The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-07-23

sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a foolish man,
which built his house upon the sand"
st. Matthew, vii. &c.
+ + j,
The Christian religion Is not mere
ly a philosophy. 1t is a divincly re-
vealed rule of life. The Church is not
university. 1t is technical school.
The function of the preacher is to
teach men how to take the raw ma
terial of life and build it into charac-
ter
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ
lays down the great fundamental prin-
ciples which should guide His follow
ers. He closes by telling His hear
ers that those who not only bear His
words but do them are like a wise
man who built his house upon a rock.
When "the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house" it stood. But
those who hear without attempting to
practice are like foolish man who
built his house upon the sand. When
the time of testing came his house
fell. There are many such to-day
men and women whose religion is
that of hearing only.
There Is story told Of certain
new farm hand who was instructed
by his employer to feed his favorite
horse some corn ION the ear" He
was discovered some hours later en-
deavoring to pour the grain into the
ears of the unfortunate animal. We
cannot get any vital religion through
the ears only. The truths of Chris
tianity must be digested and made q
part of our very life before they can
nourish us. The only way to accom-
plish this is to practice them. Many
Christians fail when temptation comes
because they are only hearing Chris
tians. They go to church regularly
They are familiar with the tenets oi
the particular religious body to which
they belong, but they have never prac
ticed what they hear. They are like
students at a technical school who
have listened to many lectures about
the general principles and tools o.
their trade, but have never actually
taken those tools in hand and expert
mented with them.
The man who thinks that merely
hearing the gospel preached makes
him a Christian and will bring hin
salvation has a bitter disappointment
in store. st. James says, BE ye doors
of the Word, and not bearers only, de
ceiving your own selves" Hearing i!
important as first step. Faith com
eth by hearing" Faith is importan
as a foundation. But faith withou
works is dead" One cannot erect ;
substantial building without a goot
foundation, but how sad 1t is to see
strong foundation with no superstruc
ture built thereon. Such a sigh
speaks of failure, of disappointe
hopes. Many a man has been disaI
pointed in his religion because hi
Christianity has consisted of fait
without works, foundation without
building, hearing without doing.
Let us be practical. Do not be lik
the man who built his house upon tn
sand. Join the ranks of the real di:
ciples. Be learners. Handle the tool
of your religion. Practise the col
struction of character. Begin by pu
ting at least one principle of Christ
anity to use. Do at least one kind az
each day. Try to conquer some on
fault. Go to some Christian leade
and ask him to allow you to help
his work. He will give you an oppo
tunity. And as you become more f
miliar with the tools of your Christia
profession God will set you harde
tasks and will give you at the san
tin greater joy in your religion. Yol
spiritual house will be founded upc
a rock.