The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-06-03
we have not grasped all truth we have

wise by being humble.
You know Paul is one of that class of
| men that is continually writing this sort
| of thing-paradoxes. All his writings
are full of them, and the reason is that
his writings are so truthful.
You say man is mortal? Yes, he is
| mortal. But man is immortal, is he not?
He is. Well, how are you going to blend
those two into one statement? You
can't do it in words. I defy you to make
use of one single word that shall blend
the propositions that man is at once NOR
| tai and immortal; and yet that is true.
Aiau is mortal. Every day the graves
that are opening underneath our feet,
the vacant places in our homes, are con-
tinually reminding us that man is mortal.
And man is immortal the grave is not
the goal of this life. "Dust thou art, to
dust returneth," was not spoken of the
soul. We feel in ourselves the very
throbbings and power of an immortal
life, and there are some-whatever may
] be said of others-that we cannot believe
have ceased to exist. There are some
that have left this world whose spirits
are such that we feel that they are i'm
mortal; and Gods Word comes right
along and establishes and secures to us
the conviction of their Immortality.
Well, there is paradox. What are you
going to do about it? I am going to be-
lieve it; am going to believe that l am
mortal; am going to believe that | am
immortal.
We have three paradoxes in the short
passage of Scripture that constitutes the
text: Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling. For it is God that
worketh in you both to will and to work.
The first "work" in this translation is
not the same as the second. The first
"work" is accomplish" Complete
Complete your own salvation with fear
and trembling for it is God that work
eth in you both to will and to work"
Those two words, both to WiN aud to
acork, tell why God works in us. He
j works in you for these two purposes
both to will and to work. The first
work" here is translated from the same
word as one in the sixth chapter of the
Epistle to the Ephesians, 18th verse:
"Wherefore take unto you the whole
armor of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having
done ALL" "Having done all" is the
very word which is translated in the
text, avork out your salvation. You see,
therefore, what it means; it refers to the
carrying through, the accomplishing of
that which is begun. l see the margin
renders it "having overcome ALL" and we
might change the rendering of the words,
if We chose, and say; "Carry through
complete to perfection your own saliva
ton with fear and trembling; for it is
God that worketh in you both to will and
to work."
/ wish this morning to call your atten-
tion to these three paradoxes, that out of
them we may get instruction that may be
of service to us. In the first place, how.
ever, I remark this: That when the
Apostle wrote these words, he had a
practical purpose in view. He was not
discoursing to class in theolgy or on
some principle of metaphysics. He was
talking to those Philippian men and wo-
men-writing letter to the men and
women who in that town were the hum
BILE followers of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that they might be as shining lights Gin
the midst of crooked and perverse gen.
eration." These were humble Christians
that never dabbled in philosophy, meta.
physics or subjects of that sort, and to
them Paul gives these declarations of
high glorious principles, along with the
preceding plain declarations of the great
ness of our Lord. Why? Because he
had practical application to make out of
these words.
Some people say it does not make any
difference what you believe, if your life
is right. That is nonsense. It does
make difference; your life is not going
to be right, if your faith is not right.
There are some things in regard to which,
to be sure, your faith in some particulars
is not going to affect your life; in other
particulars it will. I may have certain
views in regard to politics that need not
effect my relations to my neighbors. |
may have certain views in regard to med
cine without their effecting my social re-
lations. But if should persuade myself
that there is no difference between quiz
nine and morphine, and that if l give
person five grains of quinine or FIVE
grains of morphine, the result will be
the same, will my believing that theory
keep the poor creature to whom give
the morphine from sleeping the sleep of
death? It will not.
1t is necessary for us to receive the
whole round of truth, and now wish to
call your attention to the truths as pre-
sented in these paradoxes.
This is the first paradox: That the
Christian has his salvation accomplished
and yet he is to work it out. Those who
read the Bible cannot fail to see that
there is sense in which salvation is
presented to US as complete or finished.
tits offered to us-offered as gift from
God, and it is to be taken just as a man
takes the gift of an inheritance that is
presented to him. There can be no
question in the world in reference to this,
yet we see it is just as plainly and dis.
tinctly said: "Work out your own saliva
tion," and it is not somebody else's saliva
tion, but your own; that which lies
nearest to you-;lat which concerns you
most completely-."W out your own