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

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-
sist 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 task. God. as we have seen,
has provided the thousand years of
Messiahs reign for that purpose-to
conquer the world, to overthrow sin
and to uplift the willing and obedient
If 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 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, holt
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
1t bodies. in full harmony with their
pure hearts. their loyal intentions and
| purposes.
How to Put Away Filth of the Flesh.
If it 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 a two-fold purpose:
/ ID 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.
| e. Additionally. this fight against sin
in the flesh will 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 ac-
ceptable, they must reach the place
where they love righteousness and
hate iniquity-in-equity.
Christian FiIthness 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 it must use the brain or mind
Of the flesh wherewith to do it's think
ing and reasoning. until that which is
perfect shall be attained in the First
Resurrection" The Apostles mean
ing, therefore, is that the saints should
not only put away filthiness of words
and actions. and all sympathy with
impurity of every kind. but that their
minds their thoughts also should be
pure. should be cleansed of everything
not fully in sympathy and accord with
the mind of Christ Nor are we to
suppose that this work is purely Gods
work in us. 1t is his to forgive the
sins of the past. 1t is his to cleanse
re from Ell ccEIe;nna tios.,. of the past
1t Is his to cover through Christ all Of
our unintentional blemishes. 1t is his
to encourage by his promises. But it
is ours to show our loyalty to the prin-
ciples of his, Word and character by
putting away, to the extent of our
ability, all filthtness of the flesh and