The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-08-05
christian SERVICE"
Sunday Sermon by the Rev. Dr..
George D. Adams.
1,lls Of the Spiritual Uplifting Which Abidcs
With Those Who Walk Constantly
With God-christian Suffering.

xits /
we are compassed about with so great
eloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight
and the sin which is admired by many and
st MS run with patience the race that is
set before us, looking unto Jesus, the au-
,hor and perfecter of our faith; who, for
ihe ioy that was before Him, endured the
,ross. despised the shame and hath sat
down at the right hand of the throne OF
God" IN. W, and said:
A very casual observer could easily tell
,bat many Christians have lost the JOY OF
he Christian service which they once had.
II takes no scholar, nor, indeed, critic, of
Christian life or human living to see that
many, who one day rejoiced with ''un-
speakable joy" in the service of Jesus
Christ. are to-day indifferent. Indeed, we
ourselves find some times, when to come to
he house of God is burden, and we drag
weary body or reluctant soul into the
presence of the Almighty and try to wor-
hin Him in the "beauty of holiness" We
md again and again, if we should follow
The inclination of our hearts and minds
that we should stay at home. But those
ere new experiences comparatively. Once
we could give up any pleasure for ar hour
with God, and when to have leen in His
presence and feel that He was hearing us;
70 enjoy the touch of kindred spirits; to
have enjoyed the song and the prayer and
the service, ont of Gods heart, would have
been better to us than riches and more
precious than fine gold. But that is gone.
We find ourselves sometimes coming be-
cause we think we ought: doing this or
that service because it is customary; enter
ing into this form or that because it is
habit to do so, and in the saner iaoments
Of our conscience we come sometimes to
saw: "Why is this sop Has God changed?
Has the power of the old gospel to alle-
yiate human life of its brudens and suffer-
ings gone? Is there less of power and eiii-
cacy in the saving grace of Jesus Christ
now than once? After all, is Gods service
really and truly at bottom nothing but a
drudgery? Or, has something taken place
with us? Have we left behind something
we once had and have we passed beyond
that moment of exutant spirit when in the
presence of Jesus our heart bounded with
the JOY of new faith and the experience
Of salvation? Well, we are perfectly sure
God has not changed. We are perfectly
and forever" We have not a doubt that
the old gospel will save men to-day, and
when we come to think of it after all is
not the matter of being saved subject of
Just as much joy in the twentieth century
as in the first century? Has there been
any change in the attitude of the gospel?
We are bound to confess there has been
none, and if that is true, then the trouble
is with us. Somewhere we have lost some.
thing. and | am looking into faces this
morning that know better than l do, in
their experience, that that something Is
the priceless treasure of Christian hope.
Now, to get that back. When / was q
bov l wept when first | saw the wrinkles
coming on my mothers face. ! wanted
her to remain always young, and there are
Thousands of Christian hearts, some repre-
sented here, doubtless. that have wept at
the loss of their Christian eSperience-it Is
dead, joy is gone. oh, what would we give
% ,nN Loal-f dad hat
would give great deal to get it back, but
| am more thoroughly persuaded that the
way to get it back is to get into the atti-
tude of life that makes it constant. The
best thing is not to get back the Christian
experience of years ago, but to get into the
attitude of life that makes that experience
perennial.
sources of joy. The thing that most lies
behind that experience and the first thing
that confronts the Christian in the mat
ter is duty. We do not like that word
duty. We associate with the word duty.
sacrifice, and are surprised when we find
that it is in itself term of freedom.
Sar whfn s@ you TO y1S ss DUn %a9 s sH1 to to a
about duty; don't like that word" That
is largely because the word has com to you
to mean matter OF bondage, when in re-
atty it ought to mean matter of freedom.
Why it was duty -ehind the text: Let us,
therefore, seeing. we are compassed about
with so great cloud of witnesses lay aside
every weight and the sin which is admired
bv many Tor so delight in ome special sin
Of the age. suppose) and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and perfect
er OF our faith who, for the JOY that was
set before Him, endured the, cross, de-
splsed the shame, and hath sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God" That
is duty In the light with which Jesus de,
splsed the cross we ought not to stop and
reason about duty. / want you to notice
that duty is an ethical term, not a legal
There is a kind OF doctrine abroad to-day
which is called the ethical religious idea. |
not legal. Duty resides in the recesses OF
eman's character, not in the external leg.
being, therefore I ought. A dog or a
horse can never be called upon because OF
oughtness-they are not moral beings. They
are are within the restrictions OF a master and and
that is legal There is something in man
that is an oughtness. 81 ought, therefore
must" Because | am a moral being L
ought, therefore duty is ethical. Many a
man fulflls the law and breaks every pos
sble moral duty. The saloonkeeper is
Keeping the letter OF the law, but he is
doing an immoral thing. 1t is not a matter
ness. Until that moral oughtness is o5eyed
am in bondage, but when / obey th'
moral oughtness | am free. l passe :.
through great sewing machine works in
Belvidere, ILL.,, and saw the machine called
me automatic screw. The ordinary ma
chine knows more than a lot OF men. Men
can't do thing as You tell them to. You
set man on a job OF work and he will
change the way of doing it just as sure as
ne iiyes-that is, II he is an American. II
ne ne Is Chinaman or Russian he won't.
That is why corporations hire that kind OF
man, because he will do no more nor less
lhan he is told. But you tell an American
70 do thing precisely in certain way;
ne won't do it; you can't hire him to do il
But machine will. You say that is re
streted. No, it is not. 1t will take the
small as a piece in your watch, and do 1t
all day long. That is liberty. The iron
was restricted in the pig iron, it is at lib
erty in the screw shape because it is doing
us intended work, and man is at liberty
only. when he is doing his God-intended
service. Morally speaking, duty is ethical
then. i do my duty before God. not be
cause must, but because / ought. / an,
iess man and less free when ! refuse 70
end OF man, says the catechism, is to wor
ship God and enjoy Him. Exactly. Sc
that duty is part Of Joy in service.
selhshness Is incompatible with service
ihe servant is not the servant when think
l1g more Of the wage than the business
lou cannot serve and be selfish The sir
u tins age, is seltishness, my friends.
Sr,eity, wireless telegraphy and automo
ulles, but let me tell you, the sin of the
age is pure, unadnlterated sclfiahness. Ter
thousand people to-day in this great cit,