The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-07-18


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
rangemcnt 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 spirit being. His test
or trial is not with 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
Resurrection by granting perfect spir-
1t bodies, in full harmony with their
pure hearts, their loyal intentions and
purposes.
How to Put Away Filth of the Flesh.
If 1t Is impossible for the New Crea-
ture 10 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 un-
derstand that 1t is the Lords will that
we fight against the weaknesses of the
flesh with two-fold purposes
~ 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 will make us>stronger and
stronger as New Creatures. ih the spir-
1t OF our minds. IL is this firmness.
this determination, this posltiveness of
the New Creature a0qinst 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 u,
more and more of faith in God and
obedience 10 him. In order to be ac-
ceptable, they must reach the place
where they love righteousness and
hate iniquity-in-equity
Christian Filthiness Of Spirit.
The word spirit In the Bible and In
ordinary language is used In variety
OF senses. In our text 1t does not sig
nify that the saints. as spirit beings,
are hlthy and need cleansing. Quite
10 the contrary, the New Creature. be-
gotten OF the spirit. is holy, pure. But
IS the New Creature must use tie