The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current, July 07, 1913, Image 6
fsnu-TCMfifw Kora ilorrlila Than Idols of KealiiGite, Says Fas- tr.r iljrccoll THE EI3LE VERSUS CREEDS. The Liibie Opposed to All Idols Cod Must Be Known to Be Appreciated and Truly Worshiped Misunder standings of the Divine Plan Have Confused Us Ignorance the Mother of Superstition The Morning Dawns. The Shadows Flee True Knowledge of God Will Soon Fill the Earth and Carry Blessings to All. Madison, V i b., July (. Tiik Im- TElt.NATION AL Itl- iii. i Students As sociation has heen boUliiiti a convention lie refill- eluht (lays. cIosIuk today. It has lind n lari; ultendnnee of 151 -Me Students from nil parts, nnd amongst them ninny nblo speak ers. Pastor Russell whs one of the speakers of today, and his vast audi ence was evidently much in sympathy with his utterances. lie took for Ids text the words, "Tho Futher of mer cies, and the God of all comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3. In his opening remarks, the Pastor stated that when in India, China and Japan last year, he wns forcibly struck with tho intelliKence of many among these jiwples. lie visited their idol temples for the purpose of noticing tho degree) of reverence exhibited and the status of worshipers. lie whs fa vorably impressed; many seemed sin cere, absolutely unmindful of any oth er matter than their own worship. Ho made inquiry us to what Importune) was attached to the Idol. Wns It re garded as the god. or merely a re minder of thelr god? He was assured of tho latter-that tho idol itself was known to lie of metal, or stone, or wood, and was used merely as a re minder of their god, in much tho same wny that Catholics use the cruclflx not as worshiping the Image or the picture, but merely having these l fore tho mind to assist in fixing rever ence and the spirit of worship. i v- Our Creed Idols Worse. i f , t first, said Pastor Russell, I felt disposed to chide the heathen for the liorrlhle features which they give their Images. I said to myself, Why do 11n-y not make graceful, beautiful idols instead of horrible ones? Hut a little reflection brought me shame and con tusion. I said to myself, Look at the -reeds, the idols, the Images of C.oel, net up in Christendom. We have not attempted to picture our I)elty in wood or stone or mineral, hut we have writ ten out a description of Ills character our Christ Inn creeds. These creeds stand before our men tal eyes with exactly tho same hide ous features that the tangible Idol lins bi'fore the natural eye of tho heathens. Each different creed fciiows n slightly different image of God. but they ar all horrible. They nil picture God a a most atrocious character, more hide ous by far than are any of the idols of heathendom. i How could anybody carve, or cast, or model, a mute Image, or idol, that would speak such horrlblo things as all of our creeds portray by de'scrlp tlem? Where is tho artist who could picture a God deliberating upon the creation of the human family, and be fore beginning His work planning and arranging a great place called Hell (and Rome say another called Purga tory). creating fire-proof devils to man these, laying up fuel for use therein through all eternity, and then start ing the human race with procreatlve powers, with the foreknowledgo that thousands of millions would spend eternity In these horror chambers! Who could picture or model an Image representing a God who would, after preparing bucq a place. Inject now life and vigor Into the poor sufferers bo as to prevent their ever dying bo as to In sure that they must live everlastingly under those horrible conditions! No heathen was ever capable of such an Imagination; and hence none wns ever able to picture such a God, either in clay, or stone, or metal, or wood, or with the pen. It remained for the most cultured and civilized peoples of the world, who had enjoyed most of God's favors and blessings and enlightenment to misunderstand Him most, to mis represent Him worst, and carry those misrepresentations to tho heathen. The Heathen Know It, Too. Missionaries have indeed readied few peoplo and brought them under a measure of Christian influence, but their number is small; so also their in telllgeuco. Like sumo true Christians here, they have a reverenco for God sadly encumbered with error. The more intelligent classes are agnostics Christianity, so-called, has led them to doubt their own religions, but it has not given them anything In their stead When some or the hlgher caste na tlves learned that my preaching wa different from that of the missionaries, and that it presented a God of Love and an ultimate opportunity to all man t kind to coiiio Into harmony with IIIiil ?A : N f hi ,6IQ.g:-g5Mu) ' t!'