The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-04-17
Sunday Sermon.
TIL NEW BIRTH.

| mnst he born again-JOhn, III, =.
, The command comes to rs IN tine
form of an Orientalism. ana ma,
| therefore. caused the unlmaglnatINt
| Western mind to stumble. IL recelVed
in it's right light. however, II express,
es n truth which must be recoghIIeu
as the antecedent of a SUCCESSFUL lile.
No man can possibly make lht pe9'
uSe of himself or of his circumstances
until he accords with its provisions;
neither can he be healthy IN Dody OF
spirit.
When one is about to move INTO d
new house. for example, the furniture
is deposited by the transporter IN any
place which happens to be 0 on
renient. His business is not to put 1T
where it belongs, but simply to carry
if without injury and leave it where
ever he thinks it Will be safe. When
Won arrive YOU find everything in con-
fusion. You cannot live in that house
with any comfort until you have
cbanred the chaos to order. The
kitchen utensils must be taken from
the drawing room, and the drawing
room furniture from the Kitchen.
What belongs to each room must De
placed in that room. II what e
not belong there must be IL
is a work of time to put down the
rugs and hang the pictures. but When
the task is completed YOU have a nome
instead OF a house and a1 things in 1T
contribute to your daily happiness.
You leave it with reluctance III the
morning and 90 back to it with pleas
ure at night. You have made a detl-
mite and distinct effort to use the ma
terials Of which you stand possessed
in such way hat YOU and your enNI-
ronment will be in harmony with each
other. Every article is where 1t should
be, and you and your household are
at peace.
The same thing should be done with
the soul. Nature has endowed us With
certain faculties which, if some q
them are properly developed and 9th
ers are rigidly suppressed, Will pro-
duce an entirely satisfactory result.
We begin life. however, with such con-
Trajectory qualities of character that
we dare not trust ourselves to follow
our impulses OF our moods. At one
moment we are lenient and at another
harsh: at one moment generous II
charitable and kindly and at another
selfish and mean and sOrdid. If mere
impulse rules, II years Will be con-
fusion worse c~OnfOunded. and though
we live to fourscOre we shall reach no
great or good result.
Every body must needs recognize
this picture as a portrait OF himself.
1t is d portrait of human nature in all
ages and all chimes.
1t is necessary therefore for a mar
to have a plan. as the contractor has
who constructs a house: q high and
noble purpose, and a conviction that
that is worth any sacrifice
of pleasure or profit that its accom-
plishment calls for. Having the plan,
OF purpose, and having come to the
conclusion that he can realize his
ideal With the faculties God has given
him. he is on the threshold of q new
career, he has q new outlook. The
moment he feels sure that it will pay
from now until the end of eternity to
be honest in spite of any temptation,
TO be unselfish even though great
sacrifice is demanded. to be helpful to
his fellow men not merely by precept
but by example. to bear the ills of life
with such cheerful endurance as he
can command and to keep his soul in
perfect honor and uprightness, that
moment he is in line with the laws Of
the universe. that moment the Lord
God will pour into his heart revelation
Of glory which Will uplift. inspire and
bless. and thai moment, as a neNv
born creature, he kneels at the feet
of the Christ, calm, serene. sure of
earth and surer still Of heaven.
There is no mystery whatever about
this new birth. 1t is the simplest
thing in the world and is based on
common sense. If | tell YOU that you
ann let your business run loose
| and r.nnr 5bnpafrO., - l1oal r., =.
come 0 admit the truth of the state
ment without dissent. Argument on
that point is folly. for the fact is self
evident. If | tell You that | would not
care to shoot the Racine Rapids With
a pilot who did not know where the
rocks We're, You wonder that | should
take the trouble to make SO plain 4
statement. Why, then, should | not
say that the man who lets all his inn
pulses II passions run wild. who
does not recognize the value of the
immortal soul which he has in charge.
but wastes its energies for made
qaate purposes, is doing a very foolish
thing which some time or other he is
sure to regret? If YOU have to learn
4 trade before YOU can ply it, why
should YOU not learn what the real
business of life is before YOU plunge
into it?
We ought TO put our religion on q
solid and understandable basis. 1t is
too much in the air. too much O an
abstraction, too much of an u%nrealitv.
To be born again is to be born into a
knowledge OF yonr capacity, and of
your destiny, and OF your ability to
achieve that destiny in spite of all
temptations and by means of the dis
clpllne of life, its SORROWS. trials and
bereayements. Religion is not a theo-
rN. but Il practice: not something TO
die by, but rather to live by. Md YOU
q neither live we'll nor die hone
fully until you know Of a certainty
that God and Christ and all nature
and immortality demand a good hon
est days work Of your soul and YOU
have made up your iii that the de
mand is reasonable and YOU will ac-
cord with it. Not until then are YOU
in any wide sense a Christian. But
when that hour arrives YOU are born
again.
GEORGE ii. HEPWORTU.
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