Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1909-11-11

/ 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smile, should be withdrawn from those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 N love for the
Lord, every hindrance &c his favor will
be quickly noted It 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
| to ourselves and to the Lord but I'M
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 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 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 OtCn notifies 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 notiUes 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
| fol tO
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 a sufficiency OF love for
righteousness and sufficiency of a
| 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.
1.-THE entrance Of thy words giveth
| light psalm cxix, 1907. AS the Word
of the Lord dwells richly and abounds,
! it educateS us respecting Gods will
and it's 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 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
and, if so. be unfit for the proposed ex-
altation. Satan, when a holy angel
| called Lucifer, the Morning Star, was
| perfect; but the SIN of presumption
crept into his heart and bIighted every
thing. So Satan Strove to tempt our
Lord, who was perfect, to commit a
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 rival empire, as Satan
himself had attempted to do, but to
presume, nevertheless, upon Divine
goodness to the extent Of jeopardiZing
his life by leaping 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-
handed.
Applying this matter of presumptu
Gus sin to the Church of our day: we
find some who appear to be the Lords
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