The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1900-09-28
CHRIST'S CHARACTER
DR.. Talmage Speaks of the Earthly
Life of the Savior.
chrIstians Urged 90 E@ulate Quail
ties which Were Most Conspicu-
ous-The spirit of Hard
work.

In this sermon, Which Ut. A1lh1S'
sends from Paris. he analyses the char
acter of he Saviour and urges al
Christian, TO exercise the qualities
which were conspicuous in christ q
earthly lfe. The text is Romans o;s'
"Now. II any man have not the spiri'
of Christ. he is none of His
There is nothing more desirable than
a pleasant disposition. Without II We
cannot be happy ourselves or make
others happy. When we have lost our
temper or become impatient under
some light cross. we suddenly awaken
to new appreciation Of proper equi'
poise of nature. We wish We had been
born with self balance. We envy those
people who bear themselves through
life without any perturbation ana we
fatter ourselves that however little
self control we may now have, the
time will come. under the process OF
wears. when we will be mellowed and
softened and the wrong things which
are in US now will be all right, forgettul
of the fact that an evil habit In our ma
ture will grow into larger proportions
and that an iniquity not corrected viii
become the grandfather OF whole
generation of iniquities. So that peo-
PIE without the grace OF God in the
struggle and amid the annoyGnces and
exasperatioss Of life are apt TO become
worse instead Of better.
Now. the trouble is that we have a
a -. Il ~ "a
mans disposition cannot be changed.
4 man saws: Il am irascible in tenn
per. and | can't help it," Another man
saysi Il am revengeful naturally. and
] can't help it, \ man says: Il am
impulsive. and / can't help it," And he
his disposition. never knew a man
by force OF resolution 10 change his
temperament, but by His grace God
can take away that which is wrong and
put in that which is right. and know
and you know people who since their
conversion are just the opposite OF
what they used TO be. In other words.
we may. by the spirit Of God. have the
disposition OF Jesus Christ implanted
in our disposition. and We must have
IL done or we will never see Heaven.
"If any maa has not the disposition OF
jesus Christ. be is none OF His"
In the first place the spirit of Christ
was = spirit Of gentleness. Sometimes
He made wrathful uttsrances against
Phariseee and hypOerites. but the most
of His words were kind and gentle and
loving and inoffensive. When we con-
slider the fact that He Was omnipotent
aud eonld have torn TO pieces HIS as.
sailanfs. the wonder is greater. We
often bear the persecution and abuse
of the world because we cannot help
IL. Christ endured itswben He could
have helped IL. Little children who al
ways shy of at a rough man rushed
into His presence and clombered on
Him until the people begged the moth
ers 90 take them away. Invalids 50
sore with woundt that they could not
bear to have anyone come near them
begged Christ just 10 put His hand
upon the wound and soothe IL. The
mother with the sickest child was will.
ing to put the little one in Christ's
arms Self-righteous people rushed
into His presence with a woman OF de.
based character and said; 'Now. an,
initiate her. blast her. kill her" Jesu,
looked a her and saw she was sorry
and repentant. and He looked at them
and He saw they we're proud and AFRO
giant. and He said: Let him that 1,
without sin east the first stone az her.
A blind man sat by the wayside making
great ado about his lack Of vision
They told him 20 hush up and moi
bother the Master. Christ stopped e
him and said: What wilt thou that
do unto thee?" Gentleness OF voice
gentleness of manner, gentleness Of
life. .~>------
We all admire II. whether we have
any sf IL or not. just as the rough
mountain bluff and the Scared crae
love 10 look down into the calm lake a.
their feet and as the stormiest winter
loves 10 merge into sunshiny spring
so the most precipitate and impulsiv,
and iraseible natures love 10 think o.
the gentleness OF Christ. How ETH,
we have of III How little patience IL
treating with enemies! We have SC
little of the gentleness OF Christ we ar,
not fit for Christian work half the
time. We do not know how TO comfort
the bereft or encourage the disheart
ened or 10 take care OF the poor. Ever
our voice OF sympathy is on the wrong
pitch.
Ny sister had her arm put out oil
joiee. and We were in the country. and
the neigh bors came in. and they were
all sympathetic. and they laid hold Of
the arm and pulled nightly until the
anguish was intolerable; but III,
arm did not go 10 its place. Then tn,
country doctor was sent for. and h,
came in and with one touch il was al
right. He knew just where TO put hi,
finger and just how TO touch the bone
We go out TO our Christian work with
too rough hand and too unsympathet.
ic a manner, and we fail in our work
while some Christian, in the gentleness
of Christ, comes along. puts his hand
OF sympathy on the sore spot-the
torn ligaments are healed and the dis.
turbed bones are rejoined. Oh, for this
gentleness of Christ.
The dew OF our summer night will ac.
complish more than so Caribbean
whirlwinds. How important il is that