The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-07-28

pose into the thing before him, and by
and by the very Roadway Of success, the
! very stress OF competition. Is found to be
using u? all his strength. Soon his prayers
get thinner and poorer; he has scarce time
| Tcr them and leeis less and :css need for
them. When his day; and nights at the
office are through wig.l, he r2cuperates his
tired energies az the club, where he can
still with the waning nerve power talk
; over the course OF the markcl-or else he
goes out OF town 10 get tho re.aNG':ol
which will enable him to keep his pace III
Caesar kingdom.
He does not Moan ~ first to renouncc
! his obligation TO Coo. Fer some time ne
paws it in the worthless currency OF good
Intentions and good-humored apologies. BY
and by even these are omitted, and he and
his friends begin TO j2stiiy the dereliction
to God on the score OF the increasing
claims OF Caesar. This laXity on the part
of men and women to-day l. giving back
to God the things that are Gods is simply
appalling in view of Gods unrivalled gifts
! and blessings to US. Ii it be true that to
! whom much is given OF him snail much be
required" and that judgment will ever be-
| gin at the house OF God with the pIivll-
as stand we shall, before the Son OF Man:
| "le cannot serve God and mammon." >.
! Christ Je-us does not block the way OF
our paying our just debt to Caesar, but
| He does warn US WITH the utmost PLAIN
! ness not to give Caesar everything.
II we allow ''the huge mundane machine
| to run over our souls like some car of
| Juggernaut, crushing out our religious tree
dom and initiative, we shall be horribly
| fattened i'll our manhood. our sympathes,
| our ideals, our conceptions OF llfe. Inc
! results may not appear Iuily Tor Winnie.
| but in the end there will be experienced
| an impoverishment, an atrophy. Il sinister,
| manned and crippled growth which Will
make us unfit for our citizenship IN the
higher kingdom here or there. st. Paul.
| in beginning his EpiStle to the Romaps-
! that IS. to the people who then lived at
| the capital city of Caesars realm-accounts
| in the following words for the sin and
| misery, the failure and decadence of heath
endom: He tells them that when they
| knew God, they glorifed Him not as God,
neither were thankful. Processing them
selves to be wise, they became fools, lhey
| changed His truth into lie, and wor-
SHIPPED and served the creature more than
| was an awful b,under. No greater could be
| made by any man Or people. They made
| the world they lived in their god, their
| only god, and worsriped and served it
with their whole hearts. They worsh!ped
| power, knowledge, pleasure, wealth, force,
passion, art. They lived for these things
| until they fancied that these were the
| only things to live for. We know the re-
suit. AS they rejected Him, so God re-
jected them. As punishment He gave
them over TO moral corruption, to an
abandoned mind, to fostering decadence.
And men crowded around and strove
| for place and food, and the strong beat
down the weak, and the rich were gorged
strife and cruelty filed the earth with
violence" That was happening at the
| very moment Christ spoke these tremen-
Gous words: "Rendcr to God the things
which are Gods" This is the sort Of
heathenism which exists everywhere on
| this earth where it is rot persistently
| kept down by the spirit OF Jesus Christ.
| TO God the things that are God's!" ''To
! God the things that are God's!p Let that
| cry haunt you until it compeis YOU to pay
| your debt. I've the courage to look on
| the one hand at what YOU are giving to the
| world represented by Caesar, and on the
God. Is God missing His rights? Is your
duty to Him threatened ';y the power
and pomp of this massive carth?~ Al! then
| be all the more careful that Your debt to
heaven is paid. BY the blood Of the Cruel.
fed. give hack to God what really belongs
TO. Him. Your soul, Your heart, your con.
victions. Your spiritual reality, your eternal
| heine-all these to God, Tor they are His.
| Believe Him when He tells you that all
else that we see and handle is but shadow
! that passeth away. Aye, trust Him when
He pledges YOU His help whenever you
sincerely want to follow Him, and prom
ises never to leave you to. struggle on by
| yourself. Through Him who condescended
! to make His nome in our hearts, who by
| His spirit "helpeth Our infirmitieS," let US
| make such offering toGod as Yet We can.
Give God, through Jesus Christ, your
| Saviour. first OF all yourself. He will ac-
ccpt nothing in the stead of You. Do not
| clutch the portion of goods that fal|eth to
YOU and try to nave them all to yourself
in some far country, where you sAall never
! hear the Fathers voice or see His face;
| but whatever YOU do have from Him,
| whether more or less, try to enjoy it as a
child in your Fathers house, under the
| constant benediction of His smile. In the
| face of this tremendous pressure of earth,
which bears down so heavily upon every
soul. resolve manfully that you will not
We'd; that the great and first command,
men. OF Christ. Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God shall he kept. Render unto
Caesar the things that are Caesars. and
| unto Goa the things that are Gods.