- t.inft. r v:.r.-- 1 : r IV ;i; f.uii- .luitu-es ue.e MMit . ::,(! i.) iii.juiro if I ri.uM w t sl.i.v I M.fi', ;w-.!!n;,;; me of iimsieu' e .I 1 1 1 ( liiu'liiT r.iMe u-1 ! i , i'lii'.v rxiutineel tliat :is ni-i.li a ;i I'lt i iiitod 1l:e hili-.li.'i!. i- .! ! While Willi illnl his ;iifiv)i:;u v!i ;li.-.v Hi.- j i in. they COIlllI III turiMl :i (Ji'i! IIS til In'1 IV'i Wliv. xaH t ivrfivc s. i te:-iil it i -e ;!intit to their they, our n.l niiru:-.. . aal o:;r rcli'.-ii'ii. le.-uli us to be kind, even to the 'liunl) briitcs, and to muse them i: unifi-essary pain. How. then, co-.il. I We worship the God of the n;iv,i.n: ariesV They tell us that He has cnu signed our forefathers from the remot est generation to everlasting torture bee-ause they did not believe In Jesus, whose name is the only name by whleh any can lie saved. We ennnot believe In so unjust a God. The slight est degree of Justice would have obli gates! Him to send our forefathers the ' Message in no uncertaln terms. I felt it obligatory to upologlze, not only for myse-If, but for all Christen dom. We said, We Christians have erreiL We neglected our ltlble, and thus brought on the Dark Age's. Since then we have been trying to get near er to the light as tho days go by, and some of us have made a little more progress than others. I am preaching the God of the Lible, "the God of all grace, the Father of mercies," whose name Is Love. Wo said, Certain parables and sym bolic phrases have been misunderstood, misapplied, mlstranslate'd; and thus, while we had tho best of Intentions, the great Adversary, Satan, hos kept Christendom considerably In the dark, and has led us to picture in our creeds a God who is fierce, unjust, unloving, unwise, and who is using Ills Tower contrary to every principle of right eousness. Now the dawn of the New Ago is about upon us. The thousand years of Christ's Reign is shortly to be'gln. God- is gi'ttlng ready for It by sending blessings of every kind. Wo said, further. We aro in the Day of the Lord's preparation, and His faithful people are finding a better light shining on tho Bible, and are gradually coming to a better under standing of It. Cling to tho Rlble! We ure endeavoring to arrange so that your selves and all people who ore hunger ing for a God of Righteousness, Jus tice, Wisdom and Love may ge;t a view of what the Rlble really temches. Missionaries Oppose the Truth. I am sorry to sny that although the missionaries nro five to confess that the conversion of the world is an ab surd proposition, they are not ready for the Itlble teaching on the subject. Al though the'y know there are twice as many heathen today as there were one century ago, they are bound, fettered by their creeds. True, they are seek ing federation, co-operation; but the co-operation includes only those who are coiaboring to get the heathen to cast away his graven and molten Im ages, and to take Instead a written creeei Image that is worse. Of course, few of tho missionaries believe in these cred idols themselves; but they were j seiu io roreign .amis to put mese rei- I tors upon the poor heathens, nnd they j are not ai noeny io uo oiuerwise, One would think that even then they would rejoice to have someliody elso proclaim the Message of a God of Love. nd one chance of salvation to every member of Adam's race. Rut they do not; they oppose our teachings at every step. We ennnot read their hearts; we must therefore Imagine some of them are still fettered by tho hrnnrnnee nnd superstition of the Dark Ages and are ! thoroughly conscientious In their en deavor to put these fetters on others. Others, we must assume, feed their responsibility in respe'et to the reports they will make to the home Ronrds of Foreign Missions. Their reports In the pust have be-e-n colorenl to tho very lim it to show progress and to encourago contributions to tho missionary funds. The very thought brings terror, that