The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-10-05

SSSM Whlch reminded
them they were
about to fight for their people and
the cities of their God. His exhorta-
ton might well be pondered by all
Christians today and especially those
who are more or less directly engaged
in Christian work.
There are three things upon the
surface of this text.
|. The Need Of Courage.
1t is said OF some regiments in hui.
man armies that they are so foolish
as never to know when they are beat
en-. It is not foolishness that is the
trouble, but hgh-hearted courage
which will not admit defeat or which
takes defeat and wrestles it into a
victory. The Christian worker, above
all others, should have such good
courage. He has Leader who is
possessed of all wisdom and knowl-
edge-a Leader who knows the secret
plans of the enemy. He is aware even
of the secret thoughts of the enemy.
He is never taken off his guard, or
by surprise. He is fully informed of
every movement. He gives promise
to his people that no weapon formed
against them shall prosper. He is
Leader who not only has all knowl-
edge, but all power to use his knowl
edge. He is the Invincible One.
Sometimes man finds himself in
possession Of valuable knowledge
which is yalueless to him because OF
a lack of power. He has not the abil-
| ity to use what he knows, But unto
our Lord has been given all power in
heaven and in earth. -. 4
Re Of goes. ealss;a g.;
what odds we face, knowing theiI u z
more with us than with the enemy.
The message Of the saint of old Is
God is always majority" This is
still true. God who gave the victory
to his people in olden days is the
same God. There is no change in our
Leader. He is the same yesterday, to-
day and forever. Following him, the
Christian is assured of ultimate vic
tory. 1t may seem as though we
were hedged in by overwhelming
forces and defeat is certain, but we
may have good courage as we look
away from the opposing hosts to the
one whom we follow.
II. The Need of Valiant Behavior.
The Revised Version renders this
by play the man." 1t means simply
to do your best" TO do ones best is
to behave valiantly. No matter IL
others may do better than we, the
need is to do our best. We are to
play the man" and not be like chill
dren who become discouraged because
someone else does better than they
can do. We must just keep on do
ing our part to the best of our ability.
Much was dependent on each man of
Moab's army behaving yaliantIy. Much
more depends on each Christian doing
his best. We must play the man"
for the honor of the name OF him
whose we are and whom we serve.
He does not expect us to weakly sur
render but to GtGnd up to the fight,
behaving ourselves valiantly; we must
meet his expectations.
Then again, the well being of the
church depends on each doing his
best. The church is the body of
Christ and we are all members of that
body. If one member suffers, all the
others suffer with it. When one mem
Der fails to behave vaIiantly, all the
others are injured. On the other hand,
all the members are blessed each
time we do our level best. Again our
own personal growth in grace follows
such behavior. If we would be strong
in faith, and experience the delight Of
the approval of our Lord, we will go
forth to 'play the man" in the name
of our God.
Ill. The Need of Trust.
let the Lord do that which is good
in his sight" We are not to think
that results from our work shall be
in accord with what we imagine they
should be. He may have purposes to
fulfill by our work other than we
know. We are naturally eager to OBJ
tain results which are good in our
own sight. We may make serious mis-
| takes, not knowing all our Leader
knows, and desire results which would
not be good in his sight. We need to
trust him fully;.to believe he knows
what is best; to fevel in high-heart-
ed courage which grows from the GER
tainty of final victory; to keep on do
Ing our best and allow him to do that
which is good in his sight. irrespective
Of whether Il is good In ours or not