Omaha daily bee., 1915-10-03


shine before men, that they shall see
your good words. and glorify your Father
which Is IN heaven"
They will glorify God because OF what
they see in your lives They will glorify
Him because Of the power they see in
you. Living so as to glorify God was the
first thing Jesus taught HIS disciples. and
1t is the first thing He enjoins upon us,
Religion is the most important matter
IN life, and Il should be our first busl
ness. The text means that you shouldn't
shine on Sunday and be like a London
fog for the remainder OF the week. Your
light should so shine every day and all
the time.
1t is not what you say that counts. nor
1t is 80 much how great the thing is that
You do. a man can serve God while driv-
ing hogs as well as while preaching the
gospel A man can be one of the worst
sinners as he sits i'm pew or sings hymns
and he can be the best kind of a saint
while he is thawing a water pipe. The i'm
portant thing is that you live for the
Lord, wherever you are and Whatever IT
is your business to do.
Let your light so shine before men
that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father which is in heaven"
This means that God expects all to
shine. We can't all be great preachers
and we ought to be thankful for that:
we can't all be great s,ngers-and it's n
good thing that we can't; but all can
do something, every man can stand FOR
Christ and let the world know where he
stands We can let the world the flesh
and the devil know on which side we
stand. I'll bet the brewers don't smile
wi ryH
They know where you are.
It's a good thing we are not all preach
ers. It's a good thing that we are not
all singers. | know what would happen
TO you people out there II 1 tried to sing.
and know what would happen to you If
''Rody" tried to preach.
III bet there are a lot Of church men,
bers in town who can show so poor
light that you cant tell whether they
are for these meetings OF against them.
That's the reason the devil is having such
good time and that's why he wasn't put
in the hospital long ago.
mana church member-was going UP
TO lumber camp in the north and a |
friend said to him.
IF those lumberjacks find out you're
q Christian they'll make sport of you"
He went up there and when he came back
his friend said:
We'll, how did you get along with the J
lumberjacks?" The man answered:
"All right. They didn't find it out"
That's the way with so many people |
who profess TO be Christians They're
church members, but a stranger would
have mighty hard time finding it out. |
If you are a Mason, everybody knows It. |
If you're an odd Fellow, you wear the |
In xnyffh fI,n
knows you are. If you are a democrat
and any one who doesn't know it makes |
an attack on the democratic party in
your presence. he'll find out mighty
quick.
Don't Fight for Christ.
The first thing a man does when he
joins lodge is to get a pin. and If any
body says anything against the lodge
he'll stand up and fight for It; but there
are lot OF church members who will
sec the church and Jesus Christ insulted
and never open their mouths. If they
were real men they would do what a man
does when he sees his wife or sister in
suited. They would fight If there was a
drop of red blood in their veins You've
got to dig up the church records to find
cut who are members.
al they want of that kind Of reHSIon.
There are too many who won't take
time to fight for God. They won't take
time for family prayer, or for personal
work. or for Bible reading, or for the
prayer meeting or work in the Sunday
school You eat? Yes. You wash your
self? Yes. You comb your hair? Yes
But you haven't any time to work for
Goo.
God expects us to illuminate this world, !
but instead of doing it by our works too
many of us sit around and sing:
''Oh, Think OF the Home Over There" |
when we ought to be out breaking clods, !
or killing gophers. or skinning skunks
and snakes. Let your light shine. Vir-
tue is light; vice is darkness. The light ,
of Christianity will dispel the forces OF
darkness and brighten up this old world. |
A Christian light will shine anywhere.
The light over my head shines just as
brightly here as it does on any pther
place. 1t is an effort and it comes from /
a cause. There is a dynamo out there
somewhere. and it is making the Light !
shine. The power of God is the dynamo
that enables us to shine. This light up :
here doesn't say:
81 don't like to shine in this crude tab /
ernacle. l could shine so brightly IL l
only were in magnificent church wi h :
stained glass windows and carved pevs
and a big organ backed up In the cor
ner." No. 1t will shine anywhere 1t IS
put, so long as the power Is there.
Keep your lamp trimmed and burning /
II you backslide. hundred people may
go to he'll on your account. Take time
for church, take time to read your Bi6le,
take time FOR prayer meeting. and take
slime for family prayers in the home,
Light Positive Force.
Darkness is a negative force. light Is a
positive force. and the positive will over
come the negative.
Sin is a negative force, Christianity IL
a positive force. and it overcomes sin. {
You can shine anywhere IL you are right
with God-it doesn't make any difference
where you are, whether you are I'm a
beautiful church or out In some dark