any of their followers would get more llght. more knowledge of God. and thus cense to bo counte-el In ns weirshlp- ers nt the shrine of the cned Idol. Apparently for the pnst few years, missionary activity has heen chiefly i with the native children. Appnrently very llttlo religious Information is be - ing impnrte'd. If only the missionaries had read the Bible to tho people. many more In heathen lands would know about Messiah's Kingdom and appreci ate tho imort of the prayer, "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on enrth, as it Is done In Heaven." Good Tiding to Every Nation. My visit to foreign Innds was not a plensure Jaunt, but strictly In the in terest of the tmo Gospel, of which tho angels sang "Good tidings of great Joy, which shall be unto all people." I had heard reports which led me to bellove that there were sincere people in heathendom who were feeling after tho truo God. if hnply they might find Him. I believe thnt God wlshes us to tarry tho Messago to these. I have far greater interest In such, whether at home or abroad, thnn In the vast ma jority of people, who nre utterly care less, utterly indifferent, utterly faith less, and who do not wish to find God or to know Him. Christ's Millennial Kingdom will denl with all such, and open their eyes of understanding, and through chas tisements develop the pence of God in all who will. The present Ago Is mere ly for the electing of those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Find ing such In heathendom I. ns president of the Ini ehsational Riiu k Stupkhts Association, promptly took the nee'os snry steps for sending tho Gospel of God's Love nnd Justice nnd Wisdom nnd Power all over heathendom by the printed page. Our Association has had sermons translated Into the language of Japan and Korea, and Into the prluelpal lan guages of China, aad Into the six prln- !-..:. '.s .'f the v " i':v-li Intercut in a :i ro'i.-od. J V i li.ul ln'.-rnii to iloubt e'Veryilim; religious !:av take counu-e, uin to tliii bCgllll t" aii.l st'.i ly ; their Kilties. If the missionaries e-ouUl ' hot elite') the s njie spirit, what a biess ' ;d eipporiin.ity would be theirs! Rut. alas, not many of them are so inclined: Very getienilly they seem to be bitter, hostile, slanderous, doing everything in : their power to oppose the l!-dit. even ; ns Jesus eleclared that the darkness j has always hated the light, because the light make's manifest, or shows up i the darkness.-Jolin n:l!)-21. How to Know Cod. Jesus said, "This is life eternal, that they mUht know Thee;, the only true God. and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast si'iit." lie knew we could not come into personal touch with the Al mighty, lie knew that we could learn respecting Him only through the Rlble, ns He said, "Sanctify them through Thy Truth. Thy Word Is Truth." There Is n difference between knowing about God and knowing God. The be ginning of faith Is to believe that there Is a great Supreme Creator. It is an other step to learn that He Is wise and powerful, ns Indicated In the great Uni verse that He has made, and in our human organization with Its wonderful powers for thought and action. Truly "There Is a God All Nature speaks!" At first It may occur to some that knowledge of God simply means to come to know that there Is a God, nnd that He has provided a Savior, His Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. But the knowledge of God means far more than this. To the ad vanced and developing Christian It sig nifies an intimate acquaintance with the Fnther nnd with the Son n knowl edge of "tho mind of Christ," which is a full nnd clear representation of the Father's mind. We grow In this knowledge by the study of the Word of God, by discern ing through thnt Word the principles which govern the Divine conduct as to how Divine Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power operate. These nre pro gressive studies. Something may bo lenrne(l along this line on the very first day of emr Christian experience; but the end of the first year should show considerable progress in the knowledge of the Divine mind: nnd so to the end of the Christian's course. It is only ns we realize something of the grentness nnd the perfection of the Divine character that we nre prop erly able to estimate our own littleness nnd