, 1886-04-18

striving 10 find here and there in passages in
the Book OF Job to instruct you; and | find,
In reading these Old Testament scriptures
that It Is all Of use, and when a man has sup
posed he has made progress and got some
where, where Is hof Just where Job waa
Everything that Plato reached. Everything
In the latter days that Milton climbed into
In building his lofty rhyme Job had built
before In lowers that look down upon all
human thought and progress.
Now. we have our schools Of philosophy,
In which ] nm partly concerned myself. We
go TO Concord, we go TO Key East, TO discuss
| philosophy, and when we have done our best
II Is all In Job. We do not know that
Job had n school Of philosophy; theirs
was but one scholar, and that was job.
There was but one teacher, and that was
God.
Now, dear friends, there Is just one other
thought l wish TO present to you in connec-
ton with this, and that Is that the only addi-
tions ever made to tho thought of Job, that
Il preserved in human philosophy, WINS made
by Jesus OF Nazareth. He Is the only man
who added to what Job said Anything
that you and l ought to know 10 BIO
either high in our philosophy, through a
practice in our natural lives and holy In our
spiritual cxistence-the only man Mark
you, It Is not a lesson OF encouragement
God forbid / should ever preach discourage
ment I believe that tho whole Bible Is q
gospel Of Encouragement / believe that
science is gospel Encouragement. / believe
that encouragement Is the watchword of the
u~niverse. | believe we are going forward
and not backward l believe that even our
falls are falls forward; that this is what the
Bible teaches, and that we are going on and
m and on and up and up and up; and that
fnmahOxp or other daar hrafhran Uhfla fharo
is no lesson OF discouragement in the Book OF
job, there Is that wonderful lesson Of
patience which we should all learn. / be-
secch you to 90 home and read the Book OF
Job, and II you are at all scholarly. read It
often; II viii not discourage you, but 1t will
keep you humble.
There seems to me another practical ques-
tion coming to us. and. secondly, l wish to
present this morning this thought, that II re-
Dukes the modern idea Of sainthood-
Now we hear a great deal about holiness in
these times; q great deal of the most absurd
nonsense: a great deal that Is an admirable
tonic on the subject Of holiness in this day.
How often we hear things which / really
think keeps men that mean to be good out OF
tho church OF God and from being disciples
Of our Lord Jesus Christ We hear Of two
kinds Of holiness-that which Is so far from
all frailty. that which is so far from all posi-
bility OF sin, that Is so hedged about that
Mother the ~frailties OF character nor the
frailties of temper can ever assail a mans in
nermost manhood.
They hear OF just such a kind Of holiness as
that, and so they say: ~ cannot be a banker,
a broker; ] cannot be a mechanic; l cannot
run m express wagon. and be a Christian,
according to this idea of holiness, and I may
just as well give 1t up That Is
4.af 81. .,t.t.t~. ~-If.h. l. ...I. l.
the minds Of men. My friends, evory
man, to be a saint, must be a man; that Is a
truism. Now, the kind OF n saint that il
painted on canvas, and the kind of a saint
that you think you must be, cannot be a man
at all Tn Ideal saint is not a man or wo-
man nor a respectable beast even; he is an ideal
OF poets, that had dyspepsia, put on canvns by
painters that had neuralgia
That Is the sort OF a sainthood that Is pre-
scented to the world l beseech you by all
that Is beautiful in truth, and all that is
sweet in goodness, and all that IS true in the
word Of God, do not DO a saint If you can
help 1t. Take medicine, pray, strive. labor,
call in all the physicians, call in all the
clergy, strive to prevent yourself from ever
becoming a saint after that type. Because
you may be sure there are none of them in
heaven, and none of them actually on the
earth-and there is but one other place posi-
bio for them to be. Do not be a saint after
that type II you can help it
Bat there is a sainthood presented in the
sacred scriptures. When | turn to these
pages as a man OF common sense, and read
them over, | find the saint represented there,
was to be defined after this fashion;
Genus-A man. Differentia-Sinful, striv.
ing to be saved from his sinfulness by using
the gracious means provided by Almighty
God
Asaint Is a Sntul man surviving 70 De saved
from ms SINS by honest faithtul use OF al
the means oil grace, FURNISHED py Almighty
God
call that man a saint-whoi In the hrs'
place is a mainland he Is not a
man who mas not lusts and passions
And II he is a true man he has
the sense OF being sinful Then, II nc
Is an honest man., he VIII strive, by all his
power TO break down the sin In his nature.
Whenever n man says he Is holy you may
know he Is not holy. The profession OF holl
ness Is tho PROOF OF sinfulnesS Inc sinfu
man who feels 1t has no time to make
profession Of holiness When Job was stricken
down with the black leprosy, he said, u
must get TINS out OF me he had no time &c
PROBES Nhen ~ faul was IN mat terrible
condition he cried out, who viii deliver
"e' ~" Wy" ~ ANs ,ou amt " ~
man ne blessed him, and when the man be
lsved he went on bis way rejoicing.
tell you, my friends, when you come &c
These Oid Testament scriptures ana these
New Testament scriptures you VIII not ind
this modern Idea OF sai"thood, and II you set
1t up Tor yourselves you viii never be q
Christian.
know lots OF men in this congregation
who arr really kept out OF tho church OF Goa
by reason Of their false idea OF what a saint
IL a saint has tranties ami makes no pro
fession at ALL he confesscs that hs isa sinner.
Every ume a true man comes to holy com