THE SUNDAY OKEGONIAX, PORTla, J TILT 1G. 1916.
PASTOR SAYS NEARLY ALL CHURCHES NEED HOUSECLEANING
Dr. Luther R. Dyott Says Many Members Fall Short of Mark Set, and Passion Influences Much of World's Affairs.
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BY DR. LUTHER R. DYOTT,
Take heed lest there shall b anyone that
vnaketh spoil of you through hia philosophy
and vain deceit, after the tradition of men,
after the rudiments of the world and not
after Christ: for in him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Oodhead bodily and in him
ye are Trade full, who Is the head of all
principality and power. Coiossians 118-10.
ry)AKE heed!" This Is a note of
I warning, but we shall find
something- more than this in
our practical meditations upon the en
tire contents of the inspired words of
our text.
The warning is given because danger
Is seen and It is real danger, not imag
inary, not hypothetical. It is all the
greater because those who are exposed
to it seem quite unaware of it. It is
apprehended, not by
the persons endan
gered, but by a
man who. himself,
being beyond the
danger zone, still
ses others who are
within that zone.
"Well, who is this
f man giving the
I warning? Who are
the persons thus
warned and what
- 'i bearing has it upon
the lives or tnose
on earth today?
We have very
little use for the
chronic alarmist. He
may. at first, at-
r. Luther K. Dyott tract scant atten
tion. Then we come
to regard his words with indifference
and then with disrespect and at length
with contempt. He destroys his influ
ence. In this instance, however, we
dare not rule out the man who says,
"Take heed!" for it is Paul, the great
apostle, speaking. He is always worth
hearing. Immediately, he is warning
the Colossian church members.
Others in the world today need these
words just as much as the Coiossians
did in their day. Hence, the applicabil
ity of this text is vital and immense.
The despoliation of human life, the
traffic in the souls of men, is ever
the most awful tragedy of the ages.
Persons who kill souls are more dia
bolical murderers than those who kill
their bodies. Some poison their victims
in the name of religion, itself. Others
poison them against religion. Still
others lead them away from the only
thing in the world that can make life
full and complete.
"Take heed lest" there shall be anyone
that maketh spoil of you." This means
carry you away as captives. They, and
they. only, are slaves whose minds are
bound in error and whose lives are in
bondage of sin.
Mental Captivity Feared.
Paul sees the possibility of his con
verts to Christianity being carried into
mental captivity, with cords of error
upon their minds, making them like the
captives represented on the Assyrian
monuments, but worse than such cap
tives. Now notice the method or means
through which persons are carried into
captivity. "Philosophy and vain deceit,
after the traditions of men. after the
rudiments of the world and not after
Christ." Let us clearly discriminate.
This is not a passionate dissuasive
from all philosophy. The dehortatory
is specific. Not all philosophy is to be
despised and rejected of religion. Ignor
ance holds no brief for virtue, ex
cellence and achievement.
Etymologlcally, the word philosophy
signifies love of wisdom, which is a
mighty good thing. The rationale by
which the facts in any department of
knowledge may be understood and
satisfactorily explained is, indeed, most
valuable and it is especially so in the
department of knowledge relating to
matters of religion. The science of God
and divine realities Is the greatest
science that can ever command the,
mind of man and In such contempla
tion, the mind becomes more capacious,
when thought is at all worthy and the
conceptions are even approximate. So,
we are not warned against all philo
sophy. It is simply against such types
as have in them "vain deceit, after the
traditions of men, after the rudiments
of the world and not after Christ."
Vain means empty empty of all that
can reach and satisfy the depths of
the soul. Deceit is bad enough any
where, but it is worst of all when it
offers its miserable substitutes to our
immortal souls and with swelling
inanity calls these philosophy and
wisdom and faith and pins a faded
belief to the sleeve of some imperfect
human being, who makes selfish com
merce of religion.
Man has come from God and he can
never fully find the meaning of his
own life in anything that is not of God.
We are bound to go beyond the rudi
ments of the world, because the grow
ing soul is larger than any other world
that Almighty God has ever created.
Real Religion Progressive.
What is meant by the rudiments of
the world? First principles, elements,
the alphabet, the A. B, C of the world.
These rudiments have their place, but
it is a small - place too small to
presume to call a halt on the expand
ing mind and progressive life of one
born of God.
