Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-12-14
GODS WORK AND OURS.

Work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling for IL is Cod which worketh in .yod
both to will and &c 10 Of iiis sood pleasure
Phil, 2:31.
The proper relationship between faith and
works and between Gods work and our; are
matters apparently not clearly understood by The
majority Of Christian people and, OF course, not
ut all comprehendeG by the worldly. 1t Is not
only worth while, but very important, that each
Christian entering into covenant relationship
with God should urdCIstGud distinctly his Own
responsibilities. the assistance which COO Is
willing TO grant him through the merit 81, II
Christ, and what is required or him individually
in the matter OF good works. great >caKe
a great pr1Ie-is involved. CareieSsncss or
ignorance might jeppaidize TINS prize-might
lose Us place amongst ''the very elect VINO
shall be jont-heirs with their Redeemer IN His
miliennial kingdom soon to be inaugurated i"r
the blessing of the whole world.
Marx we'll that we purposely avoid the errCr
which long has becl)uded our spiritual vision.
Note thst We do not say that a failure to me
amongst 1.-THE elect" would signify to be with
damned millions in eternal torture. No such
unreasonable pronCrStiOn is represented in God 5
Word. The question Of this GOSPEL age is 4
gain or not TO gain eternal life and glory and
honor as members of the body OF Christ. In a
word. not pleasure misery, but lite or death,
Is the alternative.
Who are addressed by the apostle in the wurtiS
of our text: He is not addressing the wililG!lv
or ignoranily wicked--te world. He is al
dressing these who mad been such. but wl) re-
pcnted, reformed. turned 10 God and saw Il great
light. They have seen themselves to be sinners
under inst condemnation OF the Creator ALL
has provided reconciliation with the Father
! tfrOlglt His blGod-lIs sacrifice. More thdn
this, they have by faith accepted this preferred
grace Of God. and through q full conservation
OF their all made acceptable through their advo-
cate they nave beeu received of the Fathcr as;
His spiitbegotten children. They have been
advised THAT rs children they are heirs OF
God, tcint,htirs with Jesus Christ" their Lord,
| their head, their Rcdcemcr in the glorious mil
lennial kingdom which the Father has FIRE
! tolG shall be his for the blessing of all the
families Of the earth. But all these blessings
! they have received through faith ard not act
/ ually. They must wait for the actualities until
| thev and all Of their brethren of the same class
| called If ,iCd in the hope Of their calling;
shall have been tried, tested, perfected, in
HOW GOD WORKS IN Us.
Our text declares that should work out
! our own salvation, because It is God that
worketh In us This puts Gods work first and
ours subsequently. Hence let us therefore con.
slider the matter in this order: How, in what
/ sense. does God work I'm His peope-not in the
Woflu' not IN the repentant sinner; nor IN the
merely Justified; hut in those who have passed
| those stages of approach TO God and. by the he
getting of His Holy Spirit. have entered His
/ family children. as sons? Behold what man
ner Of love the Father hath bestwode upon us
! that we should he called the sons OF God. "
| Il JnO., 3:1.) And If children. then heirs;
heirs Of God, snd joint-heirs with Jesus Christ
our Lord" from. S:17) How does God work
in such as have thus become His children-IIi'
We reply that He works in them through His
spirit-the spirit Of truth: the spirit of hOli
| ness; the spirit of conservation; the spirit OF
sonship That is to say, a certain holy power
or Influence operates in and about the spirit
! begotten children Of God in harmony with this
relationship into which we have come chill
| dren. 1t has to do with all of their experiences
| In life-home. family. business, joys. suffer
lngs pleasures, sOrrows. Gods providence Is
pledged TO bring blessings out of every expert
ence they may have. If those experiences be re
ceived in meekness. i'm humility, In faith. ap
! propriating the lessons. II the adverslties OF
| life preponderate, Me children Of God by faith
ere TO recognize that these are necessary to
their spiritual development. If their pathway
| is narrow and thOrny. by faith they are to
| seek and to have divine assistance in life's
| journey and to lean the more upon God and tC
trust the to His care.
