How Will I Know? - Oswald Chambers

Today’s devotion is a very good one. As I was reading it, something Oswald said there could be mistaken easily, so I decided to blog on the subject.

Oswald said: "We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step"

I had a hard time understanding why we do not grow into a spiritual relationship  step by step since we are called to grow spiritually. But, Holiness and a spiritual relationship with God are two doctrines that could stump us when we read such blatant statement like Oswald’s. The reason being those two doctrines cannot be concocted by us no matter how hard we work at becoming holy or to have a spiritual relationship with God. They are infused in us by God’s grace and we either have them or not.

What Oswald is saying here is that we can either be spiritual or not. The best way I can explain the difference between spiritual relationship and spiritual growth are like, a woman is either pregnant or not, but she cannot be a little bit pregnant. Now, throughout the pregnancy the baby keeps growing and even more when he or she is out of the womb.

It does not matter how long you have been a Christian, but your lack of spiritual understanding which you acquire solely through the Holy Spirit, comes from unbelief and the fact that the Holy Spirit is not finding a dwelling through you to work out this life. The Holy Spirit need complete control if He is to infuse this life in us. The more you understand spiritual things, the more the Lordship of the Spirit is accepted by you, hence why He can reveal God’s word to you.

You should read 1 John chapter 1 and 2 and ponder on the word of God there. 1John 1:6 said "If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth". John was talking to Christians, these people were not unbelievers. As Christians we like tossing those big words around like the Christians John was writing to. But you cannot say you have a relationship with God, while you are walking in spiritual darkness. So, how do you know you are walking in darkness? There are many ways I can describe it, but the very first test that we should do is to see how well we understand spiritual truths and I am not referring to your own interpretation of God’s but what you are taught by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual darkness comes from not being obedient to God’s word, and there is unbelief in your heart. It is that simple

Oswald is right, one simple detour we miss out on the whole thing especially if we never recover from our detours. But one simple move to obey, all of the sudden heaven opens up and you realize you are being taught things that you have no idea what to do with.

I am going to keep it short but I will write more about this subject later.

How Will I Know?

10

10

2013

Jesus answered and said, ’I thank You, Father . . . that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes’ —Matthew 11:25

We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— “But if we walk in the light,” we are cleansed “from all sin” (1 John 1:7). It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again.

All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. Let God’s truth work into you by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know the truth of God is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. You could read volumes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of total, uncompromising obedience would make things as clear as sunlight. Don’t say, “I suppose I will understand these things someday!” You can understand them now. And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming one of the “wise and prudent.” “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . .” (John 7:17)

Quotes

A.W. Tozer “ God is a being of supreme moral excellence, possessing in infinite perfection all the qualities that constitute holy character. He deserves and invites the unreserved confidence of every moral creature, including man. Any proper relation to Him must be by confidence, that is, by faith. Where there is no faith it is impossible to please God.”

Hebrews 1:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by faith, not by sight.”

A.W. Tozer “Outside of the will of God, there's nothing I want, and in the will of God there's nothing I fear”

Charles Spurgeon “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.”
 

Charles Spurgeon “We must expect great troubles before we shall attain to much faith.”

A.W. Tozer “Faith is simply the bringing of our minds into accord with the truth. It is adjusting our expectations to the promises of God in complete assurance that the God of the whole earth cannot lie… The believing man accepts a promise of God as a fact as solid as a mountain and vastly more enduring. His faith changes nothing except his own personal relation to the word of promise. God’s Word is true whether we believe it or not. Human unbelief cannot alter the character of God.”

Charles Spurgeon “The way in which most men get their faith increased is by great trouble. We do not grow strong in faith in sunshiny days. It is in stormy weather that faith grows stronger.”

Charles Spurgon “Saving faith is an immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, resting upon Him alone, for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of God's grace.”

 A.W. Tozer "It will cost you everything to follow the Lord. And it will cost you even more to be His man for this hour."

