The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-03-28
CHRISTIAN sTEADFAsrNKss.
A Mastery Sermon by Rev. e. z. Dun-
lap, at the Christian Church.

A Mastery Sermon by Rev. Il. r. Dun-
lap, at the Christian Church.
Rev. R. E. Dunlap, of the First Chris
tian church, spoke yesterday morning to
an appreciatlve audience on ''Steadfast-
ness in Christ" The following is a brief
synopsis of the sermon:
The sublime view of the resurrection is closed
by the apostle with the simplest practical e<-
hortation. The fifteenth chapter of First Corin-
thians is unsurpassed for spiritual beauty in
the Word OF God. It is as it were a great
preacher bearing his hearers on the wings OF
eloquent truth and closing the flight with duty
for them. To some who are accustomed 10 be
entertained only, the close would seem abrupt
and the exhortation rather cooling; but Paul's
idea seems to reach far beyond mere entertain
ment into the realm OF practical devotion.
Robinson has said: "What the people clamor
for is not so much the Gospel as thrill And
they are so hardened under the back &C ion of
their own criticisms that thrilling is Q very
hard thing to accomplish, especially when cool
Christians look up into preachers fa,e aad
seem to say. Thrill now, will you Do 1t now;
what you want is to keep thrilling"
The statement may have grain of truth
that accounts for the failure Of much preach
ing, yet we are inclined to believe that the true
teacher seeks to make every sermon Of practical
value to his hearers Let US then give attention
to this verse:
"wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stead
faft, unmovable, always Astounding in the work
OF the Lord, for as much as ye know that your
labor is not in vain in the Lord
In illustrating the definition of steadfastness
Webster quotes . clause from Spencer aptly. 1t
is: "This steadfast globe of earth" This con-
tains the entire idea The earth moves, but not
out OF its orbit 1t moves in its orbit obliviors
to the strife upon its surface. tornado sweeps
of man-lifting buildings from their founda-
tions and dashing them into splinters, tearing
out mighty trees and shivering others with the
electric bolt-yet the earth moves steadily.
Nations go to war. Mighty armies meet in
deadly conflict Thousands go down TO death
on the bloody field The world is filed with
mourning. But the earth takes no notice Of
Gil this in her regular revolutions
Christian steadfastness requires this obliv-
iousness to the forces that play upon the surface
The disciple has his fixed purpcss, his faith in
God, his round OF duty to himself, his fellow
and his God. He must be steadfast in these:
unmovable, always Astounding in tho work Of
the Lord; oblivious to sinful revelry, frivolity
and fashion on which SO many noble lives have
gone down; oblivious to business interests that
interfere with right living or duty to self, to
nsighbor and to God; oblivious to the deaire for
ease that binders and the desire for gratifca-
ton that despoils. In the ruins of Pompen the
skeleton of a sentinel who sat at the gate was
found where at his post he died in the flood Of
fire that buried the city. Such elements Of
character are found in every successful life.
Job said, Though he slay me, yet will trust
him." and he was faithful under every earthly
misfortune and lived to see that this was the
only true policy in life.
Fitting illustrations of the unsteady man W 9
found in Jonah; of the movable man in Solo
mon, who yielded to influences; OF the ct ady
man in jeremiah and of the unmovable in Paul
The desirable elements Of character are found
in abounding in the work OF the Lord, and 1t
proves Q safeguard from every evil The
worker is not the doubter. The prayer meeting
Christian 10 not lost in revelry. The soul seeker
il not gossip or back biter. The visitor of the
poor and sick il not penurious and covetous
Satan has plenty Of work for idle hands and
tongues and heads and hearts to do The vari-
Gus departments of church work have not
progressed beyond the need OF help from every
one. The doors are open. Will you enter
them? While there 10 no room for discourage
ment there is plenty Of room for growth.
1t is always better to help by work than by
criticism. The passage doss not read, always
Astounding in criticism, complaining and fault
finding" but sin the work of the Lord"
The verse closes with an appeal to our faith,
"Forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not
in vain in the Lord" TeO often do we work in
unfaith. Let US never lose sight of this truth.
economy of Providence the little grains are used
to build the mountains of good. Then
Work for the night is coming,
Work in the sunny noon;
Fill brightest hours with labor,
Rest comes sure and soon.