Real religion should be the most pro
gressive thing in the world. There is
no conflict, save as men make it, be
tween the progressive and the con
servative positions in religious thought.
All who make divisions here, or would
do so If they could, need more light.
Some day. In the fuller light, they
may yet see that they have played the
part of enemies in the sacred name of
frindship.
Conservatism is the shore along which
the river of progressive life and thought
flow toward the unfathomable infinite.
Every religious person needs both the
progressive and the conservative spirit
in a well-balanced oneness within him
self. Otherwise, he will become a dry
embankment by the side of vaCuity,
or a falling cataract, bearing no great
and regular freightage toward the per
manent and the eternal.
Paul was both a progressive and a
conservative in one and he could not
allow his followers to swing to either
extreme. Unwilling to have his con
verts taken away from Christ, or to re
main awkardly In rudimentary things,
when their lives should be spelling out
great ideas of Christ, of God and reli
gion, he said: "Take heed lest there
shall be anyone that maketh spoil of
you through his philosophy , and vain
deceit after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world and not
after Christ; for in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily and
in him ye are made full, who Is the
head of all principality and power.
The peril is not that men think, but
it is in the fact that upon the ocean of
thought they may liiger too near the
reef, or their craft is not sea-worthy,
or they are not able to manage the
wheel, or the .steering-gear is not in
working order, or they are carrying the
wrong mental cargo.
Reverting to the original figure,
frankly we should say that too
many Christians have not grasped
God's idea of Jesus Christ, as he, has
given It to us through Paul. Many
flatter themselves in the notion that
they know all about Christ, when they
have only touched the hem of his gar
ment. When asked "What think ye of
Christ?" they glibly respond in cer
tain trite and doctrinal definitions, all
musty with theological terms, appar
ently unmindful of the fact that defini
tions are but limitations.
The greatest facts in the universe
can never be altogether defined. These
limitations are in us. When we grow
the facts seem to grow. Christ is
larger than all systems of religion.
Christ is more than Christianity as we
have made It. Books have been writ
ten advising a rediscovery of Christ.
But, really, no man has yet discovered
him. How. then, can any one redis
cover him? We need a growing con
ception of him. and an increasing con-J
sciousness ox n l Hi as uou nuwn nim
to be. While there is a very real
and profound sense in which only God
can fully know God, there is another
sense In which the experience of uoo
in human life may, and does, constant
ly increase and enlarge our concep
tions of his nature as revealed through
Christ In whom "dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily."
We cannot comprehend this all at
once. In fact. It requires, in some re
spects, the falling away of many out
grown systems of religion, and the
unfolding processes of the ages for
the mind of man to Know unto tne
utmost all that can be known, even
here on earth, about the Christ. Mor
tal mind finds its pause, for the time
being, in the nearer approach to him.
Then reverently we exclaim:
ftrong Son of God. immortal love.
Whom we that have not seen thy face.
By faith, and faith alone embrace.
Believing where we cannot understand.
Thou seemest human and divine.
The highest, holiest manhood, thou.
Our wills are onrs, we know not how.
Our wills are ours to make them thine.
Our little systems nave their day:
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of the..
And thou. O Iord. art more than they.
While the very ground, the center
and the circumference cf all the teach
ings of these verses of scripture are
obviously Chrlstological. it should be
remembered that Christianity is not a
sectarian religion when it is made a
full expression of the life of Jesus.
Jesus did not come into the world to
establish a sect, and the man who fails
to see how many of these sectarian
divisions in the name of Christ can
possibly glorify him need not regard
himself as utterly beyond pardon or
out of harmony with him who prayed
for the oneness of his. followers.
Sects Regarded Lightly In Fields.
The things which call for a united
Christendom are so much greater than
those which divide us Into our little
denominations. Sectarian problems are
nearer solution in our foreign mission
fields than they are here at home, es
pecially in Oregon. Most seriously do
we need to study the deeper realities
of God. of Christ, and of the divine
methods for human life, as the resi-
dence-Of the very life of God. Our
text affords such a study, not so much
for Intellectual entertainment, as for
spiritual profit
In this text we find three fundamen
tr.l affirmations which the logical pro
cedure of our thinking In this connec
tion may follow.
The first has reference to the es
sentlal nature of Christ, "In him dwell
eth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily." In simple terms, we under
stand by this that nothing Is lacking
In the Christ that is found in God. All
that God has ever been, is now, and
ever shall be, is in the nature of Christ.
