The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-06

nand might be with him. mat Is, you may
either win your peace or buy it; win it by re-
sistence to evil; buy it by compromise with evil;
you may buy your peace with silenced con-
science; you may buy it with broken VOWS buy
it with lying words. what we always want is
to win the peace, which ever is the crown and
triumph of all true liberty. But resistance is
only one pole of the axis of liberty; submission,
or rather obedience, is the other AS the con-
plemenr of activity is resignation, and
for dignity the complement is humility,
for under 1t is patience; so liberty is only full
sphered when the spirit of resistance compile
ments the virtue of obedience. Not servile
submission to wrong and injustice, but dignifed.
reverental obedience to what is right-what
belongs to law, and order and God Il walk at
liberty, for seek Thy precepts."
Freedom that does not obey is never liberty,
it is license, that miserable prostitute that so
often stands. and poses, and postures on libertys
pedestal. License you may have and scout at
law, but liberty you never reach unless it be
under the guidance of law. Subsection to law is
the price of freedom. just for little turn down
the page of gospel hymns from which you sing:
Free from the law, oh, happy condition" 1t is
gospel truth, that, undoubtedly; but you will
sing it all the clearer if you will learn that
freedom from the letter and penalty of the law.
and obedience to the spirit of the law are two
conditions entirely harmonious and symmetrical
This is the whole tenor OF Bible teaching. The
subjecting of self to Gods will, to Gods purpose
is the only road to full, free. satisfactory accom-
plishment. The liberty of Christianity is to do
just what you please, but you do not reach that
liberty until you please to do what is in conform
ity to God, and right and purity, and goodness
There is just where the world, spirit and Chris
tianity are antagonistic. Your Christianity
says the liberal wording, hampers, confines
1t is system Of restraints; fenced in, hedged
in sort of life, governed by restrictions. That's
true, in part. Christianity is religion Of re-
straints and restrictions. but it is that only as
means, not as an end. The true Christian re-
trains from evil not because he has reached the
goal where he does no wrong, but because doing
no wrong is the first step towards doing
right. Weeds and good grain cannot we'll
grow together in the same field If you want
grain the weeds must go. The end of farming
is not to get rid of the weeds, however. You
pull them up pillow them under, burn them out
to make room for the wheat, to make the
wheat free to grow. The highest liberty
is doing right easily overcoming tempta-
tons without regret-that you must turn from
so many things that are pleasing to the natural
man. The highest liberty is the power to turn
from things that deteriorate, and debase, and
degrade with graceful ease The man who says
Its hard to be Christian; so much is demanded
of you" is just like the boy who is learning to
read and write; he is at his a c's. But let him
not desist because the yoke wears on him; he is
in the line of Christ's high lesson take my
yoke upon YOU" The yoke is On him. it gals
and is uncomfortable. Let him wear it. BY
and by, through submission he will come into
the Experience of Christ's assurance, 'for my
yoke is easy and my burden is light"
There never was freer life than that of
Jesus Christ. He had enemies, but he was
so far above them that he was quite free
of them. They came to him and said:
Herod is after you; he is on your tracks; he
shut up John IN prison. go We and tell that
fox: Behold cast out devils and do cures to-
day and tomorrow, and the third day l shall be
perfected"
What was the impossible to Him! He was
free to accomplish the impossible. The unstable
waters became a pavement to his feet He
breaks IN pieces loaf of bread and sets it free to
go out and feed multitude And sublimest Of
all, the worlds greatest empire impriso Ms Him,
and the greatest kingdom in the universe next
to Gods, holds Him captive. The Roman seal is
upon the stone rolled up to the grave, to shut in
the dead body of Christ. Tho whole world
shrlnks from touching that seal, and all of human
lty bows before the empire of death. But Jesus
Christ brushes that seal as you do an empty egg
she'll, and walks out of the domain of death, and
nota princpality or spiritual power in high places
dares challenge Him.
The secret OF His extraordinary liberty was
undoubtedly His divinity. We cannot compre-
bend all that that means we can believe it, and
rejoice in it, and live by it. But the power of
His liberty He gives for our most diligent study.
II can of mine ownself do nothing; as
| hear I judge, and my judgment is just
because seek not my own will but the will of
the Father which sent me-" 1t was through
obedience to will-tO law, in other words-that
Christ attained to liberty and won the heritage
ter! He said follow NO." and the way He took
was the road of complete submission to the will
of his Father, that was His law, and it led Him
up the Mount of TRANSPORTATION, and down into
Gethsemane, and out on Calvary, and into the
grave, and out into the resurrection. II come
to do thy will, o God" And down through the
ages His call comes, Follow me-" Whatever else
He may mean by that cal, let US distinctly under
stand that he means US to be the subjects of
that same will that governed Him. He that
viii be free must walk the path that Jesus trod
do not mean in the sense Of suffering, but in
the sense of conservation to law. While we are
learning this, we are under law. / do not mean
under its penalty we are free of that by the
death of Jesus Christ, but we are under the
restrain is of law-under its discipline 1t is a
pressure upon US. We take up the cross daily
while we are learning obedience to Gods will
AS more and more we become conformed to that
law, we come into the liberty Of the children of
God Just as the child is a slave to his
pen until he has learnt how to
handle it, then he goes forth into the
freedom. and ease, and grace, and liberty of
life is eeminenty free life. Whatever are
its restraints its pressures, its restrictions, are
only its drill for the enjoyment of the highest
liberty. Not only the liberty of righttdoing
eracefulness in right doing. There are those
who say the way of duty should never enter
into our religion. We ought to do all, be all
from sense of privilege. But to my mind the
way into the realm of privilege is by the way of
duty must do this because it's right. must
do tEis for Christs sake. That is duty. Then
comes the doing over and over again from a
sense of duty, and each doing becomes easier
and is rewarded with a sense of the profitable
ness of rightdoing, and so he comes to lose the
constraint OF duty and rejoice i'll the liberty of
duty
The crown of rejoicing in accomplishment is
won through daily taking up the cross of duty
No cross of duty-no crown of privilege and
rejoicing and freedom for loves sake
Must" and shall" will ever have a place in
every true life-but the more supreme their
power today the less autocratic and tyrannical
are they tomorrow. Your masters
to-day, tomorrow, through obedience
and faith, and conservation to high purpose and
Gods will, they are beneath your feet as stepping
stones, on which you rise to the high things of
peace, and Joy and liberty.
have not preached tho low morality of servi-