Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1923-10-11

be a child of God, another to be an
obedient child. Faith opens to US the
inexhaustible treasures Of the divine
wealth-obedlence appropriates them
In service. The measure Of obedience
differentiates Christians. God longs TO
bestow His best upon all His children.
but He Is hindered by unwillingness,
selfishness, stupidity. He cannot give
more than we can receive. Our ca
pacity is limited because our faith Is
dwarfed and undeveloped. Abram
obeyed Gods new call. God rewarded
his obedience by admitting him to
three marvellous privileges In the lire
Of faith:
I. An Angelic Appearance of God
". -. "And the Lord appeared unto
him, and he lifted up his eyes and
looked and 10. three men stood by
him."
This was a different method of d.
vine revelation. God appeared In dis
tinct form, the same as that OF two
companions, and presented himself at
the door Of Abrams tent on the plains
Of Mamre. The three were angelic.
yet they looked like men; heavenly,
yet they spoke the language Of earth
and conformed to Its conditions; spir-
itual, yet they ate material food. Here
was reality that brought God so very
near, down into the common plane OF
human conditions. even to the accept
ance Of human hospitality. This was
a new kind Of comradeship, quite diff
ferent from solitude, contemplation
and spiritual ecstasy. II was Won
drous foreshadowing Of the incarna-
tion---the mystery life of God as man
living His life In earthly conditions
How near Christ has come to men, but
J nearer still does He come to us as He
relives His earthly life in us today, as
we trust and obey.
H. Communicated Heavens Secret
". ~. Shall / hide from Abraham
the thing which | do?"
The beautiful city OF Sodom with Its
prosperity, Its power and vast possi-
bilities for truth and righteousness,
had become place of pleasure and
prodigalIty. The cup of iniquity was
luil--lt COulu uOL IOuLluut III lib WIG
corruptness. AS the breeding place
Of loathsome Infection, 1t must be
destroyed. Drunk with pleasure, de-
lirious with success, 1t was all unsus-
pecting. God confided to Abraham the
awful secret of what He must do. He
wanted to share Ills burden with
man, His friend. On Abraham, what
a privilege to be the confidant Of God
Blessed foreshadowing of the day
when Jesus said: "Henceforth call
you not servants; for all things that
l have heard of my Father / have
made known unto you"
M. intercession. for the Imperiied
". 81. Behold now, l have taken
upon me to speak unto the Lord"
This is third privilege of great
value. To plead with God for the
salvation of men transcends all other
opportunities, it links us to the COM
passionate heart Of God more closely
than any other service we can render
We instinctivel- cry to God for the
salvation of sinners when God reveals
His secrets to us. God confides in US
when we walk before Him in the light
of His word and obey when He speaks.
This is the source Of microscopy
prayer--a great staggering burden for
the unsaved. Abraham could plead
for Sodom because He was not part
Of ii, was unaffected by its affairs, had
no investments In it. Only the Chris
tian, untainted by the world, can con-
scientiously intercede for the worlds
lost sinners. Separation is the only
sure insulation for the current Of
prayer power. This is the condition
Of microscopy prayer.
Abraham prayed. Lot and his fam
lily were delivered out of the doomed
city. Prayer changes things" Moth
ing but prayer will change the sinful
heart and save the doomed sinner. We
need intercessors, children Of God.
who have been called to this high re-
ward for obedience, selected to learn
the divine secrets that will imD-l them
to pray, to stand before God repre-
senting the lost and pleading the
cause Of guilty sinners. Who will
obey? God calling still, shall not
hear? Lord. teach us to pray.
It surely Is common sense to first
find out whether person knows
enough to drive an automobile before
giving him a license to do SO.
n - r.