The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1935-10-17

py his land, although our sHo! -
the place of privilege is condl-
toned upon our obedience. Final
Iy, we have a warning against
confidence in false formulas like
those used by the goddess Jews
who thought that by repeating
the name of the Temple over and
over they had a charm against
disaster since in their view God
was bound to save them if he saw
ed his house which they consider
ed indestructible. -.
THE CIVIC CALL TO
OBEDIENCE
Jeremiah Z: SD
God Requires Obedience in So
cial Life. Radiant and desirable
beyond the power of words to ex-
press was the promise of perma-
nent and prosperous residence of
the loyal Jew in his fatherland.
He was thrilled with the thought
that he should not spend his days
in the land of captivity nor in his
own land devastated by conquer
Ors but that hereafter as hereto
fore of old it should be the Land
of Promise flowing with milk and
honey. Yet the promise was very
definitely conditioned upon the
obedience of the people occupying
their land. That obedience must
be personal, for each individual
and so all together were to amend
their ways of life and their habit
ual doings. That obedience must
De public in the promotion of
fairness and justice between
neighbors. 1t must also be philan-
thropic so that the sojourner, the
fatherless, and the widow would
receive the hand of help rather
than the mailed fist of oppres-
sion. Moreover, in the better eval-
uation of life no innocent blood
should be shed whether by sud-
den stroke of unbridled anger or
by the slow agony of industrial
servitude. Of course, obedience
has it's religious aspect and there
must be no room for the corrupt
ing worship Of the false gods
which draw the people together
and drag them down. Guard
against the gods of this world!
THE INDIVIDUAL CALL
TO OBEDIENCE
Jeremiah 7: BID
God Requires Obedience in In
dividual Life. To begin with,
there must be well-founded faith
which does not trust in lying
words of formal if not false
creedS like the temple charmer at
Jerusalem or the whirling der
wishes in Cairo. There must be
correct conduct which not only
~efuseS to break the divine COM
mandmen:S as against stealing,
murder, adultery, and perjury,
but also will keep them positively
and in their fuller meaning and
application. There must be devout
worship of Goa which is infinitely
removed from the burning of in
cense to Baal and the walking
after other gods. There must be
consistency in profession and
practice, for it is vain to assume
the attitude of worship and en-
gage in the act of worship when
the heart is far away and The
very purpose is to cloak hypoc-
ricy which retires straightway
from the sanctuary to commit al
ditional denominations. So there
must be purity in piety, for other
wise the house of God may be-
come robbers den as it was III
the days of jeremiah and later
of Jesus. At all events, there must
be a reckoning for nothing good
or bad can escape the all-seeing
eye of God. And God is just!
THE NATIONAL CALL
TO OBEDIENCE
Jeremiah Z: 2l-23)
God Requires Obedience in Ma
tional Life. There is a worship
that in vain. 1t may be intrinsical-
ly valuable, but it is spiritually
valueless. In strongest possible re-
proof the worShiper is told that
his burnt offerings which should
have been consumed entirely up
on the altar might as we'll in their
superficial and insincere worship
be eaten by the offerers as moth
ing more than bits of flesh. AS a
matter of fact, the prophet AYERS
that the law of burnt offerings is
so empty and void, if only formal