Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 184, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1915 — JUSTICE THE BASIS OF TRUE CHARACTER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

JUSTICE THE BASIS OF TRUE CHARACTER

Failure to Recognize Justice Has Brought World-War. Justice the Foundation of God’s Throne. Justice the Underlying Principle of the Mosaic Law —Difference Between Justice and Love—Justice In the Home, In Business, In the Church. Appreciation of the* Rights of Others. Love’s Victory Through Self-Sacrifice.

Springfield, Mass., Aug. 1. Pastor Russell is here today. He preached a strong sermon on the Golden Rule “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Matthew 7:12. The first part of his discourse em-

phasized the importance of the principles of justice. It is a common mistake, the speaker declared, to think that practically everybody recognizes these principles and applies them. The trouble with the whole world, he asserted, is the failure to appreciate justice. While there is not much in fallen humanity to love, yet every human being calls for just treatment We have no right to be unjust to even an animal. Ours would be a wonderful world if every person in it would practise the Golden Rule. There would be no “doing” a neighbor before he could “do” you. On the contrary, there would be a taking into account his weaknesses and his interests, a disdaining to take advantage of him. Justice is the basic principle of the Mosaic Law Covenant. Thirty-five hundred years ago God entered into this Covenant with the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, and gave them the Ten Commandments, with the understanding that they must keep the Law if they would be the promised Seed of Abraham that would bless all mankind. According to whether or not they would render justice, would do to their neighbor as they would wish him to do to them, would be the Divine decision as to their worthiness of being considered Abraham’s Seed. But they could not keep the Law. Their failure was due to humanity’s fallen condition.* (Romans 3:20.) Not one of them got the promised reward of everlasting life. The Church and the Law.

The Pastor then discussed the Church’s relation to the Divine Law, which they must keep as the Spiritual Seed of Abraham. (Galatians 3:8, 16, 29: Romans 8:4.) Knowing that fallen humanity could not keep all His Law, God sent His Son, the Logos, into the world to help mankind. Our Lord was able to keep the Law and obtained its reward—everlasting life on the human plane. This life He offered up sacriflclally, and the merit of His sacrificed life constitutes a credit which will be applied for Adam and all his posterity at the end cf this Gospel Age, as their Ransom-price. Then the whole world will be turned over to Him, and immediately He will begin His great work of blessing mankind. The Church’s first duty is to live up as nearly as possible to the Law standard, and then to present their bodies a living sacrifice, as those who walk in Jesus’ steps. (Romans 12:1.) Many Christians apparently do not see that God expects His people to keep the Law of Justice. While we cannot be absolutely just in thought, word and deed, yet there should be nothing less than this in our intentions. Selfishness is so deeply Ingrained in our natural bodies that we fail to do perfectly. But conditions are not the same with Christians as with Jews. (Romans 8:1.) If in the spirit of our minds we observe the Golden Rule, the blood of Jesus Christ is cleansing us from all imperfection. Our Obligations to Others.

The remainder of the sermon set forth the practical application of the Golden Rule. Many of God’s people seem not to realize that justice takes precedence of love. Christians are obligated to render justice. Everywhere we find injustice—between parents and children, employers and “employees, between friends, neighbors and even In the Church. A parent owes it to his children to provide them with a reasonable education, a religious hometraining, and proper respect for his own rights and those of others. Very seldom will a rightly trained child run away from home, or fall In after years to manifest a proper gratitude for parental care received in childhood. Of course employers cannot give everybody all that each would ask; for some people would ask for everything and then not be satisfied. But with tile right kind of employer and employe, each would insist that the other should have his rights; each would consider what he would think right for the other to do. were their positions reversed. This course would make a great change in conditions. As we think of what would be the right thing to do, and as we are willing to do It. we become more just in all our dealings. When we buy or sell, there is a reasonable way of doing. It Is wrong to buy so as to make the seller lose money. If we were selling, we should expect to make a reasonable profit not an unjust one. The employment of the Golden Rule would regulate all such msttera.