,
by his spirit, is able to deliver me from
the lions. He has delivered me, and
will still, if | am faithful-will deliver
me from those sins which. without His
help, will devour like lion and tear
to pieces the moral nature of man.
And, beloved, if our daily life and
walk do not make the just response to
the worlds demand that we show the
power Of our God, what a fearful re-
sponsibility rests upon it, Should we
not at once confess our sins, humble
ourselves before our injured Savior
and seek for pardon and new grace?
Christian who defrauds, it is the Chris
tan who yields to temptation, to dis
honesty or vice, or crime, when it
mocks US and says: Servant Of God
your God is not able to deliver you"
Let us humble ourselves, let us feel a
brothers sin as shared in by us: for all
our lukewarmness, and sin, and incon-
sistency, whether known or not, do in
their degree wrong Christ and hinder
the glorious purposes Of His kingdom
Let us, then, bear about us the daily
recollection that the warfare between
Christ and Satan is waged in our own
persons. and that our inconsistency
decides for the world against Christ.
Let us know that we have much to
do toward encouraging those who ask
in a truly lamentable voice, sick of the
worlds impotency, and hoping that we
can answer them with satisfaction:
30 servant of the living God. is thy
God. who thou servest continually. able
to deliver thee from the lions?" A
consistent. holy course may win
through His merits, souls to our Lord
Jesus Christ and honor to the living
God, whom we serve continually.