The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-01-26

the love of the ssSasI
Father is not in
him; In ether words, we cannot love
God and love the world at the same
time. OF course, there is a proper re-
gard for the world which we may
have; regard for the beauty and per-
lection of Gods works, for the achieve
ments of science or the acquisition Of
wealth, or personal influence, but it
Is where the regard for these things
intrenches upon our love for the Au-
thor and Giver of them that its wrong
fulness and calamity appear.
Suppose you were to receive two let
tiers from different friends, each say
ing that he would visit you at the
same day and hour. And suppose they
were so uncongenial to each other that
1t would be embarrassing and injudi-
cious to permit them to meet, what
would you do? To one or the other
you must excuse yourself, Which shall
1t be? Other matters aside, it will be
the one you love least.
So there comes time in the life of
each Of us when we hear the Father
of our spirits knocking at our door and
asking to come in and be our guest.
The god of this world is already in the
enjoyment Of our hospitality, but now
we must decide whom we shall choose.
The Word tells us that we are not
TO love the world because all that is
In the world is not of the Father. And
now 1t is explained Just what is meant.
nees tiatags are named: ''the lust Of
the flesh, the lust Of the eyes and the
pride Of life" Lust" in this case
refers to any passion or propensity of
the heart for forbidden things, or even
for proper things when INDUCED in
overmuch.
The "lust of the flesh" pertains to
the qualification Of the grosser bodily
appetites; the "lust of the eyes," the
covetous desire for the things of 9TH
ers, and the pride of life" points to
arrogance and Boosting.
Nor are these three great principles
of worldly-mindedness named at ran
dom, for at least twice before do they
appear together in the Bible, first in
the temptation Of Eve in the garden
of Eden and second in the temptation
of Christ in the wilderness. Read
carefully the third chapter of Genesis
and the fourth of Matthew for the evil
dence of this.
But not only are these things incom-
patible with the love of the Father,
but they are further argued against on
the ground of their feetness, for "the
world passeth away and the lust there
Of"
A mysterious curse wastes down and
wears out all mans workmanship, and
1t is the same even with the physical
creation. Seas and shores are continu-
ally changing places, and fountains
and rivers are drying up. Many ages
pass before the eye in the course of a
half-hour's reading of history, and the
duration of an Alexander or a Caesar
Is but the affair of a few moments.
Not only does the world pass away,
but the lust thereof. We sicken of the
world in time. The evil days come,
and the years draw nigh when we say:
Il have no pleasure in Them" Daniel
in the sunset hours of his
life, said to his biogra-
pher: Il care no more about politics
than a jackdaw that sits on top of st.
Paurs," and then he quoted Cowper's
lines:
He sees that this great roundabout,
The world, with all its motley rout,
Church, army physic, law,
Its customs, and its businesses,
Are no concerns at all of his,
And says. What says he?-"Cawv
"Oh, who wishes to seize and hold
that as an object of his supreme de-
sire which is doomed to death and per-
petual defeat? Is there not more
excellent way? Is there nothing we
can love and lean upon when these
things of earth are vanishing like a
spectre from our sight? Yea, answers
the apostle: "He that doeth the will |
Of God abideth forever"
These were almost the last words Of |
D. l.. Moody, the great evangelist and
he great educator of Christian youth.
They are inscribed upon his tomb
stone. They are suspended in golden
frame over the mantel in the room
made sacred by his presence in the
Moody Bible institute of Chicago. Hun
ireds of young and old pass through
hat room every year and gaze upon
hose words, and gain new inspiration
Ind new direction for their lives for
hem. God grant 1t to some IF you.