Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-07-12

have paid 20 cents for 5O-cent supper
at the church
THE GOOD FIGHT.
By Rev. Henry F. Cope.
Fight the good fight of faith; lay
hold on eternal life. IL Tim, vi, II.
Man is apparently naturally belliger-
emit There always is ready response
to the call to fight. The chief pleasure
many people get out of their religion
and their church life is in the oppor-
tunities afforded to buckle on their ar
NOR and go forth to the fray. 1t does
not matter much who the foe may be
so long as there is prospect of fight.
1t is only natural that where religion
has been made to consist in creeds and
opinions the lines of battle should be
drawn according to the schools of
thought. 1t is marvellous how warlike
the most mild hammered can become
when an opportunity appears to be-
labor some thinker who has had the
temerity to strike out for himself. The
warriors who fight against so-called
heretics scarcely should go to heaven
they get so much happiness out of their
campaigns here
Has not the day come when men can
forget their differences? No matter
how important their opinions may seem
to be, no matter what traditions are
behind them, how insignificant all these
things must appear when we turn and
face the great fight that is worth the
fighting, when we at last hear the clear
call to stand shoulder to shoulder and
take up the stupendous task that Chris
tianity gives to the church.
What is the good fight, the warfare
really worth tlfe waging? What and
where is the battlefield where all these
great regiments, some with names
adorned by the centuries, some perhaps
with no name at all, may stand to-
gether in common cause, with one
mighty spirit sweeping through all and
nerving all to splendid, united en-
deavor?
There is a common cause, common
purpose, that which will serve as
common denomination for all. 1t is the
cause of life, the fight for character,
the conflict of the higher against the
lower. The great Master said that
he came that men might have life; his
followers have no other or better gift
for the world than this, to give men
the power Of a new and endless life.
The call is for those who will fight
against the foes of life, the forces that
sell the life, the spirit, the worthy and.
enduring in man, for the base and ig-
noble Let the church fight against
the greed, the lust that robs babes of
their lives for larger margin of profit,
that steals from manhood the flower
and glory of his being, that debauches
the intellect and undermines the win
all for a few dollars of gain :
We need to fight against the tendency
of every age to settle down to gross
ness, to make eating, or pleasure, or
possession of things the end of living,
that SCOTS at ideals and bids men made
for things divine be satisfied with the
dust, that blinds itself to spiritual re
alities and knows only things tangible
and of the flesh. Let this gross content
with things base settle upon us and
death is our portion
Only as we put down the temptations
within ourselves, the sloth and lust and
cowardce, can we begin to find life;
only as we are willing to pay the price,
to lose the lesser, can we attain the
higher. The evolution of man as a.
spirit comes only through struggle; be-
ing and becoming involve magnificent
battlefield; we win our way up with
pain and labor.
Only as we are willing to be good
soldiers, enduring hardships, striking
valiant blows, bearing wounds, can
this world be led into the larger life
for which it was created. The better
day waits for the hosts willing to fight
IN high faith that truth and right, the
high and worthy, must win, that each
day reveals a nobler destiny for man.
Here is something worth fighting for,
not the worsting Of heretics, but the
bringing Of all men to their full herit
age of life, the opening up of every
door long sealed by selfishness and sin,
the letting in Of heavens light to every
dark place, the making Of life to be
life indeed, with the breath Of heaven
and the beauty of the divine, spring
ing up with the freshness of the morn
ing and borne on by the music of the
spheres.
Short Meter Sermons.