Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-10-15
K. 6. {. attend
divine SERVICES

The members of Montour CASTLE, No.
1856, X. G.. E., in body attended div
inc service in st. Pau's NJ. +. church
Sunday morning, on which occasion
the pastor, the Rev. William Brill,
preached strong and practical ser
mon on righteous character, which
proved helpful alike to the mem.
! bers of the order aud the regular at
/ tendauts of the church.
/ The text :, taken from Matthew,
9Th chapter aud 33rd verse But seek
ye first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness aud all these Things
shall be added unto you.
1t was "A very foroeful aud conyinc-
ing sermon dwellipg;upon the divine
philosophy of Jesus Christ who esteem.
ed the things OF, this world lightly
compared with the treasures of the
eternal world. Very beautifully the
Savior wassquoted Take no thought
of'your life, what We shall eat and
drink-no thought for raiment-oon-
slider the lilies Of the field, ETC.. for
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye
have need OF all these things; but seek
We first the. Kingdom of God"
Proceeding the speaker unfolded
what Christ regarded as the divine
philosophy of life. Do not be engross-
ed with material things, but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven.
There is one thing that we should
possess even though we lose all others.
He defined the Kingdom OF God as
His spiritual reign over the hearts Of
those who truly love Him. The King.
dom Of God. cometh not with observa.
ton, for it isiwithin, Except as a
man be bornfagain he can not enter
into the Kingdom of God. " 1t is
Gods supreme rule over the moral
beiug, over the will, the heart and the
mind of the individual. The Kingdom
of God is the internal subjection-the
spiritual conformity to the will aud
u
character of the soul.
What God demands before wealth,
learning, honor, fame and even before
food and raiment as the supreme OBJ
ject in life is the highest character
that man can attain. This righteous
character must be sozght-earnestly
aud persistently sought; it will come
in no other way. 1t has never come
through accident, neither through
heredity. The moral tendencies do
not determine character as is amply
illustrated by the children of Cody
parents falling into the ways of vice.
1t is true that the world at times
does seem to place higher value up~
on the things of this life than upon
righteousness. 1t is true that it seems
TO pay homage to wealth, social posi-
ton, ETC., but the world is simply in
toxicated with false sense of values
deep down in the heart is a silent
homage for character. The possessor Of
wealth merely, the votaries of plea
sure, by their whimsicalities and their
lack of character provoke only ridi-
cule and derision, while the worlds
real heroes are its Luthers, its Wilber
forces, its Lincoln's ana the long train
of others that esteemed wealth and
position lightly but were men Of char
acter and principle, true to their con-
sciences, who worked for the cause of
humanity.
Character is the only thing that a
man can take with him in DEATH
houses, lands, fine clothes, all must be
left behind. The only character that
has any value in the eternal world is
a righteous character-a God like
character. No matter what a mans
possessions are in this world, il he has
not character he is unspeakably poor.
Before the throne of God the pauper
is unspeakably rich compared with
the wealthy man, who dies without a
righteous character, the only thing of
value in the sight Of God.
In addressing the members of the
order the speaker urged them to adopt
the divine philosophy of Jesus Christ.
Thus they would not only be lifted
to higher plane individually but
would also be aided in realizing the
praiseworthy objects of their order