The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-07-24
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
GODS TRAINING OF A WORKER"
The Rev. pr. q. \. Barthoiow shows the
Evil Results That Follow the Atrophy
which Has settled over the spiritual
Thinking OF Oar Time.

pastor % 'aits u A., ,n~aS". t4s"N ~
Worker" His text was taken from Exo'
Gus, iv.: /. .. 3 aud 4; And Moses an
swerea and said, But, behold, they would
not believe me. nor hearken unto my
voice for they viii say. The Lord hath
not appeared unto thee. And the Lord
said unto him, What is that IN thine hand,
Cast u on the ground, And he cast II
on the q round aud l; became serpent; and
Moses fled from betorelt. And the Lord sa,d
unto Moses, Pat forth thine hand and take
IL by the tail. And he pas forth his hand
and caught 10 and u became rod IN his
hand DR.. Bartholow sad:
Our text presents Moses in what many
have considered an uniavorable light.
Standing IN the presence OF the great God,
the recipient Of glorious revelation ard a
divine command with promise, he appears
hesitatlng. uncertain and weak. n study
of the occasion and ground OF Moses re-
luotance dissipates the unfavorable ligh.
and presents 10 rs study IN human life
under divine direction altogether true and
common. The call of God TO Moses was
certain, clear and well atiested IL came
TO a man refined and sehooled by abundant
experiences, 20 one who was more than
familiar with human nature IN It's relation
70 spiritual truth.
The shepherd Of Midian knew how dull.
apathetic and incredulous toward Jehovah
and His truth the children OF israel had
become IN their base servltude 20 the
Egyptian Pharaoh. Foreseeing the cruel
skeptlesm and the all but universal leth.
argy OF has 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 hoarllen unto my voice; for they
win say, the Lord hath not appeared unto
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 hesitatine
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.
or, Wesley, Savonarola, etc. had but little
20 fear from the world. but much to fear
from the church, and at times they trem-
bled and were hesltant at the commands
OF God. (lt takes grace 10 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. II is a divine encourage.
the Lord said unto him, What is that in
thine hand: And he said, A rod. And lie
said Cast it on the ground. And he cast
II on the ground, and IL became serpent
and Moses fled from before il. And the
Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine
hand and take 1t by the tail. And he put
forth his hand and caught it and it be-
concern TO us how this miracle was
wrought, or whether magicians could sim
nlate 1t or not What we do desire to
know is, What answer or revelation 10 th,
great hesitancy of Moses did Jehovah
give in this peculiar work OF powerf
To our mind three truths constitute tha,
nnswer-the first OF which is this: All Tho
helps, gifts and attainments of the soul
disregarded and neglected, tend TO become
hostile. Moses was a gifted man. an ex
perienoed man. The shepherds staff sym
bolizod him perfectly. As it was an instru
ment OF defense and rescue, 30 might
Moses, by what he had done and what hr
coul ID do, be an instrument in the hand oi
God TO defend and rescue his people, God
elected him TO mighty and glorious sctv
ice. lie gave him complete and adequat,
preparation, a clear mind, an indomitablc
will. n spiritual and lofty nature.
Would Moses accept the election The
significance OF possible refusal wns seer
in the meaning miracle. The discarded
staff became a serpent. Ii is the common
teaching OF the day that powers and gift,
unused become atrophicd. that men may
die 10 spiritual things through s,mplc neg
goes, but II does not compass the whole o
the matter. Spiritual calls. gifts and pow
ers cannot wholly die. They NAV be dis
claimed OF cast aside, as was Moses rod
but they return with inherent life 10 stnG
and bite. As an example, the direction
and commands Of conscience may be cast
aside, the impulses OF love aud faith may
he ignored. the direct calls of the lIol,
Spirit be unheCded and yet the soul hav,
more conscious relation with these spiritua
entities than ever before.
John Newton, the hymn writer. tells NJ
that there was a time m his life when b,
deliberately insulted and drove from hi
miad every holy thing OF which he haC
knowledge, yet at times the moral iudg
mcnt and the hearts love for eterna
things would so torment hm that life wai
full OF misery. Those clements in his hi,
designed for peace and JOY bsome the
sources OF unrest and uuhappincss. Re
morse u no more than the return oi these
spiritual powers crying night and day il
silence and IN great connections, Alas
alas! 1t might have been"
The doctrine OF dnnihi.atioa and airophy
has 50 settled over the spiritual thinking
Of our time that the consequence of disc
bedIence TO the equipments and purpose
Of life and to the voice Of God are in Ger
tain quarters reduced 20 mere nothings. II
~ high time that the truth illustrated e
Moses become olr truth. that we reelizt
that there - no such thing a. spiritual an
initiation, even 10 the gifts and powers o
God, but that there u transfcrence, trans
formatiOn-the going On a spiritual sense,
from Mount GeriziOn lb!essiDg) 10 Mount
Ebal (cursingj.
Disobedence 10 God and His law is mol
mere negation aud the withdrawal OF Ger
tain gifts but % ~ IN = certain and awfu
sense an affirmation and q possession--tb,
lf
OF life. Gods rain upon the thirsty eartf
u IN itself good-that j. be 81 for man de
pends altogether how and for what pur
poses he uses II. lie may use II for tho
growing oi food products or for the produc
tion OF weeds That the rain was made
for mans blessing ~ evident. That mar
may disregard and 50 convert the gift into
a zoe j. also evident What the rain is tt
the earth % are the lifts, helps and call,
OF God 10 man. For these things God shal
bring ne unto judgment, the judgment be
guns with the obedience or disobedience.
In our beloved Methodist church We
have host Of God piacers at work peo
pie who do not expect 20 meet God in new
forms or eHpressiOus who. like Moses be
fore his enlightenment. know or act ~
though they knew Just how He would
manifest Himself That Christian jos
and expectancy die in such lives is natural
the glory OF God - 20 conceal a thing, bat
these people Will not have II 80. They arc
perfectly sure God IL IN some particular
form OF class meeting, revival service Of
Christian experience.
Another people Of God thought tbi.
thought % intensely and held y 30 tena
ciOusly that they missed the glory OF th,
Messiah when He came o. walk tine field,
and streets of earth. lie bad no form oi
comellness that they desired oE expected
He came 90 He own and they received
HIM not" But IN lis coming they had
k.nziy and exalted forms which they were
certain lie would posses: they were sure
Of the order of His coming. The rod %,