Daily capital journal., December 02, 1911, Page PAGE EIGHT, Image 8

PAGE EIGHT.
DAILY OAMTiL JOURNAIj, SALEM, OREGON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1911.
t MM ,.
V
Pastor
THE PENALTY OF
UNTIIANKFULflESS
Gratitude For Mercies Enhance
Their Value,
DIVINE BLESSINGS MANY,
Paitor Russell In Hit Thanksgiving
Sermon Says Unthankfulncaa Braeda
Discontent and Underminei Happi
ness True Christiana Aocept Thalp
Life's Experiences Cheerfully, Know
ing the Lord's Measure to Be Just.
New Haven,
Conn., Nov. 26.
Pastor Russell, of
tbe Brooklyn and
London Tnberna
c 1 e s, addressed
large and Inter
ested audiences
here twice today.
Wo report his dis
course on Thanks
giving. He said:
Our experiences
in life are to a
considerable ex
tent what we make them. Illblo stu
dents should he philosophers every
one of them. Why? liccause the Wis
dom from above is the noble.it science and
best instruction. As St Tuul declares,
it tends to promote the spirit of a
sound mind ami n sound mind Is nec
essarily n philosophical one. Murinur
ers and couiplnliiers aro not philoso
phers, but the reverse. A sound mind
tells us to tuku tilings as they are, to
make the best of them rather than to
quarrel over them and find fault with
Dlvluo providence and make ourselves
and everybody else lu our environment
miserable.
True Christian people In every land
and under all conditions have found
plenty of causo for thankfulness, even
though they have hnd their share, or
more, of life's dllllculties. Nor was this
thankfulness because they had master
ed tbe Dlvlno philosophy and under
stood tho why and tbo wherefore of the
present reign of sin and death. They
accepted their portion of life's Joys and
sorrows by faith, believing that their
portion was measured to them by the
Lord and that full obedience and sub
mission, with cheerfulness, was their
duty.
Excuses For Unthankfulneee.
We nre rendy to concede that the
world, awakening from tho sleepy su
perstitions of tho past, can readily
And runny excuses for declining to bo
thankful. If we mention some of
these It will not be by way of endors
ing them, rather to show the unthank
ful masses that wo recognize their
viewpoint but do not ngreo with 1L
We would point them to the better
course of thankfulness nnd proportion
nto happiness. To their complaint
that they have fewer and smaller
blessings than their more wealthy
neighbors, we remind them that the
poor of this favored land habitually
waste more than would make very
thankful aome of tbo poor of other
lands.
AVo remind that under Divine bless
ing upon tho soil nnd the Dlvlno bless
ing upon human skill conveniences
and comforts have multiplied about us
.bo thnt the "common people" of our
hind have homo comforts and con
veniences nnd educational facilities
and parks and libraries, well paved
and lighted streets nnd cheap trans
portation hiii'Ii as were not dreamed
of In our grandfathers' days, nor en
Joyed even by the rich. Let us not
greedily nsl; more along theso Hues
until wo havo fully appreciated pres
ent privileges and bleijaluga and re
turned thanks therefor.
"But," says one, "our forefathers
were superstltlously thnukful, and we
must avoid that. They gave thanks
to Cod for the sunshine and the ralu.
Wo have learned that theso are provi
sions of nnturo nnd we thank nobody
for them, Our forefathers thanked
God for escape from feudal slavery,
but wo see that they should have re
belled nxalnst feudalism and bought
their freedom with their own courage,
"Our forefathers thanked God, If
they were sick, that they did not dlo
and go to eternal torture. We nre com
ing to tho rationalistic Idea that they
should have thanked their physician
for recovery from sUkneRS nnd should
not hnve believed In nu everlasting fu
ture of torture, because bo far as we
can see that teaching Is all humbug.
Intelligent people of the world have
no more knowledge thnn ourselves re
specting a future. We agree with
the college professors that our race Is
progressing by nn evolutionary law of
nature, and that God has nothing to do
with It. and that there Is no future
life for us except tu tho sense that we.
In the future, will be represented on a
higher plane of living, by our evoluted
rhlldren. You will perceive, therefore,
why we consider Thanksgiving Day a
piece of medieval superstition."
Replies to the Unthankful.
Our reply to this reasoning must be
along two lines: Brat, philosophical;
second, analytical:
(li Are not these Increasingly large
numbers of pantheistic nnd atheistic
evolutionists uupbllosophlcal? They ad
mit that they have blessings far be
yond anything known to their fore
fathers, and they admit thnt their on
happiness tins Increased In proportion
as these blessings and reasonings re
specting them have been received.
Would uut a true philosophy tell them
fusion. gyssELQ
Russell's
that If happiness la their aim and da
sire, their loss of happiness Is not due
to the Increased blessings, bnt to tbe
Improper and unthankful manner In
which they have received theml'
Would not philosophy alone, apart
from tbe Bible or religion, have warn
ed them that, even If their theories
were true. It would be unwise to culti
vate them In their own minds and In
tbe minds of others?
