The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1900-09-28

y
have your enemy in a corner. You vii
never get him in corner again. Chas
tise him ard then let him 60" So We
postpone the gen teness of Christ. Die
you ever know any difficulty to be
healed by acerbity and hypercriticism
About As years ago the Pres byteriar
church was split into the new schoo
and the old school. The chasm got
wider and wider. The most outrageous
personalities were INDUCED in. Coco
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 diff
ficulties, and soon all the differences
were healed, and at Pittsburgh they
shook hands and are one now to be
one forever.
Did you ever know drunkard re-
claimed by mimicry of his staggering
steps, his thick tongue or his hic-
cough? 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 bet
ter. The stormiest wind comes out
from it's hiding place and says: 81 will
arouse this sea-" And it blows upon
the sea. Half of the sea is aroused, or
a fourth of the sea is aroused, yet not
the entire atlantic. But after awhile
the moon comes out, calm and placid.
1t 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 would not rouse the
whole Atlantic; the moon lifted it.
"And l." said Christ, "if be lifted up
will draw all men unto me-"
Christ's disposition was also one of
self-sacrifice. No young man ever
started out with so bright prospect
as Christ started out with if he had
been willing to follow 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
power to popularize Himself and mag
netize the people He could have gained
official position. No orator ever won
such plaudits as He might have won
from sanhedrin and synagogue and
vast audiences by the seaside. No
physician ever got such a reputation
for healing power as He might have at
tanned if He had performed His won
derful cures before the Roman aristoc-
racy. I 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 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?
What is self-sacrifce 1t is my walk
ing long journey to save you from
fatigue. 1t is my lifting great num-
Der of pounds to save you from the
awful strain. 1t is a subtraction from
my comfort and prosperity so that
there may be an addition to your COM
fort and prosperity. How much of
that have we? Might not rather say:
How little have We" Two children
brother and sister-were passing down
the road. They were both very desti-
tute. The lad had hardly any gar
ments at all. His sister had coat that |
she had outgrown. It was very cold |
day. She said: Johnny, come under
this coat" "Oh, no." he said; "the
coat isn't large enough!" "Oh," she
said, sit will stretch!r He comes under
the coat, but the coat would not
stretch. So she took off the coat and
put it on him. Self-sacrifce pure and |
simple. Christ taking off his robe to
clothe our nakedness. Self-sacrifice. |
have not any of it, nor have you com
pared with that. The sacrifice of the
Son of God.
Christ walked to Emmaus, Christ |
walked from Capernaum to Bethany,
Christ walked from Jerusalem to Col |
getha. How far have you and walked |
FOR Christ? His head ached, His heart |
ached, His back ached. How much |
have we ached for Christ?
The disposition of Jesus was also
a disposition of humility. The Lord |
of earth and Heaven in the garb of
a rustic. 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
Mississippi-bending over a well to
ask a Samaritan woman for a drink.
He who spread the canopy of the
heavens and set the earth for a foot
stool, admitting that He had not
where to lay his head. He whose
chariots the clouds are, walked with
sore feet. flushing the tempest on
5ennesaret and wiping the spray of