September 1928
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Our Supreme Business: Manifesting God B y R ev . C. G. H azard , D.D. Catskill, N. Y.
f HE almighty and invisible God is manifested by His works. The invisible things o f Him .are plainly seen in the things thqt Tie has made. This is the lesson of the starry lieavens as they declare the glory of God. It is the lesson of this wonderful world, with all its contents of great ness, goodness and beauty. It is the lesson o f human his tory, for man was created in the image of his Maker, that he might show forth the divine character, that he might be an instrument of the divine purposes and power, that he might find his perfect life and happiness in manifesting God on earth. It is plain that man has not succeeded in doing this. There is much in him and in his record that does not
but God. The purpose of human life was to be the glory o f God, according to the original plan o f the Creator. In this men were to find their self-effacement/. but also their pure joy and most glorious living. The apostles who followed Christ taught and exem plified this great lesson. Their great leader in the realm o f thought, the Apostle Paul, taught that life was to be lived by the outworking of God’s inworking in the soul. He said that he himself had learned to live by the faith of the Son of God, so that he no longer lived unto him self, but unto God. It was God who worked in him both to will and to work o f His good pleasure. He was dead to his own praise, but alive unto God’s praise. He was continually the creation o f God, and his life was a con stant manifestation o f the God of love and mercy. The Christian Church still
reveal God. As a manifestation o f God he is a failure. Despite the ravages o f sin there are remains of his original greatness and good ness, but the image o f God is lost amid the wreck of his character and the fragments of his worthi ness are used by him not to make God manifest, but to construct an image of himself that shall declare his own glory. By a strange per version o f truth man lives unto himself and not unto God. His ambition is for fame, that-his own name may be great, not that God’s name may be great. He is seek ing to build a tower that will .reach heaven, but he is seeking to build it upon the foundation of himself, a tower that may impress men with the idea of human greatness, but that will come as short of h e a v e n and happiness as the
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teaches the same doctrine. The chief end o f man is still declared to be the glory of God, and man’s highest pleasure is still found in enjoying God, which is a much greater and sweeter pleasure than enjoying himself. And still, Christ is the true Vine, the stock o f a true human life, and believers are the branches. They do not bring forth fruit unto themselves, but unto God. They do not produce wild grapes, but good fruit. Let us have more of this ancient Faith. Let us receive more of the sap o f the Spirit. ,It will make life blessedly fruitful and supremely happy. It can be pruned by every adversity and yet bear l o v e , joy, peace, longsuffering, faith, meekness and self-control.
That Man is...
A CHRISTIAN H e is an exemplary Christian ‘who follows Christ; who measures all things by the standard o f His ap probation; who would not willingly say a word which he would not like to have Christ hear; nor do an act which he would noth like to have Christ behold. The best Christian is he who most reminds the people with whom he lives o f the Lord Jesus Christ.— From “ Bible Call.”
gentleness, goodness,
modern sky-scraper is short of reaching the clouds. So it was that when Christ, who was the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person, was upon earth: He questioned and corrected the current idea o f human goodness. To one who addressed' Him as “ good Master,” He replied, “ Why callest thou me good? None is good, save God.” Thus, in His true humanity, Christ glorified God as the only source o f goodness. Christ’s goodness was the manifestation of God’s goodness. It was deity in Him that shone forth in good works, even as it was God’s sunlight that gladdened the world and made it fruitful. Christ had come into the world to illustrate and serve the love o f God for humanity; any exaltation of human love without an ascription to the divine love would have been a failure ofi His mission, j * g . C at SIHS' I m T' a ' rt And, further, Christ had come into the world to impart this making of one’s self o f no reputation for God’s sake,! to us also; to give to us the lost power o f being in God’s image and of manifesting Him, the highest office o f our humanity. He taught men to let their light so shine before men that they, seeing good works, would glorify, not men.
Not a Bad Law In Trumbull’s History of Connecticut we find some in teresting information as to a law against the use of tobacco. Tobacco about this time (1647) was coming into use in the colony o f Connecticut. It was ordered that no person under twenty years o f age, nor any other who had not already accustomed himself to the use o f it, should take any tobacco until he had obtained a certificate from under the hand of an approved physician that it was useful for him, and until he had also obtained a license from the court. All others who had addicted themselves to the use o f it were prohibited from taking it in any company, or at their labors, or in traveling, unless* ten miles- at least from any company; and though not in company, not more than once a day, upon pain of a fine o f sixpence for every such offense. One substantial witness was to be sufficient proof o f the crime. The constables o f the several towns were to make presentment to the particular courts, and it was ordered that the fine should be paid without gainsaying.
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