Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-01-29
The Times-Dispatch Sunday
Sermon
"0UIT YOU LIKE MEN"
by j. A. l;ubnnlI.

like men. be strong. 2 Corinthians xvi. -.
with n genius that enabled him to know
men Shakespeare wrote: 20. what men dare
do! what mon may do! what men daily do
not knowing what they dol"
God has been the lookout for ever
since the human race started
Not That His immutable purposes can not
be carried out Independent OF them, but be-
cause of His absorbing love for tho children
Of His crcation--an experiment II you want
TO have II so.
he wants TO give man n chance to assert
his divine origin and to grow into his right
full estate by thrustnG upon him the right OF
individual volition
The mystery of tho opposing influence. yea
we VIII say power, in the world--cvil-wc can
not fathom. II is here. and has been potential
In cnthrallinG men who are not men In tho
fullest sense Of the word throughout the ages.
IL cnmeshes them under the guisc OF good
But God still rules and He is going to over
come all evil In the carth--and in the ac-
compiishmcnt of that purpose lie is going
20 use man as His instrument.
He is going to make man proud of himself.
God imposes no burdens on His children.
Ihat is all mistake God Is good. He
favors man with opportunity.
Let us illustrate. A father and his child
start out from home for days outing we
will say and they walk 10 the depot. The
child bcrs the father to let him carry tho
lunch basket some other portion or tho
equipment deemed necessary TO contribute to
the enjoyment OF the day. The child stag
gers under the burden. hut with the perse-
rerance that makes for strong manhood. he
refuses to relinnush The quits himself lil O
the little man that he is. In his experience
lie has acquired confidence in his CROWN e
strength-he is proud of himself and the faith
or is proud OF tho boy. He sees In him the
ambition to he Man.
God has not looked in vain for mcn-He
in,
invariably manifested His approval of their
efforts even though they may have died as
martyrs to conviction. by enrichinE the ever
lasting ages with the fruitaEe of their labors.
An don't ever think that the labor of real
Man is in vain! His effort may sometimes be
wrongly directed but even then his devotion
TO conviction will help on the cause of intel
lectual freedom which must be far advanced
before the emancipation of man is complete.
Without presuming to call the roll OF the
ages for examples, we point to three in
own republic who emphasized In their lives
and in their teachings the spirit voiced by
Paul In the teXt-Thomas Jefferson the
apostle of religious liberty and OF local self
government in church polity: and Thomas
Paine. the apostle of mental liberty. Though
these three had different concepts of the origin
and authority of the Scriptures. they thought
and laborcd to common purpose in Impress
ing their views upon our political institutions
Their works do live after them and nil three
Will live In the memory OF generations to
come throughout the length and breadth OF
the universe They were strong and quilted
themselves like men in the faith that each
possessed.
In that spirit. the men who. In the War Of
the Revolution wrought a nations indepcnd-
cncc faced duty's call and laid we'll the foun-
dation that insures to religious, political
and individual liberty II we but prove worthy
descendants of heroic sircs and we'll heed the
a ri IA Of nj 20 ST md fast in
the faith, quit you like men. be strong"
There seems to be in this age a disposition
on the part OF n larSe proportion OF mankind
to follow leading strings 1t Is not Gods plan
for developing full grown men. He would
have them stand fast in the faith of their own
worked out in the light of
son. Hence, the poet has well afhrmed AN
honest man is the noblest work Of God"