Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-24

that He put his words OF counsel into sueh
extreme forms that it might be plain that
what he asked was not literal but spiritual
obedience. Turn the other cheek, resist
not regulations Of outward conduct; they
teach the spirit of fraternity. Christ is en-
phasizing not the act but the feeling
This attaching Of supreme importanes to
disposition was partly due, no doubt, to the
fact that conduct, divorced from disposition,
has no moral value. God looks at the heart
to see how much is held out in the hand.
Wsthout charity-that is, without a Chris
tian disposition-nothingt that We do is Of
account. Partly, also, Jesus had in mind
that right disposition is sure to show itself
in right conduct Like . wise physician
He prescribed not for the symptoms but for
the disease. Men and women cannot be set
right from the outside. Betterment must
begin at the heart You cannot regulate q
watch by moving the hands; you must set
the handspring right.
You see the importance, then, of 0 mans
being Christian in himself; that il, of the
possession of the Christian spirit. What
sort of Christian he will be in the family,
in business, in society, in the parish, in tho
city, will depend upon what sort of q
Christian he is in himself
Conscious of the Blessed Presence.
We come, accordingly, to the considers
tion of the characteristics of the Christian
in himself One characteristic of the
Christian in himself, is that the Christian
realizes God. How different that is from a
mere intellectual conviction of the exist
ence of a Great First Cause, of an Infinite
and Eternal Energy from which all things
proceed! How different from a mere rote
recitation of church creed, in which the
lips speak while the heart is silent! The
Christian realizes God. The Christian is
conscious of the blessed presence of God.
For Christianity is human life made the
most of, lived in the largest and highest
way. Life, the men of science tell US, is
harmony wieh environment It is proper
toned to the relation between that which
is without and that which is within. An
animal lives larger and higher life than
the plant, because 1t is responsive to
larger circle of environment 1t is capable
OF companionship. It has some idea of
freedom, of fidelity, of love, of duty. And
a man lives larger and higher life than
the animal, because he is responsive to
still wider circle of environment He is
capable Of intellectual pleasures of which
the animal is ignorant. Aud among men
he lives the largest and highest life Who is
responsive to the widest circle of environ
ment.
Getting the MOST Out OF LILO
One man delights in little beyond the
pleasures of the grosser appetites. He eats,
and drinks, and sleeps. Another is cult
waited to enjoy books and music and art and
science. 1t is evident that there is vast
difference between these two in the matter
of making the most of life. But here is an
other who can appreciate thoughts that are
higher still. He is responsive to his spir-
itual environment. He hears the whispers
of conscience. He sees visions of benef-
cent duty. He knows the joy of prayer and
alteration. He realizes God. This man is
perfectly alive. He alone, of all the chill
dren of God, makes the most of life.
The Christian realizes God; realizes, that
is, the abiding presence of God. God is here.
Every thought of my heart and your heart
is audible to Him. Wherever we 20, what
ever we say or do, God is with us, knowing
all And the Christian knows who God is.
To the Christian, God is the Father. This
of Divipe despot; it is not the intrusive
presence of a Divine taskmaster; the Father
is with US, who made US, who is interested
in us, who cares for US, who loves us. The
Christian realizes this protecting, helpful
blessed presence. The Christian lives in
the presence of God as young boy lives in
the sight of his father whom he reveres, or
as young girl lives in the sight of her
mother whom she loves. The presence is
a perpetual uplifting influence, inspiration,
benediction.
Every Man Desires to Be Better.
Another characteristic of the Christian in
Himself is that the Christian hates sin. He
longs to be free from all sin. Here again,
Christianity takes in all that is best in the
aspirations of men. I have friend who is
an ethical lecturer in ST. Louis. He made
an address the other day, in which he
summed up the results of five years of OBJ
seryation and experience in the endeavor to
uplift men. He said that he was now con-
frmed in the conclusion that every man de-
sires to be better, and that the best way to
help people is to begin by taking that for
granted. We have tried too long, he said,
to get men to do right by teaching them to
believe right. Let US now try to get them
to believe right by helping them to do
right.
But this is not new discovery. Jesus
Christ always ministered to men upon this
principle. He always took it for granted
that even the meanest man wishes to be
better. And as for the precedence Of con-
duct before creed, that is what he taught
beyond doubt. II any man will know the
truth of God, let him begin by doing the
arrived at after five years of study is right
here in the Christian Scriptures.
Herbert Spencer, in his "Data of Ethics"
sums up the conclusions of a whole lifetime
of hard study, and the end of the whole |
matter is this: That the only right conduct |
is that which is based upon the principle Of
altruism. And altruism, when we come to |
look into it, is nothing in the world but |
Christ's own commandment, ''Thou shalt |
love thy neighbor as thyself This which |
MI. Spencer has worked out, using all the |
resources of his splendid genius, is only |
what every humblest Christian knew al |
ready.
Plenty Of Satisfying Religion.
These people are like the crew of that old |
ship which was sailing along the coast of |
South America and ran out of water. And |
the scorching sun shone down upon them, |
and the great ocean seemed to mock them |
with its delusive waves, and, one after an
other the men began to die in the agonies |
Of thirst. And one day they sighted a ship, |
and they set the signals of distress. They |
said, we are dying here for lack of water
And the ether ship vessel answered, why
don't you dip your buckets down? This is
,he mouth of the great Amazon. There is
good water all about you. The religion of
Jesus Christ, if men would but take that,
mas satisfaction in it for all the hunger and
thirst of all humanity.
The Christian hates sin. And this, not
with a passive and indefinite hatred, but
with the spirit of one who fights against an
enemy. The Christian has passionate
onging to be free from every taint of sin.
He watches his words and his actions. He |
Keeps guard over his lips and eyes, and
hands. He knows that Christianity means
and that the only way to be a
good Christian is to be good Christian.
The Third Great Principle.
Another characteristic of the Christian in
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