The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1919-03-15

sas@I IL at address
which 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-. 1t is not foolishness that is the
trouble, but high-hearted courage
which will not admit defeat or which
takes defeat and wrestles 1t into
victory. The Christian worker, above
all others, should have such good
courage. He has a 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 a.
Leader who not only has all knowl-
edge, but all power to use his knowl-
| SC hn
Sometimes man finds himself in
possession of valuable knowledge
which is valueless to him because of
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.
Be of good courage, then, no matter
what odds we face, knowing there is
more with us than with the enemy.
The message of the saint of old is
we'll worth ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS with
God is always a 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
We're 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
! ono 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 If
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 valiantly. 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 stand 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 valiantly, 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 &c
forth to play the man" in the name
of our God.
. III. The Need of Trust.
{ sLet the Lord do that which is good
/ in his sight" We are not to think
tnaG results lToiH Jul Woih Shaii w
/. In accord with what we imagine they
t should be. He may have purposes Il
fulfill by our work other than We
3 know. We are naturally eager to OBJ
: tain results which are good in oul
$ own sight. We may make serious mis-
takes, not knowing all our Leader
knows, and desire results which woui(
not be good in his sight. We need Il
, trust him fully; to believe he knows
what is best; to fevcl IN llgh-heart
t ed courage which grows from the Ger
tainty Of final victory; to keep on do
i ing our best and allow him 70 do tina
I which is good in his sight, irrespective
of whether Il is good in ours or not.