Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-05-09

Pilates judgment hall /; and WHEN he has |
declared there is no fault in me, and vet
yields me to the malice of my enemies, l |
will not open my mouth. Make ready |
the cross, the symbol of shame, the in |
strument of torture will not refuse to |
die; not my will but Thine be done"
Now see how kindred in spirit, how |
identical in principle, the servant is with |
the master. AS with Christ, SO with Paul
the will of God the rule, the glory of !
God the end of life. From the very
moment when Paul said, 'Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do, down to the |
hour when writing to Timothy, his son
in the gospel, he said, 81 have fought
the good fight, have finishd my course,
/ have kept the faith" he lived and
labored and suffered for the glory of |
Christ and the salvation of souls. AS q
Jew, as a Roman citizen, as a polite
scholar, as a rising man, be laid all upon
this aliar-his privileges, his accomplish
ments, his enjoyments, his own righteous
ness His obedience to this great prio-
ciple was prompt. Immediately he CON
ferred not. with flesh and blood. Henever
waited for the endorsement of those who
had been apostles at Jerusalem before
him. He consulted no carnsl interest,
but he offered up himself, his soul, his
body, his health, his safety, his life, upon
the sacrifice and service of his faith.
Did the church that loved him beg him
to spare himselfg "What mean ye,"
said he, 'sto weep and to break my heart,
for 1 am ready not only to go bound to
Jerusalem, but to die for the Lord Jesus"
Hear him again: 'In labnrs more abun-
dant, 10 stripes above measure, IN prisons
more frequent, in death oft-of the Jews
five times l received forty stripes save
one; once l was stoned; thrice 1 have
suffered shipwreck; day and night
have been in the deep. In watchings, in
HASTINGS, in hunger, in thirst, in cold, in
nakedness, in trial, in prosecutions" o,
man of God, what nowg Can you stand
it all9 'sNone of these things move me,
neither count my life dear unto myself
so that may finish my course with joy,
to testify the gospel of the grace of God"
All, brethren, Paul's religion was di-
vine reality, living entity, a living iu-
csrnation of faith, and courage, and hope,
and love, all inflamed with a saints
ardor and ready for a lifelong
martyrd0m. For me 10 live is
Christ. His will is my will, his
interest my interest, his service my de-
light, his honor my glory. When it
pleased God to reveal his Son in me,
took him for all and in all, for richer OF
for poorer, for better and for worse, for
life and for death. He is the life of my
life; outside of Him and the fortunes of
the church, have no plan, no business,
no interest. 1t were not in all the joys of
earth to charm me, apart from the smil-
ings of His face; nor grief or gloom, nor
reproach or imprisonment, nor peril or
persecution, can cast me down while |
can find anything to do or bear for him.
Slandered as an evil-doeT, will welcome
my bond, if the word of God is not
bound. Whether make tents at COrinth,
working with my hands for my daily
bread, or stand on Mars Hill and con-
found the philosophy of Greece by reve-
lations of God and the future; whether l
defend myself prisoner in chains before
Felix the Governor, or preach the gospel
to them of Caesars household, it is all in
the line of my life-plan of duty and
devotedness to Christ. And now
he says to The church at PhIippi
that he is willing to labor or
suffer, to live or to die. To live is Christ;
to die is gain. If l am delivered from
this great trial, the power of Christ will
be magnified in my liberty; if die, the
power of His glorious grace will be mag
nifed in my triumphant exit. If | COM
mune with my SORROWS, long to depart
and be with Christ, which is far better;
| if l remember the church, her trials and
her wants, to abide in the flesh is moIe
needful for you. am in strait;
| what to choose l wOt not. Weary with
unresting travel, burdened with the care
of the churches and the old man ready to
be offered up, what boon is the prom
ised rest Heart sick and sore, bruised
and bleeding, what q heaven, heaven
would he to mel Here, bonds and Attic
! tons abide me; with Jesus freedom and
glory, and all the days of my mourning
would be ended; but if l can plant an
other church where Christ has not been
preached; if l can establish one wsvering
! disciple in the faith of the gospel; if l
can help TO protect the body of Christ
! from schism and from error, |
will cheerfully forego the bliss of the
eternal future for season, for the heaven
| of doing good upon the earth. To faith
the prize is sure; l labor on till my de-
! liverer comes.
Oh, what an example this, of sublime,
heroic self sacrifice. And, brethren,
this ought to be the spirit of the minis
try and the sentiment of the church; aud
if all of US, preachers and people. were
of the same mind and the same heart,
| vet little while and revival fire would
warm the whole world. Very soon we
should see the years of the right hand of
the Most High; the glOries of the
gospels pentecOstal morn would rise
and blaze in the splendor of miIleniel
noon. The songs of angels, full-robed,
would break in rapture once more from
the bending skies, and over all this earth
radiant, pesceful and happy, the Mes
siah would return in bliss to reign.
Our late senior Bishop was himself
| noble specimen of the self-denial and de-
vOtiOn which | have outlined in the fore
going discourse. Indeed, the subject was
suggested by my knowledge of the man, his
sentiments, his habits of thought and action
As myself, the son of q Methodist preach
er, among my early household memories
the name of Andrew mingles My father,
then young man, was presiding elder of
the district when he was recommended 10
the annual Conference for admission on
trial, and he felt an official if not pater-
nal interest in the awkward and unprOm-
ising youth whom he had introduced 20
the itineracy. He thought he saw the
diamond within the surrounding crust,
and he commented freely, and frequently
with admiration and delight, upon the
rapidly unfolding outcome of his young
friend and brother; and it is one of the
marvellous demonstrations of our peculiar
system of training and development that
this boy, for he was not twenty years of
age when received on tIlal, with the bare
rudiments even of a common school edu.
cation, in a very few years took rank with
the leading minds of one of the Oldest
and most distinguished conferences of our
then united Methodism. He was the
peer in pulpit power of such men as Old
ham and Capers-mcn whose mental en-
dowments and varied scholarship would
have dignifed any church in any age.
Ny personal acquaintance with him
began while was yet in my teens, and
he was in the flush of his prime and his
vig0r, He was stationed in Athens and
Greensboro, my native town, in 1929.
had lust returned from school to my IA
theirs house, and in the secrecy of my
own soul, was anxiOusly resolving, as
question of duty, my call to the ministry.
My lips were sealed tOeyery human being;
l dwelt alone upon this subject, and l
had commenced the study of another pro-
fesaion to rid myself of the convictions
that were pressing me- sorely, but this
good man discerned my secret trouble,
invited me to his house, took me into an
upper chember privately and alone;
adroitly drew from me confession of
my feelings, and then, with kind counsel
and tender exhortation, encouraged me to
do my duty. Perhaps, as then thought,
the cast of all my life was determined by