The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-03-01
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL.
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

neighbor as thyself''? What about
Church attendance? What about our
responsibilities to our families? To the
Church? To the poor? What about
study of the Bible to know Gods will?
What about our responsibility for the
J heather? What about baptism and
the Lords supper?
Indirectly, dear brethren, all the
matters included in our questions and
! many more are included incidentally in
the provisions of our text. Sometimes
whole sermon is preached in few
words. No one will dispute the rea-
sonableness of the Divine requirement
as stated in our text Our Creator
could not justly or with self-respect
ask less than this of his creatures who
would enjoy his favor. The interests
of all demand that these principles
| should be required of every creature
permitted the enjoyment of Divine ia
vor to the extent of eternal life. Who
| ever fails to come up to these condi-
| lions would thus evidence his I'M
worthiness of life eternal; his pro-
longed existence would merely be a
prospecting Of sin and a menace to the
happiness and righteousness of others.
But now let us see the scope of this
Divine requirement. whose justice we
have already acknowledged. We note
| the natural division of our text into
three parts:
a. Doing justly;
e. Loving mercy;
81 Walking humbly.
The requirement Of justice In all orr
dealings with cur fellows, commends
itself to every rational mind. 1t in
cludes the whole Law of God. A
brief statement of that Law which
had our Lords approval reads. Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart and all thy mind. all thy
being and all thy strength; and thou
shalt love thy neighbor as myself. On
these two propositions hang all the
Law and the Prophets. 1t is but just
that we should recognize our Creator
as first; that we should glorify the
One who gave us our being and all
the blessings that come Herewith;
that we should be obedient to his
righteous requirements that make for
our own happiness and that of others.
1t is also but right that we should
recognize the rights of others, as we
would have them recognize our rights.
The Golden Rule is the barest of JUS
tice. Not hairs breadth less would
come within the requirements Of our
text, Do Justly. Come, then, let us
reason together. How many Of US
do justly in all Of life's affairs-in our
relationship to our God and to our
neighbor?
Begin at home. Let each one crits-
else his words and his deeds toward
his parents; toward his children; to-
ward his brothers; toward his sisters;
toward husband; toward wife. Do
we in all of our relationships of life
treat these who are so near and so
dear to US according to the standards
of Justice, according to the Golden
Rule? Do we do toward them as we
would have them do toward us? If
not, after making a beginning with
the Lord. striving to render to him
our homage and obedience, let us close
ly scrutiniZe every word. every act Of
the home life and see to what extent
these can be improved upon and made
more nearly just. The majority of
people. we feel sure, will be surprised
to know how unjust they have been
toward those who are of the very
nearest and dearest of fieshly relation
ships.
Follow the matter up and consider
the justice or injustice of your words
and deeds in daily life with your
neighbors and daily associates. Do you
invariably speak to them in the same
words and with the same tone and
gesture that you would approve If they
were in your place and you in theirs?
In matters Of business do you drive
closer bargain with them than you
would think just for them to make
with you? Or, on the other hand. do
you ask of them higher prices for the
services or materials you furnish them
than you would consider just and right
| if you were the purchaser and they
| the vendors? Do you watch your
chickens that they do not commit dep
relations upon your neighbours garden
as carefully as you would wish your
| neighbor to watch his chickens as re-
| spects your garden, if you had one?
| Do you blow no more tobacco smoke
| In the face of your neighbor than you
would like to have him blow in your
face? Are you as careful about WHIP
| ing your feet when entering his house
as you would like him to be when en-
! tering your house? Do you treat all
men, women. children and animals as
kindly, as gently. as properly every
\ way as you think would be just and
| tight il you were in their place and
they in yours? Do you speak as kind
| ly of your neighbors as you would
have them speak Of you? Or do you
hold up their imperfections to ridicule,
as you would like to have them hold
up yours? Do you guard your tongue
so that you speak only things you
would think proper for your neighbor
to speak respecting you, If you changed
places?
Do you not begin to see, dear friends,
that what God requires of us is much
beyond what the majority have been
| rendering? Do you stand appalled, and
tell me that it would be impossible to
live fully up to that standard? agree
with you. And St. Paul agrees, say
ing, 1--WE cannot do the things which
| we would The Scriptures again
agree Snd declare There is none
righteous. no, not one. All have sim
ned and come short of the glory of
God"
What shall we do? Shall we say
that because we are unable to live up
to our own conceptions and stand
ards of justice we will make no at
tempt to do so, but abandon those
standards entirely? God forbid. We
are weak enough and imperfect enough
as it is To ignore our best ideals of
justice would be to take off all the
brakes and permit the downward tend
encies of our depraved natures to go
rapidly from bad to worse-to carry us
further and further from God and the
standards of character which be ap-
proves We can surely be content to
do nothing less than our very best to
live up TO our own ideals and to raise
those ideals as nearly as possible to
the Divine standard.
What Would Be the Use7
| Suppose we do our very best daily