The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-07-22
TRAINING OF A WORKER
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon By Rev.
DR.. 0. r. Barth0low.
shows the Evil Results That Follow the AFRO
ply Which Has Settled Over the Spir'
itual Thinking OF Our Tine.

NEW YoRK C1TY.-Dr. y. r. Bartholow,
pastor OF James M. +. Church. preached
Sunday morning on Gods Training of
Worker" His text was taken from Exc.
dus, iy. !, 2, 2 and q: And Moses an.
voice; for they will say, The Lord hath
not appeared unto thee. And the Lord
said unto him, What is that in thine hand.
And he said, A rod. And the Lord said,
Cast it on the ground. Aud he cast it
ON the ground and it became a serpent; and
Moses fled from before it,. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Put forth thine hand and take
1t 10y the, tail. And hs put forth his hand
and caught it and it became u rod in his
hand" DIR. Bartholow said:
Our text presents Moses in what many
have considered an unfavorable light.
Standing in the presence of the great God.
the recipient of a glorious revelation ard u
divine command with promise, he appears
hestating, uncertain and weak. A study
of the occasion and ground of Moses re.
luctance dissipates the unfavorab,e light
and presents to us study in human life
under divine direction altogether true and
common. The call of God to Moses was
certain, clear and well attested. 1t came
to a man refined and schooled by abundant
experiences, to one who was more than
familiar with human nature in its relation
to spiritual truth.
lHt sutputIu VI Nltlldu KNEW NOW Uull,
apathetic and incredulous toward Jehovah
and His truth the children of israel had
become in their base servtude to the
Egyptian Pharaoh. Foreseeing the cruel
skepticism and the all but universal leth.
argy OF his people, Moses was for the mo.
ment blind to Gods knowledge and power.
Under the spell of fear he uttered the
words, But, behold, they will not believe
me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they
will say, the Lord hath not appeared unto
thee"
To Christian faith this may appear weak.
but /. certainly is not unnatural. History
affords us abundant illustrations of re.
formers, heroes and preachers hesitatng
and trembling, not because they doubted
God, but because they feared the reception
Gods truth would receive at the hands of
His reputed friends. Jerome, Huss, Luth-
er, Wesley, Savonarola, etc., had but little
to fear from the world but much to fear
from the church. and at times they trem-
bled and were hestant at the commands
OF God. ut takes grace to be wounded in
the house of your friends).
Gods response to this tendency or i'm.
pulse of Moses nature is full of interest
and suggestion. 1t is a divine encourage
me meni to, to Christian ;, daring and zeal And
thine hand? And he said, A rod. And lie
said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast
at on the ground, and it became a serpent,
and Moses fled from before it, And the
Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine
hand and take it by the tail. And he put
forth his hand and caught it and it be.
came a rod in his hand" Now, it is of no
concern to us how this miracle was
wrought, or whether magicians could sim.
ulate it or not. What we do desire to
know is, What answer or revelation to the
great. hesitancy of Moses did Jehovah
give in this peculiar work OF power?
IO mind thrpp trt,t bo ta +bot
answer--the first of which is this: All the
helps, gifts and attainments of the soul,
disregarded and neglected. tend to become
hostile. Moses was gifted man, an ex.
perieneed man. The shepherds staff sym.
bolized him perfectly. AS it was an instru-
Moses, by. what he had done and what he
could do, be an instrument in the hand of
God to defend and rescue his people. God
elected him to mighty and glorious serv-
Ice. lie gave him complete and adequate
preparation, clear mind, an indomitable
VII: spiritual and lofty nature.
Would Moses accept the election? The
significance OF possible refusal was seen
in the meaning miracle. The discarded
stan became serpent 1t is the common
teaching. of the day that powers and gifts
unused become atrophied, that men may
die to spiritual things through simple neg
lect. This is correct teaching so far as it
goes, but it does not compass the whole of
the matter. Spiritual calls, gifts and pow.
ers cannot wholly die. They may be dis.
claimed or cast aside, as was Moses rod.
but they return with inherent life to sting
and bite. As an example, the direction
and commands of conscience may be cast
aside, the impulses of love and faith may
be ignored, the direct calls of the Holy
Spirit be unheeded and yet the soul have
more conscious relation with these spiritual
entities than ever before.
John Newton, the hymn writer, tells us
that there was a time in his life when he
mind every holy thing of which he had
knowledge, yet at times the moral judg
ment and the hearts love for eternal
things would so torment him that life was
full OF misery. Those elements in his life
designed for peace and Joy beAme the
morse is no more than the return Of these
spiritual powers crying night and day, in
silence and In great cominotions, Alas
alas. 1t might have been"
The doctrine of annihilaton and atrophy
has so settled over the spiritual thinking
4I our time that the consequence OF disc
bedlence to the equipments and purpose,
OF life and to the voice of God are in GER
tain quarters reduced to pere nothings. II
IS high time that the truth illustrated te
Moses become our truth. that we realize
that there is no such thing as spiritual an;
niHiidtlOH, even TO tne Rllt5 ana powers OF
God, but that there is transference, trans
formation-the going lin. spiritual sense)
from Mount Gerizion tblessing) to Mount
Ebal lcursing).
Dsobedience to God and His law is moi
mere negation and the withdrawal of GER
tain gifts, but it is in certain and awful
sense an affirmation and possession-the
serpent OF menace rather than the support
OF life. Gods rain upon the thirsty earth
Is In itself good-that it be so for man de
pends altogether how and for what pur
poses he uses it. He may use it for the
growing of food products or for the produc.
ton OF weeds. That the rain was made
Tor mans blessing is evident. That man
may disregard and so convert the gift into
a, foe is also evident. What the rain is to
the earth so are the gifts, helps and calls
Of God to man. For these things God shall
orinS us unto judgment the judgment be.
gins with the obedience or disobedience.
In our beloved Methodist church we
have host of God placers at work. Peo.
PIE who do not expect to meet God in new
forms, or expressions. who, like Moses be-
i9re his enlightenment, know or act as
aHns %sne, thsy s1sw ns. gt h9E Ms would
and expectancy die in such lives is natural;
the glory of God is to conceal thing, but
these people will not have IL so. They are
perfectly sure God 10 in some particular
iorm OF class meeting, revival service or
christian experience.
Another people of God thought this
thought 30 intensely and held il so tena
siously that they missed the glory OF the
Messiah when He came to walk the fields
and streets of earth He had mo form or
comeIiness that they desired or exnected