The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-03-01

Last night, at st. Matthews P. E.
church, the rector, Rev. David W.
Howard, preached upon the topic,
"eWhy Eplscopallans Keep Lent" TAX
ing for his text these words from Luke,
iv, 1-2: and Jesus. being full Of the
Holy Ghost. returned from Jordan, and
was led by the Holy Spirit into the Will
derness, being forty days tempted Of
the devil"
Rev. Mr.. Towards discourse was
most interesting. He said:
our Lords sojourn at Nazareth was
now come to an end. That remarkable
period of thirty years of which. so lit
tie is told us, but which He passed in
the discharge of the ordinary duties Of
a Jew of that day. Obviously to the
great mass of mankind, to give the
strongest possible assurance to the
most numerous class in all ages and
countries. that He has fellow feelings
with them, and intimate knowledge by
sYberience Of their condition, 70 prove
that there is nothing Incompatible with
the highest attainments Of grace, In
the simple, lowly life OF the peasant
and mechanic.
For thirty years, He has been TASK
ing the hardships and labors OF humble
ne. In an obscure and despised village
An an out-of- the-way part OF the coun-
try, suffering from the presence OF
evil. from contact with sinners, but
NO little standing aloof, or separating
Himself from common men, that. When
a wave OF religious feeling passed over
the country, and multltudes, attracted
by the report Of the Baptists preach
ing. flocked to the Jordan to be bap-
tiled of him, the Lord Jesus also draws
near, puts Himself in the position OF
sinner, offers Himself for baptism, ana
oyercomes Johns reluctance to admin
ister Il TO Him. The Lord Jesus stoops
TO be baptized, In all humility, and the
moment OF His humiliation is chosen by
His Father in heaven as the occasion
for His public introduction into HIS
high office as the Great Prophet, Priest
and King that mankind needed. It Is
His coronation, inauguration, anolnt-
ing, Now He receives fresh anoint-
ing, a new communication Of gifts and
Rraces. His manhood is hereby quail
ned for the work Of the public ministry
on which He now enters. The Spirit OF
me lFQIQ ID upVU ElllAA Abl SGAAONAAA 49, 80
RnoInted Him to preach the Gospel TO
the poor. He hath sent Him to heal the
broken-hearted, to preach deltverunce
to the captivas. and recovering OF
sight TO the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, to preach tho accept
able year of the Lord.
II was some knowledge OF this that
quickened the hostility of Satan. The
amount OF knowledge Possessed by the
evil one must always remain nys'
terry 10 US: but doubtless He knew
enough to alarm him, enough TO make
Him see that this was the being He
must cope wits, thwRFt, cross, resist,
crush, nullIfy. Satan, after the first at
tempt TO destroy the Holy Child In His
infancy. may have been comparatively
inactive. while Christ continued In OBJ
SECURITY AT Nazareth; but now that He
was coming out INTO prominence. now
that He had been designated at HIS
baptism and announced as the Son OF
God, the enemy Of ma kind sees that
he must oppose Him. Satan bars the
way when the Messiah would fain enter
upon his ministry; and this Is the point
TO which would direct your attention
to-day viz: Satan's opposition When
Gods servants attempt anything good
and how that opposition is to be met.
Christ, consecrated to His ministry
by the holy rite OF baptism, was lmme-
dIately led by the Spirit away from
things material to things spiritual;
from the battlefield Of this world, where
men struggle for daily bread, to that
field Of conflict, In which the struggle
is for manhood and for victory over
sin. Christ In the wilderness Is an IL
Illustration of real life. What the will
derness was to Him, so It is to US. II
we would understand life'B common I'm
terestB; II we would study what most
concerns humanity; II we would know
the nature Of the forces that We are to
resist; II we would indeed conquer sin
like true men and women. we must let
the Spirit lead US up into the wilder
Why Keep LentP
But why should we keep Lent: The
question ocmes to Us with eyer-Increas-
ing frequency and many and varied
are the objections urged against the
custom by those who are hostile to the
practice.
In answer to all questions and COM
mon arguments would say that the
Lenten season affords much needed
opportunity for thought OF solemn and
sacred subjects. There, withdrawn as
much as possible from absorbing ma
terial interests, and the mere pleas
ures Of the world, we can commune
with our own spirit, conscious Of the
fact that above US are the angels OF
God 10 encourage us. and around US
are the forces of Satan. seeking to de-
celve or begulle or hatter US Into de-
felts. Such Is the Idea Of Lent; and
they who grasp this idea are the pos
SCISSORS of the secrets OF Its proper OBJ
servance.
We all recognize the fact that we
are living in two worlds-the physical
and the spiritual: therefore, We are
living two lives, the one putting US In
contact with the material universe and
It's daily arising duties and pleasures;
the other charging US with duties and
pleasures which belong to the world Of
spirits, the invisible. Which Is mans
truer life. Christ has shown US by be-
ginning His ministry amid spiritual
surroundings only. He battied first
with that hidden adversary, the Devil,
before He went out upon His errnnds
OF mercy, or spoke His words Of truth
to this errlng world. So long as we are
in this world, the things OF the world
are bound TO absorb US to very great
extent. That this Ia true, there can be
no reasonable doubt, else why Is life 30
sweet and pleasure so alluring:
Turn where We may, business, society,
the necessities of our existence, and the
capriCes OF our appetites and devices
make stern demands upon our time.
Men whose lives are full Of mental and
physical activity, ind little strength to
Brnpple with points Of moral and spIr-
itual law, and less enthusiasm for
calm determination.
The coming Of Lent gives nil an OPP
portunity for better, higher and nobler
thoughts. II says to the devotee OF