Christ is complete. He is God's best
Idea of man, and man's best Idea of
God. But how could the Godhead
dwell bodily in him, and yet remain
a separate, distinct, personal, indl
visible God whom he regarded as his
father and unto whom he often prayed
while he dwelt in his human body?
Iln the second chapter of the book
of Phillpplans. the seventh and eighth
verses. Paul unites In his deep thoughts
the pre-existence of Jesus with his
existence and work on earth, saying
of him: "Who, existing in the form of
God, counted not the being on an
equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied himself, becoming
obedient unto death; yea, the death of
the cross."
While Jesus was in his body of flesh
he was still the divine Eon of God. and
as such was recognized and approved
by the voice from heaven, but in this
volitional humiliation, when he took
the form of a servant, he enshrouded
Deity in humanity, and it was only at
his transfiguration on the mount, and
after his resurrection, that the fuller
blaze of his glory was apparent to
mortals.
The fullness of the Godhead bodily In
God, the father; the fullness of the
Godhead bodily In Christ, the son:
mystery of divine mysteries, how can
these things! Have we any analogies
to help us grasp the thoughts? Yes.
In the realm of nature we find In so
many places the fullness of the sua
dwelling in the- children of the sun.
while the sun remains as it was before
the reproduction of itself in its off
spring.
The rose, with all Its exquisite
beauty, seems to tell us that the full
ness of the sun dwells in it; the modest
little violet also has the same glad
story to tell us of itself: the majestic
tree repeats the same Interesting story
of Itself; the harvest waves its golden
grain and reminds us that the sun
lives in every grain; but all the while
the sun is still just what it was before.
Comparison Is Made.
Once more you are the reproduction
of your father. You have been called
the image of your father. You have bis
nature, his disposition. His fullness of
life Is in you. And yet your father Is
one, and you are one. Let It be ac
knowledged that our analogies do not
reach all the way in the correspond
ence) of thoughts in this connection;
but. nevertheless, we can get some idea
of the reproduction of God in Christ.
Here, however, on one shore of
thought, our minds cannot see the
other. We think of the eternity be
longing to the life of Christ, We can
not fully understand Just where, when
and how his pre-inearnate life began,.
It may be- that the longings of the in
finite made Jesus and humanity neces
Gary that God, the father, might realise
his own completeness in Christ and
humanity. Beyond this our power of
thought cannot take our minds at pres
eirt. Here we stop and say, "O, the
depths of the riches, both of the wis
dom and the knowledge of God."
We are now ready to take up the
next line of logical thought. It is with
reference to the place of Christ In the
universe, and In all the sublime grada
tions of life. He is the head of all
principality and power. By principality
and power is meant the highest order
of spiritual intelligences, or beings.
the spirit world. They are usually
called angels. We do not know very
much about them. They may know all
about us. They are higher In the orders
of life than human beings. Perhaps
many of them find their chief employ
ment in helping us. Christ gave us
the radiant thought that the rejoicing
in heaven over an earthlhy sinner's
penitence is in the presence of the
ant-els of God.
With these thoughts In mind we are
better prepared to see why our in
spired author speaks of our savior as
the head of all principality and power.
He is entitled to the highest place by
virtue of his redemption of mankind.
Human life Is always out of joint when
it falls to give the son of God and the
son of man his righttful place. We
did not do it when he came to earth.
We had no room for him. It was a
manger In which he was born. It was
cross on which he died. It was a
borrowed tomb In which he was buried.
To this very day we are not altogether
giving him his place in the religion
which takes Its name from mm. in
many other places where he belongs
we offer him but small courtesy. In
others we exile him. Then we pay our
self-imposed penalties.
Man is not roan without Christ hold
ing his rightful place in. the life and
history of humanity. If heaven accords
him the place at the head of all prin
cipality and power, why should not"we?
Give him his place on earth, then all
men shall become "better than well.
Fall to give him his place, then man
is an "animal formidable both from
his passions and his reasons, his pas
sions often urging him to great evils,
and his reason furnlhing the means to
achieve them."
Pa salon Marks Mederm Life.
Greed. unholy ambition. natred.
strife, passion, war and all manner of
Ills and evikt are in our modern life.
