The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1878-04-04


nee TO ODD laws, not IN the lowest sphere,
.Or IN the seoOTd, or third or fourth OF
fth spheres alone. bu. 10 all OF them love
j Got. faith IN The Lord Jesus Christ aud I
re life that comes from the perfecting pow
!. OF the Holy Ghost. When man is in
pred to be noble citizen, that becomes
art OF religion. When he is living pure
md good in the social relation, that is a !
part Of religion. When he is fulfilling all |
he laws OF God, that is a part religion. All |
If them are connected and you have no
light TO separate them. Your obedience |
hould begin at the bottom and go to the
op, and from the top to the bottom again.
4 mans religion, if it is all in the upper
story, is very imperfect religion II
mans morality Is all in the lower story, 1t
is very imperfect morality. For man
characteDbuilding, BODYBUILDING
from top to bottom is what is con-
in the New Testament.
Let US read again: "Till we all come in
the unity OF the faith and OF the knowledge
Of the Son OF God unto aperfect man; unto
the measure of the stature Of tie fullness CT
Christ" Christ was perfect in His bodily
sphere and in His social sphere He labored
with His hands in the business sphere; as
a citizen He was perfect, and as the Son Of
God He was perfect; from top to bottom, in
every sphere OF life He was perfect. Reli-
gion demands obedience from top 10 bot
tom, and there Is no morality that does not
imply obedience in all its spheres to the
laws OF God
With tina; general statement wish to in
troduce series of propositions which
hope will meet with your appreciation,
with the consent Of your judgments, and
with your common sense.
In the first place / say that religion is
not Only perfectly comprehensive to the or
binary Judgment of mankind, but that it is
philosophical. Men confound religion with
the special way in which they are 10 get it.
In other words, men are very much like Il
lot OF people sent to the hospital to be heal
ed, they are all there after health, but one
obtains it through the homeopathic prac-
tice, and thinks that practice is the only
true one. Another regains his health
through the 1hompsonian practice; anoth-
er through the Alopathic practice; and
another, perhaps, by the hydropathic, or
water cure. 1t makes no difference under
which school they are cured, the main
thing is to regain their health. Neither
does it matter in what way religious truth
is brought to bear ON a man. One CONES
in under the influence Of intense excite
ment, and he says that Is true religion; and
il NAV be true as to him. Another reache,
religious conviction after long and patien
reflection lie comes in through the valley
OF reflection and humiliation, and he don
believe there is any other way TO come IN
| say that there are twelve gates into thu
| New Jerusalem, and any fellow that gets il
at any OF them is inside. l can conceiv,
that some come a shorter road than Others
but the main thing is to get in. But N
man has obtained true religion until he ha
obtained Divine inspiralionin his soul; un
til he has obeyed every law OF God-thol
OF the physical sphere, the social sphere, tn
business sphere, the sphere OF citizenship
and that higher spiritual sphere which con
meets him with the invisible God.
Man may reform himself. Let him tina
steals, steal no more; let him that gets drunk
get drunk no more let him that lies, lie n
more but has he religion? He has moth
ing but negative qualities. He has left GU
the positive fulfilling OF the moral law
Where are any Affirmative acts? 1t is ba'
to have weeds in a garden. A man come
ir and says: Il have not weed in m.
garden" That is good, but what is there
Nothing" Obedience to all of Gods law
would have put something there to grow
When true religion comes to a man it de
velopes something in him that is good
No man is Christian till he has passe'
rhroush pain and long suffering. Now
YOU look al religion right it is but natura
obedience TO natural laws. Don't you be
lieve it is noble thing I r a man TO under
take with ali his heart TO obey the laws O
God. or Of nature, which is only anothe
name for God, in each department of hi
life? Divine law everywhere is reasonable
To obey divine law in physical things, i
religion as far as il goes. Do you know
how tulips are made? First there is a THU
brown s...in-that is the church and lis or
dinances, to preseve that which is inside
You take down layer and you find on
inside OF that; you take down another AM
still another, and by-and-by yon come t
the germ-that is the next life. Lille Is tn
same. First physical, next social, mex
business, next civil, and next the very germ
of the immortal spirit, and the proper de
velopment of the whole is religion.
II is common declaration that a mai
who becomes Christian is not as good a
he was before. The trouble is, not his re
ligion, but the want Of it. If a man live "a
to the pattern of our Lord Jesus Christ h
is more Just, he is more truthful, he is NOR
honest, he is more patient, he is more meek
he is more filled with goodness than he wa
before. If he lacks any Of the attribute
of the Lord Jesus, there is the gap in his re
ligion. Suppose man with his two mid
die fingers cut off tried to give the full
scale on the piano, he would leave gap
that would be on account of the lack O
fingers to run the scales. So in Christian
life, III man is dishonest, cold and unchari
table, that is where religion has been LEI
out. Ii he had been thoroughly Christian
there would be no gaps. Religion is per
feet obedience in every sphere where God
laws prevail. Then is not religion reason
able and desirable?
think l can give you different view Q
the Bible from that which is often taken b
persons The Bible is a record of the Di
vine administration in this world, runnin
through a period of more than five thou
sand years. There are gaps between on
book and another of five hundred years.
is collection of records made at difieren
times, in different languages and by differ
ent persons. They are simply the result @
the Divine presence which is to develo
religion in the different races.
A great many men object to the doctrine
in speaking of the Divine revelation.
don't think they understand the bool
What does the Bible claim? 1t is not fai
to get work on medicine to teach ma
agriculture. 1t is not fair to procure
book prepared for one specific purpose, an
endeavor to teach other things from Il
What does the Bible claim to be? 1t claim
to be book that tells man how to educat
, himself in righteousness. 1t don't tell u
the theory OF Inspiration. 1t is practices
record of the Divine mind. Ii you undeI
, take to find out from it the elements 9
God, or what is their nature, it is not thi
kind of a book. 1t simply undertakes I
give man certain rules to follow during tn
present life and life in the world to come
; 1t undertakes to thoroughly furnish ma
with good works. There are great man
difficulties, and there may be some sligh
mistakes, but the ideal of manhood held u
from the beginning to the end OF the boo
is noble.
<Let a man take the proverbs of Solomon
There is nothing unreasonable in then
They are good to live by. The proverbs c
Franklin nor of any other man do not CON
pare with them. Look at the prophets
with their inspired writings against a
forms Of sinfulness. If they had live
during the early troubles in Kansas, the
would have hurled down the same powerful
anathemas against the sins and crimes c
the people against this young and beautiful
State. Living now, We have larger an
broader display than was made durin
those times, but their ideal Of true manhoo
was the same as ours is at this day.
Il. sx-