The Alaska citizen., 1916-02-14

grace. lt would be a very wonder ful thing if you could stand at the foot of Niagara and command the water 10 leap back over the falls and the river to run in the opposite direction. Only the power of God can do that Only the power of God can change the heart you have that has suggested and led you into so much wickedness. but His power can do it. All things are possible with God He can re verse the current of your desires and cause them to flow for good instead of evil, and constantly for good
 What a wonderful promise it f to hear it said that He will a. away the stony heart and give 9 heart of flesh; take away the hard stubborn, wicked heart and give 6 tender, loving, lifegiving heart in its stead. Who would not desira such a change? It is yours fer the asking and using
 It is well here to notice that when God takes away the stony heart that He returns a heart of flesh and no known power can ever take away that new heart which He gives, and that rig spirit which He puts within us. God will not take away what He once has given, and to the sinner who has experienced His gracious forgiveness and the reception of a new heart, there is no desire to return to the house of wickedness and sin in which he had formerly resided Mans personal cleansngs and reformations soon come to an end. for the dog returns to his vomit; but when God puts a new heart into US. it is there forever and never will 1t harden into stony heart.
 1 A simple illustration is found ir Mir Rowland Hill's story of the cat and the SOW as he spoke upon the text, "Ye must be born again. " Do you see that cat? What a clean creature she is How clever she usos her paw when moistonod by her tongue she washes her face You have often watched her in astonishment Did you ever see SOW do that? No, you never did It is contrary to her nature. The SOW prefers to WallOW in the mi"@ See that man staggering down tha street on his way home to wife and children. He Is just acting accord ing to his nature. He will be back soon to visit a few more saloons and go home In disgrace and disgrace to his loved ones. When you see him you only say, "Oh. that's only Blank going home drunk again." But suppose someone who never got drunk was to stagger down the street. What would you l do As soon as you recognized who it was you would be especially anxious concerning that person. The reason why you have acted in each case is that you expected the on to get drunk and you expected the other to keep sober Suppose the hog would wash it's face and the cat would wallow in the mire Either case would attract your attention unusually but both would have performed unnaturally. My brother ~~' as 1t may seem, you are today only following your natures. You prefer to be drunkards, libertincs, gamblers, self-righteOus. possess false pride only because it is your nature, and you can blame no one but yourself for your condition. ] The only way you can get SOW to wash itself is to transform it into cat So 1t is with a man He must be transformed into another man. The stony heart must be taken away and a heart of flesh given, then he will lead the life of the new heart When the Lord makes new man of him so great is the change that men have eX- claimed either the world is new or I am new" The new nature follows after right as naturally as the old nature wanders after wrong
 Now it is a wonderful thing to i have new nature. Here is a lob ster that has had a quarrel with another lobster and in the battle 1 has lost one of it's claws, and na- ture has given it a new claw This is an astonishing thing but mere so that a man should have new i heart. There is a tree. If yea cut off one of it's limbs another may grow in it's place, but you cannot change it's nature. You can graft on new branch and the new branch will grow after it's own n2- ture, but you have not affected the original tree. If the sap was sour it remains so; if it bore ill fruit it remains so. Only the graft will bear the new fruit God takes your body of spirit and gives y2u new heart and you live a new life. You cant explain the Holsters new claw; you cant explain the