The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1915-05-21

| kNS.1KN2SSAsz8&sxSs> unto all good
works.
The man of God must be born OF
God, partaker of the divine nature,
as the Spirit plainly taught through
Peter. 1t is at this point that many
make shipwreck o. their faith or doc
! trine not seeing that the new birth
! is absolutely necessary, and forget
the teaching of Jesus that some men
are the children OF the devil. This
last thought is not complimentary to
man, nor is the spirit that man mani
tests in the oppression of the weak
! by the strong, nor the thorough sell
| tshness manifested in much CONNER
+ cial competition, nor hate, that is IL
Illustrated in the present European
! war
Intercourse With God.
The man of God will have much
intercourse with God. and this must
necessarily be mutual. In olden time
| God spoke directly to some who were
known as men of God, but in these
days he speaks to us by Jesus Christ.
who is only made known TO us
through the Bible. IL is inevitable,
! therefore, that a man of God must
| study the Bible. not as an intellectual
stimulus. which it would be, nor TO Sc
cure the best code of ethics ever Of
fered to man, nor TO fortify himself
| for doctrinal debate, but in order that
| he may know Gods will. His attitude
in taking up such study should be
that OF the little Samuel, who is
spoken of in the text as the man OF
God, and who said Speak, Lord, for
thy servant heareth." Man must also
speak to God, and this is by prayer,
about which much error is held, espe-
cially that ii is a mystical and mys-
| terious exercise that some timid souls
| fear TO undertake. Yet to the man
| of God it is the most natural thing In
the world. If this mutual intercourse
! is intimate and frequent, the man will
! grow more and more into the likeness
OF God, just as human beings grow
more and more like each other be-
cause of intimate contact.
Man of God. Gods Man.
The man of God will be the repre-
! sentative OF God. his champion. This
! at once involves the necessity Of cour-
age and a good store of common
sense. In these days. which are GER
! tainly not altogether regenerate, God
needs men in every walk of life 10
! be his representatives. In the busi-
ness world he wants men OF tender
| conscience; in the political world men
who make no pledges except to him
self; in the social world men and
women, too, who despise the tricks OF
social custom; in the realm of morals
men who stand squarely for temper
ance, Sabbath-~eeping, pure language
and clean life. At this point the man
of Goa must not forget that he is
human. The only one to whom the
term Goldman" may be properly APP
piled was no less a man than God,
OF whom it was rightly said, Behold
the man One is not necessarily
man of God. because he withdraws to
the monastery, the cave OF the wilder
ness, or takes such a view OF the
world that he positively refuses in
any way 10 deal with Caesar or the
rulers that are ordained OF God,
There is no greater honor awaiting
the true Christian than to compel the
world TO say that he is Gods man. He
may be a busy farmer. a mechanic,
or a day laborer. railroad president,
the head Of a great institution, or the
president OF the United States.
Recognition by the World.
The man of God should be recog-
nized by others as such. Samuel was
known TO Saul, in what way we do
not know certainly, as the man OF
God. The man of God must let his
light shine, but this must always be
in recognition OF the fact that light
never makes any noise in its shining.
In letting light shine there is more
likelihood that the man attracts oppo-
sition rather than appreciation. Some
men have proved that they are men
of God because they have stood alone
or in small companies. protesting
against the evils that they see the
majority fostering. Jeremiah in Je-
rusalem, Daniel In Babylon, Paul in
Athens, Martin Luther In Germany.
John Knox in Scotland, and others,
were almost alone in their stand for
God, but in the end the cause for
which they stood triumphed.
An electric sign in the city Of Chi
cago reads: Sooner or later you will !
trade at the -" and then says. /
why not sooner" Sooner or later
every man will want to be a man OF
God Why not sooner'