The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-01-27

! of grace God has sent us the Holy
| Spirit, the great teacher, but not to
relieve US of the responsibility Of
teaching or OF studying. The Holy
Spirit does not enlighten the man
VINO Is not seeking light. The man
who puts away his idols-his pet sins.
whatever they may be-aud decides
/ to serve the Lord. and goes no fur
Their, goes nowhere. He must re-
solve TO learn. He must know the
God he would serve. He must go TO
1 he is to walk. He must read the d.
rections God has sent him,
/ Does God Prosper the Righteous?
Jehoshaphat served the Lord and
the Lord blessed him. This seems to
be the rule in the old Testament. II
man serves the Lord with all his
heart the Lord sends him prosperity.
Almost everywhere riches are asso-
ciated with Righteousness. prosperity
with peace In the New Testament 1t
is different Blessed are the poor In
spirit" Blessed are they that
mourn Blessed are they which GO
hunger and thirst after righteous
ness" How may We account for this
difference?
When you were q child and your
father gave you good things you felt
that he loved You. When he denied
You, were were cure that he hated
you. You could not understand how
he could deny YOU anything IL he
really loved you. When you became a
man, you could look back and see
that often, when your father gave
you good things. he was INDUCING you
to your hurt, and that. when he de-
MED you, It was always for your good.
The Old Testament age was the child
age of the world. Men did not I'M
derstand God any better than a little
child understands his father. Natur-
ally they felt that when God pros
pered them he smiled upon them with
loving favor. and that when he sent
trouble upon them he frowned upon
them. Perhaps God saw how natural
II was and accommodated himself to
their weak reasoning. Now and then.
as in the case Of Job. he sought to
make them understand better, but
few were prepared for 1t. Inasmuch
| as men could not understand how
| God could love them and yet allow
them to suffer, he often chose to show
his love for them by blessing them
with temporal prosperity. But by and
| by God sent his Son into the world
to teach the world more about him
self. And as the child world went to
/
| ter. To-day those who have grown
up In the school OF the Master Teach
err can see how God, the Father, can
| love his people and yet deny them,
Just as those who have grown up In
the school OF life can understand how
an earthly father can love his chill
dren and yet deny them.
1t Is not given to us to speak with
authority about this matter, II may
or may not be the true explanation
1t is the only explanation that in any
degree satisfies my own mind.
The Golden Text.
Seek ye first the kingdom OF God
and his righteousness and all these
things shall be added unto YOU" Doe
Jesus mean TO teach, what the an
clients believed, that God rewards tbs
righteous with great temporal pros
perity? No; on the other hand, he Il
trying TO keep his followers from be
ing consumed with anxiety about Their
/ temporal welfare. fie DOES not hutC
out TO them the goal of Temporal
prosperity; he simply assures then
that If they will make their spiritua
interests foremost they need suffer NJ
anxiety about the rest.