The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-11-22
THIS A FAST AGE
Not Enough of Waiting,
Says a Pastor.
People Nervous and Feverish-Anx
iety of Thoughtful Observers.
Bible and History.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The subject of Mr.. Pearson's Sunday
morning sermon was Waiting on
God" the text. Psalm LXII:5. He said.
N part:
This is a fast age. In the so-caIled
Christian lands everything is hum
mius along at an accelerated speed.
The nervous tension increases and "a
feverish excitement peryades the peo-
PIE. Even heather lands, long dead.
are being revived Coming generations
viii doubtless marvel at the rapid ad-
vancement Of civilization during the
nineteenth century. May God grant
that they may not note its decline.
Thoughtful observers are anxious re-
garding the future. There are some ris-
ing clouds that look foreboding disre-
gard for law, cheap notions Of liberty,
dessecration OF sacred things, . mad
rush for wealth and position. the in
crease of frivolity and the tendency TO
the superficial. Greece and Rome fell
not by outward force but from inner
decay. Unless some mighty prophets
arise and call the people back TO sober
thought and action the tendency TO ret
repression Will soon assume alarming
proportions.
The feverish haste OF the present
leads TO the superficial. We would like
to have our children through the high
school at sixteen, the university at
twenty in business for themselves at
twenty-one and millionaire at thirty.
But a solid preparation for life's work
is not made in such haste. There must
be years of toll and application, OF
watching and waiting in the develop
ing ana training Of ones power.
Trades are not learned by spending a
day or a month in the shops and fac
tories Lawyers, teachers and preach
ers are not made by few months at
tendance at the university.
The superficial preparation is of lit
tie value. 1t defeats its own aim. This
same spirit is found in much of the
church's life and work.
bers without due regard to the claims
of God upon them. without repentance
of sin and faith in God. Starting in
tnls way, they give little heed TO pray
er, meditation and other means of
grace. and consequently never develop
the symmetrical and sturdy Christian
characters that are so much needed in
this present age. There is great need
of thoroughness and of patient wait
| ing on God in the development OF the
religious character.
/ Waiting on God in meditation and
prayer gives to the wOrshiper a knOwl-
edge Of himself, his needs and the pos
sibilities of God, His nature, mercy and
/ love that are not known to those who
tarry not before Him. They also re-
ceive the blessing of His grace which
are shared by those only who know
! Him and enter into sacred communion
/ with Him. One cannot take in the
/ beauties of the landscape at one glance.
| There must be the careful observation,
1.-THE noting of the details, the sun must
, rise and set on it. Time and painstak-
ling enter into the problem. Alighting
from the train at Niagara Falls one
! passenger asked What's this?" When
! told. he exclaimed My, what a lot of
water" and re-entered the car. What
| did he know of Niagara Falls? Not
until he had walked up and down the
/ American and Canadian sides, had
/ looked at the mighty rapids from Goat
/ Island, had descended the incline rail
way and looked up to the great flood
falling from the heights above, and
had noted the tremendous On-rushing
OF the river below, could he say that
ne had seen Niagara. Time, observa-
ton and thought are essential, and
only through these can the falls i'm
press their majesty and beauty upon
ones mind. And so it is with him who
would know the character and Will of
God. Holy waiting is essential. Only
then can God reveal Himself and i'm
press the glory of His nature and the
beauty of His love upon the soul. Only
by thought and care and meditation
can the great truths OF God be appre-
nended and applied to the develop
ment of a symmetrical and Cody char
acter. The men-from Abraham to
| WesIey-who have waited upon God,
1 have been men of great moral power
and have wrought a good work in the
world. Would you be an intelligent,
coura geous, strong. happy and useful
Christian wait thou only upon God.