Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-09-27

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. 10y the grace of God
have been rescued He hears your
voice. he responds 10 that sympathy,
anu he Is saved. You cannot scold the
world into anything better. You may
attract il into something better. The
stOrmlest wind comes out from its hid
ing place and says. II will arouse this
sca," and il blows upon the sea. Half
OF the sea is aroused or fourth OF the
sen is aroused. yet not the entire At
lantic. Hut after awhile the moon
comes cut. calm and placid. 1t shines
upon the sea. and the ocean begins TO
iift Ii embraces all the highlands.
the beach Is all covered The heart
throb Of one world beating against the
heart thTob of another world. The
storm could not rouse the whole At
lantic: the moon lifted It. And :,
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 ont with SO bright a prospect
as Christ started out with if be had
been willing TO follow n worldly ambj-
ton. In the time that he gave To the
sick he might have gathered the vast
est fortune of his time. With his now
or to popuiariZe himself and magnetize
the people Re could have gained any Of
hcial position. No orator ever won
such plauditS as he might have won
from sanhedrin and synagogue and
vast audiences by the seaside: no phy-
stefan ever got such reputation for
healing power as me might have OBJ
tanned II he had performed his wonder
iul cures before the Roman aristocra-
cy. ] 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
manager n 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
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 long journey TO save you from IA
ugue; it is my lifting a great number
OF pounds TO save you from the awful
strain: IL is a subtraction from my COM
fort and prosperity so that there may
be an addition to your comfort and
prosperity. How much of that have
WEI Might not rather say, How lit
tie have we!' Two children. brother
and sister. were passing down the road.
They were both very destitute. The
lad had hardly any garments at oil.
His sister HAD n coat that she had out
grown 1t was a very cold day. she
said. Johnnie. come under this coat"
oh" he said. no; the coat isn't large
enough" oh" she said, lit viii
stretch" He comes under the coat.
but the coat would not stretch So she
took OF the coat and put il on him.
Self sacrifice. pure and simple. Christ
taking off h!s robe TO clothe our naked
ness. Self sacrifice. have not any OF
IT. nor have yuu. compared with that.
The sacrifice OF the Son OF God.
Christ walked TO Emmnus: Christ
walked from Capernaum TO Bethany:
Christ walked from Jerusalem TO Col
gotha. How far have you and l walk
cd Tor Christi His head aehcd: his
heart ached; his back ached. How
much have We acbed for Christ?
The disposition OF Jesus was also n
disposition OF humility. The Lord OF
earth and heaven in the garb OF a rus
tic. He who poured all the waters OF
the earth out OF his right hand-the
Amazon. and the Euphrates. and the
Oregon. and the Ohio. and the MIssis-
Bippi-bcnding over a we'll TO ask n Sa-
marian woman for drink. He who
spread the canopy OF the heavens and
sct the earth for n footstool admitting
that he had not where 10 lay his head.
lie whose chariot the clouds are walk.
ing with sore feet; hushing the TEMPEST
on Genncsaret and wiping the spray OF
the storm frcm his beard. then sitting
ioWn IN the caDln peslue his diScipleS
as though he had done no more than
wipe the sweat from his brow in To-
sephs carpenter shop; taking the foot
or death of the heart OF Lazarus and
breaking the chain or the grave against
the marble OF the tomb and then walk.
ing out with Mary and Martha without
any more pretension than n plain citi-
zen going out in the suburban village
10 spend the evening; jostled as though
be were a nobody; pursued as though
he were an outlaw; nicknamed: seated
with publicans and with sinners-King
or heaven and earth trailing his robes
in the dust,
Spirit of Prayer.
How much OF that humility have WEI
IL we get few more dollars than 9TH |
er people or gain a little higher posi- |
ton, oh. how we strut We 20 around |
wanting everybody TO know their place |
and say. us not this great Babylon |
that ! have built for the honor OF nv |
Kingdom and by the might OF my |
StrengthT Who has anything of the
humility OF Christ?
The disposition Of Christ was also
the spirit OF prayer. Prayer on the
mountains. prayer on the sea, PRAYER
among the sick-prayer everywhere.
prayer for little 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, i will that they
De with me where l am" Prayer for
ais enemies, FATHER, forgive them;
hey know not what they do" Prayer
or all nations, Thy kingdom come"
How little OF that spirit you and
ave! How soon our knees get tiredi
where is the vial full OF odors which
ire the prayers of all the saints? Which
u us can keep our mind ten minutes
IN prayer without wandering? Not
you; net |. Oh, that we might have
he spirit OF prayer which was the
plrlt OF Christ! We want more pray
II in the family, more prayer In the
more prayer in the legislative
lAH. more nra N.Ar nInono. Tho sial- 49,. |