The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-08-13

ana Nlln dll lily SlISHSbHs o.iN ~ 80
Dor as thyself. But tl.is is not a dehni-
sion of love; nor would it Apply, cspeci-
ailv the former part OF it to the love under
consideration now. 1t is not the reverent
lore OF the heart to God. but it is that
mysterious bond that unites men, the one
to the other. A love that exists between
people of a common spiritual experience.
It is as DR.. Dodds we'll says: The llga-
ment BY which the bouy Ct Jesus Christ
is bound together. 1t is the cement by
which the stones in the temple are united
into one. That is as near a definition as
you will be able to get from any known
writing: 1t has Christianity IN 1t. And
so We sing. and we sing it heartily:
blessed be the tie that binds our hearts
in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to
that above"
But though we may not be able to de.
fine this Christian love, we know 1T when
we see it, when we hear it. and we know
how it appears in the earth. We know
that love seeks with total sclf-forsetful-
ness the happiness of the object loved;
and so long as we know what it does and
how it behaves itself in the social fabric,
we ought to be quite content. And want
YOU to notice at this point wherein l6 :
is superior to the most eloquent speech.
Eloquent speech may mean self ADVERTISE
ment. Love always means self placement.
The gift in question: says the brilliant
Drummond, in his book entitled The
Greatest Thing in the World" and which
| commend to you to read, was once
splendid and dazzling. 1t was a brilliant
faculty drawing all eyrS to the speaker
and ali ears to his voice. 1t is the,gift of
~cloquence by which a man swayS the
mind and thrills the hearts OF his hearers.
Now YOU can see how a man without love:
possessing such a power, gives to himself
advertisement, and the fact Is that some
of the most brilliant orators OF fame, and
among them occupants OF puipits, are so
fond OF themselves and glory so much in
their ]eloouence, that they forget the other
elements that 20 to make up q manly Chris
tan character. And | want to say to
YOU that the man possessing that eloquence
is in constant danger. The attraction
which he has for the people always tends
and by he gets to be greater II ne Is not
aware. than the Master Himself whom he
processes to serve and represent.
Love, on the other hand, IS selt-enace'
ment. Love goes forth in benetcent min
;strv. alternating the wounds Of broken
lives all around. In perfect harmony
with this thought is the teaching OF the
Master Himself. You remember that
marvellous sermon in the mountain, in
which He says: Even so. let your light
shine before men that they shall see your
good works and may S.orlfSS your Father
phas;zed as indicating the manner of the
shining. Light may be held so close to
the eyes rs to dazzle the eyes; light may
be held SO close before the eyes of the
word as to dazzle the eyes OF the world.
You are not to see the shining one. hut
Won are to sec the fruits. the results OF the
shining. This is the way with the Old
sun itself. You look out upon the lawns
in the parks and the country side, and !
have never seen the parks more beautItu!
than when / visited them soon after my
arrival in this city a few days ago. You
look ont upon the grass and the growing
grains and the vegetation and the flowers
and YOU feast your eyes on the beauty ana
the wealth of the earth's surface; and You
begin to say, whence zane all this; who Is
the worker; who produced all this; and
YOU undertake to look up at the sun shm-
inc yonder in the zenith of the heavens;
And the old sun, for your termerlty, will
dart his red hot fire into your eyes and
will leave a mark upon you that you VIII
not forget for many a day. DO not LOOK
at me; look at the grass; look at the grow
ing gram, iooL dL INC tieSs 'ooh
work, not at the worker. So with God
Himself. No man has seen God at any
time; we see Him only in Jesus Christ.
No man has seen God the eternal, at any
time; but we count the stars that belem
the dome shove rs, when the great daylight
is gone, and the more we study them the
more are we thrown back on the teaching
of our childhood. when we learned to
sing: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how
| wonder what YOU are, up ABOVE the world
so high like q diamond in the sky" You
see the stars and the glory of them trans
ports your wondering soul, but YOU do
stars. If God is invisible in Himself, He
is not invisible in His ministry You
and !, beloved, who have been born anew,
are sons and daughters OF God, and we
please Him most when like Him. we efface
ourselves and are seen only in the benefi.
cent ministry OF our lives, in our homes,
in our communities, Ill our churches, IN
our city, in the world. Then under this
first point, we say again that love Is OF
greater value to the church and to the
world than the most eloquent speech. Now
| may not say that eloquence is not vaiu.
able. No one of us would refuse 1t II
proffered to US. l may not say-neither
would Paul say-that eloquence, even the
gift of tongues, was anything to be de-
spised. In the apostolic age it served to
attract the attention of men to the divine
manifestations among the sons OF men; and
it was greatly coveted because of this
force resident in it.. But / want you to
notice that only a few people can be eio-
auent and the great majority of us in re-
gard to speech will have to exhibit reality
rather than eioquence in speech, and serve
our generation in the most practical man.
ner available to us. Now | might estab-
fish this point by argument and by declam-
alton. but l prefer to give you a few Illus
t~rations, to fasten what ! mean in your
mind.
A woman over here in New York City,
some years ago, came to the City Mission
Society and sought the secretary. Il
would like to do something for God; / am
not eloquent in speech, but l think l
could distribute tracts among the poor
and needy. Give me a suitable supply end
| will render this service to my Lord"
She was supplied a~bundantly. On going
down the street she saw n policeman TAX
ing a poor woman to the station; she
vent to the station house and there
learned the facts in the woman's case and
when the woman was to be discharged.
When she came out she was met by this
good woman, who threw her arms around
her neck and kissed her; and the woman
said: MY God! Why did you do that!
No one has kissed me Since my mother