Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-04-23
REV. CHESSMAN ON
WHAT GOD REQUIRES
BAPTIST CLERGYMAN breaches
AT BAPTIST CHURCH FROM
MICAH WHO WAS BILLY SUN.
DAY OF THAT DAY.

Rev. G. w. Chessman spoke last
night on the subject. what God Re
quires." Text Micah 6:S. What doth
the Lord require of thee but to dc
justly, to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with thy God He said:
From the time men began to know
the one God and to feel responsible
to Him for their acts they have asked
what he required of them. In Micah's
day Gods people got lost in an elab,
crate religious system. Their profes
sional priesthood and the whole sys.
tenn Of sacrifice had deteriorated iato
superficial religion. Spiritually the
people were far removed from God.
Micah came along to stir up q revival
His burning words laying bare their
sins created CONSERVATION. He ex.
posed their base corruption veneered
with religious rites. He held up their
shams to the light of day. He was
Billy Sunday Of that day uttering
words with the quality of nitro-glycer.
Inc for the shattering of meaningless
motions Of religion. Hear him declar-
Ing the cody man Is persisted out of
the earth, and there is none upright
among men; they all lie In wait for
blood. they hunt every man his broth
er with net. Their hands are upon
that which Is evil to do 1t diligently,
the prince asketh. and the Judge is
ready for reward; and the great
man he uttereth the evil desire of
his soul
j is q scorching indictment of sup
erfcial religion, religion of outward
observances. elaborate publicities.
snowy externalitics. and hollow at the
center. With such religion God is
not pleased and does not require it.
Their danger is ours a religion OF
mere externalities empty Of vital re.
lfgious content; religion of rituals
tic red tape, traditional postures and
attitudes. Our method of conducting
religious service. the means we en-
ploy, may be perverted into or sub
stituted for a vital spiritual religion.
Church attendance and church support
may be given the content of religion.
something confined to the church. And
. religion which is confined within the
church Is no better than the religion
Of the Hindu because after he has
cOnfOrmed to religious customs in the
temples he feels free to lie, cheat or
steal Is best suits his purpose. Again,
we may substitute for spiritual reli-
gfon an intellectual assent to the body
Or truth comprising orthodoxy. We
may shout our uncontaminated ortho-
dOxy from the house tops thinking we
are religious because we have no
doubts but swallow everything. bead
md tail. God does not require whole
sale gullibility. The penalty of bolt
Ing at the dining table is acute dys
pepsia. God Is not pleased with lip
declaration of how religious we are.
One prophet states 1t where he says.
this people honoreth me with their
lips but their heart is far from me-
1T Is the heart God wants. Note
out text. Micah says God is not re.
quiring the externalities but the In.
ternalities: Justice, kindness, humil-
ity. This Is designation of heart
goodness as Gods supreme require
ment II the heart Is right the pub.
Kettles take care OF themselves. As
the heart lis, so will the actions be,
for out Of the heart are the issues
Of life. God requires the heart, he is
saying, my son, give me thy heart
Presbyterian Church.
One of the largest congregations
that has gathered at the Presbyterian
church In the last few months partici.
pated In the Communion service yes.
terday morning. Three out of the
seven new members were publicly
welcomed into the church. The serv-
ice was most impressive, and the suf.
fering, death, resurrection and com
Ing again OF the Savior was set forth
IN such a way that there was not
only the sadder side of the sacrifice
but the triumphant note OF
the return was given to the service.
I The evening attendance has been
increasing for the past six
weeks. No doubt the musical service,
the splendid organ contributions by
Mrs. w. G. Paisley and the timely
topics by the pastor has attracted the
friends.
"Neighbor love- was the subject
discussed by the pastor. Rev. J.
v0nckx, In which he showed that only
% one comes into vital relation with
God II Is possible to possess that
neighbOr love which Is the latter half
u the first and great commandment.
Man never rises any higher In the
moral scale than the teaching of his
Gods man has one side Of |
his nature open to God and thus re.
ceives the divine love, and the other
side Of his nature Is open to his fell
lows and thus the divine love ex-