Charles Spurgeon “Faith is not an attainment that drops like the gentle dew from heaven; it generally comes in the whirlwind and the storm. Look at the old oaks; how is it that they have become so deeply rooted in the earth? Ask the March winds, and they will tell you. It was not the April shower that did it, or the sweet May sunshine, but the rough wind shaking the tree to and fro, causing its roots to strike deeper and to take a firmer hold. And so must it be with us.”

A.W. Tozer “Hardly anything else reveals so well the fear and uncertainty among men as the length to which they will go to hide their true selves from each other and even from their own eyes.”

Charles Spurgeon  “The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation.”
 

A.W. Tozer "God gets leftovers...We tend to give Him that which we don't need instead of giving Him that which we need."

Charles Spurgeon “Neglect of prayer: Live and die without prayer, and you will pray long enough when you get to hell.”

A.W. Tozer  "If we try to obey without faith, we get nowhere. If we try to have faith without obedience, it ends in nothing."

Charles Spurgeon “There is no more blessed way of living, than the life of faith based upon a covenant-keeping God - to know that we have no care, for He cares for us; that we need have no fear, except to fear Him; that we need have no troubles, because we have cast our burdens upon the Lord, and are conscience that He will sustain us.”

A.W. Tozer "What has the church gained if it is popular but there is no conviction, no repentance, no power?" 

Charles Spurgeon “Joy: The greatest joy of a Christian is to give joy to Christ.”

A.W. Tozer "The degree of blessing we enjoy will correspond directly with the completeness of God's victory over us."  

A.W. Tozer “A robust faith requires that we grasp this truth firmly, yet we know how seldom such a thought enters our minds. We habitually stand in our now and look back in faith to see our past filled with God. We look forward and see Him inhabiting our future; but our now is uninhabited except for ourselves. Thus we are guilty of a kind of temporary atheism which leave us alone in the universe, while for a time, God is not.”

Charles Spurgeon “God’s wrath: If there be a man before me who says that the wrath of God is too heavy a punishment for his little sin, I ask him, if the sin be little, why does he not give it up?”

Charles Spurgeon “Worship: All places are places of worship to a Christian. Wherever he is, he ought to be in a worshiping frame of mind”

A.W. Tozer "Many Christians are satisfied with their destination but they neglect the journey." 

A.W. Tozer “What our Lord taught was this: when we obey the words of Jesus, in faith and in love proving that we love Him, He shows Himself to us. There are two subjects acting here–we and He. When we obey His Word we prove that we love Him, and He shows Himself to us. Who is this He that I am talking about? Jesus Christ our Lord. There are, then, two divinely constituted means: faith–the right kind of faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ–and obedience to His Word. Jesus said, “Ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1 KJV). Faith in Jesus Christ, the right kind of faith, the only kind of faith that matters, is irrevocable, total commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ Himself. You cannot go back on it, and if it is total, there is nothing that is not included. Faith in Jesus is not gulping twice and saying, “I accept Jesus.” It is getting into a state where you have totally committed yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is irrevocable commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ.”

A.W. Tozer "Come to the Word with a spirit of longing with devotion and humble expectation. Be determined to know God." 

A.W. Tozer "Prophets never retired, so I'm not retiring except to put on new tires to go a little faster and farther."

Charles Spurgeon “Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the windows which hope has opened.”

Charles Spurgeon “Holiness: If your religion does not make you holy, it will damn you. It is simply painted pageantry to go to hell in.”

A.W. Tozer "Unselfish love does not exploit its object and it does not ask for anything in return." 

A.W. Tozer “To many Christians Christ is little more than and idea, or at best an ideal; He is not a fact. Millions of professed believers talk as if He were real and act as if He were not. And always our actual position is to be discovered by the way we act, not by the way we talk.”

A.W. Tozer
"Christ calls us to carry the Cross; churches call us to have fun in His name."

A.W. Tozer "Let God elevate you above all external [circumstances] so that you can find His heart and worship Him."

A.W. Tozer "When we are enjoying the conscious presence of God, we are fulfilling the tenets of our salvation."

A.W. Tozer  "How utterly terrible is the current idea that Christians can serve God at their own convenience."

