The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-07-22

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luke tx. 62). They heard the further
expression of st. Paul to all who would
become joint-heirs with Christ in his
Kingdom assuring them that if they
suffer with Christ they shall reign
with him.
"Beloved, Let Us Cleanse Ourselves"
We doubt not that as the Heavenly
Father and our Lord Jesus so loved
the world as to provide the great sac
ritice for sin, so st. Paul loved the
world-and all others of Gods people
must have a sympathetic love for the
world But when we think of those
who are dearly beloved by the Father
and by the Son and by the apostles
and by each other. we think OF the
special class Of consecrated saints who
Scripturally are described as of no
earthly sect or party, but as THE
Church of the Firstborns whose
names are written in heaven"
These are dearly beloved because
they have the mind Of Christ. which
is also the mind of the Father. Ac-
cOrding to the flesh they are not all
lovely or beautiful. st. Paul else
where admonishes us that amongst
these dearly beloved" are not many
great not many wise, not many noble,
not many rich, but chiefly the ignoble
and the poor of this world. Their
riches and their nobility are not of the
flesh, but Of the spirit. of the heart, of
the new will. to which they have been
begotten of God by the Holy Spirit.
This is surely the Apostles thought,
for, in the preceding verse. he speaks
of these dearly beloved" ones as
"sons and daughters" of the Lord. chill
dren of the Almighty-hence, begotten
again of the Holy Spirit-"new crea-
lures in Christ Jesus" Oh Corinthians
v, 10. All, how wonderful 1t seems
that there should be such a 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
! fluences 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 UI Peter i. ~.
Christian "FiIthiness of tho FLESH"
Having located definitely the class
addressed by the Apostle, "the saints"
! OH Corinthians /, y, 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 flthiness? Could one be q saint
and yet have filthiness Of the flesh?
We reply that these saints, begotten
Of the Holy Spirit will not be perfect
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 Gcd, 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:
% 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 will
i 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 selfishness, superstition
and ignorance of God and out of har-
mony with his righteousness. The
world and it's spirit surge about them
every day. from morning until night.
It's tides and currents seek to sweep
them away from their resolutions of
self-sacIifice and loyalty to God and
righteousness. In various ways it 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
fillment of the promises held out to
them
60 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 60 In an opposite
direction from the course of the world
and at the cost of the crucitixion, the
modification. Of his own flesh an6
his natural preferences.
Thus viewed every Spirit-begotter
ILL