The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-07-05

SIN Is reproach to any people Inc
being of God is guard to the people
and the sense of God is the foundation
of all civil order, May it never be said
of US as nation or as individuals that
we have forgotten or are forgetting God.
II. The second peril we find to be
that of dissipation. Wasting our time
and energy upon nothing, so to speak.
We hear so much these days about
household economy. Where is the cry
of individual economy? A saving of
the individual and personal resources,
of health and happiness, of intellectual,
moral and physical energies. We
are living of us-as though
today was our last day to spend
amid thesswhirl and turmoil, the
hurry and throe of life. We are
wasting our energy upon useless and
perishable objects. Nothing will take
an individual out of the ranks any
quicker than dissipation. Is it a peril
to our country and to other countries?
Recall the feast of Belshazzarl See the
hand writing on the wall! Hear its in
depreciation Thou art weighed in the
balance and found wanting" And why?
He was squandering his energy in a
useless. selfish and ungodly manner
We need not go so far back in history to
see such picture. There are plenty
of them to be seen in the world today.
God forbid that we should Imperll our
selves as nation by dissipation.
III. The third and last peril to be
thought of this morning is that of
Materialism. This is brought about by
forgetting God and by dissipation.
What did Moses see when he came
down from Mount Sinai with the table
of law? A golden calf. The immediate
result of forgetting God, the product of
dissipation, an example of Materialism.
The children of Israel were so engrossed
in worldly things that they made God
for themselves.
We are so busy these days in making
money, especially some, that If we are
not careful we will erect an altar to
the American eagle instead of to
Jehovah of Hosts.
We cannot afford to sacrifice the
possibilities Of the future and the re-
ward of life well lived by tightly
grasping the material and losing hold of
the spiritual. A nations perils and
glorles are founded upon the character
and personality of every individual in
that nation.
We have seen very briefly the three
perils to which nation is subjected.
What then we ask are its glories?
l. The first glory of any nation is in
its Christian statesmen. In men who
realize their own weakness and the
nations weakness and who strive to
make strong those weak places. In
men who are impelled by high and lofty
ideals. In men who stand upon the
principle righteousness and justice. in
men who hold their trust, their place of
service, not in the fear of man but in
the fear of God, knowing that He will
require an account of the faithfulness
in which those tasks were performed.
In men who have a broad mind and a
sympathetic heart for all classes and
conditions of mankind.
We have those men. But this is not
enough. We want more of them. How
shall we get them? You know and so
do l.
II. Another glory of a nation is an
ever increasing appreciation of the
value and sacredness of human life.
Why do the heather kill and eat one
another? Because they do not know
to do otherwise. Why is it that our
nation is called 1.-The land of the free
and the home of the brave?" Because
we are filled with awe and admiration
for everything that is pure and lovely.
for everything that is holy and right
eous. Because we hold close to our
selves the value and sacredness of every
human being.
But we must hasten:
III. The last glory which we have
time to think of is a better tone in civic
affairs. Every nation needs this. No
nation will rise above the ideals of its
people. And the ideals of those people
are fOstered by the tone in civic affairs,
socially, politically and financially.
Socially in that the relationship of
man to man, of community to com
munity and Of state to state is to be
considered.
Politically that only the highest
motives of pollty and right shall con-
troll the minds and hearts of men.
Financially, that the cause of truth
and righteousness should not be hamper
ed but should be encouraged by our
gifts of money. So that all men every
where might not suffer for the want of
that which is necessary for the preser-
walton and propagation of the race.