Orange County observer., 1903-07-30
TRAINING WORKERS.
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON.
Evi, Results That Follow the Apathy
That Has Settled Over Our Think

ing.
New YoIK C1rY-Dr. Q. F, Bartholowj,
pastor of James M. E. Church. preached
Sunday morning on Goods Training Of
Worker" His text was taken from ESo-
sWe,red ge, d.. and said, But, behold, they would
not believe me; nor hearken unto my
voice; for they will say, The Lord hath
not appeared unto thee. And the lora
said unto him, What is that IN thine hana:
And he said, A rod. And the Lord SAID,
Cast It on the ground. And he cast 1T
on the ground and it became a serpent; and
Moses fled from before it. And the Lord SAD
unto Moses, Put forth thine hand and take
it by the tail. And he put forth his hand
and caught it and it became rod IN ms
hand" DIR. Bartholow. sa;d:,
Our text presents Moses in what many
have considered an unfavorable light.
Standing in the presence of the great God,
the recipient of glorious revelation and
divine command with promise, he appears
hesitating, uncertain and weak. A study
of the occasion and ground of Moses re-
luctance dissipates the unfavorable light
and presents to us a study IN human lite
under divine direction altogether true and
common. The call of God to Moses was
certain, clear and we'll attested. 1t came
to a man refined and schooled by abundant
experiences, to one who was more than
familiar with human nature In it's relation
to spiritual truth. a,
The shepherd of INDIAN knew how dull,
apathetic and incredulous toward Jehovah
and His truth the children OF Israel had
become in their base servitude to the
Egvptian 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
thee"
To Christian faith this may appear weak,
but it certainly is not unnatural History
affords us abundant illustrations of re-
formers, heroes and preachers hesltatlng
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 hesitant 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 divine encourage
ment to Christian daring and ZEAL And
the Lord said unto him, What is that in
thine hand? And he said, A rod. And He
said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast
it on the ground. and it became serpent,
Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine
hand and take it by the tail. And he put
forth bis hand and caught it and it be-
came 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
give in this peculiar work of power?
10 our mind three truths constitute that
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 a gifted man, an ex-
perienced man. The shepherds staff sym.
bollzed him perfectly. AS it was an instru.
ment OF defense and rescue, so might
Moses, by, what he had done and what he
gould 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 indomitabl
will; spiritual and lofty nature.
Would Moses accept the election? The
significance of possible refusal was seer
IN the meaning miracle. The discarded
staff became a serpent. It is the common
teaching. of the day that powers and gift
unused become atrophied, that men ma,
die to spiritual things through simple neg
lect. This is correct teaching so far as j
goes, but it does not compass the whole O
the matter. Spiritual calls, gifts and pow
ers m cannot wholly die. They may be dis;
claimed or cast aside, as was Moses rod
but they return with inherent life to stin
and bite. As an example, the direction
and commands of conscience may be cas-
| aside, the impulses of love and faith ma
| be ignored, the direct calls of the Hol
Spirit be unheeded and yet the soul hav
more conscious relation with these spiritus
entities than ever before.
John Newton, the hymn writer, tells u
deliberately insulted and drove from hi
mind every holy thing of which he la
knowledge, yet at times the moral juds
ment and the hearts love for etern;
things would so torment him that life wa
full Of misery. Those elements in his Iii
designed tor peace and joy besme tn
sources. OF unrest and unhappiness r.
morse is no more than the return Of thes
spiritual powers crying night and day,
silence and in great connections, "Ala
alas! It might have been.''
The doctrine of annihilation and atroph
has so settled over the spiritual thnkir
OF our time that the consequence of dis
bed!ence TO the equipments and purpos,
OF life and to the voice of God are in ce
tain quarters reduced to mere nothings.
IS high time that the truth illustrated
Moses become our truth, that we reali;
that there Is no such thing as spiritual a
nlhlation, even to the gifts and powers
God, but that there is transference. tran
tor'natlon--the going Tin spiritual sens
from Mount GeriSion lblessing) to Mou1
Ebal (cursing)
Dlsobedlence to God and His law is n
mere negatlon and the withdrawal Of ce
tain gifts, but it is in certain and awf
sense an affirmation and possession-t]
serpent Of menace rather than the suppo
OF life: Gods rain upon the thirsty ear
IS IN itself good-that it be SO for man d
pends altogether how and for what M
poses he uses it. He may use it for Ii
growing OF food products or for the nrod1
ton Of weeds. That the rain was MAJ
tor mans blessing is evident. That mi
may disregard and so convert the Gift in
a, foe is also evident. What the rain is
the earth SO are the gifts helps and ca
Of God to man. For these things God sh
bring us unto judgment, the Judgment /
gins with the obedience or disobedience
In our beloved Methodist church ,
have host Of God placers at work. Pe
pie who do not expect to meet God in n,
forrs or expressions, who. like Moses
fore his enlightenment. know or act
though they knew just how He Won
manifest Himself. That Christian