The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1892-06-03
OUR SERMON.
Seek ye first the kingdom Of God, and Hi

OUR SERMON.
Seek ye first the kingdom Of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things shall he
added INTO you"
At the request of the manager, l have
undertaken the task of preparing, for each
Saturday Daily UNION, a short article suita-
BILE for Sunday reading.
In conformity to the tone of the paper,
the subjects chosen will be such as bear on
the labor question, or i'll other words, our
effort will be to apply the scriptures to the
leading questions of the day.
The above passage, so familiar to all,
and so often quoted to restrain mans
ambition or to quiet the restiveness of the
laborer under existing conditions, seems a
suitable foundation OF which TO build.
The words are those of the son of God
spoken to his disciples on the Mount.
The beautiful and practical discourses de-
livered at this time appear to sunder, in II
measure, the past from the future. The
forms and ceremonies of the past are set
aside and the germ OF christian life, the es-
sence of the whole matter, is laid plainly
before his disciples and the wondering
multitude:
Ye have heard that it was said. Il IL Thou
shalt not kill: But l say whatsoever is angry
with his brother without a cause, shall be in
danger of judgement. 1t was said by
them Of old thou shalt not commit adultery:
But l say whatsoever looketh on a woman to
lust after her, hath committed adultery al
ready in his heart. Ne lave heard
that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy
neighbor, and hate thy enemy. But I say
unto you, love your enemies, bless them that
curse you.
The jewish church had been long nn(
patiently looking for the coming Savior
Judging from II worldly standpoint, they
expected the Holy Il to appear in grea
pomp and splendor and overturning thu
kingdoms of the earth, to establish ont
more glorious than all, over which He wa
to reign. They had found it irksome con
forming themselves to the laws of Nose
and were in fact observing them in form
only. Their pleasant dream of the futur
was scarcely disturbed by the coming o
the lonely Nazarene. That the chosen on
should be from the humble walks of lf
seemed improbable and when a few timi
followers gather about and He boldl
opens the law to their minds, stripping
aside the husks and revealing the soil
grain, they can but feebly grasp the trutl
} The great body of the church of that da
was little disturbed by Christ's teachings
5 They had so long fed On the husks that tn
grain itself was unpalateable. AS in thi
day, so in that early day, there was IL strif
for the good things of earth; a longin
for honor among men and this brought in
to bold relief, as it does today, the selfish
ness of man and Christ viewing it. urge
them in the language of the text.
Acknowledging the periectness OF God
work in the formation OF the world wit
it's changing seasons, the variety ofanima
and vegetable life for mans consumption
picture if you can the happiness, til
. almost perfection Of this life if til
. dreams OF reformers, the equal distrlb,
ton OF Gods gifts, could he realized
And we fully believe that the wlldes
h dream OF he who seeks the good of HI
j! fellow man, has itsSrHccption i'll the wor
q of.Csoi ami had the lessons OF Christ a
taught his dcciples have been closel
followed from that day to this, thos
dreams would have been realized.
Does this mean that all effort at l.
T. foIL~ould be laid aside and that Il
"nOie worlu lnuSJ nrSU ne eOnVGrtt
that reform will follow? Nonsense!
well say that no man. from the worlil
Of the text. should labor for fool b,
" await the feeding Of the ravens.
!" The important question in the clnlrc
IL taday is, Why do not the laboril
y people come out to hear the word
y God: And the wage carncrs are ask,
l. in their councils, "Why does not tt
III church OF God come to the relief OF tt
people," .
vi But friends, let us meyer loose track
a one central fact. The son Of God can
to save the world. He knew no rich n,
u poor his. His deciples had all things
d common. If the church, errs God do
j. not change.
d, One point in closing. Have we don
n what Ne could to reform the churche
II In this political movement that is up,
us, it has been said that the people we
ID in the majority and in both old parti
might haye made their demands felt, bl
II they were Indifferent never attending IL
20 primaries and taking little interest
D. elections and the evils SO grew throu.
re their indifference that in time it BEGAN
Ill easier to upbuild Il new party than
uproot the evils in the old. Isn't til
lie true in a measure OF the churches? i
often hear it said that the cong,e.
~ tons are composed largely OF won,
and children, that their main Supporte
are bankers, lawyers and politician
~ The evil De on our heads. Let t
- people seek the kingdom OF God, III
contend for his truths IN the churc
~ y DISCIPLE.
;c Burning and Burylng.