In the church itself are many persons
whose lives are not like his life. Many
who bear his name and sign have little
or nothing of his nature. Practically
all churches need a housecleaning.
When a soldier in the ranks of Alex
ander had done wrong and was brought
before Alexander for judgment. Alex
ander asked. "What is your name?" The
soldier replied, "My name is Alexan
der." He was then advised either to
change his name or his nature. So.
many so-called Christians ought to do
one thing or the other. We should give
Christ his place In our lives, we should
give htm his place in all the affairs of
human life.
We should give him his place In our
economic problems, in all social and
industrial problems. We should every
where and at all times practice his
teachings and sustain the same by dis
playing his spirit in our lives. There
Is really no other way for those who
would follow the mind of God and
know life in all its fullness of satis
faction, joy and usefulness.
This brings us to the third affirma
tion. "In him ye are made full." A
lite full of God Is a life full of satis
faction. He could find no glory In dis
appointing the longings which he has
created. Our disappointed longings
are so. because they are artificial, or
selfish, or misdirected. These disap
pointed longings, the restlessness of
human society, the terrible upheavals
of modern life are not without their
deeper meaning.
After all. are they not the egregious
ana ugiy snaaows or our Immortal na
ture? Even our artificial and selfish
longing end in a protest against all
but God. He is for us and we are for
him. We are but poor pilgrims with
tne hot sands of the desert burnln
through our sandals, and we cry out for
the "Hock of Ages" In this weary land.
Our eyes are red and swollen of weep
ing: we need God to wipe away our
tears and make us well ana happy.
our hearts are so hungr), and our
souls are either empty or filled with
that which can never satisfy, and we
are yearning for the old, old. story of
Jesus and his love.
Without' a life full of God. rtches
mock our longings, or poverty smites
us with an unbearable curse: hope de
ferred makes the heart sick, or the re
allzatloti of hope Is only like gather
lng leaves which have faded and with
ered In the chilly breath of Autumn.
But reckoning upon the unfailing good
ness of our heavenly . father we turn
our dlsfllustonments to account, and
come at last to know that our lives can
never be satisfied until they are filled
with God, then whether we have much
or little of this world's goods, never
theless, we still have that which the
world cannot give, and cannot take
away. The empire of the eternal has
no completeness outside of the soul of
roan.
Selfishness Destroys Soul a.
We aspire to be more than we are.
we reach forth to find our completeness
in God. we come to put a new interpre
tation upon the material In relation to
the spiritual, and thus increase our in
ner area for the presence and activity
of God.
This furnishes our only security
against the havoc of a selfish life. All
persons ran be selfish, but none need
be so. The respectable selfishness of
our age is destroying more souls than
any other curse in the world. We look
about us and see o many persons who
are willing to deny others almost
everything, and themselves nothing
that they can get;, but when we ob
serve their poor little grasping lives we
find that happiness is conspicuous
there only by its absence.
O how fearful a thing It is for men
to devour the sustenance from their
thin scruples until they tall to nothing
to narrow their benevolence until they
choke the very life out of their gen
erous impulses and then die; to turn
the heart Into a cemetery; to be driven
out of life when the "brief candle burns
low." naked, destitute, forlorn; gnawed
by spiritual poverty and haunted by re
morse.
Selfishness destroys or prevents the
completeness of life. So persistent, so
obstinate. so all-pervasive Is this
wretched and insane thing that only
God can cope with it. His method In
doing so Is to fill our lives with his
own nature.
Then filled with his life we turn to
pour it forth on all who need this life.
Our reach then -becomes unlimited.' be
cause unlimited is the life of God. Then
we find how vast, how mighty and
noble a thing It is to live, and never
until then. "Sow it dawns upon us that
God's longings for completeness as re
alised in the fullness of the Godhead
In Christ, and yet to be realised In ,
mankind, find their response In the
depths of our being. Here we get the
real clew to the mystery of human life
In its relation to God and man and
destiny. Here we predict the Infinite
possibilities of the redeemed through
the endless ages of eternity.
He has not undertaken merely to
satisfy us. He will not stop with simply
overcoming the selfishness of human
ity. He. who has filled the whole realm
of nature with himself, seeks to do
more in us. with us. and through us.
He reproduces his life in Christ. Then
the sublime continuity calls for an
other reproduction in us. It is God. it
is Christ. It Is man. it ia fullness of
divine life. It is destiny. It is eternity.
