Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1899-03-27
WHAT IS TRUE REulGloN2
When Brought to You It Sheds Lurid
 Light Across Your Path


 It is not a time to lose faith in the verities of religion. It is not time to doubt that God is in the world, rul- ing the nations, and preparing them for the acceptance of a religion whose foundations were laid once and for all time Religion never had greater re- suits to show; religion never had more beautiful characters to illustrate the saving and purifying power of the Gos- pei; religion never produced broader and more philanthropie spirit it never commanded the loving assent and the anxious endeavors of so many people.
 That which has done so much in the long centuries of the past, is doing so much in the enlightened present. and has so large and prosperous an out look, must rest on an enduring basis. It must be the word of the Lord en- dureth forever"
 But as long as you are looking upon religion as a series of preeepts which you feel you ought to obey, the more will you feel a reluctance to have any thing to do with it; when 1t is brought to you you will feel that it sheds rath- CT a lurid light across your path; you will fight against t. As long as that is the case, you have not entered into the spirit of Christ, you have not un- derstood the power of an indissolHbIe life. When you look at what real relig- ion is, you see it should be a living thing. l see it in Christ nay Master. All that He does is simply the out come of what lis very nature is. The life is within Him and He lives accord ing to #, It is His joy to do the Fath- CTS will He applies Himself for the WeIl-being of mankind. The very vir- ture of tbe sacrifice of Christ lay in this, that it is by His will that He of fers Himself unto God, 1t is the love in 1t, the willingness in it. And this is what religion ought to be-a joy; it ought to be our nature; it ought to be our freedom, delight to us. If you say "Oh some day l will turn over a new leaf, will bring my life in har- mony with the Deeatogue, and begin to act in the way in which the minister says I ought to act, according to the precepts of the Ten Commandments, as long as that sort of spirit exists, you look through a dim glass, you do not see the real significance of faith and religion.
 Religion is a life, and ought to work out from you as life, and therefore should be your very nature.
 The religion of the Bible is a posi- tive religion. It deals with eertainties. It tells what is, and what shall be. It rests upon fixed and definite prinei- pies. It has to do with what is true. It has an undertaking standard of right. It prescribes rules of conduct as well as articles of faith. It has a promise for "the life that now is and that which is to corle." It proclaims a God, and sets forth with clearness His character, His will, His requirements, His promises, His curses and His bless ings. It presents the nature of sin and it's consequences. It insists on a per- sonaI holiness, and pictures the result ant benefit. It provides a Saviour for sinners, and requires faith in Him in order to the enjoyment of His redemp- tion.
 It tells of His person, life, death and work. It reveals the Holy spirit and the offices which He performs: It dis closes a Heaven to be won, and hell to be summed.
 In it there is a divine will to be fol- lowed-a revelation to be received and needed. He who accepts it in it's en- tirety is assured and responsive. He has a faith which prompts Him to ac- tion.
 He has a love which gathers about a living Lord and Redeemer. He has a cause to uphold, and a work to engage His sympathies and activities. He has a hope which rises above the present and revels in the future. He is ever on the move, and presses towards the realization of His expectations.
 He has a sure guide in life, firm support in death, and q guaranteed Fe- ward in eternity The Christian re- Hgion, rightly and fully apprehendeel never fails to develop positive eharae- ter.
 Adelaide May Thompson,