The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1889-10-31
"THE SAVING LOOK"
Sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage, D.. D.
Christ Our Personal Saviour, an Example,
Sympathizer, and n Final Rescue
-rmuls Advice to Run the
Race Before Us, Looking
Unto Jesus"

his text Hebrews xii, >: Look unto
Jesus" Following is the sermon:
In the Christian life we must not go
slipShod. This world was not made for
us to rest in. IN time Of war you will
find around the streets Of some city, far
from the scene of conflict, men in SOL
dier's uniform, who have right to be
away. They obtained furlough and
they are honestly and righteously of
duty: but have to tell you that in this
Christian conflict. between the first mo-
ment when We enlist under the banner OF
Christ. and the last moment in which
we shout the victory, there never
will be single instant in which we will
have right to he OFF duty. Paul throws
all around this Christian life the excite
ments of the old Roman and Grccian
gameS--thoSc that sent man on race,
with such stretch of nerve and muscle,
that sometimes when he came up to the
goal, he dropped down exhausted. In
deed history tells us that there were cases
where men came up and and only had
strength Just to grasp the goal and then
fall dead. Now. says this apostle. max
ing alluSion TO those very games, we arc
all to run the race, MT to crawl 1t. not
to walk it-but run the race set before
us, looking unto Jesus, and just as IN
the older times, a man would stand at
the end Of the road with beautiful
garland that was to be put around head
or brow of the successful racer, 80 the
Lord Jesus Christ stands at the end OF
the Christian race with the garland OF
eternal life, and rhey God grant that by
His holy spirit We may so run as TO OBJ
tain.
The distinguished Welliston, the
chemist, was asked where his laboratory
MAS. and the inquirers expected to be
shown some large apartment hilcd with
very expensive apparatus: but Wellls-
ton ordered his servant to bring On a
tray few glasses and rctort, and he
said to the inquirerS: THAT is all my
laboratory. make all my experiments
with those" Now, l know that there
arc great many who take q whole IL
brary to express their theology. They
have so many theories Oh ten thousand
things: but | have to say that all my
theology is compassed in these three
words: Looking unto Jesus" and when
we can understand the height and the
depth and the length and the breadth
and the infinity and the immensity Of
that passage we can understand all.
III Vic III E'oNS. w tAeSo
look to Christ as our personal Saviour.
Now. you know as well as |, that man is
ONLY a blasted ruin of what he once was
There is not so much difference between
q vessel coming out of Liverpool harbor,
with pennants flying, and the deck
crowded with good cheer, and the guns
booming. and that same vessel driving
against Long Island coast, the drowning
fr,nnn1 70 r,inpaC amid the
timbers Of the broken up steamer as
there is between man as he came from
the hands of Cod equipped for grand
and glorious voyage, but afterward,
through the pilotage of the devil, tossed
and driven and crushed. the coast of the
near future strewn with the fragments
of an awful and eternal shipwreck. Our
body is wrong. How easily it is ran
sacked of disease. Our mi ad is wrong.
How hard it is TO remember, and how
easy TO forget. The whole nature dis
ordered. from the head to the sole of the
foot--wounds, bruises, putrefying sores.
"All have Sinned and come short of the
glory of God" ''By one man sin entered
into the world and death by sin, and so
death has passed upon all men for that all
have sinned." There is in Brazil plant
they call tho murderer" for the simple
reason that it is so poisonous it kills al
most everything it touches. 1t begins to
wind around the root of the tree, and
coming up to the branches reach out to
the end Of the branches, killing the tree
as it goes along. When it comes to the
tip end of the branch the tree is dead.
Its seeds fall to the ground and start
other plants just as murderous.
And so it is with sin. 1t is a poison
Gus plant that was planted in our soul a
long while ago. and it comes winding
about the body and the mind and the
= soul. poisoning, poisoning. poisoning
killing. killing, killing as it goes. Now,
there would be no need of my discours-
ing upon this if there were no way of
plucliing out that plant. 1t is a most
inconsiderate thing for me to come to q
man who is in financial trouble and en-
large upon his trouble if have no allie
Walton to offer. 1t is an unfair thing
for me to come to u man who is sick and
enlarge upon his disease if | have no
remedy to offer. But have right to
come to a man in financial distress or
physical distress if | have financial re-
Enforcement to offer or a sure cure to
propose Blessed be God that among
the mountains of our sin there rolls and
reverberates song Of salvation. Loud
or than all the voices of bondage is the
trumpet of Gods dcliverance, sounding:
so. Israel. thou hast destroyed thyself,
but in me is thy help" At the barred
gates of our dungeon the conqueror
knocks and the hinges creak and grind
at the swinging open. The famine
struck pick up the mamma that falls in
the wilderness and The floods clap their
hands, saying: Drink, oh thirsty soul,
and live forever and the feet that were
torn and deep cut on the rocky bride
path of sin now come into smooth
place, and the dry aldcrs crackle as the
painting hart breaks through to the wa
ter brooks, and the dark night of the
soul begins to grow gray with
the morning, yea TO purple, yea
to flame. from horizon to bor-
izon. The batteries of temptation
silenccd. Troubles that fought against
us captured and made to fight on our
side. Not as result Of any toll or
trouble on our part, but only as result
of Looking unto Jesus" But what do
you mean by Looking unto JeSus?''
some one inquiries. mean faith. What
do you mean by faith?" l mean heliev-
ing. "What do you mean by bclicving?"
mean Thu lfyou promise to do a Ger
tain thing for me, and have confidence
in your veracit: IF you say you twill give
me such thing and Inecd it very much,
l come in confidence that you are an
honest man, and will do what you say.
Now, the Lord Jesus Christ says: You
are in need of pardon and life and heav,
en-, you can have them if you come and
get them" You say: Il can't come and
ask first. ! am afraid you won't give il
to me-" Then you are unbelieTing. But
you say: K will come and ask. know,