Milford chronicle., 1909-07-02

} to them a fresh realization Of the Ia.
theirs love and care. 1t reminds them
! repeatedly of their call Of the Lord to
be his disciples, and of the terms and
. conditions upon which they are ac-
cepted. 1t brings before them repeat
edly the glorious standard above all
standards-the Divine. 1t reminds
them of the Saviour's words, BE ye
like unto your Father which is in
heaven. who is kind to the evil and
the good. and extends his mercies to
the just and the unjust" 1t reminds
them afresh that they should pray
Forgive us our trespasses as we for
give those who trespass against US"
and thus 1t tends to make their hearts
and minds more tender more gentle,
more forgiying toward all with whom
they have to do.
a Pray Not For the World"
We have seen who may and who
may not pray. according to the linn
itations Of the Lords Word; that no
one is invited to pray except the pen
itent who turns from sin and accepts
of Christ We have seen how the peo-
/ pie of God may pray for the forgive
ness Of their own trespasses. and have
Divine mercy and help, and how they
may give thanks on behalf of them
| selves and each other But may they
/ pray to God for sinners, for the world ?
Undoubtedly the majority Of Chris
tians would answer, Yes. they should
specially pray for these; but if we
find the Scriptural answer to the
query. it is, No Our Lords words in
his prayer to the Father on the same
night in which he was betrayed were.
Il pray not for the world. but for
those whom thou hast given me"
John xvii, o. Our Lord We he great (
exemplar for all of his followers, who /
are exhorted to walk in his footsteps. /
If he prayed not for the world, neither .
should we.
But what is the philosophy of this?
Did not Jesus love the world? Yes,
verify. he so loved the world as to die
for us while we were yet sinners.
Why. then. did he not pray for those
whom he loved and for whom he
died? We answer, because it is not
the Divine Plan to save people by
praying for them. but, as the Apostle
declared. 1t pleased God that through
the preaching Of the Cross Of Christ
believers should be saved, though this
course may seem foolish to the world
ly. God has made a great plan Of sal
vation. which eventually will reach
the whole world Of mankind-every
creature He does not need, therefore,
that either our Lord Jesus or we
should pray for the world, for he has
every arrangement made on their be-
half that Love and Justice could pro-
vide The time for blessing the world
has not yet come
The present is the time for blessing
the Church believers who are now
being called out Of the word-to sepa-
rate themselves as Gods peculiar peo-
pie. 1t was for these that Jesus
prayed. and for these. therefore, we. Z
following his example, should pray.
Their Affections are his Affections. and
hence our aftictions. because If one &
member Of he Body Of Christ suffer,
all the othei members suffer with it.
Z
pray one for the other as well as 3
labor to assist each other and to build
one another up in the most holy faith
for this is the will Of God. This is
the plan Of God-that during the pres 2
ent age the Elect class should be !
called and tested and chosen. in order
that in the next age they with Christ :
in his Milennill Kingdom may be the
divine agency for the blessing of all
the families of the earth
Why should we NOT pray for the con
version Of our families, and neighbors
md friends: Because it is not for us
10 ask the Lord TO select according to
our judgment those who shall be of
MS elect Little Flock. his Bride class
Divine rules are in operation. and it
$ for us 10 cooperate with them. We
nay tell the good tidings to our
friends, nei-hbors. families; we may
,Xemplify the Gospel in our daily lives.
md thus bring to bear upon our friends
he things Of the truth. which God has
ordained shall be the sanctifying
,ower-"Sanctify them through they
ruth thy Word is Truth"
We may. however. ask of the Lord
wisdom and grace whereby we may
erve him acceptably, whereby we may
resent his message faithfully as his
ambassadors, and whereby we may be
nOre and more burning and shining
ghts. and living epistles known and
cad Of the dear friends whom we
would love to serve and to bring to
i'm. We night even ask for the
.ord's blessing upon favored opportu-
tiles for presentation of the Truth,
nd for the wisdom which our Lord
xhorted us to exercise, saying that
re should be wise as serpents and
armless as doves in the presentation
his message
The exhortations to pray for our enc
lies, and for rulers and magistrates.
re not in conflict with the foregoing.
ecause our prayer for our enemies
'ould be that whereas they might be
lstly entitled to stripes on account of
Jury done to us, we would be willing