Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-09-24


him as much as he sends! After awhile
you look up into the face OF Christ, and
! you see his gentleness, and you say,
''Well. now, 1 must do differently"
Then your proud heart says: Now you
| have your enemy in a corner. You will
! never get him in a corner again. Chas-
| tise him and then let him co. So we
! postpone the gentleness of Christ.
/ Did you ever know any difficulty to
! be healed by acerbity or hypercriti-
| cism? About 45 years ago the Presby-
terrain church was split into the new
school and the old school. The chasm
got wider and wider. The most out
rageouS personalities were INDUCED in.
Good men on one side mathematical
good men on the other side Wider
and wider the chasm got until after
awhile some good people tried another
tack, and they began to explain away
the difficulties and soon all the differ
enceS were healed, and at Pittsburg
they shook hands and are one now to
be one forever.
You say to a man with whom you
had a falling out, 81 despise you" He
says, 81 can't bear the sight Of you"
You say to him, II never want you to
come to my house again." He says,
eff you come to my house again, I'll
kick you out" You say, "I'll put you
down" ooh, no." he says, "I'n put
you down." But some day the spirit
of Christ comes into you and you go
over and say: ''My brother, give me
your hand; time is short and eternity
is near. and we can't afford to quarrel
Now let bygones be bygones and let us
act like Christians It is all settled.
How? BY the gentleness of Christ.
Practice Self Sacrifice.
Did you ever know drunkard re-
claimed by mimicry Of his staggering
steps, his thick tongue or his hiccough?
No You only madden his brain. But
you go to him and let him know you
appreciate what an awful struggle he
has with the evil habit and you let him
know that you have been acquainted
with people WHO were down in the
same depths who by the grace Of God,
have been rescued. He hears your
voice, he responds to that sympathy,
and he is saved, you cannot scold the
world into anything better. You may
attract it into something better. The
stormiest wind comes out from it's hid
ing place and says, 81 will arouse this
sea-" and it blows upon the sea. Half
OF the sea is aroused or fourth of the
sea is aroused yet not the entire At
lantic But after awhile the moon
comes out. calm and placid. It shines
upon the sea, and the ocean begins to
lift. 1t embraces all the highlands,
the beach is all covered. The heart
thrOb of one world beating against the
heart thrOb of another world. The
storm could not rouse the whole At
lantic; the moon lifted it. And l."
said Christ, ''if be lifted up will draw
all men unto me-
ChriStS disposition was also one of
self sacrifice. No young man ever
started out with so bright a prospect
as Christ started out with if he had
been willing to follow a worldly ambi-
ton. In the time that he gave to the
sick he might have gathered the vast
est fortune Of his time. With his pow
er to popularize himself and magnetic
the people he could have gained any of
fetal position No orator ever won
such plaudits as be might have won
from sanhedrin and synagogue and
vast audiences by the seaside; no ply
stefan ever got such a reputation for
healing power as he might have Cb-
tanned if he had performed his wonder
full cures before the Roman aristOcra-
cy. l 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 not have thrown Christ into the
manger if he had not chosen to go
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
this world and the sorrows of eternity.
How much of that self sacrifice have
we?
Humility of Jesus.
What is self sacrifice? 1t is my walk
ing 4 long journey to save you from ia
tigue; it is my lifting a great number
of pounds to save you from the awful
strain; it is q subtraction from my COM
fort and prosperity so that there may
be an addition to your comfort and
prosperity. How much of that have
we? Might not I rather say, "How lit
tie have wep' Two children, brother
and sister. were passing down the road.
They were both very destitute. The
lad had hardly any garments at all.
Ills sister had coat that she had out
grown. 1t was a very cold day. She
said. johnnie, come under this coat"
ooh" he said, mo; the coat isn't large
enough oh she said, cit will
stretch" He comes under the coat,
but the coat would not stretch. So she
took off the coat and put it on him.