The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-06-24
Christian Life Column.
JOY,

Many people weary themselves out
IN trying to make themselves good.
They go from book to book, and from
service to service, to learn how to
grow in grace. Years pass, and they
find little change occurs, and they are
as far as ever from the goal which
they seek. Why should it all be so re-
sultless9 Why should it not be that
all our efforts to reach a higher stage
in the Christian life meet with sue
cess9 Why is it that Christian x
rience is IN such a disturbed state?
There must be some principle running
through the Christian life which would
aid us. There is a principle, and a
very simple It is hat every eff
feet has a cause. If I am cold, there
is a cause for it. I can't extirpate the
cold. I must find the cause of the
GOODNESS. 1t must be a cold room, or
a cold article of clothing. If there is
anything wrong in a mans spiritual
life, he must find out the cause and
deal with it. Some, when they come to
o roads in their life and don't
know how to turn, are advised by reli-
gious people to pray about it and all
will come right. We have no such as
surance that we should do this men
toned in the Bible. What the Bible
says is really this: "Unto the upright
there ariseth light in the darkness"
Then my first business is to ask, Am
I upright in heart? If so, it must hap
pen that light will arise. 1t is just a
case of cause and effect, a~ntecedent
and consequent. We have no right to
pray unless we are in the line. We
must fulfill the condition on which
alone the answer can be given. Our
thoughts are too little fixed on effects
and on causes. If we would only see
thisl
One of the things people want most
in the Christian life is joy-perhaps
the crown of all religious grace. When
attained, then the Christian life be-
comes worth living. People search in
all directions for this Christian JOY.
When I was in Sunday-school I
thought thus: That we were to ask
for what we wanted and we would get
it; and that joy was kept in heaven in
humps, and was let down in answer to
prayer; and that all the graces were
kept in heaven and let down in this
fashion. There may be circumstances
in which they do come, and whether we
know it or not we can easily tell by
turning over a few pages of our Bible.
1t does not come directly. There has
been read the chapter (John XVI
which, above all others, tells us about
JOY, and verse II: "These things have
I spoken unto you, that my JOY might
remain in you, and that your JOY
might be full" If we want to know
how our JOY is to be full, we must at
tend to these words. The vine was
that which brought JOY to the heart of
man. And JOY is to be attained by
bearing fruit. Any one who bears
fruit will find it is the effect of the
cause. We are to look for these things
indirectly. They are not to come mag
ically, but according to the laws of the
spiritual world. I appeal to your own
experience. Whenever. you have done
any simple ching to help on the cause
of Christ in the world, or done some
good thing to another, joy has come of
its own accord. No one can be quietly
glad by praying for it, but by bearing
fruit, which is the condition. You
must have been struck with the con-
ditionalness of the promise given. In
that fifteenth chapter of Johns Cos
pei you will see how often that word
"if" comes inf you do so and so, so
and so will follow. Verse Z, eff We
abide in me, and my words abide in
you, ye shall ask what We will, and it
shall be done unto you" The impor-
tant part of the text is the off" We
are not entitled to ask what we will
unless we fulfill Christ's words. Verse
10, off ye keep my commandments, ye
shall abide in love-" etc. The princi-
pie l I'm asking you to look into is the
conditionalness of the promises and
answers to prayer, and of getting the
Christian virtues and graces. These
do not come to us unless we apply the
causes.-Henry DrummOnd.