Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-01-14

| OF God, j hat 1e Present four Bodies Living
Sacrifice. Holy and Acceptable Unto God and /:
Your Reasonable Service" Romans XII, y.
ooOs-s-s-.-s-o-o-s-s-s-s-
Once made and accepted by the Lord
| through the importation of the holy
| Spirit, it cannot be annulled. But why
| should we wish to annul the Vow
Why should anyone who puts his hand
to the plow look back? To use the
| Apostles illustration, why should the
| SOW that was washed return to wal
lowing in the mire? Why should we
after having renounced the world and
received the begetting of the holy Spir-
it, and after having tasted of the good
Word of God and the powers of the
| Age to come, lose the precious taste
and appreciation of these, and return
in craving to the beggarly elements of
the world? Surely there are no good
reasons for so doing. Surely the joys
of the present life, as we'll as the hopes
Of the Kingdom to come, all should en-
courage US to fully "set our affections
on things above and not on the things
beneath"
The world, the flesh and the Adver-
sary-all exercise influences contrary
to our Vow or Resolution to the Lord
to be dead to the world and to self
that we may be alive with Christ and
share his glory-suffer with him, that
we may reign with him. The poet has
expressed the proper thought here, say
ing,
my soul, be on thy guard,
Ten thousand foes arise:
The hosts of sin are pressing hard
To draw thee from the prize
Much of our success in keeping our
Vow of Conservation depends upon
two things:
a. The clearness of our grasp of the
situation when we made our Vow and
the thoroughness of our intention; the
amount or weight thereof; the will
power exerted for righteousness.
(2) An additional feature of great
weight in the matter is the degree of
our knowledge. 1t is in line with this
thought that the Scriptures declare,
my people perish for lack of knowl-
edge" God has given us his Word
and informed us that it is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof and for cor
rection in righteousness, that the man
of God may be thoroughly furnished"
He has advised us to search the Scrip
lures and to forget not the assem-
bling of ourselves together, And
where his advice is followed and the
Scriptures are searched daily, not in
a formal manner, but with a desire to
know and to do the Lords will and to be
guided in his way, Strengthening of
the will is effected. Correspondingly
there is n weakening of the evil in
fiuences which oppose us as New Crea-
lures and our Vow. The Word of God
is so arranged as to provide meat in
due season" for all of his faithful peO-
pie, whether old or young, in every
time. AS 'babeS in Christ" as young
men and as full-grown sons of God, it
is for each of us a storehouse of Grace
and Truth, to make us strong in the
Lord and in the power of his might.
Only by appropriating this spiritual
food can we have strength to fulfil our
Vow, to finish our course with joy and
to attain the Kingdom. Item by item,
as our minds are able to grasp its un-
folding prospects of glory, honor and
immortality, we are thereby strength
ened by the Lords might in the inner
man.
In proportion as we realize the facts
of the case we may appreciate what a
great bargain the Lord has offered us.
We surrender in conservation our
earthly rights, privileges and pleasures.
and receive in return more happifying
spiritual blessings in the present life
and the Inheritance of the unspeakable
blessings and glories of the future. 1t
should, therefore, become much more
easy to pay our Vows with a willing
heart, rs we grow in grace and in
knowledge of the Lord and his Word
Indeed, as the Apostle suggests, it is
possible for us to reach the place where
we can rejoice in tribuation also
knowing that thereby our future bless
Ing is increased.
what Shall Render?"
AS the consecrated believer consid- |
ars what God has. already done, and
what he proposes yet to do for his
gratitude wells up in his heart
md his inquiry is, What shall rem
Ter unto the Lord for all his benefitsY' I.
The more he considers the matter, the /
more he realizes that his talents and /
opportunities are necessarily small, in
significant. 1t is from this standpoint
hat the poet wrote. 20 for a thousand
ongues To sing my great Redeemer's
praise"
1t is well indeed 10 show our appre-