A.W. Tozer "True and authentic Christianity is revealed by God; not discovered or conscripted by man."

A.W. Tozer "If all your faith depends upon a pastor’s preaching, then you are a long way from being where God wants you to be."

A.W. Tozer "Too often we are Christians by assumption, manipulation or instruction, rather than Christians by regeneration."  

A.W. Tozer "The inner life must overcome the flesh or the flesh will overcome and destroy the inner life."

- 

God's Holy Wrath!

Early this morning the Holy Spirit made it clear to me what my subject for today and tomorrow would be. I will spare you the details of the experience, but God has a way of changing our plans and He never ceases to amaze me when He does that. Even when I told Him that I did not want to talk about tomorrow’s subject because it is part of my next book, His answer was tomorrow is not today, then He moved on about the order of the day.

He reminded me that I was not always living a balance life with His wrath and love and there was a time I was truly afraid of Him. That is true. Even without Him saying it, I know some Christians might misunderstand my view on God’s wrath from yesterday’s post. For instance, I know Christians who have never reached a point in their relationship with God where they learned to fear God’s wrath. They simply feel and think that God’s love for each of us and mainly Christians, automatically cancel out His wrath.  I also met someone who has the audacity to believe the wrath of God is related to the Old Testament and there is no longer anything to fear. This idea came from such a long time and eloquent Christian.

When we have an incorrect view of God’s wrath, we do not grow spiritually in the Lord. Furthermore, these incorrect views of God’s wrath are not Biblical. If His wrath is a thing of the past how can you learn to fear Him? How can you learn to give Him the reverence that is due to Him? If you do not have a healthy dose of reverence for Him, then everything is permissible. If the Salvation you have received did not teach you or led you there, then you can assume you have a defective salvation, or some kind of man made one.

Another thing that is true as well is that if you live your whole life in fear of God’s wrath, you will never know Him and your life will be like the servant who received one talent in the parable of the talent in Matthew 25:14-30. True Salvation from God takes you to a progression where there is an awareness of His wrath and you do not quite know what to make of it. You fear Him because of what you read of His wrath, and in your mind it is a negative attribute.  Even when you keep telling yourself that it cannot be a negative attribute because in God there is no blemish, but your attitude toward God will reveal that your heart cannot buy into it.  Then as you grow in grace, you will stop being scared because you find that He is a gentle and loving father who cares for you deeply and want only what is best for you.

As you continue a steadfast walk, you grow in your intimacy with Him; you will find you have left behind the stage where you were scared of Him. This is a normal progression of our walk with Him and it shows us we have actually worked toward a real relationship with Him. Then you find that, the more you live and walk in the spirit and remain at His feet through a life of surrender and abiding, there is no fear in you at all in regards to His wrath. But this lack of fear comes from living a life of oneness with Him. You have acquired a balance because you know Him intimately and the wrath you used to fear so much is just one of His Holy attributes.

I still remember when I discovered the harmony that exists between God’s love, wrath and holiness it was a time where I felt I was being wasted in a never ending holding pattern. But even though I felt this way and I could not explain God’s purpose for this stage of my life ---- after the wilderness time----I decided not to take matters into my own hands to make things happen with my own understanding.  I felt, the safer investment was to trust Him through it all. I kept praying for the strength to remain steadfast and persevere.  So when He showed me the beauty of having acquired the understanding of these attributes of His, and how they merged within me as if the knowledge had become part of who I am in Him, I remember saying “WOW!  I uttered, “How did I get there?”

I uttered those words simply because I still remembered vividly, the day when God gave me the choice to either move forward in an intimate relationship with Him personally or remain in a life of second hand Christianity. I still remember how afraid I was. Like the Israelites in Exodus 20 who did not want to deal with God directly, I felt if I move forward in a close relationship with Him I would die. In my mind, all I kept thinking was that His wrath was going to cause my death.  What compelled me to go forward and choose Him, was that my heart could not take the idea that I was no better than the Israelites.

