The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1905-08-17

different basis. Henceforth God be-
came accessible without Offering or
priest, without temple or altar, and If
respective Of locality. We are enjoying
In a measure that rest which Christ
| came to everest from ceremonial
burdens. We are living in the dispen-
! satiop OF the spirit, and the church il
wherever the spirit moves men to wor-
ship. Wherever the Holy Spirit has
gone and planted the gospel Of Christ
In the hearts Of men, turning their
thoughts and affections to God. there is
the church. 1t matters not whether 1t
be In Greenlands Icy mountains or In
d1a's coral strand. 1t matters not
whether it be in gorgeous cathedral or
In mountain cave. 1t matters not
whether the worshiper be white or
black, whether he worship on his knees
! or on his feet or on his back, SO long as
he worship In spirit and in truth.
Christianity so far as it consists of q
visible performance at all is the most
natural and spontaneous OutgO of the
religious instincts to God, and religious
worship Is essentially personal COM
muniOn with Sod, and in such form
and place as is best suited to the wor-
I shipper and most in accordance with the
will OF God.
Hence, you will see, one Of the prime
characteristics Of the church triumph
| ant is perfect liberty. Get religion"
said Augustine, land do as you please"
By which he meant If you truly get re-
ligiOn you will always please to do
right. Paul means the same thing
when he says, IF We be in the spirit
We are not under the law" And Jesus
meant the same when He said, MAKE
the tree good and his fruit will be
good" And hence, the ideal Christian
life Is perfectly spontaneous. ODE
dience is not by compulsion of law, but
by impulsion of love. Cali the law is
fulfilled in one word, Thou shalt
love-"
We have heard not a little about
'the consent of the governed" and we
are likely to hear more. The state
ment as it stands in that famous docu-
ment will not bear literal application.
But there is good reason to believe
that our fathers knew what they were
talking about If they had said. "gov-
eminent derives its potency from the
consent of the governed they would
have been uttering the exact truth.
wa SdlSo ttA A1lOpC1dllN ullll1 l1ic SUI
jects consent. Perfect society implies
perfect acquiescence in the will of the
superior or law making power. The
more society progresses toward unity,
the simpler and more equable will gov
eminent become, because the more gen.
eral will be the consent or acquiesence
In the government Paul says. II con-
sent unto the law that 1t is good" and
in the perfect society of Johns vision
each man enjoys perfect liberty be-
cause the will of the governor and the
governed are in perfect correspond
ence. Each individual does as he
pleaseS and at the same time does as
He pleases.
In some such way the perfect COM
.munity is characterized by perfect
unity without uniformity. Each per-
forms his own duty in his own way,
but is all the while in perfect har-
mony with his neighbor. Again. in the
perfected society there is no distinc-
ton between the religious and the Sec
ular. Here we have our times and
places of religion. We gather here in
this house of prayer, believing that
God is present here as He is not i'll
other places, as, indeed, He has prom
ised to be. 1t is Gods concession to
our limitations and infrmities. But
it is far from the ideal. We are apt
to identify religion with the means of
religion, rather than religion itself.
We get grace by our religious exercises
to keep Gods commandments in ali
our walks of life. and that is religion.
The members of the church triumph
ant are equally religious every day of
the week and every hour of the day,
and hence, church-going in our sense
Of the word, is forever abolished. In
that society, one does not need to say
to his brother, "know the Lord" for
all shall know Him from the least to
the greatest. There is no more preach
ing, mo temple therein
Once more; it is obvious that the
more faithful and devoted we are to
the means of religion here the sooner
we shall be fitted to do without them.
Your child, learning to play the piano.
finds 1t hard labor to spell out note by
note, conforming to the rules and rudi-
ments of practice. BY and by she will
go beyond the rules. She will acquire
the genius of the skilled performer.
And the more diligently we observe
orr religious duties here the sooner
we shall get beyond them. The more
faithful we are now to the times and
places of religious worship the sooner
shall we be ready for that society
where all life IS religious.
Zachariah had that vision ages be-
fore John had 1t, when he saw "Holi-
ness to the Lord inscribed on the
bells of the horses and the pots in
the Lords house, as sacred as the
bowls of the altar; yea, and every pot
in Jerusalem as holy as the vessels of
the sanctuary. That was at least a
glimpse Of the templeless city of God.
And now shall we not keep before
us that ideal? Let us not be dlscour-
aged by the great disparity between
that far-off perfection and present
reality. The poet well expresses our
feeling:
Oh, Land of Promise. from what Pts
gah's height
Can I behold thy stretch Of peaceful
bowers,
Thy golden harvest flowing out of
sight,
The nestled homes and sun-illumfned
towers?
Gazing upon the sunsets high-heaped
gold,