The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1910-07-22

Jesus, and thus to go in an opposite
direction from the course of the world
and at the cost of the crucifxion, 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
firstborns." 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 1t 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
promises with the still greater re-
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 q 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 n 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.
Hew to Put Away Filth of the Flesh.
If 1t Is impossible for the New Crea-
ture to perfect the flesh, what does
the Apostle mean by urging the saints !
to cleanse themselves from the filth
of the flesh? He means that we should
not, as New Creatures, be discouraged
and say that, because we cannot hope
to attain perfection in the flesh, there
fore we will make no endeavors In
that direction. He wishes us to I'M
derstand that it is the Lords will that
we fight against the weaknesses of the
flesh with two-fold purpose:
~ That we may gradually cleanse
ourselves-gradually become more and
more what the Lord would have us be
and what we should like to be our
selves.
C2) Additionally, this fight against sin
In the flesh viii make us stronger and
stronger as New Creatures, in the spir-
1t OF our minds. 1t is this firmness,
this determination, this positiveness Of
the New Creature against sin and for
righteousness that God desires. Those
who develop it are called "overcom-
ers," and all Of their experiences in
these trials and battlings against the
world, the flesh and the Adversary.
are designed to make them strong in
the Lord and in the power of his
might" Their experiences are so or
dered and directed as to lead them to
more and more of faith in God and
obedience to him. In order to be &C
ceptable, they must reach the place
where they love righteousness and
hate iniquity-in-equity.
Christian FiIthiness Of Spirit
The word spirit In the Bible and In
ordinary language is used in a variety
OF senses. In our text It does not sig
nifty that the saints. as spirit beings,
are filthy and need cleansing. Quite
to the contrary, the New Creature, be- |
gotten of the spirit, is holy, pure. But
as the New Creature must use the
body Of flesh until It receives the New
Body, so 1t must use the brain or mind |