The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-06-20

of God. and while we may not make the
journey back 60 these places In The flesh
we can go back in thought and meet Him.
Shall we not DO 500 As many as God
loves He reminds constantly of neglected
duties. sometimes using conscience. some.
times His provdences. to-day IN the loss OF
property He speaks tomorrow in the de-.
parture of health, again in the death OF a
friend. lt would be a good thing IT we
should stop and listen 10 His warning and
then arise and go 10 Bethel
/.
Some preliminary steps. Before we may
ever expect to go back 10 the place OF
blessing ii win be necessary for us TO oh.
serve the instructions which Jacob gave
to his household
First, Put away the strange gods. that
Is literally. "the God Of the strangers"
They have been living with the enemies of
Gods people, and little by little the gods
of these people had gotten possession OF
them. They were taken into their tents
and then into their hearts, and they were
out of fellowship with God. Wherever
there is a fungus growth in the forests
there Is corruption and decay. wherever
there is an idol i'm the heart there is a
fresh indication of weakness, and we can.
not hide our idols they refuse to be hid
den. When we least expect it there is
resurrection.
What is an idol? Tt may be a very little
thing That which tends to usurp an UNI
due place in our affections, which gives US
more pleasure than the thought OF God. is
an idol The thing in our life which makes
us sacrifice nearness to- God, which may
not necessarily be Sinful, only questionable,
is an idol That which make us ndiffer-
ent to spiritual advantages and indifferent
to Bethel is an idol Your reputation
your fortune that unworthy friend upou
whom you lavish your affection, these may
be idols for mo man can serve two mas
ters. for either he will hate the one and
love the other. or will cleave TO the one
and depart from the other" Therefore
put away the strange gods, and If we really
want TO he near to God how easy It viii
be to find out the thing that binders us,
and yet as a matter of fact who can put
away his idols? I cannot, am sure, but
there is a deliverance Do YOU remember
the story of David and Nathan, when Da-
vid forgets that he is a king and father
and sins. and Nathan is the messenger of
God who comes to rebuke him with the
touching story of the eve lamb. When
David acknowledges his sin Nathan imme-
diately responds, "The Lord also hath put
away thy sin and there is in this express
sion a reference to the scapegoat of the
Old Testament on the day of Atonement,
when the priest confessed the sins of the
people, and the goat was represented as
staggering away under the load Of lsraePs
sins, down through the valley, up the
mountain Wonder until he is lost to sight,
and then finally, according to tradition is
pushed over into the abyss where no man
is He can put away our sins on whom
the Lord hath laid our iniquity.
Second, be clean This refers to inner
cleanness, which is only brought about by
the indwelling of Christ. God puts away
our sins, it is true. when He forgives us,
but it is one thing to be set right concern
ing the guilt of sin and quite another thing
to be set free from the pollution of sin. This
second privilege is ours when Christ comes
in to dwell with u.s. We are very much
afraid of the word holiness" in preach
ing and teaching, yet we have as much OF
holiness as we have of Christ, no more or
no less. Let us be clean in heart. This IS
possible bv the word of God which is
cleansing in its very touch. Let us be
clean in what we say, making a covenant
with Christ to guard our lips, asking Him
to keep our eyes. Let us not do the things
that will grieve the spirit, remembering
that God can only use that which is clean.
Third let us change our garments. This
must refer 70 the outward practices of our
! life; in other words, our habits What is
| the garment we are wearing to-day? With
some of us it is a robe of our own weaving,
| the robe Of selfshness and pride, and mark
you this, where self comes into a life Christ
! passes out. There is another robe which
we may wear to-day woven in the loom OF
heaven bearing the red mark of the blood
of Christ.
/ travelled the other day with mission
airy from Wisconsin. who told me how ne
had reached a drunken man in the woods
Of Wisconsin, told him the story of Christ
and won him, and later, had the Joy OF re,
ceiving the man and the six members OF
his household into the fellowship OF the
church. When Noah entered the ark his
family went with him Let us arise and
so up to Bethel.
II.
Results. Tn tAe 5th verse we read that
the neople were afraid of Jacob and his
company, for the terror of the Lord was
upon them. Matthew Henry has said that
when sin was in Jacobs house he was
afraid Of his neighbors, but when the
idols were put away his nelghbors were
afraid Of him. When shall we learn The
lesson that we have power over men by
the wav of God The world does not feal
a worldly Christian, nor does the devil
and we need expect no triumph over mel
until we have prevailed with God first =.
Second. God appeared and talked will
Jacob This we read in verses nine anC
ten. OF course no man can see God as ID
is and live Moses asked this OF God anl
We said. 81 will put thee in the cleft o
the rock and cover thee with Ny hanc
while | pass by" and he saw the glory o
the garments of God and His face dix
shine. but we can see Christ, and when W
behold Him in His tenderness with hit.
children and His ministering to the sci
and suffering everywhere we hear Hin
say. He that hath seen Me hath seen M
Father also" God still speaks to u.s. ]
we did but have our ears open we shoui
find Him speaking in nature. / can remem
Der as a boy out in the country putin
NV ears up against the telegraph pole an
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