(2) Let us now analyze tbe foregoing
complaints. Who can prove to us that
there la no living and true God that
there la merely a god of nature, a blind
force? Who can explain to ns the
power which holds our earth In Its or
bit around the sun. and which has
given us summer and winter, cold and
heat; has given os mountains and val
leys, hills and plains, In pleasing varie
ty and loaded with minerals most use
ful to us and merely waiting our heaven-directed
genius to bring them forth
for the blessing of our race, and to
make of earth the Tarndlse of God?
What philosophy can prove to us
that these things have happened by
chance and that we are wrong In ac
cepting the Scriptural suggestion, "Day
unto day uttoreth speech and-night
unto night ahoweth knowledge, and
there Is no place where their voice Is
not heard" proclaiming an All-Wise
and beneficent Creator? We know that
the wisdom and beuellcence of our
Creator were hidden from our mental
view by our superstitions and Irration
al creeds of the past, but now, as the
electric light has superseded the tallow
candle, so God's Word toduy Is shin
ing forth to those who have eyes to see
its beauty.
Let us not boast ourselves as pos
sessed of so much greater courage than
had some In feudal times. Let us note,
on the contrary, that the patriotism
which demanded and got the "Magna
Charta" of our liberties was as noble
and courageous as any that we have
today, or more so. Our freedom from
some of tbe superstitions of the past
Is the result of the spread of educa
tion, and we must thank neither our
selves nor our forefathers for this
widespread education; we must thank
the Lord for It It came upon the world
In spite of the opposition of the rich
and the Indifference of the poor. It
came because God's due time for It
bud arrived.
Tho Scriptures fully assure us that
It Is a special mark or evidence
that the New Era of Divine blessing,
prophesied In the Scriptures long ago,
Is now at hand. Compare St Potcr's
words (Acta III, 19-21) with the words
of the Trophet Daniel. (Daniel xll, I.)
nightly understood and appreciated
the very arguments used to oppose God
are grounds for sincere praise and
gratitude and hope for the future.
A Word to Higher Critloa and Evolu
tionists. The law of sin and death Is referred
to In Scripture. We grant, as nil
thinking people must, that the teach
ings of the creeds formulated In the
Dark Ages, respecting the torture of
the dead, are absurd; and more than
this wo hold that they are unscrlpturnl;
that they were conjured up under su
perstitious fours, and that certain sym
bolical pictures of the Bible were wrest
ed to the support of those misconcep
tions of the Dlvlno character and Plan.
But does tho rejection of those ab
surd theories disprove nn Intelligent
Creator and disprove the Bible's dec
laration that He Is a God of Love, and
that there Is a rational explanation of
the present reign of sin and death, and
a rational basis for hope for the res
urrection of the dead, uuder the glori
ous reign of Emmanuel, tho Prince of
Life, and tho blessings which Ilia
Kingdom will Biirely bring to every
member of our race?
That tbe human family Is in a weak
and depraved condition, mentally, mor
ally and physically, Is beyond dis
pute; and evolutionists have not proven
the Bible in error In Its explanation
that presout weakness, mental, moral
and physical, Is proof of degeneracy
which came to our race because of
s hi. Consanguinity between the hu
man and the ape has not been proven,
but If it had been there would be just
as much ground for reasoning that a
monkey is a degenerate human as for
claiming that humanity are evoluted
apes.
In opposition to this Irrational theory
we note that mankind In general, even
those of humble birth, have organs of
tho mind which they rarely uso, and
which canuot, therefore, be said to bo
evoluted by tbein; and those organs
are not the lower but the higher ones,
the nobler ones. These qualities of
mind are present but dormant, merely
waiting to bo quickened Into activity.
This fact favors the Bible view that
mankind nre fallen and that few nre
living up to even the best of the Im
paired organism which they possess.
The evolutionary theory, that we
should live and die simply for tbe ad
vancement of future generations, may
prove an Incentive to some, but In our
judgment these will be few. Of far
greater Interest la the Bible's teaching
that tbe present is tbe night time, In
which our friends and uelghbora and
ourselves, one by one, fall asleep In
death; and that God's Infinite Wisdom
and Power and Love have provided a
resurrection of the dead, both of the
just and the unjust the just to glory,
honor and everlasting life, the unjust
to a glorious condition very different
from the present reign of sin and death
under the rclgn of the Prince of Life,
with glorious opportunities, for a thou
sand years, of uplifting blessedness.
Then everlasting life will be the re
ward to the faithful and appreciative.
Discontent the Viper of Anarohy.
We have noted that unthankfulness
means discontent, and that discontent
means anhnpplnesa and misery. Who
then can afford to be unthankful, or to
take the road of unbelief, which sure
Sermon
ly leads thereto? St. Paul draws onr
attention to the fact that much of the
degradation of tbe heathen should be
directly traced to unthankfulness. He
declares that the Headship of the Al
mighty over all creation, and His un
limited power, are clearly manifested
in the things of nature.
