The farmer and mechanic., 1913-09-02


IF there is one thing which his
tory has taught more clearly than
another, it is that a nation cannot
lose it's religion without losing also
its virtue and it's integrity; the fate
"f nation after nation, in epoch after
epoch. has shown that the ages of
mental disbelief are ages also Of moral
iniquity." So wrote Dean Farrar.- in
penetrating comment upon the place
Of God in the affairs OF men.
Because man must realize that
there is a Deity, the scene at Sinai
was spectacularly staged. AS we OBJ
served in last weeks lesson, the basic
need Of the Hebrew nation was a
sense Of Jehovah. All the command
ments that were to thunder from the
mountain were preceded by the great
utterance, II am the Lord thy God"
without this realization, no COM
mendments are binding. The Deca-
iogue takes it's force from the charac-
ter Of the LAWGiver. We deny
God, we may repudiate the command
mentS,-but not until then.
Why Heaven Cares For Earth.
Anybody who starts to thinking
about the fundamental things will
lind himself confronting the PROPOSE
tion that If there is God, he must
he interested in man. This is clear
from the nature of this world, and
from the character of human life and
history. In the long evolution of the
race, the time had come for the reve-
iation by God of himself to man.
Sinai which must be grasped. God
spoke the commandments. All the
impulses and aspirations that had
been written in the heart of humanity
were gathered up, articulated and de-
fined in the clearly uttered words that
70 No lou fon
words are not the vague inspirations
and illuminationS of the human heart
they are the distinct, definite utter
ance of the mind of the supreme Law
Giver.
AS the modern constitutional SOW
ereign formally addresses his people
only on rare and important occasions
SO Jehovah broke the silence of eter-
nifty in order to lay down the laws
that should govern the life Of man
kind. When we come to consider it
if anything concerning humanity is
important enough to command the
attention of God. this occasion was it
The race had progressed far enough
to be able to receive the great Code
Laws Which Are Never OutgrOwn.
Grumblers say that legislatures ar,
~nacting too many laws, since cOndi
tions change and their legislation il
outgrown. Every statute book i
numbered up with antiQuated enact
ments. The reason is that men la,
down rules. The Ten Command
ments, on the other hand. were eter
nal principles, which should run a
long as the race of mankind lasted
The Ten Commandments are just q
np-to-date in this year. 1913. as the
were fifteen hundred years befor
Christ. In this brief summary W
have the essentials of mans relatio
TO God, and Of mans relation to mar
Any body of law that will be suf
ficient for the new time, must pu
first humanity's obligations to Goo
That is why the first utterance G
Jehovah on the mount was. Il am tn
Lord thy God, which brought the
out of the land of Egypt" There
no more contemporaneous need
prehension of the Supreme Benz
After all the ills of the time haV
been enumerated. they may be sum
married. in the one short phrase-fol
ge0ulness of God.
When a peoples perception Of tn
Supreme Being grows dim an
cloudy: when material consideration
bulk larger in the days ordinaI
thinking than the eternal veriti'
and the divine realities, then the hOl
of danger has come. Social solidari'
comes from a sense OF dependent
upon God. When men realize thu
they are all children of the Fathe
they proceed to the corroiary Of th
truth, which is that they are brothe
to one another. The shortest rou
TO social solidarity is better unde
standing Of God. In this day, Wht
individualism runs riot, we need
remind ourselves often that the sure
way to serve our own day is to 6
right with the Ruler of all. Witho
God. we are without hope in this
cial organization called civilization.
Let preacher and teacher thil
twice before turning his pulpit
desk into a forum for the discuSsi'
of particular social needs. The I
comprehending need is just-GOd.
Ii the Ark Should Be Found.
ON tables Of stone the ten wor
given in the mount were write
That story used to seem rather fis
In childhood, for we thought tn
men did not write on stone. NJ