The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-08-06
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON.
Principles Which Abide With Those
Who Constantly Walk With God
Pleasure In Christian Suffering.

Pleasure In Christian Su1Ierin2.
New York c1rr.-Nhen Rev DR.. Gee.D.
Adams. the new pastor of the First Bap-
fist Church, Lee avenue and keap street,
preached his first sermon as pastor OF the
church, he selected for his text: Hebrews
xii: | and .: Therefore, let us also. seeing
we are compassed about with so great a
cloud Of witnesses, lay aside every weight
and the sin which is admired by many and
let us run with patience the race that Is
set before us, looking unto Jesus, the au-
thor and perfecter of our faith; who, Tor
the Joy that was before Him, endured the
cross, despised the shame and hath sat
down at the right hand Of the throne OF
Cod IN. W, and said:
A very casual observer could easily tell
that many Christians have lost the JOY OF
the Christian service which they once had:
1t takes no scholar, nor, indeed. a critic, OF
Christian life or human living to see that
many, who one day rejoiced with "un-
speakable Joy" in the service of Jesus
Christ, are to-day Indifferent. Indeed, we
ourselves find some times, when to come to
the house Of God is a burden, and we drag
a weary body or reluctant soul into the
presence of the Almighty and try to wor-
find again and again, If we should follow
the inclination Of our hearts and minds
that we should stay at home. Blu those
are new experiences comparatively. Once
we could give up any pleasure for ar hour
with God, and when to have 1een In His
presence and feel that He was hearing US;
to enjoy the touch of kindred spirits; to
have enjoyed the song and the prayer and
the service, out of Gods heart, would have
been better to us than riches and more
precious than fine gold. But that is gone.
We find ourselves sometimes coming De-
cause we think we ought; doing this or
that service because it is customary; enter
inc into this form or that because 1t Is a
habit to do 90, and in the saner i.oments
of our conscience we come sometimes to
saw: "Why is this 500" Has God changed!
Has the power of the old gospel ito allie
yiate human life of its brudens and suffer
ings gone? Is there less OF power and ETH.
cacy in the saving grace of Jesus Christ
now than once? After all, is Gods service
really and truly at bottom nothing but a
drudgery? Or, has something taken place
with US? Have we left behind something
we once had and have We passed beyond
that moment of e~xultant spirit when in the
presence of Jesus our heart bounded with
the iov of q new faith and the experience
of salvation? Well, we are perfectly. sure
God has not changed. We are perfectly
sure Jesus is "the same, yesterday, to-day
and forever" We nave not a doubt that
the old gospel will save men to-day, and
when we come to think of it after all is
not the matter of being saved a subject OF
Just as much JOY in the twentieth century
as in the first century? Has there been
any change in the attitude OF the gospel!
We are bound to confess there has been
none. and if that is true, then the trouble
is with us. Somewhere we have lost some
ill., 81 %, 1Nolytnn into fappa This
morning that know better than / do, in
their experience, that that something IL
the priceless treasure of Christian hope.
Now. to get that back. When l was a
bow | wept when first I saw the wrinkles
coming on my mothers face. l wanted
her to remain always young. and there are
thousands of Christian hearts, some repre-
sented here, doubtless, that have wept at
the loss of their Christian experience-it Is
dead, JOY is gone. Oh, what would We give
to get it back! I am persuaded that we
would give a great deal to get it back. but
I am more thoroughly persuaded that the
tude of life that makes it constant. The
best thing is not to get back the Christian
experience of years ago. but to get into the
attitude OF life that makes that experience
perennial.
I am going, therefore, to discuss the
sources Of joy. The thing that most lies
behind that experience and the first thing
that confronts the Christian in the mat.
ter is duty. We do not like that word
duty. We associate with 'he word duty:
sacrifice, and are surprised when we lind
that it is in itself a term OF freedom.
When | say to you, i want YOU to do
YOUR duty You say. Don't talk to me
about duty; l don't like that word" That
is largely because the word has com to YOU
to mean a matter OF bondage, when IN re-
ality it ought to mean a matter OF freedom.
Why it was duty -ehind the text: Let us,
therefore, seeing we are compassed about
with so great a cloud OF witnesses lay aside
every weight and the sin which is admired
bv many Tor so delight in-Fome special SIN
of the age. | supposed and let Us run with
patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and perfect
er of our faith, who. for the JOY that was
set before Him, endured the, cross, de-
spised the shame, and hath sat down at the
right hand OF the throne OF Coo; mat
spised the cross we ought not to stop and
reason about duty. / want you to notice
that duty is an ethical term. not a legal.
There is a kind of doctrine abroad to-day
which is called the ethical religious idea.
do not mean that at all. Duty is ethical.
not legal. Duty resides in the recesses OF
a mans character, not in the external leg,
islation concerning him. l am q moral
being. therefore l ought. A dog or a
horse can never be called upon because OF
oughtness-they are not moral beings. They
are within the restrictions OF a master and
that is legal. There is something in man
that is an oughtness. 81 ought, therefore
| must" Because / am a moral being
ought. therefore duty is ethical. Many a
man fulflls the law and breaks every pos
sibie moral duty. The s~aloonkeeper Is
keeping the letter OF the law, but he is
doing an immoral thing. 1t is not a matter
OF legality or politics, but of moral ought,
ness. Until that moral oughtness is obeyed
/ am in bondage, but when l obey the
moral oughtness / am free. l passed
through a great sewing machine works in
Belvidere, H., and saw the machine called
the automatic screw. The ordinary ma
chine knows more than a lot OF men. Men
can't do a thing as you tell them to. You
set a man on a job Of work and he will
change the way OF doing it just as sure as
he lives-tha. is, if he is an American. II
he is a Chinaman or a Russian he won't:
That is why corporations hire that kind OF
man. because he will do no more nor less
than he is tod. But you tell an American
IN do n thing nrecisely in q certain way;