There is a very real sense too in which we break the commandment when we fail to realize life's true purpose and responsibility. Life is real and life is earnest, but many treat it with no thought of its importance. Life is a divine gift; and its duties and responsibilities must be seriously considered, and yet morality than those who are positively opposed to both. The Jack of reverence for God's book, the fun that is poked at relationships that were divinely ordained, the pointing of the finger of scorn at those who are trying to do their day religion errs through want of reverence and holy fear. We come with unprepared minds to our holiest services. We dogmatize con-coifedly about the most awful mysteries of life and death. We thrust forth a hand to prop the tottering ark of God. We prattle glibly and with easy familiarity about the names of persons before Whom the Archangels bow.
Reverence Now it is impossible to build a strong and enduring religious faith on anything else than reverence and holy fear. A fear and reverence not born of dread inspired by ignorance and terror, but a holy fear that bows before the majesty, the unsearchable wisdom and stainless purity revealed in the moral character of the Supreme Being. When we think of all these implications of the law we do well to cast ourselves upon the mercy of God. For rurxcs. das how far short we fall of the keeping of the spirit of the third commandment? How poorly have we understood either the majesty or the holiness of Jehovah? How little the honour we have paid Him? How rash we have been? How irreverent in our approach to Him? How degrading are our thoughts of Him, and how presumptious our words concerning Him? The good Lord pardon His servants in this One further word and I have finished. There is a positive side to this commandment as well as a negative, As we dishonour God by treating His Name and His purposes lightly and irreverently or when we scoff at sacred and holy things. So we honour Him when our lives are worthy. We honour Him when in all aspects of life e show obedience to His will and loyalty to His law.
It is only as we carry the spirit of Christ into all life's functions that we fulfil the third commandment. Not only must we keep the letter of the law, but we must love and honour Him with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our strength. We must reverence God. Reverence Him in thought and word and action. We must regard the honouring of God as the one object of life, and then translate it into terms of action and speech. Nothing less than that will satisfy the demand made upon us by this commandment.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.