The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-08-05
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
GODS TRAINING OF A WORKER"

The Rev. DR.. o. F. Bartholow Shows the
Evil Results That Follow the Atrophy
Which Has Settled Over the Spiritual!
Thinking of Our Time.
New YORK C1TY.-Dr. O. F. Bartholow.
pastor of James N. Z. Church. preached
Sunday morning on Goods Training of a
Worker" His text was taken from Exc.
Gus, w.: !, 2, 5 and !: "And Moses an,
twered and said, But, behold, they would
voice; for they will say, The Lord hath
not appeared unto thee. And the Lord
said unto him, What is that in thine hand ::
And he said, A rod. And the Lord said.
Cast it on the ground. And he cast it
on the ground and it became serpent; and
Moses fled from beforeit. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Put forth thine hand and take
it by the tail. And he put forth his hand
and caught it and it became rod IN his
hand" DR.. Bartholow sa;d:
Our text presents Moses in what many
have considered an unfavorable light.
Standing in the presence of the great God,
the recipient of glorious revelation and q
divine command with promise, he appears
hesitating, uncertain and weak. A study
of the occasion and ground of Moses re.
luctance dissipates the unfavorable light
and presents to US study in human lie
under divine direction altogether true and
common. The call of God to Moses was
certain, clear and we'll attested. 1t came
experiences, to one who was more than
familiar with human nature in its relation
to spiritual truth.
The shepherd of indian knew how dull
apathetic and incredul0us toward Jehovah
and His truth the children of israel bad
become in their base servitude to the
Egyptian Pharaoh. Foreseeing the, cruel
sEepticism and the all but universal leth-
argy of his people. Moses was for the mo-
Under the spell of fear he uttered the
words, "But, behold, they will not believe
me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they
will 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 hesitatlng
snd, trembling, not BECAUSE, they doubted
| Gods truth would receive at the hands OF
His reputed friends. Jerome: Huss. Luth'
er, Wesley, Savonarola, ETC., had but little
to fear from the world, but much to fear
! from the church, and at times they trem'
bled and were hesitant at the commands
of God. Ut takes grace to 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. 1t is divine encourage:
ment to Christian daring and zeal. "And
thine hand? And he said, A rod. And He
said, Cast it on. the ground. And he cast
it on the ground. and it became serpent
and Moses fed from before it. And the
Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine
hand and take it by the tail. And he put
forth his hand and caught it and it be-
came rod in his hand" Now, it is Of nc
concern to us how this miracle was
wrought, or whether maeicians could sim
know is, What answer or revelation to the
great hesitancy of Moses did Jehovah
give in this peculiar work OF power?
To our mind three truths constitute that
answer-the first of which is this: All the
helps, gifts and attainments of the soul,
disregarded and neglected. tend to become
hostile. Moses was gifted man, an ex.
perienced man. The shepherds staff sym.
bolized him perfectly. Asst was IN instru.
ment Of defense and rescue, SO might
Moses. by. what he had done and what he
could do, be an instrument in the hand, Of
God to defend and rescue his people. God
ice. He gave him complete and adequate
preparation, clear mind, m indomitablc
will. spiritual and lofty nature.
:. Would Moses accept the election? The
! significance of possible refusal was seen
in the meaning miracle. The discarded
! staff became 4 serpent. 1t is the common
teaching. Of the day that powers and gifts
unused become atrophied, that men may
die to spiritual things through simple neg:
| =. ko,o ol,, SoS.
goes, but it does not compass the whole of
i the matter. Spiritual calls, gifts and pow.
ers cannot wholly die. They may be dis.
J claimed or cast aside. as was Moses rod
but they return with inherent life to sting
and bite. As an example, the direction
and commands of conscience may be cast
aside, the impulses of love and faith may
be ignored, the direct calls of the Holy
Spirit be unheeded and yet the soul have
more conscious relation with these spiritual
entities than ever before.
! John Newton, the hymn writer, tells US
that there was time in his life when he
deliberately insulted and drove from his
mind every holy thing of which he had
! knowledge, yet at times the moral judg.
ment and the hearts love for eternal
things would so torment him that life was
full OF misery. Those elements in his life
designed for peace and Joy beAme the
sources of unrest and unhappiness. Re-
morse is no more than the return Of these
spiritual powers crying night and day., in
silence and in great connections, Alas,
! alas! It might have been"
The doctrine OF annihilation and atrophy
has so settled over the spiritual thinking
of our time that the consequence of disc.
! bedience to the equipments and purposes
! OF life and to the voice of God are in GER.
tain quarters reduced to mere nothings. 1t
! is high time that the truth illustrated to
! Moses become our truth. that we realize
that there is no such thing as spiritual an.
! initiation, even to the gifts and powers OF
| God, but that there is transference, trans
! formation-the going lin spiritual sense)
/ from Mount Gerizion !blessing) to Mount
Ebal tcursing).
Disobedience to God and His law is not
mere negation and the withdrawal of Ger.
| tain gifts, but it is in a certain and awful
sense en- affirmation and a possession-the
serpent of menace rather than the support
of life Gods rain upon the thirsty earth
is in itself good--that it be so for man de.
i pends altogether how and for what pur.
| poses he uses it. He may use it for the
| tion of weeds. That the rain was made
for mans blessing is evident. That man
may disregard and so convert the gift into
foe is also evident. What the rain is to
the earth so are the gifts, helps and calls
of God to man. For these things God shall
bring US unto Judgment, the judgment be-
gins with the obedience or disobedience.
In our beloved Methodist church we
have host of God placers at work. Peo
pie who do not expect to meet God in new
| forms or expressions, who, like Moses be-
fore his enlightenment, know or act as
though they knew just how He would
! manifest Himself That Christian iov