Newport daily independent., 1903-04-10

OO% as d sOOQ Ol HC 0Ou VI Jgeob is the God who never fails His children when they are in distress and trouble. To speak of God as the God of Jacob, to claim Him as our refuge, instantly inspires confidence, for despite all of Jacobs meanness, and sin and wrongdoing, his faith reached up by way of the covenant promises of God and obtained the needed protection and help. To be able to claim the God of Jacob as our refuge is to put confidence in a God Who has met every human need ana given protection in times of greatest darkness and danger. This is the kind of God we need! This is the kind of a God we have
 s0 UT not every one can claim that ID "the Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge" Even Christians oftentimes cannot make this proud boast, because sin has drawn them from Gods side, aTss- be- cause. when in difficulty and distress, they have turned to human aid in- stead of looking to God. Not all churches that are founded in the name of the Lord of Hosts can claim in truth that He is with them. Many churches in their methods and prac- tices, in their worldly yminded activi- ties. are not in the blessed company of the One Whose name they bear. They may feel that they are further ing the cause of Christ's kingdom, but they are seeking to perfect lni the flesh that which has begun in the spirit. and are walking with the world and not with God. 1t meanss much to say, ''the Lord of Hosts lsa with us" Who may make that clalm? How may one know that the Lord of Hosts is with him? Let us consider these all-important questions.
 First, who may claim that the Lord of Hosts is standing with them, that the omnipotent power is linked with human weakness in invincible union? He who by threefold act of- will and heart has turned towards Goo, Las ac- cepted Him and is walking with Him. It is a matter of attitude towards God. of choice between self or God, and of conduct following the choice, Right attitude towards God Will al- ways discover His dwelling place; right choice will always place human feet on the pathway along which God moves, and right conduct will keep the soul in step with the Divine will, so that it can confidently claim, 'the Lord of Hosts is with me; the God of Jacob is my refuge" This three runged ladder must be used by saint and sinner alike in gaining the realm in which God moves.
 There is a sense in which the Lord is always with the soul which has been born again, whether that soul is liv- ing in obedience to His will or not, for He knows them that are His-and none shall be lost, even though they are at last saved, "so as by fire" There is a sense in which the Lord is always with the unregenerate soul of~Ea$or- for Scripture declares that God stands at the door of the human heart and knocks, and the sinner is told to call upon the Lord while He is near. But neither saint nor sinner can make the boast of the text unless his attitude, his choice and his conduct are right In the case of the saint it is the renew ing of it's broken relationship with God With the sinner it is the beginning of new experience, in which the atti- tude of the heart is toward God, the choice for the first time is made for God and the conduct is with God.
 GHE sinner cannot share in the tri- VI umphant strain of our text until his heart has turned towards God, un- til his will has been surrendered and new motive rules in his life. Atti- tude is the light which shows where God is; choice is the step which, if taken, places the soul at the side of God. and conduct is the music of the life which enables it to keep its step with the Divine will. The Christian cannot stand in the temple of God and sing with the Hezekiahs and Isaiahs that "the Lord of Hosts IS with us" unless he quits his worldh- ness and turns towards God; unless he seeks first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" and unless he lives in his life the religion which he professes with his lps. The church cannot claim Its right to these words if it's attitude is not steadfastly to- wards God and away from the allure ments and enticements of the world; if it chooses fairs, and suppers, and entertainments, and catch-penny af- fairs of every kind to raise money and interest the people it seeks to reach, instead of preaching the Gospel of repentance and salvation, and keep ing itself unspotted from the world. The words may be beautifully in seribed upon the walls of church. +he cOnCreoation which resorts thither