The Helena independent., 1892-04-25
THE WORDS Of CHRIST,
Rev. T. B Howell Occupies tho Pull
pit Of the Congregational
Church.
my Teaching Is Not Mine. But
His That Sent
Mo"
Tho Ultimate Test of Life il Still tho
Same As When Christ
Taught.

Taught.
Rev, q. 3. Howell. of Butte. occupied the
pulpit yesterday morning and evening
ut the Congregational church on Benton
avenue. Hs took his text in the forenoon
from John 14.2l: "He that hath nv
commandments and keepeth them. he it Ia
that loveth me; and he that loveth me
shall be loved Of my Father, and will love
him and will manifest myself unto him.
And John. b-3: Ellis commandments ara
not grievous." Nothing could be fnirsr
than the teats that Christ was willing
teachings. Do his teachings constitute
real revelation from God? So his oontem-
poraries asked, and so tho modern world is
ntil asking. Listen to the mode of invest
lgatinR this question which Christ offers:
my teaching Is not mine but His that
sent me. If any man willeth to do His
will he shall know OF the teaching, whether
it be of God or whether I speak from
myself" Not the one who is merely
curious, but the one who is obedient is
promised this insurance Of knowledge.
The doubt which parnlyzes action is dis
ease. The doubt which stimulates to activ-
ity is wholesome. The peril Of doubt ID
that the doubter will consider himself alb
solved from duty and will spend his life in
barren negations. Whatever doubt Of tho
teachings Of Christ invados the human
mind, the responsibility Of God-given life
is upon us. and no man ia absolved from
the duty Of strongly willing to do the will
Of God, no matter what his belief. or tenn
Ierament or sphere in life.
The faith of Christ which works out in
obedience to his commandments is no less
faith than that whicl- expresses itself in
confession. The ultimate test Of life is
still the same as when Christ taught. II is
the test of fruitfulness. Sterile belief is
not a whit better than sterile unbelief. It
still remains true that men do not gather
grapes Of thorns or figs of thistles.
The object Of religion is to bring the soul
Of man into eternal relations with it's
maker. There is On instructive feeling in
the human soul at it's best moments, that
the things seen are temporal, but TINT there
are unseen things which are eternal
Emerson called this unseen and eternal in
huence "the oversoul.'' Call it what term
you may. this higher life affords worthy
goal of effort for every man.
If | can interpret the religious yearnings
OF our times, it ia to be assured of the great
nnd beautiful truths that Christ taught; to
know that the eternal sovereign of the uni
verse is u heavenly father whose love
reaches to US individuality; to know that
Christ still lives as the saviour Of mankind,
and that ne has ways of making his ex-
istence real to his followers Our age is
sometimes called an age Of doubt, but it is
rather a formative one.
The changes in the thought OF our time
amount to revolution. The perspective
n fyok NF <e 1r~>r 4
changed. The modern world is compelled
TO adjust its faith to the new knowledge.
1T ls painful process and this PROCESS is
Still going on. The new knowledge we
possess We may consider new revelation
from the God Of all truth, a new step in
the revelation of himself to men. Shall we
not be as patient and as faithful in learning
the new lessons he has to teach us as our
forefathers have been? 1t is because I
believe our generation is thinking and
working it's way into the possession of q
pursr and more fruitful faith that say our
age is formative one.
While the religious faith of men of our
day is undergoing readjustment. the
spiritual yearnings to which the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ has for nearly nine
teen centuries ministered, are as deep and
urgent as ever. There is many truth
seeker living contemporary with You and
me and among US, who in the depths of his
heart hungers and thirsts after righteous
ness, cravings which scientific knowledge
never has and never can satisfy.
Now the words of our Lord are full of
encouragement to this kind of men. He
loved them not less than others among his
disciples, and he Was 80 patient with them
in leading them on and up to the point
where they could firmly grasp the great and
wonderful things he hnd to teach them.
And his words to them belong with equal
right to tsuth-seeke1e and truth lovers of
our own day.
In our text he sets before his disciples
not only the object of religious life and be.
lief, but the method of it's attainment.
What words could set forth a higher con-
summation of religion than these: "He
shall be loved of my Father, and will love
him and will manifest myself unto him.
Are not these the very things that we have
been always led to expect from our re-
lgion2
These words express the object of re-
HGlon, 1t becomes exceedingly Important
to know the conditions precedent to the at
tainment of this goal. They are exceed
ingly simple and reasonable and two in
number. ~ HE that hath my command
ments, and (2) keepeth them" You will
notice that the element of faith is not in
volved, except that certain kind of con-
fldenoe which loyalty and obedience always
involves.
The faith in Christ which works out in
obedience to His commandments is no less
faith than that which expresses itself in
creeds. Indeed the faith which is not ac-
companied by obedience is no faith at all.
1t is the worst kind of faithlessness.
One of the conditions precedent we can
all fulfill. HE that hath Ny command
ments" That means each ono OF US. They
come down to Us sanctioned by the lives of
Gods best and hoiest people through these
eighteen centuries. Most of US have felt
powerfully at some period of our lives the
elevatng influence of Christianity. We
have his commandments.
Tho teachings of Christ are voluminous
yet If We shall analyze them we shall find
one or two harmonious principles running
through them all. He gave such endow-
mont to two commandments of the Mosaic
law as to make them lis. On one occasion
lle was asked what was the most import
ant commandment in the Mosaic law,
'And He said unto him. thou shalt love tho
Lord thy God with all thy hentt, and with
hil thy soul, and with all thy mind" This
IS the first and grent commandments, aud
second like unto it Is this: Thou shalt
love thy neiehbor as thyself." ''On these
two commandments hungeth the whole law
of the prophets" Ia there anyone for
whom the first of these is intangible? We
have our Lords own assurance that tho
second is like unto it,, and that is not in
tangible. When the scribe who was qucs-
tioning Christ tried to point out an amhig-
uity in this commandment by asking, "And |
x,D ;s .,,v o;f,hl,-,ry,3 rbriot ,,no t,;,.x an.