But Gods special way of dealing with His
| spritbegotten children is through their intel
| lects-communcating with them through the
holy Scriptures As the apostle says. God who
! spake In time past unto the fathers by the
| prophets hath in these last days spoken unto
! us by his SON." Heb, I'D The twelve apps.
| ties whom the Father specially gave to Him,
He particularly accepted as His representatives.,
! His mouth-pieces the channels through whom
would come to the family of God the instruc.
lions necessary for their development in holi-
ness-the instructions necessary for their attain
ment of the hope of their callng-glory, honor
and Immortality I'm ntheirship with Jesus
their Redeemer as the spiritual Seed Of Abra-
ham for the blessing of tho wOrld.-Gal., 1919.
Our Lord Jesus refers TO this work Of God in
His people through His Word saying. 'Sanc-
| tify them through thy truth. Thy word Is
Scriptures the power Of God. saying "All
Scripture is given by inspira ton of God. and
is profitable for doctrine. for reproof, for cor
rectiOn, for Instruction IN righteousness; that
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur
nished unto ali good works. Tim. 1916. IL
"YE ARE GODS WORKMANSHIP
We have seen that God does a work in Ills
consecrated people using His proyidences I'm con
Dection with the experiences Of life: and that
He specially uses His Word for their instruc-
tion in righteousness We to remember in
cdentally that our Lord Jesus who redeemed us
and reconciled us by His blood is still our adj
vocate with the Father and instructor as
the Fathers representative: that through Him
We may be all taught of God-in the school OF
Christ. Next should note the divine meth
Cd in this work of grace being carried on in
our hearts from the time we fully submitted
them in full conservation. in faith. Our text
declares that Gods work i'm MS is divided inro
two parts-to will and to do Let us examine
first
HOW GOD WORKS IN US TO WILL
The will is the real person ego. The body
is merely responsible as the agent or servant
of the will. With tic world the will and the
body are usually at one sympathetically CO.
operative. But In those begotten of Gods spirit
as His children matters are different. Their
wills ny conservation are developed along lines
quite antagonistic TO the natural preferences Of
their flesh, that the apostle wrote. with
the mind ] myself serve Cor desire to serve)
the law Of God but with the flesh I serve tor
desire TO servcl the law of sim" from. 7:25l
Hence every spirit-hegotten person has war
fare between his new mind, with its holy aspi-
its animal prOpensities, good and some
bad. Hence the apostle eXhorts all these new.
creatures to war good warfare" against their
own flesh and to bring II into subsection to the
new mind and to the divine law. He urges that
we Bring every thought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ" e Cor. 1851 This of
course, would mean absolute perfection so far
as the new creature would be concerned and a
complete deafness so far the flesh is con
cerned. With every Thought captivated 10 the
Lord the individual would never IN any sense
commit sin other than the sin of ignorance or
imDerfeCtiOn.
God works in the minds Of His people not
along the lines of ensavemcnt of the mind ar.
ter the manner Of Satan End those who arc
subject To his decisions ny hynnOtisu1. etc.
| Gods Operatio is the very reverse Of this. He
! cnlightens the mind to do Wis work He dis
PLAYS to our minds gradually light and truth
purity aud goodness in their true colors. in con
| trast with sin. ignorance and dnfilPme0t. And
| IN the same words He sets before the great
| nrizn of glory. homo pnd imncrtaljtv and ioiut
heirship with Redeemcr IN His kingdom
The mower Of these hones working In a conSe
| crn tod mind Is wonderful. 1t can mako the nat
urally weak strong, The naturally timid bold
\ lion.
! This coar"tion unon tho Mind is a gradual one
/ from the time Of our beg"ttirC Of the Holy
Spi~it until chan"N-nOt oil at once, hut
GRADUALLY little by little. the Tc-l dispIavs
! to rs one feature after nncther oe His wonder
/ ful nlan Of salv"tiNn. Step nv step He shows
/ to the an"~eciativc ao1 Ohcdiert heart tho
/ ricbcs of His grace. His loving ki"dnoSs His
toutcr- rnarcv TIE houndlessness Of WIS love and
! the uIti'ratp outwC-kirg ~ Tris divine mowers
! fcr tho hlesei"r Of oil Of His creatures who
! will accent TT'@ fqvCrs his terms.
/ I'll the while We 1navoS frcc agents 20 WI
81 Fpr~'onv With His proposition or to reject H.