The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-19
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
THE HABIT OF DOING GOOD DEEDS
SHOULD NOT BE sPAsMODIC.
Sermon by Rev. Charles Spurgecn
Medhurst, ID. d., Pastor First Bap-
list Church, santa Clara, Cal.
who went about doing gOOd.-Acts <. 50.

moved to special deeds of kindness. This is
well. But our care should be not to limit
our benefactions to this season. To do good,
and the greatest possible amount of good,
was the one ambition of Him who was born
on Christmas day and who all through His
life went about doing good
This is the nobest epitaph ever penned.
And what is more it is a true epitaph. If
we would have it true of us also we will do
well to pattern our lives by His. To-day, as
of yore. the "Christ-life" is Synonymous
with all the best things of which we are
capable, and these in continual exercise; to
do good habitually, not spasmodcally. To
this end let rs study Christ's methods a
little.
Jesus was ever giver, never a getter;
servant, not a master. We are necessarily
much occupied with getting" to provide
things needful for ourselves and those de-
pendent upon us; but in so far as our cir
cumstances permit we may apply the prin-
ciple involved. To get that we may give.
Freely We have received, freely give" Kind
words, loving attentions, helpful ministries
formed the sum total of the Savior's life on
eartn. He dined with the wealthy He
supped with sinners. He lodged with the
poor, and all of these to whom a richer
deeper experience was possible were the
better for His companionship.
We notice again that the good which
Christ die was varied as the needs of men.
The multitudes. restless, dissatisfied, OPP
pressed, longing for something better than
they had yet hardly knowing what, looked
to Jesus and Nazareth and felt that He un-
derstood them better than any other. He
had no money to give, but He gave what
money could not buy. He wrote no book,
He lived to supply mems needs, to comfort
their distresses, to remove their woes. The
children climbed fearessly to His knees,
made welcome by His smiles and caresses.
The pure in heart were drawn to His side;
the sinful and the erring were not repealed
by His goodness. The secret of His power
was His love. Let our hearts be filled with
charity, with sympathy, with love for our
fellow men, that something of 1.-The power
of Christ may rest upon us.
The wrongs of others reused His indigna-
ton, but He resented no wrong done OF him
self. He belonged to no class. He was
hindered by no prejudice. He confined him.
self to no one place. Wherever there was
good to be done thither He went. Ills heart
ever knew what to do in the presence of
misery, and instead of avoiding He rather
searched for the Borrowing and the needy.
In Nazareth, where He was brought up,
envy cast Him out. He went away and con-
unued doing good elsewhere until they
should come to a better mind. He was
tried in every way: He was put to every
conceivable tset, and in every place His
goodness was triumphant Even in the
agonies of death He spoke words of cheer to
the outlaw cruciied by His side HE provided
for home for His mother as she wept by
His cross; He sought the welfare of His MUIR
derers, and looked for a way into their dark
hearts. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do"
Through all the monotony of an artisans
life, through all the varied incidents and
strain of His public career, He went about
doing good''-all kinds of good, TO all kinds
of people, friends and foes. Here are some
of the hardest lessons we have to learn.
All the above qualities, so fully exemplified
in His own life, He bids us in His sermon on
the mount TO strive unto. Love your enc
mics, do good to them that hate you
We observe, also, that the good which
Christ did reached to the souls of men.
The causes for the change in the popular
feeling concerning Him, which ended in His
crucifxion, are manifold, but they may all
be traced back to one great point of differ
eEce between himself and the multitude.
They were material; He was spiritual They
looked upon Him as a miracle worked; He
regarded himself as a savior They wanted
in Him the glory and pomp and power of
temporal monarch; His own idea was the
purity and simplicity of God-flled life.
So. again and again, we find Him charging
the recipients of His marvellous power not
TO make Him unknown; to speak of His
words rather than His acts. We find Him
when the excitement in Capernaum became
too great to permit of the people receiving
any spiritual truth, replying to His dis
ciples proud boast that all were seeking
Him: Let us go into the next towns that
] may preach there ALSO"
He was always surrounded by the deaf,
the dumb the blind, the poor, the broken
hearted, the weary, the hungry and those
that had no helper; but it was not His
ability to heal bodies so much as His de-
sire to save souls that Jesus emphasized.
THE Son of Man is come to seek and to
save that which was lost. He that believ-
eth on me hath everlasting life
Our interest in mankind like His, may well
include all temporal good, but not to leave
the other undone" We cannot shut our
eyes to the fact that the highest good is
spiritual and that we have duty here,
would we attain unto the Christ-life.
Wo see, furthermore, why Christ was able
to do so much good; the words which fol-
low our text furnish the key: For God was
with him." A man among men, Jesus ever
walked in the presence of God For Him
the invisible always greater than the
visible. The attic window of His soul, look
ing heavenward, was always open. This is
why He touches us at every point no
other teacher does or can. Because He lived
with God as other men did not His contem-
poraries testified concerning Him. Never
man spake like this man., and their verdict
has been the verdict of all since that day
who have allowed themselves to come under
the spell of His influence. To God and not
to man did He look for approval, therefore
He went about doing good unhurt or UNI
soured by mans ingratitude. One with God,
He had no false pride to protect. Caring
only for the Fathers smile, He could afford
TO be every mans servant. In His own
words: The Son of Man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister" He went
about doing good because His heart was
ever open to God.
The final thought to be drawn from this
theme is that TO do good as Christ did is
the only life worth living. Those who have
done the most good are those who have
enjoyed the most lasting happiness and the