He declares that the heathen "are
without excuse, because they, when
they knew God, glorified Him not as
God. neither were thankful, but be
came vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart was darkened. Pro
fessing themselves to be wise they be
came foolish" and idolaters. "Where
fore God also gave them up to unclean
ness, through the. lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies
between themselves." (Romans 1. 21.1
Unthankfulness to God was not pun
ished directly nor threatened with a
future punishment Acting automat
ically It separated the unthankful ones
from their Creator, nnd their course
became downward, degenerate.
The spirit of unthankfulness ns a
malady threatens our present civiliza
tion with death. Year by year the
sentiment is growing, and discontent,
when fully hatched out. will be the
viper of anarchy, for whose virus
there is no human remedy.
We thank God that although this
awful anarchy foretold Is near nt
hand, nnd Is beyond human ability to
cope with, yet Divine Love has prom
lsed to Intervene to save the untnanu
ful world by the establishment of the
Messianic Kingdom In power nnd
great glory, for the blessing of nil the
families of the earth; for the making
straight of all the crooked paths; for
the opening of the eyes of understand
ing, that nil may see the Truth.
The Thanksgiving of Christians.
St. Paul, addressing Christians, says:
"What manner of persons ought we to
be?" Similarly, we might say. How
earnest should be the thanksgiving of
Christians! But alas! Thanksgiving
Day with us has lost much of the re
ligious Import known to our forefa
there. Notwithstanding false doc
trines Inculcated by man-made creeds,
our forefathers believed the Bible rec
ord of man's original perfection, his
fall into sin and condemnation, the re
demption accomplished through Jesus,
and a restoration to Divine favor thus
made possible. These truths consti
tuted the foundation for a living faith
In God nnd led them to give thanks
for the hnrvest of the year, accounting
that If every good and perfect gift
comes directly or Indirectly from the
hand of God It should be received ac
cordingly nnd acknowledged.
Today, however, we have the form
of godliness without the power, be
cause the precious faith has been well
nigh destroyed by the Higher Critics
and Evolutionists, who for the past
fifty years have been laboring con
stantly to this end, und with wonder
ful success. Well does God ask. Who
believes tho Divine Uecord or Mes
sage, nnd who sees the Arm of Jeho
vah connected with tho world's af
fairs?
Anyone having lost faith In the
Bible and Its God has therefore lit
tle left except the form of godliness,
without Its power. Nevertheless, here
and there In all nations and all Beets
of Christendom nre to be found loyal
souls, bewildered by tho present trend
of affairs, and crying out to God for
further light, nnd appreciating nud giv
lng thnnks for every blessing, even
though they do not understand the
philosophy of their own experience.
The Morning Star Dawn.
St Teter declares that the sun-burst
of the New Dispensation of Messiah's
Kingdom will be preceded by the
morning star, which will shine Into the
henrts of God's faithful people in the
early dawn, to herald Its approach
The Sun of Righteousness hns not yet
arisen, but mnuy of God's people are
noting the clear light now shining upon
the Divine Word, and are realizing
that it comes from Him. and that He
Is preparing them, through a better
understanding of the Bible, to appre
ciate tbe glorious sunlight of Divine
mercy which will soon overspread the
world and scatter the darkuess of
earth's superstition, sin and death.
And so, ns we get the matter i i; hUy
divided before our minds, we get the
true understanding, the special en
Ughtennieut needed In our dny. and we
are enabled to rightly divide tho Word
better thun did our fathers, so that to
dny we con see, as our fathers did not
see, the teaching of God's Word re
specting the "high calling" and "restl
tutlon" the spiritual portion of bless
lng for the Church, and the human
portion of blessing for the world. We
also see something about the times and
seasons which apply to the Church
and which to the blessing of the world
We are uot to forget that the Lord
promised that He would guide Ills poo
pie In the way of the Truth and show
them things to come. We nre to
"study" to show ourselves approved
study the doctrine nud endeavor to
have our course of conduct harmonize
with It study to perform faithfully the
duties of a loyal soldier of tbe cross of
Christ.
These alone are able to give thanks
In the highest sense of the term, be
cause they, better than others, appre
ciate the Divine Program nnd can fully
endorse the words of our test. I urge
all of this class to be very thankful.
singing and making melody in their
hearts to the Lord In respect to nil of
their affairs, and waiting patiently for
the full development of the Divine
rrogram. assured by faith it will
prove exceedingly, abundantly more
than we could have asked or thought
I urge the remainder of mankind to
cultivate thankfulness to whatever ex
tent they can see and appreciate the
Divine character, and to exercise faith
therein. There Is a blessing lu It. not
only for tbe present lifetime, but as a
preparation for tbe life t; coma
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