Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-06-13

man and as useful servant OF
Jehovah as he aftcrward proved to be.
II our self-assurancc was never hu-
inflated by a revelation Of our own
weakness we could never be brought
10 that full and thorough reliance on
Gods mercy without which we would
never know the glorious possibilities
of divine grace So many our own
iniQutics be Overruled for our own
good in that we may become a more
perfect servant Of the Most High.
Keeping Silence.
During that long and awful year
when David kept silence" he SAYS the
hand of the Lord was heavy upon him.
1t was the agony Of a soul pursued
with the consciousness Of guilt but
unwilling to make a clean breast Of
his iniquity and beg for mercy. All
this time he knew he had sinnod, but
had occupied his mind with excuses
and regrets, hoping all the time that
God would overlook his sin and not
call him to account for it. Criminals,
not habitual outlaws but well-meaning
citizens who had under sudden Inn
pulse violated the criminal code, have
been known often to evade the Of
fiCials and hide themselves securely
for months or years, only at last to
return and give themselves up to es-
cape the torments Of an accusing
conscience for an unrequited sin. Hell
cannot be any worse than such con-
dition, only that it lasts forever with
out any hope Of remedy Perhaps
no one else knew it, but evidently dur
ing all this time David found no COM
fort in his reHgion-his prayers were
empty and heartless, his sacrifices
,.-gt s., lot l.
communion with God. Neither can
we, If we sin, hope to find any joy
or comfort in the things Of God untn
we have gone down on our knees be
fore the mercy seat in a full and free
confession and an appeal for pardon
Then will we again find JOY and COM
fort and a renewal Of grace such as
David tells about
No Reason for Doubt.
Many sincere and troubled souls are
puzzled TO know how they shall be
sure their sins have been forgiven.
with all such there is a lingering trace
Of unholy doubt that prevents the full
exercise Of faith. There is no Nathan
with a special message from on high,
but the Scriptures are full Of Gods
promises of forgiveness to the peni-
tent sinner Why should you doubt
these promises? If YOU have done
wrong to friend, or to your mother
and father, and on your confession Of
the wrong they have forgiven you,
would it be credtable to either you or
them for you to doubt the forgiveness? q?
Would il not be a very mean thing
in you not to take them at their
word? If. then, we can have such
confidence I'm imperfect human par
ents IL is absurd for us TO doubt the
explicit promises Of our Heavenly
Father. There are too many weak
ened. trembling saints who say they
are trying to be a Christian" There
is no such thing as a "try TO be-"
Christian. You are either positively q
Christian or you are not a Christian.
there is no intermediate ground. no
outer court in the kingdom. You maJ
mean that you are trying to live AT
Christian should live. but your fail
ure to reach perfection does not neces-
sarily mean that you are I'm a transit
tion stage between the service Of the
world and the service of God. The
Lord expects us to deal with him
fairly and honestly and try to the best
Of our ability to live clean. upright.
There is no question but that he will
carry out his part OF the contract A
failure on our part to make an honest
and persistent effort ia live right
eously would he ample evidence of our
lack Of sincerity, and 1t is useless to
attempt to deceive the Almighty.
Guide and Protector.
Besides his consciousness of divine