The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1909-11-16

forgiveness, and became his followers
through our conservation Of our little
all to him. What remains Of sin with
us is the imperfection Of the flesh and
its inherited weaknesses, and these
blemishes may be with us to our dying
day In considerable measure. 1t Is
against these that we must tght-hght
the good fight and endure hardness as
valiant soldiers of righteousness.
But some one may inquire. Is not the
merit of Christ sufficient. not only for
the sins that are past. but for all OF
our unwilling blemishes of the past
and of the future? In other words
Does not our Lords satisfaction OF
Justice include our imperfectons pres
emf and future. which are the result
of Adams sin and our inheritance OF
the fallen condition. as we'll as atone
for our sins of the past prior to our
acceptance of the Divine mercy? We
answer, Yes. this is quite true; never
theless the Lord requires OF US that.
after coming into the family OF God.
we shall take note of our imperfee-
lions and apply to him for specific for
giveness of all transgressions. Doubt
less this is intended to assist us IN
keeping humble-to assist US In Keep
ing in remembrance 1.-The horrible pit
of sin from which We were lifted by
the gracious merit of the Redeemer by
which we were justified. All Of these
experiences will doubtless be helpful
to us by drawing us the more frequent
ly to the throne of grace, that we
NAV obtain mercy, and find grace
(meriD to help in time Of need' (He-
brews iv, 16).
The Blood of Christ Cleanseth.
The expression, 1.-The blood of Jesus
Christ cleanSeth us from all SIM" refers
not merely to the sins that are past
and the cleansing which was ours at
the moment we first accepted the
Lords favor. but rather. especially, it
refers to the cleansing which is con-
tinually necessary to the maintenance
of our relationship with the Lord. The
forgiveness. the cleansing. is freely.
promptly given, but conditionally. 1t
must be applied for This Is the Lords
method of instructing us in the way
Of righteousness and of assisting US to
overcome the oppositions and tempta-
lions of the world and to become at
heart ''oyercomers." He knows our
weaknesses better than we do; and he
wishes us to learn of them, not with
q view to discouraging US, but that we
may fight good fight against them.
conquer them and, in so doing, develop
the characteristics which he approves
and has promised to reward with joint
heirship with the Redeemer in his
Kingdom.
Hence, instead of openly rebuking
his people. the Lord leaves as ours the
work of searching for secret faults and
putting them away. In proportion as
we love him, we will be DESTROYS of
doing those things which please him.
thus living in his smile, under his APP
prevail 1t is quite sufficient that the
light of the Lords countenance, his
smile, should be withdrawn from those
who do not walk the narrow way with
zeal-who do not seek for their own
faults and endeavor to correct them
and to thus make character. AS those
now being called grow in love for the
Lord, every hindrance to his favor will
be quickly noted 1t is this class that
In our text is represented as seeking
Divine assistance in the searching out
of their secret faults.
Some of these faults may be known
known to fellowmen. The heart that
is truly converted to the Lord and to
harmony with all the principles Of
righteousness which he represents
must more and more desire full per-
fection-full victory over the weak
nesses of the flesh, and must strive for
this condition. Other secret faults
may be secret from us but well-known
to the Lord and possibly quite plainly
manifest to our brethren and neigh
bors. How earnestly all who are truly
the Lords people should seek to see
themselves as others see them, and to
correct those faults which hitherto
have been secret to themselves.
Assuredly the Lords assistance is
necessary in this work; but, In praying
to him. In the language of our text. we
should remember that his method OF
answering our petitions is to show us
the facts of our case. and then to en-
courage us by his promises to fight a
good fight against the weaknesses thus
brought to our attention. The Bible Is
the Lords lamp. The Spirit Of its Won
derful teachings. like a two-edged
sword. is sharp and penetrating. 1t
can discern or discriminate between
the very thoughts and intents of the
heart which deceive so many into
thinking a wrong course justifiable.
The Christian who makes continual
and good use of this Sword" will soon
find that with it's assistance he is able
to analyze his 0t0H ntotiCes lying behind
his words and his acts; will sometimes
find himself secreting them, and some
times masquerading them as graces
and virtues.
The difficulty with the majority Of
Christian people seems to be that they
have never undertaken a close scrutiny
Of the nlotipes lying behind their words
or their deeds-yea. the motive or in
tention lying hidden in their own
minds. The reason for this laxity, the
reason for their failure to follow up
with the searchlight and to bring
every thought into captivity to the will
Of God in Christi is that they have not
yet attained to sufficiency of love for
righteousness and a sufficiency Of a
hatred for iniquity. The reason for
this condition of things may be thct
they are 'habes in Christ" who have
In the past fed merely unon the milk
Of the Word and not upon the strong
meat and are. therefore, weak in the
faith and weak every way along the
lines of Christian character develop
ment. Whit they need is more love
for the Lord and a greater apprecia-
ton of his Word. which will lead to
more earnest study of the same.
THE entrance of thy words giveth
light psalm cxix. 1907. AS the Word
of the Lord dwelIs richly and abounds,
it educates us respecting Gods will
and its standards and, IL we are obedi-
ent to his will and his gracious pur-
poses. we will endure his tests and
ultimately stand approved as our Lords
ioint-heirs in his Kingdom.
Keep From Presumptuous Sins.
One of the great character tests i'm
posed upon the Church is humility. 1t
is not sufficient that we love right and
hate wrong and search for even our
secret faults. Even after attaining
perfection we might be presumptuous