The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-11-21
SELFISH THOUGHTS.
Rsy D.. TaImaga U'g Jif O.
RelpfuIness 20 Others.
PRACTICAL LESSONS DRAWN
From the Captivity OF Job. Who
Prayzd for HIS F'len@s.
The Efftc&cy OF
Prayer.

In this discourse DR.. Iatuage war:
on narroEness Of view aud urges life
helpful to others; text, JOB xiii, ~,
"And the Lord turned the captivay Of
Job when he prayed for his friends F..
Comparatively few people read m this
last chapter of the book OF jog. ~: ms
earlier chapters are so full OF snrlalRs
incident Of events so drsmstlcaily por-
trayed, Of aEfu! ailmects snd terrific
disaster, of domestic infelicity, OF stac
aatopasssage, of rescuu6ing s6drsss, Of
onn!potency proclaimed, OF ut,erances
showing JOB to have been tie greatest
scientist Of his dsy an expert in mloing
and precious stones, ast-oacm r and &c,
ographer annd zcologist AID Electrician
and poet, that most readers stop before
ahey get to my text, which, strangely
snd mysteriously, announces that this
Lord turned the captivity OF JOB when
he prayed for his friends.
Now. will you please explain to N
how Jobs prayer for his friends halted
his cstastrophes? Give me some good
reason why Job, on his knees IN beoaIf
Of the welfare Of others, arrested the
long professions Of cslamities. Mind
ycu, it was not prayer for himself. fol
then the cessation Of his troubles would
have been only another irstapce Of
prayer answered. But the portfolio o.
his disaster was rolled up while he sup
nlicateS God in behsif or Eliphag the
Temanite B.ldsd tie Shuhite the tems
mite. BilGad the Shuttle and Zo2oar
the Nsan,thite, Imust confess toyo11
that ! had to read the text ever aoo
over again before l got its full meaning
And the Lord turoed the captivity
ofJob when be prayed for his friecds. .
Well, if you will not explain 1t to me
y will explain it to you. The heai'hl-
est, the most ecu?arative thing on
earth to do is to SIC. thinking so much
about ourselves and go to thinking
about the welfare of others. JOB had
been studying his misfor.unes, but the
more he thought about his bankruptcy
the poorer he seemed, the more he
thought of his carbuncles the worse
they hurt, the more he thought OF his
unfortunate marriage the more lntol-
srsble became the copiugal relation,
she more he thought ofhis house blowo
down the more terrific seemed the cy-
clone. His nisfortures grew oIacker
and blacker. BIT there was to come 8
reversal Of these sad conditions. Oae
day he said 20 himself: Il have been
dwelling too much upon NY bodily all
neuss and my wifes temper, and my be,
rea7ements. 1t is time | beean to think
sbous Others and do something fol
others, and will start now by praying
for my three friends" Then Job drop
ped upon his knees, and as he did SC
the last shackle Of MS captivity Of trou
bles snspped and fell of. Hear it, al!
ye sges OF time snd all yo ages Of eter
1ity, "the Lord turned sho captivity Of
Job when he prayed for his friends!
The fault with most OF usis too muet
self concentration-our health, our for
sunes. our advancement, our social posi-
eion, our achievements, our losses, ou
defeats, our srfsrinss, our persecution
our life, our desth, our Immortality
OF course there Is a lawful and right
sous selfshness. In a world and in
time of such activities snd ri7airies aoc
temptations We must look after our OWL
interests and our own destiny or We vii
20 under. Do not wait for others tc
take care of you. Take care Of your
self. But it will not hinder our preser
ystion and prosperity if ne enlarge the
sphere Of our wishes and prayers SO a:
totske in others. The law in the natural
world would do well for the moral and
spiritual world. The centripetal force
in nature would throw everything IN
toward the center and the centrifugal
force in nature would throw everything
out from the canter. But the ccntripeta
and the centrifugal work beautifully e
gether. The one force that wou.d
throw everything toward the center is
balanced by the force that would throw
everything outward.
Our world, with its own interests,
feels the pull Of other worlds. No world
60 nation, no community, no man, no
woman, can afford to exist only for its
SELF or himself or herself. The hour in
which Job has that soliloquy about the
enlargement Of his prayers 80 as to take
in his friends and he put into execution
his good resolution, was the hour when
he felt tonic, s sedstive, ner7ine,
cstaplasm that helped to cure his body
and revived his fortunes till they were
Q hundred percent better than ever be-
fore, for the record is the Lord gave
Sob twice as much as he had before" !"
and tended to make MIN wonder Of
longevity, for he lived 40 years after
his troubles were gone. Oh, what a
mighty medicanent is the contenpls-
ZION Of and the effort for the welfare Of
others!
But" says some one, sit is easy
enough for Job to pray for his friends.
Anybody can do that, There are those
10 whom We are obliged for years Of
kindnsss. They stand so close to US in
sympathy and reninisccnce and antici-
patton that it is easy for Us to ~ fs1
rheir welfare" Well. J g
understand that .,asa 5eaCz .,s
we're the -aost s2-2.lJs.,e .....1.rs
iaS E2enc5 us2 L.55s :,
s1eir 2s1av.... zen 5aeY aegrz a.
RI BE- -EemsCt5 2ud .ae a.; =
- Ti@G spa .1e1-aS 20, they
aEcls u &C 81 1gf. ~ him whole
"asE seven [-ys and seYen nights, and
. lord is none spake word to
am" Whist disreputable and wicked
silencel Mind you, they proiessed to
be religious men and they ought to have
baen able to offer some religious conso-
lstion. Instead Of that they were dumb
rs the sphinx which st that time stood
IN the African desert and stands there