Imperfection. Only ns we see the beauties of Ills gracious character can we become Intimately acquainted with God, with Ills graces nnd virtues. Then we come to investigate the more subtile qunlities of the Divine Belng, Ills Justice nnd Love. Who can imngino a real God who is devoid of Justice, devoid of Love? So surely ns It is true that no human being could be really grent without the qunlities I ft llluHpn nml lrnra on unpnlv lu It true there bo no re(l, nd gTeat God wltI)0Ut tne 8nmo m,e8 WIs(loin ond Power w,thout Just(ce and Love would picture to us a demou. and not a God. But what enn we know respecting God's Justice nnd Love? Wo answer thnt there nre two ways of ascertain ing: The first wny is to wnit nnd see how Ills plnns and arrangements will bo ultimately carried out If it Is truo of humanity thnt "by their fniits ye shall know them," the same must bo true of. the Almighty by Ills fruits. Ills workmanship, finally completed. Ho mny be known to be either good or bud, Just or unjust, loving or vicious. Tho other wny of knowing the Di vine character, in advance of tho fin ished work of Ged, would be along the lines of faith; and faith, in order to be intelligent, must have some basis or foundation. The Bible is God's Mes- i sage, to those who have the ears and ' eyes of faith. In it He tells us in ad- vance what he purposes to do; and from what we thuB hear we must de termine whether He is Just, loving and good, or whe-ther worse thnn ourselves 11 the creed Idols which we have been I worshiping truly represent Oel rhpn 1 the consummation of Ills Thin win h . awful in the extreme enouch to mniio all creation shudder. It would mean . thousands of millions in evi.riafinff torture without the slightest hope of any glory coming to God, or of any good coining to the sufferers or to any body else. Tho only purpose to. be served by such torture would be the satisfaction of a devilish disposition to witness the torture of others. Is that creed idol which we have worshiped a real picture of the God of the Bible? We know thnt it is not The God of the Bible on the contrary declares thot He has permitted the Reign of Sin nnd Dtath, which is en tirely Just He tells us that from among the sinners He will first gather out n saintly hnndful to be nsseclates with their Savior and to participate with Him ns members of His cabinet, or Kingdom, for the administration of the world's affairs, to lift humnnlty up out of sin nnd degradation and death back to . human perfection, nnd ulti mately to destroy all of those who pre fer sin when they shall be brought to a full appreciation of It. The outcome of this Divine Plan of the Bible shows us a ren-lnlnicd hu manity, in n world-wide F.deu, blessed with n knowledge of Ged, nnd with ex periences which will mnke them hap py to all eternity. Our Lord tells us thnt then God's will shall be done on earth, even ns now It Is done lu Heav en; nnd that there will bo no more sighing, crying nnd dying on enrth, even as there Is none lu Heaven; nnd that every creature In Heaven and on earth will everlastingly praise the Cre ator and the Redeemer. Halleluiah such n Savior' Hallelujah, such a God! of taese ::re ii: t!: . pie. tVn-!i!, r;il. fhrili.u:.iy li.i.s 1 ( ia tlU'Se l..inl who Humor and Philosophy Tr DVACAA M. SMITH THE SPOTLESS. II A! Discovered! You can Let a cent That t!io spotless gent, Tho one without a stain. Is the plain, Unassuming, near great Candidate. Know you not? Great Scott, You ought to know. For he said so! Take It from the candidate To get It straiRht, lie Is his own Indorsement, Ills letter of credit. His press eigent and His own brass bund. Others may say "Nay" When he Is mentioned as the one Ff-orlte son And declare Him a bug of hot air. Others may opine He would make a fine Dog catcher or That he would score Heavy as a doormat Or something like that As to his claims to be The only apple on the tree. The only cherry In the pie, They wink the other eye. At the suggestion that he may win They turn away and grin. But on his own say so He Is the whole show. The one who Can put through The big reform. He Is tho warm Baby, the pippin, Tho party In the swim. Take It from him. In Doubt. "nis father drove an ox team." "And he drives an auto." "Some ad vancement" "Yes, but the ox team was paid for." Evening on the Farm. (Thirty Years