I kept thinking, not choosing to go forward with God directly has not been a good thing for the Israelites at all. I also remembered how they rejected dealing with Him directly in first Samuel from chapter 8 to 10. When I read those chapters, I recalled how God was hurt by their rejection and my heart melted. In my fear, even though I did not have much bible knowledge, I said to myself, “but God’s word said in one place in the Old Testament and another place in the New Testament that their story has been recorded so that we can avoid making the same mistake, I think I need to apply it here.” This was me, thinking in the span of a few minutes but as it was happening to me it felt like a lifetime. I then said okay God, even though you are going to kill me by the time I get to you, but here I come.

It turned out He did not want to kill me, He simply wanted an up close and personal relationship with me and He used His word to test my obedience. Years later I understood much more. Going to God the Father for a personal relationship in intimacy, is the goal of Salvation. In 1 Peter 3:18 we are told that Christ died He might bring us to God. Bringing us to God is much more than saying the sinner prayer and activities. Going to God has to start with us truly going to Him “in the spirit”

God’s wrath is a response to our disobedience and since He loves us with a passionate and jealous love and since His holiness cannot tolerate sin, then His wrath is perfect and always justified.

 P. S

I am still sick, it took me all day to write this and I hope you can make sense of what I wrote down.

He Cares For You

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Excerpt from  "How to Live a Holy Life - Devotional" by Charles Ebert Orr on  - Kindle Now - 

.....Life will never be successful, unless we learn that God cares for us. Unless we have faith to know that God is our keeper and that hence we have nothing to fear - we shall never be the cheer and sunlight in this dark world, that God designed us to be.

This is a world of trouble. "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows!" John 16:33. Sin envelops many souls in awful midnight gloom. Some may never find Jesus - unless they see him smiling in your face. You as God's dear child, are to be a light to those poor, benighted souls. To be such a light, you must be full of light, and to be full of light - you must be full of hope by faith in the cheering and encouraging promises of God. None can be truly happy, none can be the cheer, comfort, and consolation to the world - who are bearing their own burdens. Only those who have learned the sweet lesson of trust in God and know that he cares for them - are truly happy and free and capable of cheering others.

There are many priceless promises in the Word of God. There is a promise for every need, condition, and circumstance of life. Among these blessed promises, here is one that has brought comfort to many a weary pilgrim on life's way: "Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7. If this promise does not lift you far above all the trials, discouragements, and weariness of life - it is because you do not believe it nor understand the fullness of its meaning.

"He cares for you." It is not your neighbor or your friend - but it is you. Cares will come to you, certainly; you could never cast your cares upon God, if you had none. But you have them, and doubtless many of them. The difficulty with many is, they do not cast them on God. Reader, your life will never be, it cannot be, that free, happy, radiant, sunlit, helpful life which pleases God - if you bear your own cares.

There is nothing too trivial in life, to take to God. In the very smallest concerns of your daily life, he has an interest. In everything let your requests be known unto him. Do learn to take everything to him. Fret over nothing, never worry for a moment. Let nothing disturb or disquiet you. I say nothing! "He cares for you." Do you comprehend the full meaning of these words? Think them over for a moment. Let go of yourself - and let God keep you. Oh, the freedom that belongs to the children of God! Theirs is a sweet land of liberty. But alas! how many will go on bearing their own burdens and weighted down with worry, with these words right before them: "He cares for you!" Why not trust him?

Worry is a grace-destroyer. If you would be strong in the grace of God - then you must live free from worry. It gnaws at the very vitals of the soul. A strong cable made of many fine wires was stretched across the river and was used to tow a heavy cargo boat back and forth. One of the small strands was broken. This was thought to be a small matter. Soon another was broken and then another. Still this was not of much consequence. One by one more were broken but unheeded because each was so small. Finally all were broken, and the boat went adrift. A little worry does not seem to be of much consequence. But the Bible says "do not worry about anything," and to "cast all your care upon him."

