River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-02-11


}g2a249z1--2zzzs.z God require Of
lRA9IGK KO00LLOl thee, but to do
justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God?" Micah $50 He said in part:
Is it possible that the true religion of
the Bible demands nothing more of US
than is expressed in this text! What
about the Jewish Law? What about
it's sin-offering, its burnt Offering, its
thank offerings: What about the Ten
Commandments? What about the di-
gest Of those commandments approved
by our Lord Jesus-"ThOu shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
with all thy mind. with all thy being,
with all thy strength; and thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself"! What
about church attendance? What about
our responsibility to our families, to
the church, to the poor? What about
Bible study TO know Gods will? What
about our responsibility for the heath
en-! What about Baptism and the
Lords Supper:
Indirectly all the matters covered by
our questions, and many more, are in
GUIDED incidentally in the provisions of
our text Sometimes a whole sermon
is preached in Il few words. No one
will dispute the reaSonableness of the
Divine requirement as stated i'll our
text. Our Creator could not justly or
with self-respect ask less than this Of
His creatures who would enjoy Els
favor The interests OF all demand
that these principles should be reqllir-
ed Of every creature permitted the en-
joyment Of Divine favor to the extent
of eternal life. Whoever fails to come
up to these conditions would thus evil
dence his unWOrthiness Of life eternal.
His prolonged existence would merely
be prospecting Of sin and menace to
happiness and righteousness.
Let us see the scope Of this Divine
requirement, whose justice we have al
ready acknowledged. We note the nat
ural division of our text into three
parts: % Doing justly; (2J Loving mer-
cy; 81 Walking humbly.
The requirement of justice in all our
dealings with our fellows commends
Itself to every rational mind. Justice
includes the whole Law of God. A
brief statement of that Law, which
had our Lords approval, reads, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, all thy mind, all thy being
and all thy strength; and thou shalt
love thy neighbor as myself" On
these two propositions hang all the
Law and the Prophets.
II is but just that we should recog-
nize our Creator as first, that we
should glorify the One who gave us
our being and all the blessings that
come Herewith, that we should be
obedient to His righteous require
mentS. which make for our own hap
pineSs and that of others. 1t is also
but right that we should recognize the
rights of others as we would have
them recognize our rights. The Golden
Rule is the barest of justice. Not a
hairs breadth less would come within
the requirements of our teXt-DO just
~. Come, then, let us reason together.
How many of us do justly in all of
life's affairS-in our relationship to our
God and to our neighbor?
Begin Justice at Home.
Let each one criticise his words and
his deeds toward his parents, his chill
dren, his brothers, his sisters, toward
husband, toward wife. In all our re-
lationships of life do we treat those
who are so near and dear to us ac-
cording TO the standards of Justice
according to the Golden Rule? Do we
do toward them as we would have
them do toward us? If not, after max
ing a beginning with the Lord striv
ing to render to Him our homage and
obedience, let us closely scrutiniZe ev-
cry word, every act. of the home life.
and see to what extent these can be
improved upon and made more nearly
| just. The majority of people. we feel
sure. will be surprised TO know how
unjust they have been toward those
who are of the very nearest and dear
est of freshly relationships.
Follow the matter up. and consider
the justice or injustice of your words
and deeds in daily life with your
neighbors and associates. Do you in
varably speak to them in the same
words and with the same tone and
gesture that you would approve if
they were in your place and you in
| theirs? In business matters do you