Ago.) "John, have you wound the clock?" "Yes, dear." "And put out the eat?" -Yes. deur." "And locked the door?" "Yes. dear." "Then you e an come to bed." (Today.) "Rudedph, have you locked the safe?" "Yep." "And put the auto In the garage?" "Yep." "And shut off the dynamo In the basement?" "Sure. Mike." "All right; you ean roll Into tho hay now." A Warm Friend. "I am very fond of my friends." "Yes?" "Why do you sny it that way?" "I notice you prefer them either toasted or grilled." Too True. "Some people nre so perfectly honest fhnt they won't take a single thing from your house." "Yes; some won't even take their de parture." So Modern. "She Is the very last word in pretty glrls.- "Oh, I don't know." "But she Is hand painted." Makes Us Honest. Before the penny slot machine Put matches In our way An honest man In other things For matches wouldn't pay. PERT PARAGRAPHS. Tie Is Indeed an unpopular individual who can't be delegate to some sort of vTentlon. Many a useful old maid has been polled to make a poor wife. Most of us like hot weather when mercury is twenty below. best If it were not for the telephone many a woman would have to go to the mis sionary meeting to find out how Mrs. Blank's sick baby Is. It is a slander that women are hard to please, as witness the marriages wo Bee mnde every day. When a boy would rather carry in coal than play baseball look out for a knock out demand from him. All men may be free nnd equal by a Caere matter of birth but woman hns to scheme for her freedom, and she doesn't care to bo Just equal to that woman elown tho block. Thero are plenty of persons who nre all right as long ns you don't get upon Ae wrong side of them. Tho unsuccessful person is usunlly the ono who is Just n second too late. Dress may make the man, but in nd 41' ion to that it takes a bank account and n powder puff to make n woman. Some Fine Moving Pictures. One oT the ii;iest moving pic ture productions that has been shown in this city was given last evening at the iem theater. The lilni is entitled, "The Dragon's J treat h," and portrays the wreck of a home caused by the excessive use of opium. The play is pro duced by the Rex company and is one of gripping interest, as the actors producing- the play are among the most notable on the moving- picture stage and their work in this film is something- not often seen and one cannot fail but be very deeply impressed by the forcefulness of the object lesson, as well as the beautiful manner in which the play is handled by the actors. INTERESTING SE AT CHRISTIAN CHURCH Yesterday the Christian church in this city held a series of very enjoyable, as well as profitable, meetings at their church, and as a result the church has gained several new members. Roth at the morning and evening services the pastor, Rev. D. L. Dunkleberg er, delivered two very impressive .sermons, speaking in the morn ing on "The Great Invitation" and in the evening taking for his sub ject "The New Itirth," and both sermons were clean-cut and right to the point. At the morning service fourteen new members were received into the church and six baptised by the pastor, while three confessed their belief in the church and will become members later. This is a fine showing for this church and indicates the work that the members and pastor have done toward bringing the church to the front ranks of the places of worship in this city in point of membership. .Another June Bride. A pretty wedding occurred last Sunday morning, June 29, at the home of Mrs. 0. Arvidson, when her youngest daughter, Mary E., was married to Cecil Roy Murphy of Sterling, Colorado. The cere mony was performed by Rev. Klmer Wilton of the M. E. church, only the immediate family of the bride being present. Mr. Murphy is employed in the Bur lington office in Sterling and is a young man of excellent character and qualities. The bride has lived in this vicinity since childhood and is a most estimable young lady with a large circle of friends, who will join us in extending heartiest congratulations and best wishes for happiness and pros perity. Louisville Courier. Faithful Horse Dies. After a long and faithful serv ice of seventeen years on the coal wagon of the J. V. Egenberger coal yards, Old Rock, the large gray horse owned by that firm, died this morning of old age, and his demise was the causeo f much