Some have thought that the bearing of burdens and cares made us strong in the Lord. No, it is the casting of them on Jesus which makes us strong. For a man to be down under a heavy weight is no exercise to his muscles; but to be up on his feet and passing heavy weights on to another - this is exercise. To be down under burdens and cares is no exercise to the soul - but is really death; the passing of the cares on to Jesus is the exercise and the strength of the spiritual powers. If you only knew how much grace little worries destroy - you would quickly cast them on Jesus.

I was asked one time if it was possible to reach an experience where we would never fret or worry. Certainly we can. We shall never get to a place where we shall have notemptations - but we can get to a place where we shall not yield to the temptations. Your life has not reached that degree of perfection that it should, until you have attained to such an experience.......

Spiritual Dryness

Excerpt from the book: How To Live A Holy Life by Charles Ebert Orr, (1844-1913)

.....Spiritual dryness is sometimes the result of attachment to the world. "Set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth." Unless we live by the Bible - we cannot be spiritual. A little affection for the things of earth, robs the soul of spiritual life. In this matter, Satan is an excellent reasoner. He will suggest that your desires are only for the glory of God; that you have no affection for the worldly object - but desire it only for God's glory.

A young lady to whom I gave warning, said that her desires were pure and that she had no affection for the object - but sought only to please the Lord. Very soon, however, she came to the realization that her soul was a desert place, and all because she had believed the falsehood of Satan. Beware how you desire earthly things - for God's glory. Underneath may be a desire for self-gratification, ease, or luxury. If you are troubled by a lack of sensible devotion in worship, examine your affections. Possibly you may find some tiny roots of worldliness entwining around something of this world.

Spiritual dryness may be the result of sloth. "Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep." Proverbs 19:15. Spiritual idleness soon results in spiritual dryness. That sophism of Satan's, "No time for prayer," is very dangerous. Any neglect of spiritual devotion, must result in lukewarmness. Oh, how unreasonable is man, and how easily the desires of the flesh deceive! If you neglected to water your garden, you would not wonder for a moment why it was drying up. Then, when you are neglecting to water the soul in vigorous, spiritual exercises, why do you wonder at your being so spiritually dull? "Awake, you who sleep!" Up and away to the hill of the Lord!

 Be the frequent witness of a sunrise scene, from the mount of prayer. If your spiritual fruit is not as beautiful, well-flavored, and fully developed as it should be - then look for the presence of sloth in the soul. The poison of sloth will get into the soul little by little. First there will be a momentary delay of spiritual duties. Satan is too wise to suggest an entire abandonment of them - but he will suggest a little postponement. One delay will soon be followed by another and then by another. These delays are an opiate that dulls the spiritual senses, and thus they will yield more readily to postponements and finally find pleasure in them.

Let me make this still more simple, for some may need it made very easy to understand. When the soul is like a well-watered garden - it will be drawn to God in prayer in the early morning. Any delay will cause uneasiness and restlessness. The soul longs to hasten away to the presence of God. But one little delay after another, brings on a morbid condition. The soul loses its keen relish; its senses become deadened, so that there is no uneasiness in the dryness; while the senses of the self-life will find pleasure in sloth.

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When the soul once gets into the habit of idleness, it experiences great difficulty in getting out. On becoming aware of his state, the individual may acknowledge his inactivity and make half-formed resolves to be more earnest and diligent, only very soon to relapse into the same former sluggishness. This virus of sloth infects the entire spiritual being, poisoning the will and making spiritual activity most disagreeable. Not only does it destroy the will of the soul - but it blindfolds the eyes so that the individual can see no necessity for great fervency in spirit or for diligence in spiritual devotion. In a half-dazed manner, he acknowledges that the "watchings often" and "fastings often" and "praying always" of the apostle Paul were very consistent for Paul - but does not realize that such would be as desirable in his own Christian profession. He wonders why he is so spiritually dry. Why wonder? He does not wonder why the flowers wither when it does not rain. It is the fervent, earnest prayer - which God hears.

Nothing but the greatest diligence and determination and strong laying hold upon God - will ever put spiritual sloth to death. In this respect, it is like the South American animal called the 'sloth'. Though one species of the sloth is only the size of a cat, and is extremely slow on the ground, its highest rate of speed there being not more than ten feet an hour - yet it is difficult to exterminate.....

