The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1902-08-02

ing God, now goes w1th the simple
hearted youth and nerves his arm
and steadies his aim as he sends the
stone crashing into the skull Of the
terrible giant and lays the blatant
champion low upon the ground. David
had enough religion to grapple with
any problem which confronted him,
whether it was picking a green pas.
ture for the hungry, helpless sheep,
or resting beside the ripping stream
singing upon his harp; whether 1t was
holding his temper when his broth
ers poked fun at him after he pro-
posed to fight the giant, or giving him
modesty when standing in the pres
ence Of the king with the head of the
| giant in his hands. David's religion
was such a real thing that IL made his
Lord very present help in his work
and in his play, at home and abroad, in
the day of peril and adversely and In
the day of prosperity and quiet ease.
This is the kind of religion that counts.
| It Is not man-made, but is God-given.
The everyday religion tests the pow
er of God and is able to go out in the
hour Of need and fight the Goliaths
Of sin, who are presenting themselves
for battle every day.
The best testimony we had in prayer
meeting recently and the one that
stirred those in attendance the most
was the statement by young lady
that the Lord was helping her to wash
the supper dishes, a task she disliked
to do very much. Her religion was
reality to her, and in the actual ex-
periences of everyday life it was help
ing her to bear burdens that otherwise
would have been unbearable.
The religion of too many people is
like that of the minister whose little
daughter, when asked what her father
did, said that he didn't do anything
but just preach. There is too much
preaching and too little practicing in
the world to-day. The religion that
will shine forth in the meeting house
and evaporate completely away before
the delayed dinner, or cross baby In
the home, doesn't serve very much
practical purpose. If my religion does
not make the presence of the Lord so
real as to help me keep my temper
when some one treads upon my toes, or
infringes upon my rights, of how much
use is my testimony in the name OF the
same Lord in the prayer meeting? III
my religion does not prevent me from
having two codes of morals, one for
the home circle of friends and ac-
auaintances and another for the time
when | am away from home in a
strange city, how much do you sup
pose it counts before God? If my re-
ligion may not be applied to the every
day problems OF life, and does not
make me a better man in the home, in
the Office or shop, on the street, any
where and everywhere, of what real
value is it to me or any one else?
Many a husband or wife or child in
| home knows that the spoken testimony
in meeting is sound Of words, and that
the speaker is hypocrite without
perhaps meaning to be. The strong
| est denunciations of Christ were spok-
en- against those who wore the cloak
| of religion and missed the heart of it
in the everyday life. Religion is good
I for nothing if not lived out in the life.
| God measures it by the number of
robbed and wounded travellers we, in
the spirit of the Samaritan of the par
able, help by the roadside, by the
number of glasses of cold water
| we give in the name Of the Master,
| by the number of victories we win
over the flesh and the devil. God
| does not take us at our own esti-
mate, nor according to the reputation
| we sustain in the community, nor the
length of our prayer in church, but
judges us, as Christ declared, by the
fruit we bear. True, we are saved by
faith in the blood Of Jesus Christ, but
we determine how much salvation we
really have by the way in which we
apply that salvation to the daily con-
duct. Christ alone can give us a new
heart and renew right spirit within
us, but having been born again by
faith in Jesus Christ, we must let the
new heart and the Spirit of God DOM
mate more and more in every detail
of life. This is the rest of our religion.
Some people are so careful of their
religion that they only get it out once
n week, brush off the dust and carry it
carefully to church. and when the
service is over return it to its resting
place as quickly as possible for fear
It will fade or become furnished from
the vulgar gaze of the world, and, like
the priceless diamond tiara of the rich
lady which she kept locked up in her
safe so carefully and which on being
examined by the expert was found to
| be splendid sham and worthless, SO
will the Sunday religion of many a
devotee be found at the last day OF
Judgment to be nothing more than ar
ingenious imitation of the real article
and will not admit to even the vesti
bule of Heaven.
| David's Boast.-And because David.
religion was the real article he wa,
not afraid to use It seven days in tn,
week, and he found that the more h,
used 1t the brighter It became. NJ
wonder he confidently declares: an.
soul shall make her boast in tn
Lord" 1t is one thing for the lips t.
speak and quite another matter TO
every chord of the human heart u
| vibrate in actual expe rience with III