Newport weekly independent., 1903-01-09
GIVE GOD A CHANGE.
The Omnipotent Arm Shortened by
 the Activity of the Flesh.
Christian Aggressivencs often Linn its the Work of the Spirit of God Sermon by the "Highway and
 Byway" Preacher.
rCopyright 1902, by A. N, Kellogg Newspa-
 per Col

CnlCaSO, Jall 1, l9Uo
 Text:-"Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."-- Zech. 4:6
 God works in mysterious way
 His wonders to perform
 The magic wand of the good fairy of my boyhood story book always held a peculiar fascination for me. That the simple waving of the rod in the hands of the little creature could ac- complish such wonderful things so easily and so quickly impressed me very deeply, and sighed for the fairy's talisman that would make of life such an easy problem. It seemed such a desirable thing to be able to do things as the fairy did, and my imaginative mind pictured all the good deeds l would perform if the fairy's wand were placed in my hand. Little then did l think, as I bored over the fascinat- ing stories and spent hours in idle dreaming, that the wonderful things in the fairy story had their realization in the spiritual realm, and that the potency of the fairy's wand was as nothing in comparison with the mar velous operations of the Spirit of God. It was the Spirit of God moving through the rod in Moses hand which wrought such mighty wonders in the presence of Pharaoh, which opened a way through the Red sea, which made the hard rocks of the will derness yield their gushing waters, which gave the Israelites the victory over the Amalekites. It was the Spirit of God that circled the city of Jericho in answer to the obedient tread of Gods people and that rang out in the shout and the trumpet blast and laid the massive walls of the heather stronghold low upon the ground. It was the Spirit of God that moved in the times of the judges and wrought mighty deliverances for Gods op- pressed people. It was the Spirit of God which on the day of Pentecost transformed a handful of simple hearted, ignorant disciples into fluent linguists preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every known tongue. It was the Spirit of God which wrought such mighty wonders through the instru- mentality of the disciples in the early days of the church. It is the Spirit of God Whose tracings can be discovered running through the sacred pages of Gods Word from Genesis to Revela- ton. More marvellous and fascinating is it all than the most extravagant fairy tale. The latter is naught but a tale, but the former is the truth and majesty and power of God.
 There are two reasons why man fails to understand and appreciate the operations of the Spirit of God: First, because he does not know Gods will, and, second, because he is an alien from the righteousness of God; for the Spirit of God always operates along the line of Gods will and moves within the sphere of His perfect righteous ness. In this materialistic age mans will shuts out the vision of the will of God and mans self-righteousness and self-esteem render him insensible to the righteousness of God, and hence the might and power' of man is un- duly magnitied and emphasized and the workings of Gods Spirit are lost sight of. But nevertheless it is the eternal and unchangeable truth of God that it is mot by might, nor by power of man," but by the Spirit of God, that the purposes of God are wrought out through men.
 Zerubbabel, to whom the words of our text were sent through the proph- ct Zechariah, had been called to great work by the Lord. The task of l. T .l. I
 and the restoring of the temple had rested upon him. After the first burst of enthusiasm of the people incident to the return from captivity and the rees- tablishment of their homes in Jerusa- lem, the work of rearing the city's pro- tecting wall and restoring the temple Jagged. Zerubbabel felt the burden of the gigantic task. As Christian peo- pie are always so prone to do, he came to feel that he was carrying the burden all alone. That it all depended upon him, if the walls were completed and the temple reconstructed. And in proportion as he took his eyes off God and looked within himself for the pow CT and ability to carry on the great work, he became discouraged and per- haps was almost ready to give up in disgust He did not have the sympathy and cooperation of the inhabitants of the city as was his right to demand and expect. He doubtless tried to push and drive them to the completion of the task which he knew God had set him to accomplish. Perhaps he set to scolding them in the impatience of his discoura cement. Perhaps he went as far as some Christians do when facing difficulties similar to those of Zerub- babel and threatened to quit and go back to the easier surroundings of the Babylonian home. And just at the point when he fully realized how ut terly helpless he was to accomplish the task before him, and when, utterly discouraged, he was ready to give up, God sent His prophet to him with the