St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-11-05

count and reckon on Hin We Woult
find that He was cooperating in church
and Sunday school, and mission sta
ton" However, there are certain con
ditions which must prevail before tn.
Christian can realize this blessed union
this cooperation of the Lord. unto
whom has been given "all power II
Heaven ana in earth" The Lord can.
not work With some of His followers be.
cause they have not met His conditions
and mary Christians fail to realize the
blessed presence and power of Jesus
| because they persist in doing in thei.
own strength and their own way His
work.
I EFT us consider more fully what is
l. involved in these five rules. First
of all is emphasized the necessity of a
clean heart and life. The Lord never
yet used vessel which was foul with
willful and persistent and hidden sin.
The Christian may keep the outside
clean and polished. He may deceive
men as he engages in the Lords work,
but he cannot deceive God, and il
within the heart and hidden in the life
there are sin and indulgence which he
is not willing to give up, then the Lord
cannot work with such a one. And
what is more sad and awful than for
the Christian to be doing work in the
Lords name while the Lord is absent
from him? He is building apart from
God. He is putting up the wood, hay
and stubble which will be destroyed
by the searching fire of Gods testing
judgment. The Psalmist asks: "Who
shall ascend into the hill OF the Lord
And who shall stand in His holy
placer" And God replies: HE that
hath clean hands and pure heart"
1t is such that the Lord works with to
accomplish His purposes among men.
Dear brother, is the Lord working with
you? If not, what is it that is robbine
you of this blessed copartrership ex-
perience? Search within the heart and
the life. Drag out the hidden and cher
ished thing. Give it up. If thy eye,
or thy hand or thy foot offend thee
pluck it out and cut it off, for it is bet
ter for you to go through life suffering
the lack of that which you so much
love and desire than that you should
fall short of the glory of God and His
plans for you. Cry with the Psalmist:
Create within me clean heart, O
God, and renew right spirit within
me-" He will do it. and then you will
begin to know what it means to have
the Lord working with you.
DUT not only must there be the clean
- heart to enjoy the cooperation Of
the Lord. We must seek ,!is glory and
not our own. Herein lies b constant
danger. The heart is so subtle that
even the most humble and consecrated
Christians are apt to be deceived Is to
the motives which dominate to life.
1t is only as the Christian realizes the
danger Of unconsciously seeking ones
own glory. instead of the glory Of God.
that he is able to detect the weakness
and guard against it. Self should be
and forgotten as far as pos
the first of FOUR rules which governed the
life of that brave soldier and devoted
Christian, Gen. Gordon, better known
as Chinese" Gordon. And the other
three were help to the realization Of
this holy ambition to forget self and
glorify God. They were: Absence Of
all pretence; Indifference to the worlds
opinions, and absorption in tho will Of
God. All, how richly would the power
and presence Of God be manifested in
and through us if we maintained this
towards God and the world.
We must seek Gods glory I. we would
enjoy His cooperation. Frat, then, Is
The clean heart and life, that is, condi-
ton. Second, the desire for Gods glory
and not our own, that IS, attitude; and
ment. What shall We use if we are
to have the Lords cooperation? Need
we ask when God has promised SO re-
peatedly to richly honor and bless His
Word, 1T shall not return unto Me
yoid?"
r ONDITION, attitude, equipment,
u and then unity-Christian unity,
which made the early church such a
victorious and aggressive church. The
Lord cannot work where there is lack
# harmony, where there are jeal-
,usies, where divisions separate and
weaken. We need more and more of
hat loving fellowship and unity which |
prevails when the Spirit of Christ rules
n the hearts of His children. Thank
Tod there is coming to be q larger
pirit of fellowship and cooperation be-
ween the followers of Christ Of all de-
The old divisions and |
ealousies are almost dead and gone,
nd in their stead we are finding q
increasing purpose and de-
ire for harmony and unity in the great |
nd blessed work of winning the |
world for Christ. And in the measure
hat this is true, there are realized |
he presence and help Of the Lord. And |
asst and above all, faith Is needed, |
aith that will claim the Lords pres
nee and cooperation, and faith that
1ill reckon upon it. Faith draws the
faster to the side of His disciple and
cells His Quickening power
.'Yet though have not seen. and attn