The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-06-29

text, Ephes. vi, IL: Put Cd the whole
armor of God"
There is in this text great rattle OF
shields and helmets and swords Sol
diers are getting ready Tor battle. we
have had recently in this church new
enlistments and | shall address myself
to those in this and other churches VINO
are putting on the armor of God and
who may feel themselves to be as yet
only raw recruits.
"Masterly retreat" is term often
used in military circles, but in religion
there is no such thing. cit is either
glorious advance or disgraceful and
ignominious falling back. 1t would be
a strange thing if all our anxiety about
men ceased the moment they were con-
verified. You would almost doubt the
sanity of that farmer who, having
planted the corn and seen it just sprout
abe We ground, should say; My work
is all done. | have no more anxiety for
the field. No. There is work for the
pillow and the hoe. and there must
be careful keeping up OF the
fences, and there must be a fright
ening way of the birds that would
pillage the field. And ! say the en-
trance upon Christian life is only the
implantation of grace into the heart.
There is earnest, hard work yet to be
done, and perhaps many years OF
anxiety before there shall be heard the
glorious shout of Harvest Home. p"
The beginning to be Christian is only
putting down the foundation, but after
that there are years of hammering,
polishing carving, lifting, before the
structure is completed. 1t takes
five years to make Christian
character; it takes twenty-five years;
it takes forty years, it takes
seventy years, if a man shall
live so long In other words, man
dying after half a century of Christian
experience feels he has only learned the
"A C's" of glorious alphabet. The
next year will decide a great deal in
your history, young Christian man.
1t will decide whether you are to be
burning and shining light of the
church, or spark of grace covered
up in barrel of ashes. 1t will decide
whether you are to be a strong man
in Christ Jesus, with gigantic blows
striking the iron nail of darkness,
or bedwarfed, whining, grumbling
soldier that ought to be drummed out
of the Lords camp with the "Rogues'
March" You have only just been
launched; the voyage is to be made.
Earth and Heaven and hell are watch
ing to see how fast you will sail, how
well you will weather the tempest, and
whether at last amid the shouting of
the angels, you shall come into the
right harbor. May God help me this
morning to give you three or four words
of Christian counsel, as address myself
more especially to those who have just
now entered the Christian life.
Ny first word of counsel is, hold be-
fore your soul very high model Do
not say, II wish could pray like that
man, or speak like that man, or have
the conservation of this one" Say:
Here is the Lord Jesus Christ, per-
| feet pattern. By that l mean, with
| Gods grace, to shape all my life" In
other words, you will never be any
more a Christian than you strive to be.
If you build foundation twenty by
| thirty feet you will only have small
| house. If you build a foundation one
hundred by one hundred feet, you will
have large house. If you resolve to
be only middling Christian, you
will only be middling Christian. If
you have no high aspiration in world
ly direction you will never succeed in
business. If you have no high aspira-
ton in religious things you will never
succeed in religion. You have a right
to aspire to the very highest style of
Christian character. From your feet
there reaches out path of Christian
attainment which you may take, and
deliberately say that you may be bet
ter man than was Paul, or David, or
Summerfeld, or Doddridge-a better
woman than Hannah More or Charlotte
Elizabeth.
| Why not? Did they have monopoly
of Christian grace? Did they have a
private key of the store house of Gods
mercy? Does God shut you out from
the gladness and goodness to which
they were introduced? Oh, no. You
have just the same promises, just the
same Christ, just the same Holy Ghost,
Just the same offers of present and ever.
lasting love, and if you fall short OF
what they were-ay, if you do not come
up to the point which they reached and
90 beyond tit is not because
Christ has shut you out from
any point of moral and spirit.
ual elevation, but because you delibcr.
ately refused TO take it. ] admit that {
man can not become a Christian like
that without a struggle, but what dc
you get without fighting for it? The
fortresses of darkness are to be taker
by storm. You may by acute strategy
flank the hosts of temptation; but Their,
are temptations, there are evils in tn,
way that you will have to meet face t,
face, and it will be shot for shot, gur
for gun, grip for grip, slaughter fo,
slaughter. The Apostle Paul over anC
over again represents the Christian lif,
as a combat.
When the war vessel Of Christ;
church comes into glory. bringing it
crew and its passengers, it will no
come in like a North river yacht, beau
tifully painted and adorned, swinging
into the boat-hoqse after pleasure ex
cursion. Oh, no, it will be like vesse
coming with heavy cargo from Chin;
or India, the marks of the wave and tn,
hurricane upon it-sails rent, rig