The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1916-02-10
Masons Accept Rev.
Vermilya's Invitation

Vermlya's Invitation
In response to an invitation from
Rev. C. E. Vermilya to attend a special
service at the M. E. church Sunday
morning, the Masons assembled in the
church parlors and entered the church
in a body. There was good attend
ance of the organization and the
church was filled with interested list
eners while Rev. Vermilya addressed
them on the subject "The Finding of
the Book" He prefaced his address
by saying that the object in inviting
the men was the result of deep-seat-
ed conviction that the work of the
church was more largely a mans job
than many thought; and also the feel
ing that those organizations that have
adopted the Bible as their moral stand
ard certainly should be cooperative
with the church in the work. He took
his text from the second book of
Kings, twenty-second chapter and
eighth verse: and Hilkiah, the High
Priest, said unto Shaphan, the scribe,
have found the Book of the Law in
the house of the Lord" Space does
not permit the production of his SER
mon verbatim, but the following is
developed racial persistency such as
CLEANED from his remarks:
Around the Book Of Law the Jews
built their civilization. Through their
loyalty to it's ideals and it's God they
the world has never known, and while
today the temporal nation is extinct
and often they are jeered by their fell
low men, still there exists a unity of
purpose and hope that may yet bring
them to a place in the Development of
human life that will command the ad-
miration of the world. To the Bible,
including the old Book of the Law,
modern civilization is indebted more
than to any other one factor. 1t has
given life to our literature, soul to
our art, and underlies all our laws.
In fact the history of II centuries has
been marvellously affected by the in
fuence Of this Book. After long life
spent in an attempt to understand and
assimilate the truths of the Bible,
Gladstone said "My only hope for hui
mainly lies in bringing them into
touch with divine revelation"
Marvellous as has been the influence
of the Bible, still greatly has it been
hampered in that which it would have
accomplished by the tendency of the
human mind to lose sight of it's essen.
tial message through the emphasis of
secondary and very subordinate mat
ters.N The book has often been lost
in the history of the world through
legalism, that is the tendency to put
the emphasis on law and moral code
as the essential thing in religious life;
and it has often been lost in the tenn
pie itself through the tendency of men
to formalities, putting emphasis upon
rule and ritual and rite. There are
those who have made kind of fetch
or idol of the Bible, who have revered
the book more than their Maker and
honored it more than the life it was
intended to serve. The opposition, for
instance, to the modern scholar who is
seeking to investigate and understand
the origin of the book has frequently
been little better than the spirit of
the idol worshipper. The great thing
of the book is not it's letter, or form,
or rule that we may derive therefrom,
but it's general message to man is that
LuC1 = 10 d pol oOldl WO1u W CVC4 ILL
dividual heart. We read the accounts
of the patriarchs not to get the law
that they formulated, but to be con-
vinced that God speaks to men in
every age as he spoke to them, furn.
fishing inspiration and light thereby fit.
ting men to perform the tasks before
them in the age in which they live
The primary task of the church is to
discover this word of truth to men.
The choir, under the direction of
Dean woodlands, very ably rendered
an anthem, while everyone present en-.
joyed hearing Mrs. Craswell sing in
her inimitable manner "The Bird with
the Broken Pinion." De Woodlands
rendered a beautiful cdertory on the
organ. Many expressions of pleasure
and interest have been heard regard.
ing the service. The various orders
of the town are to be the guests of
the church and pastor in the coming
weeks. and many good things are in