Great Falls tribune., 1921-12-05

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flowers must bloom aNM
in harmony and with
equal beauty md
splendor, in order
that the uni
whole may be the beautiful spot the
gardener iss striving to create. Mr.
Tottens address follows:
"In this text We are exhorted TO
give diligence to make our calling ana
election sure. These words would I'M
ply that we have calling and election
| that it is possible to lose.
FIRST, it is evident that we are
called.
"Second. the word election has to
do with the choice of God. Some lie
| NAV choose and some He may reject
The power of judgment must be ac-
corded to Him. But the word also I'M
plies that the surety of this election
depends on us.
"a quaint colored minister explained
| it this way. God has voted for us ana
the devil has vosed for us. SO that 1T
| is tie and the election will go as we
vote Or as another has put 1T; 'Dld
/ you ever hear of anyone being elected
who was not q candidate.
May Losc BY Neglect
! God will neither choose or elect
those who are unwilling, unyieidlng or
unprepared. This truth applies to all
affairs of everyday life. GOD has
placed the richest gifts and teasures
within reach of man, but we may lose
all through neglect.
| "AlI OF our young people are called
| and elected to 60 to school to receive
an education. But even with all the re-
wards of learning and the expensive
preparation of the community it is pos
sible for our young people to fail IN
| the calling and election to attain char
acter and success There are many
men and women who have been given
splendid mental power and through their
very place in society they have been
elected to positions of leadership and
power. They may be said to be pre-
destined leaders Of society and in at
fairs of the human life. but through
yielding to temptations and surrender
| to lust and a neglect Of their great tai
ents and magnificent promise, their
Il lives come to nothing and their great
career closes in melancholy failure.
There are men with tremendous busi-
ness possibilities, who have every
| chance of opportunity and gifts and
graces to proclaim them princes as they
70. But through sloth of sin, through
betrayal of trusts. or unreliable con-
duct. they forfeit the God given oppor-
tunity and may land in prison, degra-
dation and death.
Cultivate the Good
| "God has called us to be Christians
He has elected us to the highest char
acter and to noble achievement in all
| that is good in the realm of religion
| and we must make our calling and cleo
ton sure and not fail in His plan for
u.s. Everything depends upon the fidel-
Iity and industrious devotion to the
calling that God has given us.
First. we must be diligent to cast
out the evil and cultivate the good in
our. character. Evil may spring up at
any time. The Canadian thistle is one
Of the worst plaques of the farmer
it seems impossible to eradicate it.
Fire, poison and the plow have little
effect Dig it up. burn it, scar it with
salt and cover it with lime. yet in
spite of all it springs into bloom and
seeds itself anew. So the evil tenden-
cies in our nature are equally tena-
cious. Our faults are so large and so
deeply rooted that it requires tremen-
dous effort to eradicate them. but it
must be done if we would make our
calling and election sure.
XIII Out Evil
I'VE must cultivate the seeds of good
as we have in our nature the tendency
to evil, we also have the seeds of vir-
tue. and the Apostle Peter urges us
to add one virtue to another until we
have them all and hold them all in com
pleteness. harmony and beauty. 1t is
not to cherish this grace or that but we
must put to perfection the whole
range of character and action.
i Too many gardeners are satisfied
with few floral specimens. The Ma
tional Garden in Kew, England, aims to
secure every floral treasure of the
earth.
i Its aim is to give the student an
every plant tree and shrub that God
has given to the world. This ideal must
be the ideal Of Christians. We must
not be content with one or two virtues
/ Of character. We are to add to our
faith, virtue; to virtue, knowledge, and
i to knowledge temperance, and to tenn
4 perance, patience, and to patience
i brotherly kindness, and to brotherly
kindness, charity. And even these are
i choice samples of the infinite variety
! that the paradise Of God produces. Ii
you heart is to be kings garden you
must fill it full of choice fruits and
! flowers that are for our asking and
care.
i Third, having brought all these
! plants and flowers into the garden of
q your character you must diligently cul-
j tivate and keep them there. Neglect
garden and in very short period of
time it returns to the. wild and savage
Thorns and thistles Of the earth come
upon you il neglect. Your fountain
becomes a Shiny pool and walks grass
grown and choked with foreign weeds,
worm and your fruits win degenerate
to crab.
i Reaction Against Man
"A great naturalist points out the
! fact that nature Il In Z terrible re.