How to Live a Holy Life - Part 1

Charles Ebert Orr 

(1844-1913)

Man was created for a purpose, and that purpose was to glorify his Creator (Isaiah 43:7). But man sinned and came short of the glory of God. The Lord, that he may yet be glorified in the man, provides a way of redemption. Through the redemption we have in Christ, we can live to the glory of God. This is God's purpose. The whole of life should be such as will glorify the Creator - and all that we do should be done with that end in view. Living for God, honoring his Word, magnifying his name - this is the duty of man. Solemn responsibility! Oh, what carefulness it should work in us. What vehement desire! What earnest seeking after God! O that we may live such a life.

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Jesus was here in the world, and was the light of the world. He had a human body, and in that body lived a life that glorified God. That was an exemplary life. Such a life, and such a life only - is to the glory of God. We must fashion our life after his - if we would spend life as we should. To know how Jesus lived - is to know how we should live. Every life that is in the likeness of Christ's life, is accepted of God. No other life can be. While Christ was here in the body, he was in the express image of the Father. The true, holy character of God was revealed through Jesus' human life to a lost and sinning world.

God had done all he could to reveal his true character to man by laws, ceremonies, and ordinances; but these were only the shadow of the true life which was to be the light of the world. Christ was both God and man. Having a physical form, which is visible, he could set the holiness of God in plain view before the world. If you would know the true life - look to Jesus.

But his life could be perfect - only as it was given in sacrifice for man. His life was holy - because it was a life sacrificed to God. No life can be possessed by God and used to his glory, which is not sacrificed to him. Jesus gave himself as an offering and sacrifice to God for us (Ephesians 5:2). He no longer is on earth, to demonstrate moral principle to the world. But now comes the command to man, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1.

God would have this human life of ours, to be offered up in sacrifice, so that we are no more ours but his. When we do so, there will be a change, a great and wonderful change. That life will no longer be worldly, or in the course of ordinary earthly-minded men. It will be a transformed life, a life in which God can live and do his will. Through the sacrifice of Christ, God will take the sacrificed life of man and possess it by his Spirit - and again demonstrate moral principle to the world. O man, that is your calling in life. You are the vehicle to convey the perfections of God to an unbelieving world. You are to be an empty vessel for God to fill with himself, and use to his glory.

O man, consider yourself, and know yourself, the purpose for which you were created, and the place which you do occupy in creation. You are no base creature. You are highest of all. God condescends to walk and talk with you. He upholds you in his hand. Angels minister to you. When you pass through the deep waters - God himself will be with you so that they shall not overflow you; and when you walk through the fire - he will walk with you so that the flame shall not kindle upon you; because you are precious in his sight and honorable, and he has set his love upon you. You are so precious to him - that he gave his only begotten Son to die to ransom you from sin and Hell!

In the vast created universe, what place does man occupy? He stands out as a creature that bears the stamp of the divine image, a creature that is endowed with eternity. The heavens shall pass away - but man shall be forever. He was made capable of holding communion with the Creator. He occupies the relationship with God - as child with parent. Being made in the likeness of God, he steps out upon the stage of the mighty universe - to play the highest and noblest part in the entire drama of created existences. The songs of the morning stars as they sing together, pouring their anthems into the ears of God, are not such sweet music as is the voice of praise and adoration from the holy soul of man.

Man was created for the very highest purpose in the mind of God. He is chosen to represent the divine character. On the stage, men and women represent certain characters. Man upon the great stage of life is selected to represent the holy character of God. Oh, that he might play his part well! He who occupies the highest and most responsible part in this wonderful play of the universe - will sink to the lowest shame and disgrace if he fails. The eyes of earth, Heaven, and Hell were turned upon man, as he stepped out to play his part. A garden eastward in Eden was selected as the ground of exhibition. It was whispered throughout the corridors of the universe, "Will he succeed? Will he play his part well?" Ah, the sad story! He failed and he fell, bringing a world into shame and disgrace, causing angels to weep and God to repent that he had ever