The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1909-11-19
OF their secret faults.

Is truly converted to the Lord and to
harmony with all the principles OF
righteousness which he represents
must more and more desire f,lll per-
fccton--full victory over the weak,
ncsscs of the flesh, aud must strive for
this condition. Other secret faults
may be secret from MS but wCll.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 rs others see them, and to
correct those faults which hitherto
have been secret to themselves.
Assurcdly the Lords assistance IL
necessary in this work; hut. 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 IL
the Lords lamp. The Spirit OF It's won
dcrful teachings, like II two-cdgcd
sword. Is sharp ana penetrating. 1t
can discern or discriminate between
the very thoughts and intcnts OF the
heart which deceive so many into
thinking wrong course justtiable.
The Christian who makes continual
and good use of this "Sword" will soon
find that with its assistance he is able
to analyZc his OlCn mOtircS lying behind
his words and his acts; will sometimes
find himself sccreting 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 n close scrutiny
of the mOtiUcS 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 scarchlight and to bring
every thought into captivity to the will
of God in Christ" is that they have not
yet attained to sulliciency Of love for
Righteousness and sullicicncy OF II
hatred for iniquity. The reason for
this condition of things may be that
they are babes in Christ" who have
in the past fed merely upon 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 What 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, 1901. AS the Word
of the Lord dwells richly and abounds.
it educates us respecting Gods will
and its standards and If we are obedi-
ent to his will and his gracious pur-
poses, we will endure his tests and
ultimately stand approved as our Lords
joint-heirs in his Kingdom.
Keep From Presumptuous Sins.
One of the great character tests inn
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
and. If so, be unfit for the proposed ex-
altation. Satan, when Il holy angel
called Lucifer. the Morning Star. was
perfect; but the sin OF presumption
crept into his heart and blighted every
thing. So Satan strove to tempt our
Lord. who was perfect, to commit
presumptuous sin, through which he
would have made shipwreck of his ca
reer. He wished him to presume upon
Gods goodness and abundant care. not
by starting Il rival empire, as Satan
himself had attempted to do. but to
presume, nevertheless, upon Divine
goodness to the extent of jeopardiZing
his life by leapng from the pinnacle
Of the Temple and trusting that God
would suspend the laws of nature and
work a miracle for his protection,
when no such miracle was necessary,
| because no such hazard had been de-
| manded.
Applying this matter of presumptu-
| GUS sin to the Church of our day; we
| find some who appear to be the Lord s
people presuming upon his goodness
and mercy and love by jumping from
financial and other pinnacles and
trusting for miraculous protection
from disaster. This. to our under
standing, is presumptuous sin. Some
times we see preSumptuous conduct
amongst elders and others in the Body
of Christ, much after the manner of
Moses transgression. when presump-
tuously he smote the rock, while God
had merely hidden him to speak to
the rock. For pastors and elders of
the Church to assume and to exercise
an unscriptural lordship over the
Church would appear to us to be a
presumptuous sin-a preSuming to take
place and authority not bestowed by
the Lord. On the contrary. sometimes
congregation of the Lords people
may he presumptuous in negecting
the Scriptural direction to take heed to
those who have the rule over them
and watch for their souls, as those
who must give an account. In how
many ways might we be presumptuous
and ignore the Lord. his supervision
over the Church. and his message tc
us In his Word.
Our text declares, Then shall | be