Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1898-03-03
OUR WEEKLY SERMONS.
PREPARED ESPECIALLY FOR
THE FAMILY PRESIDE.
"Stirrine Folks Up"-Fourteenth Sermon
In the New York Herald's competitive
Series il bva Pennsylvania Minister-
Dr. Talrnage On Ordinary People.

"Ahab, whom Jezebel his vito stirred
Up. i. Kings, xxi. "a.
Aiarge par. O. the evil and a larger part
ottle good in the world would never be
done bat for the ioers being stirred up
to Il.
Life (. much Ike the sea: there seems al
WAYS some wind % .n!te the surface or
some st~aithv unaerearrentto send It's rest-
les-ness up from the depths.
The lessons Il many sided: Nful!v ronsid-
cred Il cover. the whole complex question
Of lit--s relationships. II IL not one part Of
the world against the other; part d the
world giving. the other ever receiving i'm
pr~ssions. for one who is stirred up by evil
NAV be e constant impulse TO another 5
good.
70 matter how weak one may be or how
derenlent on others, there Is still some
power going Iorth-cpnsciousiy or uncon-
sciou.lv-wh!eIf makes more positive the
good ~ evil OF the worlds conflicting
forces.
We nni ourselves pressed by Iife's i'm
pulses or irritati0ns. Its attractions and
repuleions find really allies in our inclina-
tiGn-. ana often We fail because we under
estimate the opposing forces, or We jov0uslv
realize that We have been impeIied TO Il
usefulness We had thought beyond CUR
power.
The example Of Jezabel-the Lady Mac
beth Of Scripture, the new wonaa' %
nearly three thousand years ago-i3 not
chosen because women are more prone ID
| stirringupto evil than men, though blessed
IS the woman who''stir- up her husband
whenever he needs Il, and happy is the
man who never stirs Up his wife TO any
thing but good,
We ara ready to condemn Jeznoel for
having stirred up Ahab to evil, but we Of
ten lose sight Of how Ahab i~n0nenced Jeze-
bel. His negative weakness provoked her
positive badness. We sometimes c0mfort
ourselves that we are not had berause We
do not great sins. %forgetful that oar very
weakness mag provoke some one else into
shining.
Aha wanted a piece Of ground that was
near the royal palace. It was the property
Of Nabotll, who, with true ancestral rever-
ence. refused u part with it. liqued ~
Naboth's refusal. Ahab went to bed. turne1
his face TO the wall and refused to eat
Ahab. the king, peevish "a IL child beeaus'
he could not have his wi way! 1t wa:
then Jezebel's murderous plans wer'
formed. Ahah'- peevish sui1iness stirred
up tho wickeInese OF Jezehel. Had he beer
noble she could not have been so evil.
Whom JcZebel his wife stirred up
stirred up to evil. Had that power beeE
turned to good even weak Alab might have
been one % the worlds helpers.
The power for great evil reveals the pos
aibility OF great good; the power in tn
direction Of wrong Is the measure Of beneii
II turned IN the opposite direction.
Who can estimate what the world wOul'
have lost had not Wendell Phillips hearC
his true hearted wife say, "Wendell, don
shillv-shalIyt' That put an end to possible
vacillation. Was Lady Palmerston's stir
ring up" worth whiie2 She spent her lii,
in placing and keeping her husband il
his roper position.
What n rare tribute was paid by Genera
Charles II. Taylor to the of Ebel
d. Jordan when in a Boston Globe editoria
he said, mo man OF my acquaintance eve
possessed a rarer gift Of developing the gift
OF other men, and no one ever helped other
with more patience and generosity." II
stirred up to their best possibilities thOS
whom he met: he made them by his hel
what, possibly, they never could have bee
without him.
Are those who are near YOU weak ar
sinful because you have not stirred then
up to be their best selves?
The world will ever be grateful to DR.. "
Robertson Nicholl for his persistent stil
ring up OF Ian Naclaren. He gave him II
rest until he led the world to the 'Bonni
Brier Bush which. like the bush Nose
saw, is aglow with God.
DespOndent We sometimes are becaus
oil the world seems against us.
II we put ourselves in right relation
with God He will give ls of His power All
we shall be masters, not servants, Of fat
Most happily it has been said:
Likethe winds Of the sea are the waves
fate.