Graham guardian., 1916-03-31

llRaSlQk kUo9lllJ takers Of the Di'
vine nature"
God designs that the Church, the
Royal Priesthood. shall. when cOmplet-
ell and glorifed. occupy positions OF
great honor and responsibility, the
speaker began They will be kings.
judges. priests. throughout the thou.
sand years OF the Messianic Reign
Moreover. they will be the honored as.
sOciates OF our Lord Jesus throughout
etornity. spirit beings Of the very high.
est Order-the Divine nature. In SO.
Iecting this class God IS looking for
those only who truly love righteous
ness and hate iniquity; for should any
one be exalted to 30 high position
who has any sympathy whatever with
sin. the result would be disastrous
The Pastor then explained that this
clnss Of truly consecrated ones are
all spirIt-bcgotten New Creatures In
Christ God is not judging them &C.
cording to their unavoidable weak
nesscs and imperfectons. the result Of
the AdamIc fall. but according to their
hearts and their earnest endeavors.
He does not expect perfect works In
an imperfect body: but He seeks per
feet heart and an overcoming spirit,
with as nearly perfect conduct as they
are able to render through His grace.
BY this merciful arrangement the
blessing Of the Lord hath made this
class rich. While He has not given
them perfect righteousness as yet, new
ertheless He has imputed 1t to them.
through their faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Additionally. the Spirit OF the
Lord gives His people rest Of heart
before. q Timothy 1:7) Often 1t in.
creases their physical health and their
mental efficiency. 1t renders busi-
ness man more capable and Consciep-
tIons, and hence more valuable, than
before: 1t makes a housewife more or
derry. more sensible, than before she
became a Christian. 1t helps parents
to set a good example to their chill
dren. to train their children more care
fully, to bring them up In the nurture
and admonitiOn Of the Lord
Why God Chooses the Poor.
Scriptures were quoted to demon
strate that not many OF earth's wise
or great or noble are called Of God.
but chiefly the weak ones Of this world.
This. the Pastor declared. is because
those who naturally are poor and ignO.
bic feel more keenly their weakness,
anil long for something better that
God can give. The lowly-minded are
thus In proper heart attitude to real
ize their need and to come to God 1t
Is not advantageous he asserted, TO
be rich In this worlds wealth, either
socially or financially; for during the
next Age such will 6nd 1t difficult to
adjust themselves to the new condl
tlons which will then obtain.
Few are willing to walk in the way
Of humility and self-abnegatiOn; but
to those who do a great blessing comes.
A work Of transformation goes on
within them These poor and lowly
ones are the truly rich. from the Di,
vine standpoint, and the most learned
learned In Heavenly wisdom, the
only true wisdom, acquired In the
School OF Christ.
This class Is now on trial for life or
death everlasting. The world is not
now on trial for life or death, although
their present course will have a bear.
Ing upon their future The vast ma.
jority Of those in heather lands have
no knowledge whatever OF Christ
Very many IN Christendom so-caIed
have very little real knowledge Of
Him, although many Of them attend
meetings more or less regularly where
Christ's name is spoken and where
hymns are sung. There was a similar
class In our Lords day; and they Join.
ed in crucifying the Lord Of Glory. or
them ct. Peter said. IL wot that in
ignorance We did it"-Acts 317.
The class who know Christ are those
who have accepted the terms OF disci.
peShip laid down by the Master
(Matthcw 1920 This means that one
must give up his own Will to take in.
stead the will Of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who represents the Father. Whoever
has not done this has not been accept.
ed Of God. Much more Is necessary
than merely to abandon sin. Nobody
ever had a right TO live a wicked or
immoral life. Jesus IL the only Way
into the Family Of God. In cOnsecra
tlon, the first step is TO deny ones self;
the second is to adopt Gods will, to
take up the cross and follow Christ
These two steps every one must take
who would enter the true Church,
whose names are written In Heaven"
Hebrews 1923