Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-23

much as one longs for food and drink,
ne Will consecrate his life, love and
labor to the Master and find as a re-
suit of his surrendering up all he has
gained all that the soul longs for
as his personal possessions Filled
with the spirit of the Christ, he is in
spired to live life of self-denial. sac
reveals the character of the believer
in conduct, which is inspired by the
hidden life, and in consequences that
prove ..iks pyacticability, power and
profftableness.
The life of the righteous man brings
bit of heaven into his daily life.
They have it in their heart and expo
rience the blessedness of His right
eousness. Those who are conscious
of their need; those to whom not only
their own needs but those of others
are a source of grief; those who in
trial maintain their poise>; those who
long for Righteousness, the mercifui,
the pure in heart, the peacemakers.
the prosecuted for Righteousness sake
these have the life required by ithe
King. They are Christians in deed
and life. They are members of His
kingdom: They find their needs met.
They inherit the earth and obtain
mercy. Whatsoever a man soweth
that he also reaps, for the man who
gives receives and grows. The grum-
bling Christian never develops. The
merciful man wins the esteem of man
and obtains the rewards of his life in
the joy that mercy brings to him.
The source of power in the Christian
life is in the heart. which. if kept
pure and true becomes blessed.
Christ pointed out the place that the
Christian was to fill in this world by
claiming that the men aud women
who came up to His standards were
ha coli Of ha nd lier1
of the world" The Christians task
is to save the world from putrefaction
and darkness. Darkness cannot de-
stroy the light, but the light can
vanquish darkness. if it is not shaded
If Christians lived SO that men would
see their beautiful deeds. the men
would come to recognize Gods power
and glorty Him.
Christs gospel is message Of peace
to men of good will. The Christian
believes that the ideals of Jesus are
more powerful than the armed forces
of nations in molding the life of men
1t has accomplished more for peace
and at a much less financial cost to
men. than the battleships. armies and
ornaments of men. The only hope
for the reconstruction of this world
and the restoration of the peace that
ought to exist among men is through
the application of the ideals of Jesus
TO the problems of the hour. The man
filled with His spirit is bound to tri-
umph. He may have to wait the
judgment of the centuries. but he
wins who remains true to the right
eonsness of Jesus.
Christ claimed that the full ex-
position of His ideals of righteous
ness. which He had not as yet given.
did not differ from that of the law
and the prophets. After claiming that
He had not come to destroy. but to
fulfill their eternal significance, Jesus
pointed out by a series of contrasts
between the current, Jewish concep-
tons and His teachings what was
righteousness. These contrasts touch
ed murder, adultery, divorce. oaths.
retaliation. resistance and love of
others. The distinctive feature of
Christs teachings in connection with
these subjects was in its inwardness.
The Master taught that righteousness
did not consist in outward conformity
to rules of ritual and regulations of
conventions: it consisted in the recti-
tude of the thought and feelings, that
lie beyond the outward act and out of
which it springs. This applied a
searching test to all specific acts and
enlarged enormously the range of
acts that are to be judged. The
Masters teachings. that the impulse
and motive behind all acts are to be
Judged, bring the whole of life under
the demand for righteousness, which
is nothing else than perfection, and
that not of man but of the heavenly
Father.