Click here for the PDF version.

A sinister spirit is creeping over this world--a spirit of arrogant self-assertion, a disposition to do away with God, to shut him out from his own universe, to strip. the Divine One of his divinity, deny his miraculous power, and regard him as nothing more than a superman a good and wise Teacher who points out the Way in which men should walk--and that is about all. Even in the pulpit such things are said at times. In current literature divinity is below par. Any writer who makes a sensational assault upon religion, robbing Christ of his Christliness, finds a willing publisher and a ready sale. One who stands up stalwartly for God and Truth--his manuscript goes begging.

NO MARKET VALUE

Pure religion has no market value. It's the humbug that prospers. All religion is looked upon by many as old-fashioned fogyism, some thing out of date, and it is deemed progressive and even heroic to along without it. Dr. William B. Riley, in a recent address in this city said: "The idea has been put forth in some of our secular institutions, that a person should make his own moral decisions, without regard divine law."

Heaven forbid that such a spirit, or anything like it, should ever invade the Church of Christ --the Church of the Latter-day Saints! Says Riley again: "Make man believe that he is responsible only to himself, remove all belief of higher power, and it is certain that a state of anarchy will prevail."

Let me now read to you a very splendid poem:

INVICTUS

By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from Pole to Pole,
I thank whatever gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud,
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

We all admire courage, fortitude, and the power to patiently endure. We recognize such traits as essential to success, both in spiritual and in temporal pursuits. But these heroic qualities, admirable though they be, and desirable withal, cannot lessen one jot or tittle the need for a Savior, to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In this wonderfully virile and powerful poem, there is no recognition of any need for divine help. That, to me, is a defect. Of course, a man must know God before he can recognize him, and this poor man evidently did not know him.

A BROKEN REED

A reasonable amount of self-reliance is a good thing, is a pillar of strength in any human character. But when a man relies wholly upon himself and seeks no help from the divine Helper, he is leaning upon a broken reed, however mighty he may think himself.

David was self-reliant when he met Goliath of Gath; but it was because he knew God was with him. "He will give you into my hands," said the shepherd boy. And it was his simple faith, his sublime trust, his absolute confidence in the Almighty, that overthrew the Giant--not merely a sling with a stone in it.

"I am the captain of my soul," is true only to a very limited extent. Man is a free agent, with a will of his own, with the power to achieve, to succeed or fail. That much is true. But there is a Greater Captain of our souls, to whom we all owe allegiance, for He redeemed our souls from death, and they are his; he purchased them with a price. Self-reliance is a good thing, if not carried too far. But self-assurance, self-sufficiency, self-conceit, is a bad thing. There is no such thing as absolute independence. We depend, upon one another, and all are dependent upon God.