Mexico Missouri message., 1910-07-28
The
Requirements
of God

NH& HIS btCOhu--lahAhB lOA my
e. text the message Of God to
the church In Laodicea, BE
cause thou art lukewarm, and neither
hot nor cold, ! will spew thee out Of
my. mouth" Hot, the first choice;
cold, the second; one thing or an
other: for or against out in the open
with God, or out in the open against
him.
have often thought of doing this,
but as yet have found no time, writes
Rev. Francis B. Upham, d. D., in the
Christian Herald. have a series on
hand that will take all my skill and
energy for at least fifty years more.
have often thought of paying my re-
spects-under the inspiration, | trust,
of the Spirit of God-to the lazy man
who occasionally comes to hear me;
pleading with him to get up and go
where he belongs; to do and dare
it may be for the devil, his master,
rather than do or dare nothing for
anybody.
For, brethren, there's nothing that
stirs me more than laziness based
upon commercial cowardice-the cold
blooded estimate of requirement and
reward from a personal standpoint
only; nothing that seems to me more
foreign to the spirit of well.nigh reck
less sacrifice that is in the very heart
of the Christian character. For the
lazy man ever makes his defense. He
did so in the time Of our Lord, and he
does so now. He has the temerity to
seek TO justify himself-temerity is
the word l use today; talk to me to-
morrow about this out on the street,
and I'll use another. He thinks, as.
did the shirker in that parable of the
talents, that he should be commend
ed for his wisdom. Il knew thee.
said the servant in this old classic
story-'T knew thee that thou art a
hard man, and I was afraid, and went
and hid thy talent in the earth; 10,
there thou hast that is thine"
Afraid May God forgive him!
Afraid!-and coolly says SO! May God
pity him! Afraid, and thinking that
cowardice can ever be accepted as an
excuse! May the good Lord lead him
into the light!
God Wants More Than He Gave.
God wants from man more than he
gave to him. He gave him life-he
wants it back again; he gave him
heart power, brain force, the will to
conceive and create; he asks for all
these gifts and graces to be returned,
and, with them, gifts and graces that
they have gathered for themselves.
Touch not the unclean thing. You
cannot handle black pitch without be-
ing def1led," said an old minister not
long ago to younger one. "That may
be-" was the answer, but this gem
was in the pitch, and the main thing
was not whether my hands were clean,
but whether or not they were empty"
Right you are" said a rough old
class leader who heard the converse
ton. Next to having the marks of
the atoning blood upon my hands, I'd
like the scars and the stains that
come through the attempt to save a
sinner from his wretchedness."
TITS the shine upon the silver, the
! purity that suggests the shelter out
of sight, the nest in the napkin, that
stirs the indignation of the Master
He wants his own with what his own
should win. He wants you with the
men you might rescue from misery
His Love Unknown to Many.
The sin of inactivity, let me say, IN
the second place, is based upon mis-
conception of Gods character. 'r
hn kh,i
thou art a hard mana hard man
reaping where thou hast not sown
and gathering where thou hast no
strewed." But was he? He gave Il
the servant a good start in life;
good share of his own property. HI
gave to him absolute freedom and I'm
limited opportunity. It was to ia
country" that he went, and It was no
until after a long time" that he re
turned. He took into consideration
his native capacity. To each one b.
gave according to his several ability
. to the brilliant man, five talents; +
the man of average ability, two; an
to the poor fellow who had never don
r much, and of whom little should b
: required, one. He was ready with
r hearty welcome. The man VIII
3 brought back two talents heard tn
same CHEEKY commentator that tn
man had won five talents heard. TIL
man of one talent might have hear
+ the same. And yet, the servant call
:. the Master" hard mani"
Q So l say, God is not known. HI
thoughts, his love, his tender interei
6 in the small details OF even petit
+ life, are no more known to many {
s us than the divine elaboration befoI
t the fall. Even the saints know NJ
It God. Men who have centuries Of tn
o activity of Jesus Christ to learn fror
d men who have their own Christian e
l. perience, read their New Testamen
70 study every day, and dare to stand
10 Christ's stead and beseech men to
% reconciled TO God-even the saints
If not know him yet. Men who thiI
IN that they are commissioned to analyi
4 | Itch ..