Arizona republican., 1904-10-03
GOD IS NO ASCETIC
Subject of Sermon by Rev. Dr. Preston
 F Mckinney.


 The congregation of the Presbyterian church was very glad to be able to tyelcUtue Rev. Preston Mckinney. D. D.. Its former pastor, in the pulpit yes terday. Dr. Mckinney is spending few weeks among his friends in this city and was prevailed upon to sup ply the pulpit during his visit. In the morning he spoke upon the subject. s'The freedom and responsibility of hu- man choice. taking as his text Ecclesi- . aAtrs Ii:9, Rejoice. O young man Tn tltF youth. and let thy heart cheer th"- in the days of thy youth, and walk il the ways of thine heart, and III the sight of shine eeys; but know thou Chat tor all these things, God will bring thse Ifptu suGglr ent,."
 pg. Mckinney said n pat. Taking tiis text 2S a whole, 't is brisnt but thnughtful. full of good cheer but eau ttuue. It avoids both the two extremes, Rsce(lclsrn and blind license. On the ane hnnd it does not teach that peop.e lJtttag stlae all the natural affections CT dispositions of the heart, nor shIA all the enjoyable things of life; it does not teach that every enjoyable chinS is wrong. On the contrary it shows that God is no ascetic in His spirit or His laue. In fact He has crowded cur pathway with pleasUrable things and If people keep in His paths and walk in f8t8 ways He means for them to enjoy the worlds pleasing things.
 '-oa the other hand, however. the text insists that tbis is no irresponsi- hle l,cense. it is no dropping the reins, as e were. on the neck of ardent hu- man nature saying, Rush blindly on; tbege ts nothing to fear But it filings out sharply these words of caution. ''k&ou that for all these things God WIH bring thee unto jUGgmenJ.' This nUea not necessarily mean into condem- nation. Some things brought into judg- ment may be approved, and some may be condemned, but all will be brought into court and passed upon. The text is dn Injunction that in all ones en- j9yments and ways, he regard himself Gs a responsible being, who must give an account of himself and should gov eFu himself accordingly. Every one is free Co take his own choice, to walk in tte ways of his own heart. If the ways Of ynur heart are wrong, you may walk in wrong ways. but if they are right you may walk in the right. Each one is left to choose for himself. Man is @ free moral agent; Gods decrees of fer DO violence to the will of the crea- lures, It is true that every one is linn iesgf and hedged and turned and baf- fled in a thousand different ways by circumstances of Gods providence while he is endeavOring to walk in the ways of his heart OF to follow his choice. Man TlEOgoses. but 'God disposes.' No oRU can do all he chooses, yet every one usnkgs his own choice and every ones chaFhcter and destiny are the result of hia own free choice, working among the Limitations and possibilities of his be- inE and conditions.
 "And this truth. so plainly carried in the text, is one to make us think. If a young man would choose the life of sin or the ways of the foolish, he may, hut he must take also the consequences as well as the way. If young woman would choose dangerous or wrong paths CT silly and frivolous ways instead of those which are pure and womanIy and safe, she may. but as. she sows, she must reap. God has given us intelIi- gence, and conscience, and revelation, to know what is right ana safe and he puts the responsibility on us. If we prefer to take the wrong and incur it's judgments we have the liberty; if we prefer to sow foolishness or sin, we may do so. God does not deal with us IS with reasonless and constituencies animals or brainless machines. He has given us. within certain limitations an independent will and we must exercise it.
 Another thought suggested in the text is, Man is being that may know, not everything, but enough to guide n in hn Man is an intelligent and moral be- ing as well as a free being. How much better is a man than a sheep? One re- ply to this question is that a sheep has not the capacity to know, to reason, to understand or to learn. while a man has. The sheep cannot improve; the man can. The lamb has as much wis dom as its mother; the, child can go on improving indefinitely. A sheep cannot know right and wrong nor the reIa- tions of cause and effect; man can. Man can learn somewhat Of Gods thought, and of His will; a sheep -can not. Hence a sheep cannot have a conscience or obey God, while a man can. A sheep cannot sin; a man does. And so while there are consequences of sheep's wandering in silly ways, there are no moral judgments on it for ooiilS S'- lilsiS not I4llelllSelce enough to be blamed or praised. Man, on the contrary. has intelligeDce, the moral sense and the faculty of knowing and is responsible. Man is better than a sheep and should do better. or rather he is better if he does better. IF in the light of these high eadowrlants, man is governed merely as the 2airnal ia. by his lower instinct, how much better is F" ITakipE 'i -leo'f than inc sheep? This much VIC know: he is to