Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1903-12-25
REMOVING DIFFICULTIES,
BY DR.. J. L. Lee.

Take We away the stone.-St. John
XII, 80.
On the one side of the stone door of
Lazarus tomb stood the dark messen-
ger we call Death, on the other b
mighty King Of All Life; for Lazarus
had been dead four days, and Christ
had come to undo the work Of death,
and to give to the young man the most
precious of all gifts-that is, life. =
He who had created the worlds and
had kept them in right relations
through all the ages so that they could
so singing on their journey, could have
hurled that stone away with a word.
But, since He was working from the
human side, He must needs respect
human conditions and give man a
share in His glorious work and also a
chance to learn the lessons Of His
great life on earth, for Christ's mis-
sion was not so much to make eternal
impressions IN matter, on h outer
world, as to make impressions on mind
the human soul.
1t happens then that the chief SER
vice of man to his fellow men is to
clear away difficulties that the divine
person and power may work, as on
that day human hands had to roll
away the stone from before the tomb
that Lazarus might feel the thrill of
life. Difficulties are Of various kinds,
but all alike prevent the free
working of divine power in the soul.
A nonconductor has come between
God and man, and this must be re-
moved from the human side because
of human sin. This is why Christ
came around from the side Of divinity
to the side of humanity, bringing His
divinity with Him to give effective
ness to salvation.
The business of discovery in the nat
ural world is to clear away hindrances
and to make channels for forces which
were long ago reposed in nature, right
under our hands and so near that
they actually touch us. Just as the
great discoveries in electricity consist
in giving direction to the mighty power
that it may become a thing of service
rather than a means Of destruction, so
the chief business Of religion is to
clear away the difficulties in the di-
vine path, so that God may work nat
urally in the hearts of men. Martha
was unhappy in the incident of the
text because she was not willing to
make way for the full working of the
power Of God. Most of the unhappi-
ness Of the world is ON the same ac-
count.
Every day we pass by a thousand
graves of buried hopes of other peo-
pie and never stop to see if we may
roll away the stone that the light of
God may shine in to give life to the
dead. How wonderful it would be if
we could fully realize that Christ
stands on the human side of every
trial and every trouble and every dis
appointment and every sin and says:
You do your part and l will do mine!
You remove all that the human hand
can take away and l will Danish the
rest as with a word l put death to
flight at Lazarus tomb"
1t may not be much that you can do.
but If it is ever so little it must be
done before the divine power can
work. The world car never be made
better without positive effort. The
cheerful face, the willing heart, the
forgiving spirit, the helping hand and
the Godlike purpose make the Journey
of life a grand march Of triumph.
But we are also to remove the stone
of indifference. Many people were
there that day who did not seem to
care much whether Lazarus ever lived
or not, and even Martha seemed indif-
ferent to any effort on the part of the
Savior. So we find in the world to.
day the head-shaking and Handwriting
Ing people who say: 1T will do no
good, there is no use in trying"
1t is your place and mine to lift hard
at this worlds weight Of sorrow that
the resurrection power of God may
give life to a dead world. Martha and
those who were with her have taught
us how we may roll away the stone
of unbelief and have the power of new
and greater life; for when they hest.
tated and doubted He asked: "Said
not unto thee that If thou wouldst be.
lieve thou shouldst see the glory of
God?"
Then a we not see the glory of
God without believing? No, we can.
not. 1t is the only way. There is
many a dark grave of departed faith
sealed forever because we don't be.