Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1898-02-23
SERMONS OF THE DAY

"four Anchors is the Title of the Thir.
teenth Sermon in the New Yorh
Heraid's Competitive Series-Dr. Tai
mage breaches q Sermon to Sisters.
TEXT: "They cast four anchors out Of the
stern."-Acts xvii, 90.
The symbolism of the text is striking and
suggestive. Many lives have been ship
wrecked for the need OF anchors holding
may feel the waters to be through which we
are sailing, we are often nearer the shoals
and reefs than is imagined.
The first anchor which should be thrown
out is fixedness of purpose. The inner
most secret of successful lives is in the
finite lines. Paul says, .'This one thing 1
do, and the world will ever do him rev.
erence. DR.. Hudson Taylor says, This
one thing L do and China is opened as
never before to higher ideals and larger
visions of life. The Earl of Shaftesbury
says, "This one thing 1 do" and he goes
down to the Holborn viaduct, in London.
and the bootblacks and hucksters and
street arabs and costermongers are trans
formed. The great names in art, in science,
in philosophy and in finance are always
identified with pain and purpose. Life is
power, but power undirected is lost Only
constant striking on the same spot makes
an impression. Purpose connects and
unifles our months and years and makes of
them all but parts of n single whole. Each
day ought to be link tempered and
welded into the chain of a completed life.
Three-fourths of mems failures may be
attributed to the lack of purpose. The
house can scarcely be constructed without
a plan: how much less can human life be
fashioned without conception of what
H.. ,,rl.z a nj
construction; the ideal before the realiza-
ton, the purpose before the accomplish
ment. Only the man who aims will strike
the mark. Turn your life into a definite
channel; let 1t not cover too much terri
tory, for it Is the deeply flowing stream
which cuts away the distractions and at
last reaches the sea, while the stream
which spreads itself in shallowness goes
silently into the swamp-land aud its life
is ended. The analysis OF every completed
life reveals central point about which
energy and emotion and devotion cluster
themselves.
But purpose to exert its influence must
be accompanied by perseverance, so cast
out the second anchor. Here Is a vast diff
ference between the aim and the accom-
plishment. Perseverance is the bending
of the bow to send the shaft at the target
and the bow Is the will. II will fight it
out on this line II it takes all summer"
says the great general. That is the spirit
which conquers. No sooner have our plans
been drafted or our purpose fixed than cir
cumstances and difficulties seem to con-
spire to defeat and ruin them. Many a man
has seen his star in the east but only here
and there has one been possessed of the
courage and devotion to follow it over an
unbeaten path until it led him to his treas
ure. 1t Is blood earnestness which tells.
The man who is ever unconscious of defeat
is he who st1fie- ie-day will plant his standard
upon the enemies raTnra.frssS- and win the
day. He who holds on in the face of the
storm, in spite of discouragements, calmly
suffering TEN porary delays, is he who final
ly secures his crown and his reward. Shall
we complain of difficulties when a thou
sand fingers are pointing at wonderful
achievements, made after overcoming tre-
mendous obstacles? q elem Kellar, without
sight, without hearing, without language,
presses on until she passes the entrance
examinations to Harvard University. John
Bunyan, the drunken tinker of Bedford,
rises to the authorship of "PiIgrim's Prog
ress." 1t is half-heartedness which fails
but the doing with thy might which sue
ceeds. Before n determined will and
passionate devotion men will stand aside
and let you pass-they cannot help it; diff
culties will vanish-they cannot withstand
you; obstruction will be crushed-their
puny strength deserts them.
Then, in order to make perseverance
self. Too often the estimate of our power
falls far short of what it really is. Emer-
sons word, Trust thyself," carries with it
true philosophy, for one may not achieve
until there is a firm belief in ones own
soul. II we rate our ideal at 100 and our
but one-half. The great crime men COM
NIT against themselves is not in overjudg-
ing, but in underjudging. My self-set
limitations determine the extent of my
achievement. And what right has ran,
born in the image of God, with unknown
and undeveloped powers standing before a
hidden future, to measure and to circum-
scribe his capabilities and to limit his-pos-
sibilities of success in the construction of
life? Only God may measure man, for only
God knows the height the individual may
ren"h. Men who to-day are almost meas
ureless in their intellectual sweep are they
who have not dared with compass and rule
to set their bounds. This is not con ceit, {
but respect forthe untouched undreamed
OF potency OF your own soul. SO then,
believe not only in your ideal, but in the
possibility of realizing it.
And then the fourth anchor faith in God.
We may imagine Paul as the last anchor is
thrown out calling to the sailors, "Men,
does it hold?'' and the answer coming back,
"1es; the rope is taut; we do not see the
ledge down below the waves, but the
anchor holds.' All! that is the blessed ex-
perlence OF il1ey THIS ancnor always SraSIS
the solid rock the unseen rock of Godi
Faith connects man with Omnipotence.
Faith is the conductor which places at our
disposal divine grace and power. This is
the testimony of every child of fdith. Il
can do all things through Him." This is
the power not our own which may be ap-
propriated. And there are times when the
safety of the whole life depends upen this
anchor. The anchor of purpose may be
dislodSed and flung high upon the shore by
storm and tempest; the anchor of perse-
verance may be worn away by the fretting
tide and the cutting sands, the anchor of
faith may snap in twain in some fearful
crisis when the strain is great and the heart.
is sick, but awav down below the crashing
billows of passion and temptation rests
the anchor of faith embedded in the heart
ofGod. SO let us live with a noble purpose
worthy the patient endeavor and unfalter-
ing devotion we bestow upoIrit, mindful of
our own undiscovered resources and hold.
ing fast to the might of God.
Rev. CHARLES ATWOOD CAMPBE4h.,
First Presbyterian Church, Providence, Il. L;