The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1902-12-25
BLESSING IN GIVING.
ut is MORE BLESSED TO
GIVE THAN RECEIVE"
Sermon Preached by Rev. J. n. Hen
derIite at the Presbyterian Church
Last sunday Morning.

UlOTllllfS ny tic pdStoi, wv -
Henderlite. Impressed by the time
illness as we'll as the beauty OF 1T we
asked the use of Mr.. Henderlite's
notes for publication. AS approprl-
ate to the occasion we are sure it
will be read with interest and profit
by those who did not hear the ser
mon:
Acts 2O:35-''Remembe the words OF our
Lord Jesus, how He said, it is more blessed
to give than receive
The warmth and cheer of Christmas
kindIe upon our heart and cast their
genial glow over life.
What does Christmas mean? 1t cele-
brates Gods gift to mana permanent
memorial OF His benefcence. Giving Is
His glory and Joy, and Christmas trans
lated simply means: at is more blessed
to give than to receive" Many years
after Christs death Paul gives us this
choice saying of His. UnrecOrded in the
four Gospels it is too valuable to be lost.
But we would know the words to be
Christ's without PauPs assurance. They
bear His mark, and who knew better
than He the blessedness of giving who
gave Himself!
1t il true, it is more blessed to give
than receive. Service for Others bears
twofold blessing. 1t blesses him that
gives and him that receives. But the
giver is more blessed.
Our text is true because
/. The finest joy comes from giving.
"For the Joy that was set before Him.
Christ humbled Himself to save the
world.
The hapDiest picture is the mother with
her children Her life is give, give, give.
From morning till night the nnceasng
demand and constant drain till brain
and body and soul are exhausted. Yet
who has not read this secret of mother
hood that she is happiest in giving. 1t
is law written on the kindly face OF
nature Here is the Joy of earth-in CIV
ing; the happiness OF the sun, the twink
ling of the stars, the laughter OF the
waves, the blithesome Joy of lark and
robin as they food the morning with
melody; the quiet gladness OF flower and
tree-they are giving, each according to
his several ability, to the world. This is
your happiest hour-nOt when you re-
ceived, but when you gave.
2. cit is more blessed to give than re-
ceive,' because giving constitutes true
dignity and nobility.
1t was not only Christs Joy but His
glory: "7herefore God hath highly ex-
allied Him and given Him a name above
every name" The great man is he who
gives, not he who only gets. He truly
lives There is more life in Christ y
thirty-three years of poverty than in all
the passive show and pomp and pa
geantry of the Caesars. Thus greatness
is revealed 1t is recognized by it's gifts,
not it's possessions The great must be
great-hearted. Greatness thus proves
itself by uuselfish, unrewarded service.
The desire to help, with no thought OF re-
ward, not as the Pharisees who sound
the trumpet as they give, is a hallmark
Of nobility. 1t will flash out of greatness
as the light streams out through the
chinks of a castle wall; as flowers push
up through snow and ice in the clefts and
crannes of the Matterhorn. That is an
old but always true distinction between
grandeur and greatness; the incompar-
| able grandeur of Bonaparte, :and the sim
pie greatness of Lee.
Michael Angeles genius shines out OIL
his peerless statue "David" His great
| ness is revealed in such an incident as the
| following. In the zenith of his fame he
little street urchin, who offered him a
soiled bit of paper and q stub Of IL pencil
| and besought him for a picture. The
| great artist, whose works were the most
| lustrOus ornaments of cathedral and
| palace, sat down on the curbstone and
| exercised his genius to please "a child
Nature confers a title of nobility upon
such spirits:
| For whatsoever men say in their blindness
| And spite of the fancies of youth,
| There's nothing SO kingly as kindness,
| And nothing so royal as truth
Nothing in nature is grander than the
sun. 1t is not surprising that primitive
men worshipped him: and each morning
as they beheld the glorious king of day
| riding into the heavens in his chariot Of
purple and gold, gliding the mountains
| furnishing the sea and bathing the
| clouds in streams of irresdescent splendor
| should bow their faces to the earth, cry
ing, at is God. Helios reigns!' Yet the
suns glory is literally made by it's Civ
ing. Astronomy teaches that it is but q
huge burning mass and the fires. unre
newed by fuel, are wasting themselves tc
heat and illumine the solar system
Every ray of heat and light that falls tC
the earth rObs the sun of part of it's sub
! stance
| Why did the ancient Greek deity the
earth? Because she was to him the
bountiful mother, her lap Overlooking
with gifts for her children
| Nothing is more majestic than the
| mountains. Yet here is their chief claim
to gratitude, that they temper the winds
bring the rains, feed the rivers, divide the
waters and drain the land. All these
things fulfill the end of their creation il
| givlng-in the service of humanity. 1t is
true OF man. Otherwise he is nothing.
| Philips Brooks says: mo man has
| come to true greatness who has not fpl,
in some measure that his life belongs tc
his race and that what God gives hin
He gives him for mankind"
Life is not ali giving. 1t must also
! consist in getting; but the getting is g
means to an end. AS the earth store,
away the various clements to turn then
forth again as coal and oil and water, OF
as the flower borrows nourishment from
| earth and air only to return its beauty
and fragrance. SO man receives al
things in sacred trust He who only get.
is tpond-malarial, poisonous
| fever breeding.
Our text expresses the very heart anC
| spirit OF Christianity; that which dis
tinguishes and elevates the Gospel allow
all religions to a supreme position DR.
Babcock has said: Most religions ar,
meant to be straight lines, connecting
two points. God and man Ii man cal
be right with God, if he can please anc
pacify Him. all will be WELL But Chris
SANITY has three points, God and mar
and his brother, with two lines tina
make q right angle. Each one of us is a
the point of the angle. looking up to Goo
and out to our brother. What Goo
sends down the perpendicular line W,
must pass on along the horizontal. l
one hand goes up to God. the other mus
go out to our brother"
1t is true. The high desire that other
may be blessed savors of heaven 1t il
very easy to become self-absorbed: no
consciously selfish, but negligently self
centred. not refusing but forgetting
until charity begins and ends at home
The church with its duties and Or iyilege