The record-union., 1899-12-03

aDle, pain, pract1cdl II IS Iuil dliu
complete. There is nothing to add to
it, for what doth the Lord require OF
thee but to do justly, love mercy anc
walk humbly with thy God? This one
sentence contains the essence and soul
of true religion. 1t is so plain that a
wayfaring man, though a fool, need not
err therein. 1t appeals to all that IS
right and reasonable and reverent in
our nature. The heart, the intellect and
the conscience recognize its broad
sweep and just demands. 1t harmonizes
with our highest conceptions of duty
and goodness. 1t asks for nothing I'M
reasonable or impossible. 1t is a de-
mand that all ranges of intellect can
compass. 1t meets the beginner on the
threshold of a religious life. 1t is an
ideal that beckons to still higher nights
the saint who for years has walked
with God 1t is based on reason and
founded on right. 1t asks only for
what is best. All will admit that this
world would be better world and
brighter if mankind would do justly,
love mercy and walk humbly with God.
This statement condenses and sum-
marizes the whole duty of man. If you
miss any element of religion from this
statement, the fault is in you and not
in it. Everything is here-justice, mer-
cy, faith, love. obedience, reverence, hui
nlility, thought, feeling, action, duty,
morality, spirituality.
No one can mistake the meaning and
drift of this divine requirement. 1t
brings man into right relations with his
fellow man and into right relations
with God 1t begins on earth with things
close at hand. Do justly. 1t begins by
emphasizing mans duty to his brother
man. Do justly and love mercy. We
get right with God by getting right
with man. To love man whom we
have seen is the path by which we
come to love God, whom we have not
seen. If you ask me, What must l
do to be saved? I will answer you by
my text. Begin at once where God
bids you begin. Begin by doing justly
with your fellow man. That is where
Jesus babe the rich young ruler begin.
He said to him: IF you would enter
into life keep the commandments, and
the commandments He emphasized
were the second table of the law; those
that teach mans duty to man. When
you have taken this first step, take the
second love mercy. The first require
ment will lead you to the second, for
you cannot do justly unless you love
mercy. Justice apart from mercy Is
not just. Men are just only to those
they love- The effort to do justly and
love mercy will lead you on the final
step; walk humbly with God. AS you
show mercy to others, you will ask
God to show mercy to you. You will
pray forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive them that trespass against us. :
He who begins by doing justly to man
will end by walking humbly with God.
All morality all philanthropy, all
spirituality, are summed up in this
brief sentence, DO justly, love mercy
and walk humbly with thy God"
Let me urge you to put high value
on this clear, condensed statement OF
the requirements of religion. Keep it
before your mind. Mediate on it. Let
it have a holding and controlling inffu-
ence on your daily life.
When you are perplexed over theo-
logical problems. when you are en-
girdled by temptation, when you are
cropping through the mists of doubt, let
this. like clear shaft of light from
heaven, fall on your way. Amid all
uncertainties this is certain: He who
follows this pole-star of duty he whose
life is keyed to this ideal, he who does
justly, loves mercy and walks humbly
with God fulfills the highest law of the