The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-04-06

is heaven-bor In us. They are not
only mot OF the Father" but they are
the deadly foes of all that Is Of the
Father. Happy are the souls in which
the tlight into Egypt comes cut as 1t
does I'm Matthew's Gospel OF the In
fancy. Let us net hesitate To play
Joseph - our threatened soul. All the
dreams and angels that we need will
be forthcoming il we are faithful. and
we Shall get back To Nazareth. Some
how Herod will he clrcumyentei. And
though il be neither scientific doctrines
nor vii propensiiies which do most to
make IL hGrd FOR our souls. but just the
petty preoccupations and the daily
burdens and the round CT more or less
Irritating duties of our common life.
We are under the same sacred oblig3-
ton and have the same encour: cement
10 secure for our souls the square Crll
God means tnem 10 have. Let us no r.
forget that Jesus Christ is the 81 1t
champion OF square zeal for every
soul, and that that means ours.
\ square deal in presenting The
claims OF religion should he religio3Sly
maintained. God is eteInally aga nst
anything else. jeremiah never said
anything which bears more unmiStak-
ably the seal of Il oivinN ratification
than whpN he called il ~ wonderful
and no flh,c thing that had come To
pass in the land that "the prophets
propheSy falsely. and the priests bear
rule 10y their means. ana IN. people
love 20 have t So" But square deal
i'm presenting the claims of religion
rules out. nC. merely wilful talsihca-
ton and pcrvcrsion tf the truth, It
rules out intolerance and demands
square deal for the religions convic-
tions of other people. IL rules cut dog
matlsm and demands square Zeal for
whatever new light may break forth.
Ii rules out the inSinuation of doubt
and dc lands a square deal for the
fccblest and most unintclligcnt faith.
Ii Jules out insincerity Of whatever
kind But il does not rule out loyalty
to deep convictions. nor dchniteness
of teaching. nor the replacing OF the
broken reed of an outworu doctrine
with the strong s,afr of living truth.
To be absolutely loyal 10 the truth. and
yet deal fairly with all the spiritual in
terests affected by the manner I'm which
the claims of religion are presented, is
no light thing TO achieve. But of one
thing. those to whom we go with the
~
and that is that. so far as In us lies and
God gives Us light upon our way, we
mean 10 be square with them. God
made our ears so that they instructive
" protect themselves against cant.
They close as quickly rs the threatened
eye.
The square deal in religion involves
square deal at the heart of religion.
hn ,nn,rnl 1natpinn ghnuI1 hn fhp
Righteousness OF God. the righteous
dealing Of God with men, n square
deal and nothing less for all men,
square deal and nothing more FOR "the
saved" Paul never gets tired of tell
ing us that God does not save us by
doing anything wrong. lie Is contnu-
ally declaring Gods righteousness in
Ills way OF saving men. that He is at
once "just and the iuStiiier Of him that
hath faith in Jesus Paul proclaims
the triumph of the square deal in
Christ. In Him mercy and truth are
met together: righteousness and peace
have kissed each other" All that God
offers TO us in Christ lie has right 10
offer. He comes before the bar of our
conscience with Ills great gospel of
forgiveness. If IL Is moi ratified there
IL can never give us peace. It Is not
the less sensitive cOnscicnccs which
have borne the most uncquiyOcal tcsti-
mOny 10 the peace which God gives In
Christ Jesus. But there should be moth
ipg 10 settle between your conscience
and your doctrine of salvation. We are
not saved by dishonest bookkeeping.
Nothing is credited to MS which does
not belong to rs i'm Gods sight. Every
item which iu uili"S God in Ills mere
toward us may not appear But D
scheme that could not pass muster wiih
MS in our dealing with men can repre-.
sent The rcdrmpliyc dealings OF God
with sinners The man who finds
peace with God through .kssus Christ
Just believes that whatever safeguards
ing Of righteousness WAS necessary
when Gods mercy sot out to save him
has not been neglected.
But while we need not fear that God
will offer us more than lie has n right
TO. we need have. on The other hand, no
fear Of giving too much to Him If we
give all.
"Werc The whole realm Of nature mine,
That were 4 present far too small;
Love so amazing. so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all"