The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1910-11-24
4 SHELTERING1
H MANHOOD II
H By REV. W. D. BRADFIELD
Pastor Trinity Methodist Episcopal
Il Church, Dallas. Texas III


from the wind, a covert from the tenn
pest: as rivers Of water in dry place;
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land.-Isaiah 32:1, q
The text Is Isaiah's dream Of just
government "A king shall reign in
righteousness and princes rule in
judgment" 1t is remarkable that Isa-
iah's Hottest conception of the Mes
sianic reign is just government. A
king his Messiah should be who reigns
In righteousness. Isaiah's dream Is
the dream of the ages History is lit
tie more than a record Of strug-
gle for just government A govern
ment allowing equal opportunities for
all, giving every man a square deal,
has been the desire of all peoples.
Men want justice here and now. More
than benevolence or charity men de-
mand simple justice.
1t is too late now to seek to COM
pensate men for injustice here by the
promise of justice after they are dead.
Shelterless people here are no long
er comforted by the promise Of man
sions in the skies. Hungry people are
no longer compensated for hunger
here by the promise of eating bread
in the kingdom of God. Men demand
justice here, and the dream OF mil
lions of hearts is for the just govern
ment which Isaiah foresaw.
The text gives us Isaiah's concep-
ton of the fountain force of society:
"A man shall be as a hiding place from
the wind"-a man. Society is COM
posed of an aggregation of individuals
and no scheme for social betterment
is worth while which has a goal 9TH
er than the improvement of the char
acter of individual men. The fountain
force Of government and society is the
individual. "A man shall be as an
hiding place from the wind"-a man.
The word masses" was not in the vo-
cabulary of the Christ He did not seek
to reach men en- masse. He aimed
at the personal character of individ-
ual men and women.
His ministry was much to individ-
uals now to ruined woman weary Of
her sin, now to a confused seeker by
night. The sum total of his three
years work was the training of half
/ dozen or more individual men. The
/ fountain force of society IS the indi-
vidual man or woman. Disseminate
learning, distribute wealth, do what
| you WILL but you have done nothing
| permanent for society until you have
/ reached the bettered, the personal
( character Of individual men and wom-
en-. Exactly this is the fountain
| force of society as Isaiah saw it. "A
man shall be"-a man
The text is lsaiah's portrait of a
/ sheltering manhood.
! "A man shall be as a hiding place
/ from the wind, a cover from the tenn
! pest; as rivers of water in a dry place,
/ as the shadow of great rock in a
weary land Isaiah looked east of
1 Palestine and beheld running north
and south great cliffs of rock East
/ of these cliffs he beheld the drifting
sands of the Arabian desert. The
| great cliffs he had seen rise in their
majesty and say to the burning, drift
ing sand: Thus far and no farther"
The drift was arrested and to the lee
ward of the great rocks he beheld
GASES blossom as the rose. Here he
| had seen focks and herds roam. Then
/ in his vision he said: The time is
coming-the good time is coming
when man shall repeat the ministry
| OF the rocks. Under his sheltering
manhood the weak shall be protected
and the fainting inspired. A man shall
be as hiding place from the wind
as a shadow of a great rock in
weary land"
1t is admitted by all that Isaiah's
words are a luminous description of
the inspiring and sheltering ministry
of Jesus Christ. But they are more
than that. They are Isaiah's ideal Of
what every life may be. "A man
any man, every man-may repeat the
ministry of the sheltering rocks.
Life, 1t has been said, has aspects
| very desert-like. 1t is swept by drifts,
now of cruel government, now of so
cial impurity, now of commercial dis
honesty. The arresting force has al
ways been man. The drift of Per-
sian cruelty and social corruption
was arrested by Militiades at Mara
thon, The drift of Mohammedan su-
perstition was arrested by Charles
Martel at Tours. The drift of medi-
aeval ecclesiasticism was arrested by
Martin Luther at the Diet Of Worms.
Great outstanding characters who
| have repeated the ministry Of the
rocks which Isaiah saw have made his
tory The achievements of history
are at bottom of the work of these
| men.
| What Jesus Christ did and what the
| great outstanding characters Of his
| tory have done you and | are called
upon in GUS lesser spheres to do.
! The manhood of each is to be a shell
tering manhood. The weak are to be-
protected, the fainting by the shadow
| OF our lives. Only this spirit can
solve our problems. Souls must be
given to our great corporations and
under the shelter of their benevolence
| the weak are to be projected