The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-01-21
gbort Germoms
Per
6unnap Ralf-Dour
Theme:
CHRISTIANS RESOURCE
= r r
Thsns:

80
BY REV. J. II. JoWETT, M. A.
= 80
Text: Luke f4:af. ."or what klno
going to make war against another
king, slttsth not down first. and con.
sulteth whether hs 10 able with ten
thousand to meet him that cometh
against him with twenty thousand ?"
Our Lord was always seeking to get
men to sit down to think. He seeks
to win their judgment, to touch their
reason, that they may see the reason
ableness Of His doings and the rea-
| sonableness of His evangel He IS
continually calling upon men and
women to think. What think ye?"
What king" He says, "about to en-.
gage in campaign sitteth not down
first to estimate the strength of the
| foe and the strength of his own re.
sources, and then ascertain whether
there is legitimate hope of his forces
being able to meet and conquer those
| who oppose him?"
My simple purpose to-day is to ask
you to do this little thinking, to medl-
| tate on what kind of enemy we have
! to meet, and | pray you not to let
| your thoughts wander away to a far
of world but let us consider what
er MES we have to meet in this
world where we have to labor and
die, and whether we can with our
own strength overcome them.
Now what are these enemies that
We have to meet? What are the enc
mics In front of us? / repeat our Mas
| ter's own estimate OF the foe which
every one of us will have to meet to-
day and tomorrow. Jesus Christ calls
one "the world" Now what is the
world? We sometimes say a man is
worldly man. What is the signifi-
capce Of the term? Too frequently
wh I we use this term we refer to
something a man does or leaves un-
done. Men may be habitues of the
the9tre, or fond of cards, and we say
they are worldly; and people who ab-
stain from these things are labeled
|
| ers it in the slightest degree. World
liness is not implied in what we do or
| DO not do. Worldliness is not in do
ing this, or not doing this. Worldli.
ness is in the spirit. 1t is the atmos,
! phere of the soul. Worldliness is the
spirit of the horizontal Worldliness
LOOKS on and out, but it never looks
up and prays. 1t Is ambition, not as
| piratlon. Its motto is forward" new
er upward" Its goal is success, new
er holiness. Worldliness is life with
out the vertical, without the upward
calling in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And
VII ho1ever you find man or woman,
no matter what they do or don't do,
who always looks out to the horizon
tai end, men and women who have no
ideal, no aspiration, no heavenly Wis
ion, no prayer, those are men and
women who would be described by the
Master as "of the world, worldly"
Everybody here knows what an ex-
ceedingly strong graVitation there Is
toward the horizontal life. In the
church and out of 1t you feel this
tremendous mesmerism, this worldly
fascination, leading us to turn our
eyes from the heights, from what Paul
calls "the heavenly things in Christ
Jesus" We have got that force of
gravity to meet-the world.
Then there is the flesh" Every
one knows the power of the flesh;
not merely the carnal power Of the
body. but OF carnal power expressing
Itself in vanity and pride. The flesh
that bows down the soul and rides it,
instead OF the souls determining the
movements OF the flesh. We have the
flesh" to meet, whether in appetite
or carnal desire. The world, the
flesh and the devil" l do not know
how | can define the devil, but PaIls
phrase always seems to describe my
relationship with the devil better than
any other: THE prince OF the power
OF the air." He does not leap upon
you like lion. The devil usually ap-
pears as "the prince of the power OF
the air.; and he comes into every
life and lets down the temperature;
he changes the moral atmosphere.
You were just praying fervently, and
suddenly you experienced chill. 1t
is the prince OF the power of the
air." You start with great zeal to
lead a clean life. and before you know
it the temperature is perceptibly
chilled. THE prince OF the power of
the air" quietly, silently makes that
tremendous change in your moral life
! ~ Id ho nnin he ~
mosphere. We have got the devil to
meet.
Have you anything else to meet?
Yes, the fourth enemy is the binding
power OF guilt. In my country there
are prominent men who say that men
and women have no longer the sense
OF guilt. cannot regard that as