Newport weekly independent., 1902-08-01


 keep him in faithful service to the sheep out on the hillside, and then, obedient to the command of his ia ther, he started off with his religion for the camp of the Israelites to serve his brothers. And the Lord, whom DaVid so took into everyday partner ship as to dignify the most menial service into an opportunity of serv- ing God now goes with 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 it was holding his temper when his broth CTS 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 5 was such a real thing that it made his Lordl very present help in his work and in his play, at home and broad, in the day of peril and diversity 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 CT 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 a young lady that the Lord was helping her to wash the supper dishes, 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 a 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? If my religion does not prevent me from having two codes of morals, one for the home circle of friends and ac- quaintances and another for the time when l am away from home in strange city, how much do you SUD- 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 husband or wife or child in a home knows that the spoken testimony in meeting is sound of words, and that the speaker is a 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 for nothing if not lived out in the life.
 Some people are so careful of their religion that they only get it out once week. brush off the dust and carry it carefully to chunch, and when the service is over return it to it's resting place as quickly as possible for fear it will fade or become tarnished 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 an ingenious imitation of the real article and will not admit to even the vesti- bule of Heaven.
 David's Boast.--And because David's religion was the real article he was not afraid to use it seven days in the week, and he found that the more he used it the brighter it became. No wonder he confidently declares: "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord" It is one thing for the lips to speak and quite another matter for every chord of the human heart to