The Penn's Grove record., 1908-05-22

ulationI but it is; in fact, only a
somewhat elaborated way of saying
that everything good and true in hui
man life is from the Lord, and every.
thing evil and false is of the devil
and from the devil. This truth the
Christian church has always recog-
n1zed as a matter of doctrine. But to
hold 1t merely as a doctrine is not
suhcient. 1t Is a primary aqdrfunda.
mental principle of right living, and
we can never make much progr0>S IN
right living until the mind has gained
SO clear and firm a recognition OF this
truth as will enable 1t to shape and
determine all our thinking and feel
Ing about all our experiences with
evil and falsity and with good and
truth, For SO long as we regard the
right thoughts and feelings that are
stirred in us as our own as purely
self-derived, we simply make of them
valued possessions of our self-l1fe,
and 30 long as we regard the wrong
thoughts and feelings that are stirred
In us as our own, we can never rid
ourselves of them.
Thus what we find ourselves deal
ing with in all our experience with
wrong thoughts and feelings is other
personalities. Whether they are living
in this world or the spiritual world
we do not know, and it makes no
difference. They are unclean spirits,
incarnate Or discarnate, trying to i'm
pose their life upon us. So far as we
permit them to work their will in
us they will go on stirring up in is
all sorts of false thinking and evil
feeling. But SO far as we are striving
to become disciples Of the Lord He
gives us authority over them to cast
them out.
Let us note the exact meaning of
these words, "He called unto Him His
twelve disciples and gave them au-
thority over unclean spirits to cast
them OUT
From these words we may be as
sured in the first place that this au-
thority over unclean spirits to cast
them out is bestowed by the Lord
only upon His disciples. Therefore,
II we wish to possess this power over
the Internal influences that are STIR
ring up wrong thoughts and feelings
in us we must be disciples of the
Lord. A disciple is a learner, and a
disciple of the Lord is one who wishes
to learn from the Lord.
Calling His disciples unto Him, the
Lord gave them this power. The Lord
calls to US in every truth about right
living that we give heed to; and we
listen to His call whenever we accept
any truth as His truth, and therefore
as the true wisdom of life. This de-
sire for the true wisdom of life and
Willingness to accept it in place of our
own wisdom is what opens the mind
for the true wisdom of life to flow in;
and this wisdom is all power or au-
thority over evil spirits. For no evil
or falsity can exist in the presence of
Divine wisdom. Just as effectually as
light dissipates darkness does truth
dissipate falsity, and falsity is evils
sole defense. The hold that anything
has upon our life is determined solely
by the way we think about it and feel
about it. The truths we profess to
believe are so ineffective in Kidding us
of our evils simply because of our OBJ
scure and indefinite conception of
them, and our loose and feeble hold
upon them. Our prime need, there
fore, is clearer conceptions of the
truth; that is, clearer conceptions of
the right way of looking at all the is
sues and experiences of life, and of the
right way to feel about them. The
power or authority over unclean spir-
it's hat the Lord bestows upon us is
the authority of law over disorder, of
right over wrong, of truth over falls
ity, of light owe darkness. All this is
the power of right thought and right
purpose. This authority no evil spirit
or evil influence can withstand. With
it we car effectually cast out even the
most ~insidious inyasions OF evil upon
our life.
Such is the authority over unclean
spirits that the Lord bestows upon all
disciples. The only condition neces-
sary to receiving it is to be a disciple
of the Lord. The twelve disciples did
not ask for this authority. 1t was a
token, and the chief token, of disci-
pleship. So if we do not possess this
power it is because we are not disci-
pies, and the only way to get it is to
become a disciple. And becoming a
disciple is simply learning how to
think in the right way and to feel in
the right way about all the expert
ences of life, even the most trivial,
and compelling ourselves to think and
to feel always in that way and to
bring all our words and all our acts
into harmony with that thinking and
feeling. This is the disciple state of
mind and the way of life. All that is
necessary to gain it is to see that this
is the chief business of our life in this
world, and to give to it the daily
study and thought and effort 1t de-
serves. And, doing this, we shall
very soon come to see that the author
ity over unclean spirits to cast them
out is a pure gift from the Lord, and
that His yoke is indeed easy and His
burden light.