The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-08-05

seq, ana there was great cain.
Matthew S:24-26.
The Bible informs us that all of Je-
sus' teachings were parabolic. The
Master explained the significance Of
some Of His actions and words to His
disciples, saying, ITO you it is given to
know the mysteries of the Kingdom Of
Heaven, but to all outsiders these
things are spoken In parallels and dark
sayings, that hearing they might hear
and not understand" Jesus did not
explain all of His dark sayings even to
His Apostles. Indeed, very few Of His
parallels were explained. On the con-
trary, He said, when the Spirit of
Truth is come 1.-THE Holy Spirit-at
Pentecost and after], He shall guide
you into all Truth, and bring all things
to your remembrance whatsoever l
have spoken unto you." On another
occasion of similar import, He said,
ssWhat do thou knowest not now, but
thou shalt know hereafter"
Thus we see that 1t has been posi-
BILE for all the followers Of Jesus since
Pentecost to understand the Masters
teachings in a way that His earliest
followers could not understand them.
The reason for this Is plain. 1t was
not expedient that the natural Jews
or other natural men should under
stand clearly the Divine Plan. For
them to understand would have meant
that In many instances Gods plans
might have miscarried. AS, for In
stance, st. Peter informs us that If the
rulers Of the Jews had known, they
would not have crucified the Prince of
Life. But only by the cruciixion of
Jesus could the Divine Plan be carried
out, and therefore it was hidden from
those for whom it was not intended.
Nor was there any injustice in this;
rather it was a blessing in disguise for
them. II they had done the same
things under full fight and knowledge,
their guilt would have been many fold
greater. They are not, therefore, to
be punished according to their deeds
entirely, but according to the measure
Of light and knowledge which they
possessed. which was very limited.
And the same principle obtains In re-
spect to the whole world from then
until now-little light. little RESPONSE
bility; more light, more responsibility.
He that knew the Masters will and
did 1t not, will have many stripes; he
that knew not the Masters will and
did things worthy Of stripes, shall be
punished with few stripes. On the
contrary, those who are begotten OF
the Holy Spirit, and thus accepted as
Gods people, into Gods family, have
the highest responsibility, because they
have the greatest knowledge. They,
and they alone, could possibly commit
the sin unto death, as st. Paul ex-
plains in Hebrews GIG, and 1925, 81.
When the Scriptures declare, The
wise shall understand" the reference
is to those who are especially enlight-
ened by the Lord through the Holy
Spirit and through the deeper under
standing which they gain respecting
the true meaning of Gods Word. On
the contrary, we have the assurance
also that none of the wicked shall I'M
derstand." st. Paul explains the situa-
don to us. saying, THE natural man
receiveth not the things Of the Spirit
Of God, neither can he know them, be-
cause they are spiritually discerned.
But he that is spiritual judgeth all
things, yea, the deep things of God"
Here, then, Is the secret of demarca-
tion between the Church and the
world. The former have the begetting
of the Holy Spirit to a new nature,
and with that begetting go privileges
and opportunities of knowledge of God
and of His plans. purposely secreted
from all others not spirit-begotten.
Hence. in all our attempts to spread
the knowledge of God. we should re-
member to impress the thought that
only the outlines of the Divine charac-
ter and plan may be clearly discerned
and appreciated by those not spirit-be
gotten.
Allwho desire to go on INTO perfection,
and to grow in grace and knowledge
and character should be informed that
the second step after the primary
study Is conservation. Those who viii
not consecrate will not have the priyi-
lege of looking deeply into and discern
ing clearly the lengths and breadths
and heights and depths of the Divine
character and plan. This also is for
their good-a wise provision of Gods
love. For any having come unto the
begetting of the Holy Spirit can have
no further claim with the world upon
Gods general provision for human
Restitution. Their hope must be on
the spirit plane. Begotten of the Spir-
1t, they must develop and be born of
the Spirit in the resurrection, in order
to have life eternal at all
Spiritual Lessons For the Spiritual
Household.
There is a precious lesson in this
miracle for all Of the Lords followers
We also have need of faith and Of
tests of that faith Our daily expe
riences since we became the Lords
followers have been guided and guard
ed apparently by the Power unseen, to
the intent that as pupils in the School
of Christ, we may all be taught of
Him and develop more and more the
graces Of the Spirit. particularly more
faith.
How important this item of faith is
we probably cannot fully appreciate
now. 1t seems to be the one thing
which the Lord especially seeks in
those now called to be His followers.
Without faith 1t is impossible to
please Him. With faith "all things
are possible" According to thy faith
be 1t unto thee" Proper faith, of
course, is meant, not credulity, not re
lance upon the words OF men, but i'm
plicit faith In the Lord for all that He
has promised to them who love Him
supremely.-Hebrews II g: Mark 9:23.
So important grace must of ne
cessity require many lessons for its
proper development, and therefore we
find that In our individual experiences
as Christians we have those CORE
spending to the experiences of the
Apostles, as recorded In this lesson
How suddenly the Adversary may at
times bring against US whirlwind Of
temptation or Of opposition or of per
secutionl How overcast, how dark, our
sky seems at such timesl How the
waves Of adversely or of affiiction have
almost overwhelmed us! And how the
Lord has seemed asleep, needless of
our distress!
Such experiences are tests of faith.
II our faith be strong, we would keep
on with our proper endeaYors to adj
Just matters, corresponding to the eff
forts Of the Apostles to keep the ship
Rdoat. but with implicit faith In the