The Penn's Grove record., 1900-09-28
out with if He had been willing to follow
a worldly ambition.

In the time that he gave TO tpe SICK lie
might have gathered the vastast fortune
ize Himself and magnetic the people He
could have gained any official positionA
No orator ever won such plaudits as He
might have won from sanhedrin and syn.
agogue and vast audiences BY the seaside:
no physician ever got such a reputation
for healing power as He might have OBJ
tanned if He had performed His wonder
full cures before the Roman aristocracy.
| say these things to let you know what
Paul meant when he said, HE pleased not
Himself" and to show something of the
wonders of His self sacrifice. All human
power together could moi. have thrown
Christ into the manger if He had not
| chosen to 60 there; all satanic strength
could not have lifted Christ upon the
| cross if He had not elected Himself to the
| torture.
To. save. our race from sin and death
and hell He. faced all the SORROWS Of sthis
world and the sorrows Of eternity. How
much of that self sacrifice have we?
What is self sacrifice? 1t is my walk
ing a long journey to save you from ia
tigue; it is my lifting a great number o.
pounds to save you from the awfell strain
it is q subtraction from my comfort and
prosperity SO that there may be IAN add
tion to your comfort and prosperity. How
much Of that have we? Might not ]
rather say, "How little have we"1
Two children. brother and sister, were
passing down the road. They w&re both
very destitute. The lad had hardly any
garments at all. His sister had q coat
that she had outgrown. It wa a very
cold day. She said, Johnnie, me un-
der this coat" "Oh." he said, the
coat isn't large enough eOh,a said
"it will stretch" He comes i der the
coat, but the coat would not str oh. Sc
she took off the coat and put it him.
Christ walked to Emmaus kChrisi
walked from Capernaum to kthany;
Christ walked from Jerusalem to Col
gotha. How far have you and walked
for Christi? His head ached; heart
ached; His back ached. How \ eh have
we ached for Christ!
The disposition Of Jesus was % a dis.
position of humility. The Lore earth
and heaven in the garb Of a r tic. He
who poured all the waters Of le earth
out of His right hand-the An zon and
the Euphrates, and the Oregon and the
Ohio, and the Mississippi-bendi over a
well to ask a Samaritan won for q
drink.
He who spread the canopy of e heav-
ems and set the earth forAa Qokad-
uniting that He had not where to, lay His
head. He whose chariot the clouds are
walking with sore feet; hushing the tenn.
pest on Gennesaret and wiping the spray
of the storm from His beard, then sitting
down in the cabin beside His disciples as
though He had done no more than wipe
the sweat from His brow in Joseph's
carpenter shop; taking the@foot of death
off the heart of Lazarus and breaking the
chain of the grave against the marble OF
the tomb, and then walking out with Mary
and Martha without any more pretension
than a plain citizen going out in the SUI
burban village to spend the evening;
jostled as though He were q nobody; pur-
sued as though He were an outlaw; nick
named; seated with publicans and with
sinners-King of heaven and earth trail
ing his robes in the dust!
How much Of that humility have we?
If we get a few more dollars than other
people or gain a little higher position, oh,
how we strut! We go around wanting
everybody to know their place and say,
els not this great Babylon that ! have
built for the honor of my kingdom and by
the might of my strength" Tho has
ANYTHING of the humility of ChYee&
The disposition Of Christ xas ar the
spirit Of prayer, Prayer ~ v1fant;
sicls-prayer everywhere. Pryaf for lie
tie children. Father, / thank Thee that
Thou hast hidden these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto
babes" Prayer for His friends. Father,
| will that they be with Me where | am"
Prayer for His enemies, Father, forgive
them; they know not what they do"
Prayer for all nations, 'Thy kingdom
come"
How little Of that spirit you and | have!
How soon u knees get tired! Where is
thu xyso1 f,,1 ,f 1Jove r-1:ob NM +h1 -
ers of all the saints! Which Of us can
keep our mind ten minutes on a prayer
without wandering? Not you; not I. Oh,
that we might have the spirit Of prayer
which was the spirit of Christ!
We want more prayer In the family,
more prayer in the church, more prayer
in the legislative hall, more prayer among
the sick, more prayer among the aged,
more prayer among the young. The great
advancement Of the church is to be in that
direction yet.
While the council Of Nuremberg was
signing the edict that gave the church its
freedom Martin Luther was away off in
a room by himself praying for that ac-
complishment. Though there was no line
Of communication between the place where
the council was assembled and the room
| where Martin Luther was praying, Martin
Luther suddenly rose from his knees and
said: cit is accomplished! The church
is free! Victory, victory" Oh, for this
direct line of communication with the
throne of God, SO that it may be said Oh
us, as it was said Of Luther, "He got what
he asked for!"
The spirit of Christ, I remark lastl
was a spirit of hard work. Not one la
moment in all His life. Whether He wal
talking to the fishermen on the beach,
or preaching to the sailors on the dock,
or administering to the rustics amid the
mountains, or spending an evening in
Bethany, always busy for others. With
hands, heart, head, busy for others-hew.
ing in the Nazareth carpenter shop, teach,
ing the lame how to walk without crutch-
es, curing the child's fits, providing "a,
lions for the hungry host. Busy, busy
busy! The hardy men who pulled the
net out of the sea filled with founderine
treasures, the shepherds who hunted uI
| grassy plots for their hocks to nibble at
the shipwrights pounding away in the
d~ockyards, the winemakers of Engedi dip,
| ping tne juices from the vat and pouring
them into the goatskins, were not more
busy than Christ. Busy, busy for others!
From the moment He went out Of the car
avansary of Bethlehem to the moment
| the bloody mount busy for others. Does
that remind you of yourself? It does
not remind me of myself. If we lift Q bur
| den it must be light; if we do work, il
must be popular; if we sit in the pew, il
must be safe; if we move in a sphere Of
usefulness, it must be brilliant; if we have
to take hold of a load, give us the light
end of the log. In this way to heaven far
us, rock US, sing us to sleep. Lift US uI
toward heaven on the tips Of your fingepl
under a silken sunshade. Stand out y
the way, all you martyrs who breasted
the fire; stand out of the way and lei
this colony Of tender footed modern Chris
tians come up and get their crownsl
What has your Lord done to you, c
Christian, that you should betsay him
Who gave you SO much riches that you car
afford to despise the awards of the faith
full? At this moment, when all the armies
Of heaven and earth and hell are pfungint
into the conflict, how can you desert thu
standard? Oh, backslidden christian, il
it not time for you to start aheF for Goo
and anew for heaven?
Now, l have shown you that the dispo
sition Of Christ was a spirit of gentlepess
a spirit of self sacrifice, a spirit of hnfal
ity, a spirit of prayer, a spirit of harx
work-fve points. Will you remembel
them? Are you ready now foe the tre
mendous announcement Of the text, II
any man has not the spirit Of Christ, b,
is none Of His?" Are you ready for tina
statement! Can we stand up and say
eyes; we have the spirit ct Christi No