Newport weekly independent., 1902-11-28


 enthusiasm more than the glad song on the lips, more than the attendance upon the Thanksgiving day services Our president gives recognition tc this fact when he declares in this proclamation that, i've seek to praise Him not by words only but by deeds by the way in which we do our duty tc ourselves and to our fellow men,"
 Recognition of Dependence.-The first element of true thanks giving. whether towards man or God, is recog- milton of the dependence of the indi- vidual upon the Benefactor for the gift received. The self-made man cannot stand in the presence of God. It is a grand and inspiring sight to see hu- man pluck and determination carry ing the individual step by step up the steep mountain side of difficulty until the summit of success is reached. But the self-made man on the mountain top of his success must gaze still higher than himself and the eminent place he occupies for the reason of his existence and his success. He is de- | pendent upon God for life for abilities, for opportunities, whether he recog- nizes such relationship to his Creator, or not. And if this is true of those who have seemingly done so much for themselves, surely it is true of those of us who occupy comparatively hum ble and unknown spheres in life. These two points we wish to emphasize: The fact of our dependence and recogni- tion of such dependence.
 The recognition of this dependence marks the difference between super ficial thanksgiving and true thanks giving. It is all very we'll or rather. it is not well at all, to in general way talk about God as the Giver of all things, to say that He is the Sender of the rain and the sunshine that He unrolls the springtime of blowing and sowing, the summertime of growing and ripening, the fall of harvesting, and the wintertime of Natures rest. but it is quite another thing for the heart to swell in humble gratitude to- wards God for His gifts and His bless ings.
 In how far the spirit of Thanksgiv- ing day celebration and even worship of to-day is a genuine expression of gratitude towards God may be judged. perhaps, by our further analysis of what constitutes true thanks giving. Certain it is that the football games, the feasting and festivities, the fam fly reunions and the joy of congenial associations, the ballroom and parties and the thronged theaters are not thanksgiving. They may be incidents of the day which is set apart for the giving of thanks, but in no sense do they constitute the purpose of the day. The church services throughout the land may give opportunity for the ex- pression of true thanksgiving. but the swelling anthem of the trained choir. the full-rounded prayer, the eloquent discourse of the picked speaker. the stirred emotions of the congregation, are not in and of themselves true thanksgiving. Let us further apply the test and endeavor to discover what is true thanksgiving. We have already seen that the first element of true thanksgiving is recognition of de- pendence upon God. We will next con- slider the recognition of the gifts and blessings.
 Recognition of Gifts and Blessings. It is a fundamental truth of mathe- matics that the greater always con- tains the less. This is true of other things. For this reason I wish to speak first of Gods greatest gift to mankind in the person of His Son. Christ Jesus, and show that all othe, gifts and blessings are contained in Him, and that real recognition of Gods gifts and blessings cannot be apart from their relationship to Christ, the greatest gift. How could it be other wise? The center of Gods purpose in Heaven and in earth is found in the Christ; the only hope of the world rests in Christ the Crucitied One How could thanksgiving to God for gifts and blessings which left out the Christ in thought and spirit be acceptable in any degree to Him? Recognition of gifts and blessings. then, as an ele- ment of true thanksgiving must find it's center in the Christ. Our text is addressed to believers on and followers of Jesus Christ. They are told to be thankful. Gods message to the world is not, "be thankful" for lesser gifts. but, "beleve on and accept" the great est gift While the greatest gift re- mains unreceived and unappropriated. acceptable thanks cannot be rendered to God for His lesser gifts.
 The multitudes ate of the loaves and fishes which passed from the Masters hand of blessing and were filled, and they were so enthusias tically thankful that they wanted to take Jesus and make Him their king, but they were not thankful enough to feed on the Living Bread which was offered them. Do you suppose for a minute God was pleased with the tieshly gratitude of a full stomach while the soul was famishing for the Living Bread? Un- doubtedly Natures vast banqueting hall on the mountain side where the multitudes were fed rang with the praises of Him Who had supplied their pbySina1 nead That onaD,;, foa~.