| Show EVOLUTION OF HUMAN LAWS Ecclesias ecclesiastes ts inform us that obedience is the first law of god but self preservation is the first law of nature man shares aares in this natural heritage in common with the lower forms of animal life it is the primeval law without this law of instinct particularly under primitive surroundings life would soon become extinct the survival of the fittest and rugged individualism are other versions of the same primeval instinct the law of moses was predicated upon these principles and was little more than a reaffirmation of the same impulses which had always actuated mankind all have had their part in piloting the race through its strenuous early period of training and development the law of moses was given because it was all that thai the people of that period were capable of understanding and applying but after about four thousand years of experience peri ence with the injustices of this theory of living including the doctrine that might makes right the human family was presumed to have developed to a point where they were capable of a higher law and a nobler less selfish outlook but look and so god commissioned his only begotten son in the flesh to deliver this new code or law to the enlightened peoples of the earth this he did so beautifully and impressively pres that the soundness of his teachings have now I 1 struck a responsive chord in the souls of some persons have proceeded to form some hundreds of different christian churches to promulgate these vital principles each sunday we assemble in our various churches and hear the minister dilate upon the beatitudes and the wonderful wisdom of the Saviors teachings occasionally we read in our new testaments such fundamental compensating truths as the following blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled Bles blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy blessed are the poor in heart for they shall see god blessed are the peacemakers peace makers for they shall be called the children of god and again lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal 64 for where your treasure is there will your heart be also i 4 no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve god and mammon again therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and boeth them I 1 will liken unto a wise man which builds his house upon a rock is and the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock and every one that heareth these sayings of mine and oa o a twi c jy x boeth thim them not hoft I 1 be 19 likeke ii ke ried un unto a fool ish man in n which w c built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it fellow christians you who accept the messiah as the son of god and the great lawgiver read again the foregoing familiar quotations from the words of the savior and ask yourselves if you are living up to these laws and admonitions are arc you putting into practice these and the other fundamental recipes and instructions of the master or are you passing over them lightly as some thing beautiful ul visionary u c but withal fantastic and imp impracticable ra ati if this is your mental attitude and reaction then clearly you are one of those who heareth these sayings of mine and boeth them not whom he likened unto the foolish who built his house on the sand and you are in line for 1 l rude awakening when the structure you are building falls as it is sure to do sooner or later if on the other hand you are a sincere christian willing ing to make any sacrifice in order to comply with the laws christ laid down but see no way of accomplishing it in a world dominated by greed selfishness and unscrupulous grasping persons who like beasts of prey speedily destroy and devoux devour any individual attempting to practice true christianity your course is clearly charted the only thing that is wrong with the world today is is the fact that christianity is not being practiced greed selfishness hoarding dishonesty are just as definitely banned by jesus christ as are murder theft adultery and sabbath breaking your job and mine dear reader is to bring every ounce of pressure we are capable of to bear in compelling the vitalization of christianity when this is accomplished lucifer is licked the millennium is at hand and greed avarice crime poverty and misery are forever banished from the earth since these are also the obstacles which are blocking the pathway to our ultimate destiny we can then progress progress definitely and rapidly towards godhood but so long as we follow the advice of such well meaning but deluded teachers as judge and do nothing but pray for jesus christ the executioner of jehovah god to destroy all our enemies we will not get very far in life the meek and lowly one failed to evince any of the characteristics of a ruthless worldwide world wide executioner on the other hand he plainly told us ye shall not kill and his whole life described the antithesis of murder and carnage further he plainly told us that faith without works is dead the trouble with our friend of the air and a lot of other christian people of this day is that they do not take the savior seriously enough his teachings are so plain and understandable yet so opposite to the ethics that motivate our existing society that they just cant construe them literally they are unable to realize that the messiah mean meant t his teachings to be put into daily practice most of the clergy in order to salve the consciences of their well to do parishioners are much more concerned in finding a means of explaining away the statement of jesus that it was as fora for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven as f for or a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than they are in urging the need of taking seriously the teachings of christ and the importance of living up to his too many well meaning christians have the erroneous idea that jesus by the sacrifice of his life washed away their sins and accomplished their salvation that the only requirement made of them is to believe in him and that their salvation is assured nothing could be farther from the facts christs mission on earth was to impart the saving message to the human f family amily and to teach them the correct formula for happy and successful living because this new law is diametrically opposed to the primitive law and the selfish interests of the special privilege class it was and still is unpopular for that reason the message cost the savior his life just as he realized that it would so jesus beius gave his precious life in order that you and I 1 and the rest of humanity might know the correct principles for happy and successful living and be able to make progress towards our our ultimate destination all tle way through his ministry christ stressed the importance of DOING the things he taught yet after nearly two thousand years we find the christian world admiring the beautiful pattern of life the messiah gave us but making practically no attempt at putting it into practice we are all in the category of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand unless we DO the things the savior commanded us the structure we are building has its foundation upon the sand and cannot endure we are only fooling ourselves we cannot fool god he has given us our lesson whether we le arnit in one lifetime on earth or in one hundred such lifetimes is all bp up to us the message which christ brought holds the solution of ali all our human ills and the key with which to unlock theL thedoor door to eternal progress continued on page 13 Edl toral al department continued god is an eternal being he has plenty of time and can afford to wait he has done his part it is now up to us we have been shown the course and if we cannot find a way of putting the teachings we have received into practice we are unworthy of our eternal parentage and have small chance of ever filling the ultimate measure of our existence god is merciful but he is just he could not do our work for us even if he wished any more than our earthly parents can commit our lessons in school for us the job is ours whether we do it individually or collect I 1 ively for the most part we have been trying to climb the ladder alone and make progress individually leaving social problems to others or to chance with the result that the world is chock full of crime deceit hollow pretense and mockery it is also filled with want misery and suffering our penal institutions and asylums are filled to capacity and as a race we are making little or no progress in the field of sociology and morality our whole competitive profit system is destructive and debasing it engenders cruelty and dishonesty it chokes out the higher attributes from the human breast and debases character it is diametrically opposed to christs message and teachings it is is based on the mosaic law and develops the worst traits of human character greed avarice dishonesty and the unholy thirst for earthly power like thorns and thistles whistles es it smothers and obliterates the divine attributes and bars the way to perfect social relationships and eternal progress it should be banned uprooted and consigned to the discard heap with other outmoded and exploded theories by a progressive and enlightened christian society it may require the amendment of constitutions and the liberalizing of laws it must include the curtailment or revocation of special unwarranted privileges to individuals which hamper and infringe the god given rights of large groups of contemporaries the earth and all that it holds belongs to god and we his children are permitted to use only what we need of it while on earth we come into the world with nothing and we go out the same way we should not rate too seriously our claims as tenants on his bounty remember that your father has many other children whom you may be depriving of their birthright learn the real meaning of christianity |
