The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-08-06

age is committed. "son, give ME Trims
heart NO." you say, you cannot have
it; it is mine, :! am going to keep my
heart to myself" l was reminded as
came down from Binghamton through the
| mountains on Saturday i love those
mountains. Il have been hungry out on
the Western plains to see a hill. You
would be surprised to see what they call a
hill out there. Why, an Irishman with a
| wheelbarrow could build a bigger mountain
in a day than some of those mountalnsl.
| looked over those mountains and remem-
bered an experience some years ago IN the
Adirondacks., We started out early one
morning to climb a mountain. The valley
was full of light, and as VI looked back
from the top of one of the foothills in the
valley at our feet the beautiful verdure
seemed to throw back the beauties OF the
sunlight. Then we entered a fog, where
| we could not see more than five or SIX feet
away. Where was the beauty gone: Our
| attention became riveted upon our efforts
to climb out of the fog. Presently we
emerged from it and were on the mountain
top. Ny, what a scene! There lay the
| valley at our feet, like an extensive world;
| towns. rivers and raiiways-the great Val.
lev of the Mohawk. True, it was nearly
$50 miles away, but we were looking at 1t.
| That was like the Christian experience.
| When you came to the seat that day YOU
were on the foothill. You forgot all be-
cause Jesus was everything and you saw
the little landscape. You thought, The
! Christian life is beautiful. l am full OF
JOY" And a few weeks passed and you
said, But to live as a Cshirtlan IS not SO
easy; / do not see the joy. The little val
ley, where is it? What a tremendous
| thing it is to be climbing up to God" And
+ho oIo,,J sotflo, and yoi, opt RI he selfish
| But if you persevered and climbed up
ward you have come to the mountain peak.
Experience. and you feel that all your
powers and love ought to be settled on
| one effort to climb still further and fur
| Their in the vision of the Eternal. l won
der if some of us are not still in the cloud,
because we have lost the joy of service.
Suffering is only incident to service. l
am perfectly aware, when / ask you to en-.
ter with greater zeal in the service OF God
that | am asking you to suffer. You will
not be killed, or asked to move out Of the
United States or prosecuted because you
are a Christian, but YOU will have to sui
fer, and when you suffer you will begin to
enjoy. No man laughs so heartily as the
man who weeps most bitterly. No laugh
ter rings so in heaven as that which comes
through the tears down here. BY suffering
l mean you will be asked TO endure the
cross. Jesus endured the cross. Now,
right here let me say that suffering is not
service. Some one says: See here, do you
mean to say that when / suffer for Jesus
Christ that is not service?" That is exact.
iy what l mean to say. God has no pleas
ure in your pain, but if your service for
Him demands it, and you bear it heroic.
ally. He has pleasure in the attitude OF
your life. Jesus Christ endured the cross.
Why? Because it was incident to the work
of saving this race. Somebody will call
me hereto, but l am not. I believe, and
you believe, that Jesus Christ came to this
world to save this race. l believe and you
believe that without Christ there is no SAL
vation. The key note of all my ministry
OF God. If He is not divine let us stop our
preaching. sell our property and be inn
dels. II Jesus is a mere man let US all quit
business. / may be an Old fogy, but as
long rs this tongue breaches the gospel
Jesus Christ will be the divine Christ in
my message. Do l mean that Jesus came
to His cross by accident? Not at all. He
saw the cross standing at the end OF His
mission. and for the Joy that was set be-
fore Him endured and came to save this
race, and that meant the bearing OF a cross
the saving OF the race, not the bearing OF
the cross. His mission was to save men.
God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son that whosover believeth
in Him might not perish, but have ever
lasting life" When the cross stood in the
way OF the perfection of salvation Jesus
endured it divinely, heroically and unflinch-
ingly died upon it to save Us. Suffering IS
incident to service. and when call you to
serve God you will have your cross. The
men you work with will say you are too
.--ol e - a.o,l- I'D - foroto IL ,rp1l hurt
and pain and go deep. and you will finch.
Sometimes you will try to apologize for
being a crank and fanatic, and You will
thank God there is something you can en-
dure. 1t is part of service and behind the
suffering comes a JOY, deep and profound.
when you are true. Yes, you will have
shame to bear, too. Two or three young
ladies where l have been holding meetings
lately and baptizing some have said. Il do
not like to think OF getting up before al!
those people and being baptized" Won
der if we are going into the JOY OF fuihllng
Gods command: If we are we have got to
endure some of that shame He endured:
Let me tell you If you had administered
baptism and you saw as a minister sees in
the face of the believer buried out of sight
and raised to resurrection of newness or
life-if you saw what he sees just once you
would drop your quibhling now. Shame on
us If VIC cannot bear IN the twentieth CEN
fury light OF Christian truth all that fol-
lowing Jesus demands of US. A writer in
the British Weekly in an article entitled
Beating to Windward," says sailing
against the wind by steam power was OPP
posing one force to another, and was SIM
ply a matter Of victory for the stronger
force. but to sail to windward in a sailing
vessel was a matter Of skill for here
forces that oppose are not opposed but
used" Brethren, we must "beat to wind.
ward" Christian living that meet with no
opposition is not Christian living at all. Ii
you are beating to windward for Jesus this
world will oppose you. 1t is a matter OF
skill. then, to take the opposing forces of
suffering and sin and use them to advance
your life in the kingdom of heaven. When
begin to sacrifice ! begin to enjoy. Be-
loved, if YOU would have the JOY Of Chris:
tian service YOU must have the heart OF