Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-04-12

this enough at the present time. Gods
call of this Gospel Age is for those
who not only desire to resist sin and
to escape from slavery to it, but who,
being made free will enlist with all
their powers to oppose sin, under the
leadership OF Jesus-under the banner
Of the cross To these comes the as
surance of passing from sin to right.
eousness, from death to life, through
the Redeemer.
For these. all the back charges Of
condemnation TO death on account Of
sin are set aside. a new page Of the
ledger Of God is opened for them
Thenceforth the record of their past
is cancelled through the blood Of Christ,
Their sins of scarlet are removed,
Their hearts, figuratively speaking, are
as white as snow. They are pure in
heart although they have the treasure
of this new heart In an imperfect body.
The imperfections of their flesh, ever
present, will seek to assert themselves;
but they as New Creatures and sons
Of God through Christ are to resist
these steadfastly,
"unspotted From the World"
Do you tell me that am setting too
high O standard, and that the millions
who read my sermons weekly will be
discouraged instead Of being helped2 l
answer that one with God is majority;
and that the Scriptures call upon me
to Cry aloud and spare not; " " I"
show My people their sinsl" There are
approximately four hundred millions Of
nominal Christians in the world; yet
nowhere on earth are these sins to be
found In so rank a development, Of so
deep crimson, as amongst the pro-
fessed followers Of Christ
God knows, the Bible declares, that
none can do perfectly. But is this an
excuse for any of us2 Should we not
do the best that we can to approximate
the Divine standard in our actions,
words and thoughts? What zoe can do
is what God requires of us. All the
remainder, as we have seen, has been
fully provided for in the Savior, and the
mercy and forgiveness which He can
properly bestow upon the willing and
obedient Of heart, whose shortcomings
are merely those of hereditary weak
ness and unfavorable environment. 1t
is the purity Of heart, Of intention, OF
Ull, that constitutes saintship from
the Divine standpoint and not actual
perfection; for, as we read, "There Is
none righteous, no. not one. "-Romans
$40
1t is part OF my duty, dear hearers
as minister Of God, to speak His
Word, to awaken the consciences Of
all those with whom have any inau
ence. 1t is my duty to lift high thu
Royal Standard Of perfection, that al
may see as In mirror their owl
shortcomings, and that seeing these
they may fee to the Master and lay
hold upon the grace of God provided
for all in Him. The Apostle speaks ot
the Church class as keeping them
selves unspotted from the world
From what we have seen, dear friends
the term "wOrld" includes nearly
everybody claiming to be n Christian
The real Christians are few and far
between
But hold that many more would be
real Christians If the Truth we're prop
erly presented to their minds, In
stead millions come under the delu.
sion that they are Christians, when
they have not taken even the FIRST steI
Of repentance and reformation And
of those who have repented and re.
formed, comparatively few have taken
the next step necessary to their Undue
ton into the family Of God. The sec
ond step Ia the acceptance Of the merit
Of Christ's sacrifice as that which
atones for their sins. More than this
to attain the full blessed privileges OF
the Body OF Christ, which is the
Church" Of the "Flrst.borns" (Ephe.
SLAMS | 90. 20: Hebrews 1929. 1t IS
necessary to make a full conservation
Of heart and life, time and talent, In
auence, everything, to the Lord-to be
His footstep followers.
This Is the only call Of this Gospel
Age. Only those who hear It ana ac
cept It enter into present opportunities
and full privileges Of sonship Only
these have opportunity OF becoming
members OF the Royal Priesthood OF
glory members Of the Bride, the
Lambs Wife" But others, as we have
seen, have n measure Of responsibility
for their conduct, even II they do mol
come to Christ; and each will receive
stripes IN proportion az he has done
wrong or blessings In proportion as he
has given even cup OF cold water tC
one Of the Lords faithful saints
II viii 30 Different BY and By
After the elect class OF this Age
shall have been perfected In the First
Resurrection, Messiah's Kingdom will
be set mp. For this we pray. THY
Kingdom come; Thy will be done on
earth even az II IL done in Heaven.
Then matterg will DO different. Ma
longer will II be possible for men Ia
profit by wrong.dolng. and no longer
will any suffer for rightdolng. Then
every doer OF righteousness will have
a blessing, an uplifting. strengthen
Ing. And every one following sin, un
righteousness, we nre assured, will