The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-12-23

Ei,saSsSsssSsSSzA Cast not away
therefore your con-
fidence. which hath great recompense, of
reward. Hebrews y, 81.
aur English word confidence is a syn
onym for faith. 1t is a very pretty
thought that we should not cast away
our faith. but hold firmly TO it. and
gain reward. This thought is ex-
pressed elsewhere in the Scriptures,
but it is not the thought Of our text.
Here the word confidence more proper
courageous presentation of a message
not always kindly received. The Apos-
tie is urging the followers Of Christ to
be of good courage, or. i'll the language
OF the Savior. that they should not put
their light under 4 buShel. but ON
candlestick.'' where it would shine out
for the blessing Of men.
There is a practical side to the Cos
pei Everything enjoined upon the fol-
lowers of Christ and all their trying
experiences in life are wisely intended
TO work out for them character-devel-
ppihNnt VI S,OOu. III lliC lCAlutSs
is mistake to think, as some of us
have thought in the past, that it is the
will of God that we should merely
hear of Christ and give nominal as
sent to the message of his death as our
Redeemer and turn from outward
forms of sin-and then. contented with
our progress. help others to the same
low standards.
The Father Does the Drawing.
Quite TO the contrary, the. teachings
of Jesus and his Apostles ignore the
world as whole and merely seek for
a special class with hearing ears and
appreciative hearts. The Gospel mes
sage set forth in the Bible knows
nothing of the ordinary mission work
of rescuing drunkards and harlots and
the profane. While not refusing pub
Leans and harlots it did not go about
seeking them. 1t waited for them to
seek for righteousness and, as the
Master said, mo man can come un-
TO me except the Father which sent
me draw him.; land whosoerer cometh
unto me Twill in no wise cast OUT
lJehn ri, 81, A, Coz. AS matter
Of fact, those who came to the Mas
ter aud those who have been Interested
in- his message ever since, have not,
in any large proportion, been the rich,
the great, the learned the noble, ac-
cording to tire course of this world.
but chiefly the poor. rich in faith to-
ward our God.
Take as an illustration st. Paurs
course when he went to Athens. We
do not find that he started mission
Sunday School and offered the chill
dren the prospects of picnic or q
Sunday School treat, in order to gather
them for a half hours talk about moth
ing. ITO keep them off the street"
Neither did he seek out the drunkards
in the slums and establish slum mis-
sion On the contrary he sought the
ear of the intelligent classes, the think
ing classes. irrespective Of their wealth
or station. Why? Because he had
MESA ge-a message which children
could not understands: message
which drunkards were incapacitated
i''ii' o..lItStcitOth6s q LiCSccSC " III ~
should appeal, If at all, TO the best
people of Athens. whether rich or poor.
Have we not had, to considerable
extent. the wrong idea? Are we wiser
than the Lord and the Apostles and
able to give them pointers as to meth
DDS instead of following their exam
pie, as we were instructed to do:
They proclaimed the Second Coming
of Messiah and the establishment of
his Kingdom. They preached that the
very object Of his Reign of Righteous
ness for thousand years will be the
putting down of sin in its every form
and the lifting up Of poor. fallen hui
mainly. They taught that there was
danger of attempting to make prose
lyte and really doing more harm than
good thereby. They taught that the
special work to which Gods people are
now commissioned as ministers or serv-
ants of Christ is the proclaiming of
the Gospel-."the Good Tidings of the
Kingdom the proclaiming of eter-
nal torment nor the attempt to drive
the world of mankind from sin through
fear They taught that the work of
this present Age is the selection from
amongst mankind Of the Bride class, to
be Messiah,s associates in his King
dom, foisthe blessing of all the world
1t is this message of the goodness of
God that our text declares should be
proclaimed with courage, with bold
ness with outspokenness.