All who have been deceived and els-
appointed in life need not remain so.
Essential greatness ts possible to us
all while we still remain in our mor
tal bodies. We may all know what an
adequate life is here and now. O what
a divine thing it ia to live when we
give God his chance In our lives! Stay
with us O gentle light, tarry. O vision,
splendid, until we get our bearings,
and can never more remain satisfied
without a life full of God. I have seen
the man I ought to be.
The vision came, and In the light ha saw
What he had longed tor now openly re
vealed. And mueh beside tha Inmost soul of things.
And beauty as the crown of life Hsalt.
Ineffable transcending mortal form.
For robed In light, no longer fantasy,
Hefore hia gase the trne ldal stood '
Sublimely fair, beyond conception, clothed
In beauty and dlvinest symmetry.
Man shall yet be fully man because
God Is God.
HARDSHIPS HAVE LONG
CONFRONTED BULGARIA
People Have Contended Against Overwhelming Odds for Generations, Yet
They Dare to Dream of a Happy Future.
THE history or the Bulgarian nation
has been that of one difficulty
after another until the Bulgars
have become Inured to trouble and at
their best when confronted by such
crises as that which now seems to lie
before them. Their whole life as a peo
ple has been a continuous succession of
struggles against overwhelming odds,
struggles In which they have suf
fered bitterest misery and hardship,
and in which they have never failed
to show a sublime steadfastness and
endurance, according to a study of
this youngest of kingdoms prepared
for the National Geographic Society
by James D. Bourchier.
Bulgaria. probably more than any
other Balkan land, has felt the weight
of Turkish misrule and oppression. It
lies In the central part of the Balkan
peninsula, near to the reach of the
great Turkish military centers of former
days. Adrianople and Constantinople,
and embraces a rich agricultural coun
try from which the Ottoman overlords
have drawn heavy returns. Due to
this value of its soils and to its handy
position. Bulgaria has been held more
firmly under the yoke of the Turk than
any other Christian nation in this ill
fated territory.
The Bulgarians were the last to re
cover from the Turkish obll-lon into
which they had been sunk for hun
dreds of years by their Asiatic con
querors. In their efforts to find polit
ical freedom and union for their race,
they have found themselves not only
confronted- by the power of Islam, but
with the hostility of all surrounding
sister nations. During the years of
their writhing under the Turkish heel
the Greeks added religious oppressions
and economic oppressions to the ef
forts of the Turks. Russia ' has re
peatedly loomed threatening on their
horizon, while Roumania and Servia
both earlier free of the Islamic domi
nation have added to the persistent
little nation's troubles.
Out of their centuries of suffering
and dogged efforts the Bulgarians have
developed a fine- determination. a.
heroic love of race and country, which
shows no limit of individual sacrifice
In its. behalf. They have tenacity, they
have shrewdness, and they have a fa
miliarity with desperate situations
which. If it has viot hred contempt, at
least has bred'a courage for whatever
trouble fate may have in store.
It was not until 188S that Eastern
Rumelia revolted from Turkish rule
and united with Bulgaria, and it was
not until October. 1908. that Prince
Ferdinand proclaimed Bulgaria an in
dependent kingdom. Thirty years
passed after the Bulgarian war for in
dependence before their freedom was
officially recognized in Europe. Vir
ile, laborious, thrifty, persevering,
courageous, and anxious for progress,
the Bulgarians are daring to dream
great dreams for their little country?
and today, as ever, their immediate
future seems to be beset by all man
ned of difficulties. Kansas City Star.
EMBROIDERY DESIGNS IN SEVERAL SIZES FOR MILADY'S LINGERIE
So many requests for butterfly designs come
in that several different sizes are run today.
These may be used for any and all kinds of
lingerie pieces, as well as for Ovher pieces of
fancy work for household use.
A satin stitch or a combination of satin,
outline, and buttonhole gives excellent results
Detail drawings show method of working. In
using the printed design from the paper the
directions are as follows: If the material is
sneer the easiest way is to lay it over the
design, which will show through plainly, and
draw over each line with a bard, sharp lead
pencil.. If your material is heavy, buy a piece
of impression paper the kind that does not
rub off lay it on your material, place the
design over it, and trace with a hard pencil.
Tou will find the design neatly transferred.