River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-01-22

serves only one.
Mammon may mean self, the world,
the flesh or the devil. We will confine
our thought to three possible mas
tiers.
Self as Master.
Man, as a rule, thinks he is his own
master. He says: Il am the cap
tain OF my soul" He recalls without
hesitation the words of the poet:
Man, know thyself,
Presume not God to scan"
and he interprets these words to mean
that a knowledge of God is not his
first duty. In many cases he utterly
ignores God and sees in himself pos
sibilities of perfect man, and strives
10 develop them by himself. A party
of travellers in the Alps were starting
out one morning to scale one of the
highest peaks, and invited young
man to go with them, and on his de-
clinatiOn, asked him il he did not in
tend to make the ascent. He replied:
Yes, | will make it, but | will make it
by myself | have guide book, and
have my own head" The party made
the ascent and returned in safety. The
next day the papers reported the find
ing of dead body of a young man
at the foot / a precipice with guide
book tightly clutched in his hand.
Thus many imagine that they can go
on without God.
Satan as Master.
The teaching of the word of God is
very clear that there is an intelligent,
powerful, malicious personality in the
universe opposed to God, and he Ia
called Satan, or the devil. He is the
god Of this age, and he is given great
power, and seems to be lifted above
mankind, to a position from which
he exercises this great power. His
power is seen in individual lives, and
in masses of men. The diabolism that
is found in certain companies of hui
man beings is almost beyond belief.
The plot against the Jews of Russia
charged with the ritual murder of the
boy Yushinsky, which, according to
George KEENAN, involved the Russian
government itself, can only be &C
counted for on the proposition that
some satanic mind planned it ALL De-
mon possession was clearly taught in
the scriptures, and in modern times
has been clearly proven in China and
other parts of the world by most con-
sentative and discriminating students.
OF some men it can be truly said,
they are devils incarnate. The devil
does not always operate in tho most
debased and fiendish manner, or men
would resist him and fly from him.
Many whose lives are fairly admirable
are yet in the mastery of the evil one.
but do not know it. Did not Jesus say
that certain men We're the children of
the devil? In the individual, the mas
terry of the devil is seen in his in
ability to control his appetite, his tenn
per and his actions.
God as Master.
But may not God be master? Jesus
Christ. who was Cod claimed 70 be
master, saying: "One is your master.
even christ" While there are few,
comparatively, who acknowledge God
as master, there are those who may
claim to parallel the 1000 in Israel
who did not bow the knee of Baal
The disciple Thomas freely called
Jesus Master, and the Holy spirit
coupled the idea of the saving power
of Jesus Christ with his mastership
in the use of the term Lord Jesus.
The mastership of God involves sew
eral things First. definite, positive and
.purposeful surrender to God. When
Saul of Tarsus by the gate of Da-
mascus asked What shall | do,
I.ord?' he made definite surrender
He acknowledged himself from that
moment as the servant and very slave
of God. Secondly. man will at once
let God guide him. As Gods guild
ance IS most clearly given in his ward,
that word will be mans study all the
DAYS. Thirdly, his lie will be one OF
complete obedience. There will be no
further question as to whether the
thing God commands is feasible or
not. 1t is only as to whether it is a
clear command. His not to reason
why. his hut to do or die" This per-
feet surrender is not imbecility; it is
a sane. sensible recognition that the
leadership OF God is better than his
own. An illustration OF this is seen in
the career of such a man as Dwight
j.. Moody.
Yielding the mastery to God, secures
supreme happiness. One of the mas
ter tricks of the devil is to make man
believe that to serve himself is to
secure happiness. The only fear of
Dan Crawford, who for % years was
in the long grass of Africa, was that
he might possibly lose his supreme
10y in God-but he never lost it, The
worker in the city slums. amidst vice,
filth and fetid odors. or among the
men and women who have lost almost
all response to any appeal to better
things, is filled with JOY because he
is where God wants him. Jesus Christ
was supremely happy. We may find
that secret in his prayer: Not my
will. but thine be done" Ultimately
God will be master There is a di
vinity that shapes our ends rough
hew them how we may"
IIorv beautiful is cau6or All fanlfs