The Tupelo journal., 1903-01-02

do" has been blazoned along tho
rugged and steep pathway which has
been travelled by all those who have
the world. Here is indeed a worthy
sentiment for the New Year. Many
resolutions and elaborate plans are
made to-day to be broken and to fail
tomorrow. But the single purpose
of a Caleb or a Paul carries through
the difficult way to the Promised
Land of the high calling of God.
The one purpose of Paul was re-
troactive as well as progressive. It
dealt with the past which might
hinder and make him wish to 20
back, and it marked out clearly in
the unmeasured distances ahead tho
goal to which he aspired. Forget
ting those things which are behind"
he says, land reaching forth unto
those things which are before, I
press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus With the face set stead
lastly towards the rising sun and
the coming morning, he was deter
mined to press onward and up
ward. He was going to burn
the bridges behind him so that the
hardships in the ~unoccupied country
ahead might not tempt him to beat
an ignominious retreat. What do you
suppose it was that Paul was so anx-
ious to forget, and the memory Of
which would so evidently prove a
handicap in the race he was running?
Certainly it was not the bright One
he met in the way OF his journey to
Damascus, when he heard the voice
of his Lord speaking to him out of
the Heavens; certainly it was not his
three years communion with his
Lord in the Arabian desert, during
which time he vas caught up to the
third heaven and 'heard unspeak-
able words, which il is not lawful
for a man to utter" certainly it was
plished on his evangelistic tours
through Asia Minor and Europe; GER
tainly it was not his beloved church
at Philippi, for he says in his open
ing s~alutation to them in the letter
from which our ext is taken: Il
thank my God upon every remem-
brance of you;" certainly it was not
his bonds and the Affections which
had come to him, for he says of
these: Il would We should under
stand, brethren, that the things
which happened unto me have fallen
out rather unto the furtherance Of
the Gospel; so that my bonds in
Christ are manifest in all the palace,
and in ali other Places He delight
ed to call himself the prisoner Of
Jesus Christ, and in his second letter
to the Corinthians he carefully emu
merated what he had suffered for the
sake of the Gospel: 'Of the Jews
five times received l forty stripes
save one. Thrice was | beaten with
rods. once was | stoned, thrice | suf-
fered shipwreck, a night and a day
[ have been in the deep; in journey
irgs often, in perils of waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils of mine
WI countrymen, in perils by the
heathen, in perils in the city, in per-
lis in the wilderness, in perils in the
sea, in perils among false brethren;
III WEAKNESS and p~ainfulness, in
watchings often, in hunger and
thirst, in Hastings often, in cold and
nakedness," so hat we knew these
were not the things which Paul
wished to wipe from the tablet of his
memory; nay, he is eve particular
to close by saying: 81 will glory of
the things which concern mine in
firmities." | do not believe it was
even the angelic face of Stephen,
whose death Paul was instrumental
in comprising. What was it then
that Paul wanted to forget? The
opening verses of the third chapter
of Philippians, | believe, tell us. He
wanted to forget his splendid pedi-
gree, his scholarly attainments, his
spotless life, for they fed pride and
self-centered esteem and hindered his
gaining the Promised Land of the
high calling of God. The things
that were gain for him, he counted
loss for Christ. And here is where
we need to begin TO strip for the
race into the Promised Land. Pride
and s~elf-centered esteem have
wrecked more lives and blocked the
entrance into the Promised Land Of
the high calling of God than any
thing else that touches the human
heart and life. If you want to run
with Paul you must forget those
things which are behind which will
nourish pride and self-esteem. Strip
yourself of these hindering weights
and you may with this New Year en-
ter the Promised Land which God
sets before you. 1t was no easy task
which Paul set for himself. 1t will
be the hardest thing you ever did in
your life to kill that pride which is
binding your eyes and narrowing
your view of life, to break up hat
self-centered esteem which has made
yourself the axis around which every
plan and purpose in life have %revolved.
Break away from these things which
"do so easily beset" the human heart,
so that you may be able in the New
Year to leave the valley of narrow
purpose and endeavor and, scaling
the mountain of vision, look off into
the Promised Land which God has
selected for you and to which He
will faithfully lead. Yes, forgetting
those things which are behind" in the
little narrow self, "reach forth" unto
the larger opportunity of a new and
l.-44~, 1a1f Gao fbn affitr1n nf tho