The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-11-25

we could gain the empire OF the whole
earth and all OF Ito riches and il am
other should gain this heavenly cleo
tion TO the heavenly kingdom of 900
years and to subsequent eternal bless
ing with the Lord, which Of these
would chose the better part which
would show the real wisdom and which
would be the foolish one2 Rut the
eohsrask increases when we note that
the dominion Of earth cannot be Sc
cured by our sailing through bloody
seas, ana that mere competency Of
earthly wealth Is obtained by only one
Of q Thousand who strive for Il dav
and night. Surely, from the stand
point OF the Fathers Word. ali earth
" honors are vanities in comparison
with the heavenly glories and blessings
which may be attained by the "caIi-
ca" Of this Gospel Age If they Will but
follow the Divine directions. the terms
upon which the election will be deter
mined.
Terms and Conditions of Election.
In our contest ST. Peter tells ms mon
what terms the called and accented
may make their election sure After
calling our attention to Gods exceed
Ing great and precious promises. he
tells us that they were given us with
the intent that they should operate
In our minds so as to influence our
lives In harmony with the Divine will.
and that thus we may become par
takers OF the Divine nature, after hav-
ing escaped the corruption that ia IN
the world through desire selfishness
lust (V. Al He proceeds to amplifv
and urges that such as have this hone
shall give ali diligence to the mat
ter of adding to their faith virtue or
fortitude. That is to say, faith OF IT.
self Is very good as a start, but God
requires more than this AS a condi-
ton or our acceptance for election He
requires that our faith shall be Of a
strong kind, giving us fortltude for
all Of life's affairs: for all of our
Covenants with the Lord; for a faith
fut endurance or opposition, contra
dfctton, etc, that thus we might be
copies of our Lord Jesus Christ. as
God has ordained that all of "the
elect" must be.-Romans viii. 90
Not only must we have a strong
faith combined with fortitude, but we
AAA0St dAEO duu hIIOMI6uRG. we re-
quire some knowledge OF God and of
our Lord Jesus and of tine Gospel
message before we could come unto
the Lord at all, but the apostle is
not referring to this. our earliest
knowledge. He is addressing chris
tians who have already taken the
first steps He assures us that they
need knowledge to- enable them to 90
onward in christian deveiopment-
knowledge in addition to their faith
and fortitude. We have nothing TO |
say against worldly knowledge scien- |
Eific knowledge, etc, when these do |
not cross or interfere with the divine |
but we are confident that |
The Apostle did not intend to refer to |
worldly knowledge, but to the great |
est of all scientific knowledge-the
of God.
How shall we know God? By
study of His character. Our Lord |
Jesus it was who declared, This is
life eternal that they might know |
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom Thou hast sent" John
Evii, 3D. This knowledge at the pres
mt time is secret knowledge and as
he apostle says, hidden mystery"
which can be known only by those
who put themselves into a certain
attitude of heart and mind and con-
~ toward the Lord and His rev.
Nation. We are to study Gods char
acter--to learn respecting His JUS
ice, His wisdom. His love and His
power, by studying His revelation
he Bible. In it we see His dealings
'ast. and His promises respecting His
ealings future. And a correct APP
lreciation of these gives US a knowi-
dge Of Gods character as exempli-
led therein. But since this knowl-
dge is not stated in terms for the
world to understand, it follows That
My those in proper condition of heart
nd enlightened by the Holy Spirit
an receive this knowledge. 1t is
aught only to the pupils of the School
f Christ. The secret of the Lord is
Vitn them that fear Him; and He
will show them His covenant
'salm XIV, IA