The Lexington advertiser., 1904-08-18

ICNSSS it is that it is fire.
!. =. !. : !. !. ! !. !. . !: !. : (. !. J
| lN ! lNNarl quently used. AS
III rGSjIIN part of the Lords
| h lhlE III prayer, it finds fire.
| A lIE1N uuent utterance In
| IfJTI II religious gather
INj II Il IN ings and fraternal
l---l IN organizations. 1t
! is so easy to speak
of Gods WILL but it is quite another
thing to realize it's meaning and to SO
think and act as to bring the Will OF Goa
to pass. To do Gods will requires an
understanding of what that will is, and
the purpose and ability to do that Will
as it is revealed. 1t would be folly for
the child to attempt to do its fatnerS
will unless it had a clear understanding
of what that will was. And, further, II
would be unlikely to perform that WILL
granting that it did know what 1t was,
| unless the attitude of the heart was right
and there were desire to do and ability
to perform. And, again, the loving and
wise and faithful father would not eX-
pect or demand of his child that which
he was unable to perform, nor would
he demand or expect less than that
which would call forth the best effort of
the child, And, further, the father
would not be so unreasonable as to ex-
pect The child to perform his will If he
had rot revealed and made plain to the
child Just what that will was. We have
two viewpoints, then, from which to
consider our topic, from the fathers
standpoint and from the child's stand
point; from the standpoint of the one
whose will is to be done and from the
standpoint of the one who is to do that
will. The father must make his will
plain to the child, and must be wise and
careful to exact or expect nothing of the
child but that which he is capable of
performing And the child must seek
to know the fathers will and must have
the desire and purpose to perform 1t.
And this statemep+ of the case of the re-
lation of the earthly parent to his child
exactly illustrates the relation which
man SuSIalHS 10 GOQ.
r. Cd has a will to be done on earth
" even as it is perfectly done in
Heaven. And that this will may be
perfectly done requires first that God
shall reveal that will to man; and sec
ond that He shall require not less nor
more than man is able to perform. Man
on his part must seek to know what the
will of God is and then have the desire
and purpose to perform that will as it Is
revealed to him. This, think, fairly
states what is involved in the doing the
will of God, And we must recognize the
fact that the will of the all-wise, all
loving, all-faithful Heavenly Father is
best for man, even as we recognize ir
human relationships that the will of the
wise, loving and faithful parent is best
for the child The child is not always
able to see it and understand it. He lives
for the moment, he weighs things on the
scale of appetite and desire, and that
which he wants the most he judges to be
the best thing for him. But not so the
parent. He looks down the years and,
desiring things for his child which will
best fit him for life and its social and
business relationships, he wills this and
that for the child. The child often does
not understand, he cannot see the value
of doing this or that or of keeping from
this or that Indulgence, but if he is an
obedient and loving child he will cheer
fully say: Father knows best" and do
his best to perform his fathers will.
And this is exactly the case as regards
the relations of Goa and man.
no YOU desire to be included as a
~ member of Jesus family circle?
Do you long to have Him stretch forth
His hand and point you out as belong
ing to Him in a peculiar and close
relationship? There is only one way
to have your desire and longing salts
fled, and that is to do the will of God.
And this involves knowledge of the will
of God and ability and desire to per-
form that will. And what is the
will of God for man? Just as the
earthly parent desires its child to be
the very best, to realize the very best,
so God, in infinitely higher and better
degree, desires for man the very best.
He commands: BE ye holy; for l |
am holy" And Jesus summed up all |
the wonderful teachings of the Ser
mon on the Mount in the words: BE
ye therefore perfect, even as your Fa-
ther Which is in Heaven is perfect"
God searched through all the centu-
ries before Jesus came into the world
to find man who could perfectly full
fill Gods will, and He found him not
The very best specimens of manhood |
failed. Noah, Abraham, Moses, the
prophets, and even David, failed.
There was none righteous, not even
one" All had sinned at some point
in their lives and come short of the
glory of God. But Jesus came and |
was holy in life and character, even
as God was holy; He was perfect in
keeping the law of God, even as His
Father Which was In Heaven was,
perfect. And in Jesus, the Son of God,
was realized Gods will for man.
And Jesus turns to you and to
me and says: ,'Whosoever shall
L. Ar