The Coolidge examiner., 1938-04-21

Mountain-top.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR
TOPIC-How Worship Prepares Us for
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
TOPIC-The Place and Purpose of
Vision.
Where there is no vision the peo-
pie perish said the wise man Of
old prov. 29:18). For want of a
true vision of God, a knowledge of
His truth, and the God-given con-
straint which makes men give them
selves in sacrifcial service, the
people will perish in their sins.
But let men come to know the truth
as it is in Christ, learn to know Him
as the Son of God glorious and pow
erful, and then let them translate
their knowledge of Christian truth
and their personal spiritual expe-
rienceS into the daily ministry to
the needs of their fellow-men, and
there will be songs of salvation and
joy.
The TRANSPORTATION Of our Lord
meant much to Him as it brought
new assurance Of His divine Son
ship, His acceptance with the
Father, and His resurrection to fol-
low the death of the cross. We do
well to recognize its testimony to
Him, but we think today especially
of the experience of the disciples
and their preparation for service.
We, like them, must
/. Know Christian Truth.
Fundamental in both Christian
life and service is a clear under
standing of the person and work of
Christ One may come to Christ
knowing little more than that He is
the divine Saviour, and one may en-
ter into Christian living with a
meager knowledge of the doctrines
of the Bible. But the Christian who
fails to grow in knowledge will not
grow in grace as he should. God
sets no premium on ignorance, in
fact it is quite evident that the great
blight on the Christian church today
is the appalling lack of understand
ing of Gods Word.
The disciples came to fuller con-
viction that He was the Son Of God
as they saw Him TRANSPORTED and
heard the Father say, This is my
beloved Son." They learned more
plainly the truth Of His coming
death for the sins of all mankind.
They saw in the indescribable beau
ty of that moment the foregleam of
His coming glory What important
truths these are-His deity-His re-
demption-His coming kingship. Do
we have a clear grasp of these
truths? If not, let US search the
Scriptures.
ii. Experience Spiritual Power.
Great experiences of spiritual re-
newing and power are necessary to
effective life and testimony They
may not be in outward manifesto
ton. in fact they are more often in
the inner recesseS of the soul, but
they transform men and send them
forth to magnificent living for God.
One wonders if much of the dearth
of power in the Christian church is
not to be attributed directly to the
lack of such experiences with God.
The disciples had an unforgettable
mountain-top experience. Even so
have many others found the secret
of power. 1t came to D. L. Moody
as he walked down a New York
street, praying in agony, Deliver
me from myself. Take absolute
sway" The story of what happened
TO him and through him as a sur
rendered instrument in Gods hand
is written large on the pages of his
tory. Others had similar expert
ences. Let us remember that such
privileges are not reserved for a
few, they are the birthright Of every
Christian. Power without knowledge
is a dangerous and destructive
thing, but knowledge without power
is a dead thing, resulting in stale
and unfruitful orthodoxy that in turn
produces a dreadful and unchristian
religious system. 1t is not enough
to know the truth, to be able to
discuss it, to divide it, and possibly
to fight about it. Let us study Gods
Word, but let the truth be baptized
in the overfiowing spiritual power of
a personal experience with God.
III. Serve Needy Humanity.
DR.. Moore beautifully suggests
that Jesus and the disciples went !
up to the place of prayer, into the
place Of glory, and down to the
place of service. How fitting is that
sequence. Much confusion exists in
the church because those who have
foolishly abandoned their interest |
in the truth of Gods Word and
have substituted the energy of the |
flesh for spiritual power, have been
most diligent in service to human
ity, while those who know and &C
cept the truth about Christ, and who |
profess to believe in the power of !
the Spirit-filled life have failed to
serve their needy neighbors. How
delightful and useful is the normal, |
1,a11 rounded 1ifo If +ba +rt,o Chris