The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-07-26

dren of the Almighty-hence, begotten
again Of the Holy Spirit-"new crea-
lures In Christ Jesus" (II Corinthians
v, 10. All, how wonderful it seems
that there should be such class as
this In the world yet not separated
from the world, except by their new
Spirit These are In the world, but
not OF the world, as the Master de-
clared. These have died to worldly
aims and objects and have become
alive toward God through the Holy
Spirit and through the quickening in
tiuences of Gods exceeding great and
precious promises given unto them
Gods purpose respecting them is that
they may be transferred from human
nature to spirit nature-from partici-
patton with the world in the bless
ings coming to it to receive instead
the Divine nature, with the glory,
honor and immortality attaching
thereto, as new creatures" sons of
the Highest III Peter 1. A..
Christian "Filthiness of the Flesh"
Having located definitely the class
addressed by the Apostle, 1.-THE saints
Oh Corinthians /, u, let us note how
and why it is necessary that saints
should receive such an exhortation.
Why should the Apostle write to saints
respecting the cleansing of their flesh
from filthiness? Could one be a saint
and yet have filthiness of the flesh?
We reply that these saints, begotten
of the Holy Spirit. will not be perfect
ed as New Creatures until they expert
ence the Change of the First Resur-
rection." Meantime they have the
treasure Of the Divine nature, the Holy
Spirit. the first fruits of their Inherit
ance in imperfect human bodies. 1t is
not the flesh that is begotten again by
the Holy Spirit, but new mind, new
will The will of the flesh they sacri-
fee. They give up all earthly rights
and ambitions and accept instead the
will of God, the will of Christ, the
Holy Spirit. that they may walk in
newness of life. However, from the
very beginning of their Christian ex-
perience all Of these members of the
Royal Priesthood, in the present. life.
pass through difficulties which arise
from three different sources:
u The Adversary is in opposition to
them and will do them all the harm
the Lord will permit Their protection
Is the Divine promise that they win
not be permitted to be tempted above
that they will be able to bear-that the
Lord will supervise their interests so
that with every temptation there will
be provided way of escape.
e. They are in a world that is dark
with sin and sellshness, superstition
and ignorance Of God and out Of har.
mony with his righteousness. The
world and its spirit surge about them
every day, from morning until night.
Its tides and currents seek to sweep
them away from their resolutions of
self-sacrifice and loyalty to God and
righteousness. In various ways 1t holds
out to them enchanting prospects,
pleasures and riches, ease and aff1u-
ence. These have their weight. even
though it be known that comparatively
few who follow the worlds reckoning
and allurements ever receive the full
fllment of the promises held out to
them.
49, The great fight of the New Crea-
ture, his closest and most persistent
adversary is his own flesh. The long
ings of his depraved nature cry out
against restraints and insist that he
Is taking an unreasonable course In
that he undertakes to follow the LORD
Jesus, and thus to go in an opposite
direction from the course of the world
and at the cost Of the crucifixion, the
modification, of his own flesh and
his natural preferences.
Thus viewed every Spirit-begotten
Christian, is an object of sympathy
from the Divine standpoint, and this
should be their standpoint toward
each other. But the world has no
sympathy. The world sees not, neither
does it understand nor appreciate the
exceeding great and precious prom
ises which lie behind the conservation
of the Saints" the Church of the
frstborns." So much the more, each
of these brethren, dearly beloved"
should have sympathy for each other,
and should encourage one another.
strengthen one another, build one an
other up in the most holy faith, and,
by all means. do nothing to stumble
each other In the narrow way.
The saints" cannot fight Satan.
They can merely by their wills re-
stst him and rely upon the promises
of grace to help and to protect The
saints" cannot conquer the world and
convert it to God-that is too Hercu-
lean a task. God. as we have seen,
has provided the thousand years of
Messiah's reign for that purpose-to
conquer the world, to overthrow sin
and to uplift the willing and obedient
of humanity. But the saints" must
all overcome the world In the sense
OF resisting Its spirit and keeping their
hearts loyal to God, loyal to their
Covenant of conservation which they
have made to him. The heavenly
wards Of glories far above anything
that the world has to offer, are the
greatest aids In this resistance of the
worldly spirit.
The great work for the Church is
the good fight Of faith manifested in
the putting away of the filth Of their
own flesh and spirit. Some by ma
ture have more filth of the flesh and
spirit, more meanness, more selfish
ness, more natural depravity, ETC..
than have others. Nevertheless, the
race is not to the swift, nor the bat
tie to the strong; for the Lords ar
rangement with each member Of the
Royal Priesthood is that he shall be
judged according to the spirit or in
tention, and not according to the
flesh. From the time Of the Chris
tian's conservation to the Lord he is
reckoned dead as human being and
alive as a spirit being. His test
or trial is not with a view to seeing
whether or not he can do the i'm
possible thing Of living an absolutely
perfect life in an imperfect body. His
trial or test, on the contrary, is to see
to what extent his mind, his will,
fights good fight against his natural
weaknesses and frailties. There is
none righteous, no, not one" All the
trying in the world could not prove
this Divine statement an incorrect
one. Righteousness of the will, holi-
ness Of heart, purity of heart, are the
possibilities; for these God seeks and
these he will reward in the First
Resurrection" by granting perfect spir-
it bodies, In full harmony with their
pure hearts. their loyal intentions and
purposes.
How to Put Away Filth of the Flesh.
II IL Is imnnssIhla for the Naw Craa-