regret to the boys at the coal olllce, as they had grown fond of the faithful old horse, and he will be greatly missed. The horse was some thirty years old and had ben used almost continuously for the past seventeen years, but this summer he had been allowed to rest. Has His Foot Mashed. For the past few days James Sochor, tho tailor, has been nurs ing a very sore foot as the result of an accident he sustained while at work in his shop. He was en gaged in pressing a suit with a large iron, weighing several pounds, and left it setting on the edge of the bench for a moment, when it fell off onto his foot, mashing some of his toes most painfully, and he has been com pelled to get around with an over shoo on the injured member for the last few days. A. F. and A. M., Notice! All members are requested to meet at the lodge room at 1 o'clock p. m. Tuesday to attend the funeral of the late Brother Israel S. Bates. A short service will be held at the late home of the deceased. By Order W. M. M. Archer, Secretary. TWO REASONS Why tho Platte Mutual Insurance Company solicits your business: First. Because they have saved the policyholders one-half tho cost of their insurance. Second. Becalse they have never had an assessment for fifteen years. J. C. Vi'lersen, Secretary. Otlice in Dwyer Mlk. Journal for fancy Stationery. FUraiH 6!8l LKOS The following taken from the society department of the Sunday stale Journal will be very in teresting t J'lattsinouth ueople, as Miss Mauzy is a IMattsmouth girl and is enjoying a vacation trip in California with friends, and her feat in mountain climbing is something that very few have done and her friends here are very proud of her having suc cessfully accomplished such a diliicult task: Mrs. Stella Flowers Hastings and Miss Margaret H. Mauzy, both formerly ()f Lincoln, but now re siding in San Francisco, have the honor of being the first woman to climb to the top of Pyramid mountain, near Lake Tahoe, in northern California. They have been spending ten days in tho mountains on the Lake Tahoe United States forest reserve. They made the journey to the top of Pyramid mountain, which has an elevation of 10,020 feet, on foot, taking two days for the trip, and also camping for two days at the Lake of the Woods. Pyramid mountain is one of the high peaks of the Sierra Nevadas, and is a part of the divide and situated in the heart of the Sierra range. Previous to their camping trip in the mountains around Lake Ta hoe, Mrs. Hastings and Miss Mauzy visited the Muir woods, where they spent several days among the giant red wood trees, and also visited at the home of Prof. Muir, the geologist, after whom the government forest re serve was named, Mrs. Hastings being a personal friend of the naturalist. For Cuts, Burns and Bruises. In every home there should be a box of Bucklen's Arnica Salve, ready to apply in eery case of burns, cuts, wounds or scalds. J. II. Polanco, Delvalle, Tex., R. No. 2, writes: "Bucklen's Arnica Salve saved my little girl's cut foot. No one believed it could be cured." The world's best salve. Only 25c. Recommended by Ger ing & Co. Purchased the Restaurant. Mrs. Bertha Gibbs, who has owned and operated the Diamond restaurant for many years, but sold some months ago to a man that came here from Plattsmouth to get rich right away. He did not make the success of it he antici pated and after a fire in the base ment of the building he closed the restaurant and left the fixt ures in the hands of a man to sell. Mrs. Gibbs purchased it and will reopen the restaurant and run it as she has in the past. She will have the building overhauled and refitted so as to have it one of the neatest restaurants in this part of the state. Nebraska City News. The Best Medicine In the World. "My little girl had dysentery very bad. I thought she would die. Chamberlain's Colic, Cholera and Diarrhoe Remedy cured her, and I can truthfully say that I think it is the best medicine io the world," writes Mrs. William Orvis, Clare, Mich. For sale by all dealers. SHERWIN WILLIAM'S Paris Green INSURES Purity and Uniformity On account of the fine ness and ligh gravity of this green, it remains in ' suspension with water and sprays better than any other made. When you buy Paris green, be sure you get SHERWIN-WILLIAMS. For Salo by F.G.FRIGRE&Go. The "REXALL" Siete 186 - Phone 186