Orange County observer., 1903-04-09
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENT,TL
CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE"

The Rev. DIR. Frank Oliver Hall Says We
Must Learn How to Face the Pros
perity as Well as the Hard Condt-
tions Of This World.
New YoRK CITY.-The Rev. DIR. Frank
Oliver Hall, pastor of the Church of the
Divine IA .P!Saternity, preached, Sunday. morn:
He took his text from Philippians iv: u:
II know how to be abased, and I also
know how to abound. I have learned the
secret" DR.. Hall said:
In other words, Paul said, "I have
learned the secret Of how to be independ-
humble circumstances, and know how to
face Prosperity"
That is a great lesson, and one which few
men ever do learn. But it is lesson
which we all need to learn in order to pre-
serve happiness, the integrity of character
and to make the most of life.
First-Let us look first for the secret of
how to face humble circumstances. Every
one stands IN danger of being reduced to
poverty. No matter how much you may
possess to-day, on the morrow it may be
all swept away. If you put your money in
and leave you. with nothing but book
with certain hieroglyphics scribbled there
n TO indicate that you were once affluent.
II you put your money in mining stocks,
the ore may give out, or bad management
may ruin the enterprise. IF you invest in
aaliroad, rival line may get all the traffic,
wreck the business for his own enrich
ment. Ii you buy real estate, it may de-
preelate upon your hands, or fire may
sweep away your holdings in night If
you conclude to wrap your treasures in
napkin and hide it in a hole, some thief
may discover and steal it. So no matter
how rich you may be, tomorrow you may
be as poor as any. ProverbialIy, riches
take to themselves wings and fly away
1t is, therefore, extremely important that
one learn the secret of how to face humble
circumstances. What is the first step to
be taken in this direction?
Q Ny first word of advice is this: Train
yourself to work. Learn to be useful in
some specific way. Learn to perform some
service OF Importance so that you might be
dropped down in any portion Of the civil
and yet be able at once to command at
least the necessities of life from the COM
munity in which you find yourself, in re-
turn for the service which you are able to
render.
take it that this was one of the great
reasons for the contentment Of the man
who wrote the words of our text. He was
independent because he was a skilled work
man, and knew how, by the use of his
hands, to command in any community the
necessities of life. The Jewish people were
extremely. wise in many directions, and
their wisdom was nowhere more manifest
than IN the rule which they made as to
the education of youth. Every Jewish boy,
no matter what the circumstances of his
Jlfe,. must be taught trade. The boy
Saul, although probably from an early age
predestlned by his parents to become
scholar, a teacher, a religious leader, was
nevertheless, taught to make tents. That
Is, he knew how to weave camel's hair and
other material into the fabric of which
tents were made. Thus, after his conver-
sion to Christianity, when his worldly
prospects were ruined, and he had cast in
his lot with the poorest and humblest peo-
pie on earth, he was, as far as it is posi-
BILE for a man, independent. How was it
that this man was able to travel over the
world delivering his message to slaves and
| people without resources? When he went
to a new community he at once sought
work, and found it because he was skilled
| in making something which that commu-
| nifty. needed. He earned his bread by the
work of his hands, and spoke his message
because he loved it. And when the peo-
| pie to whom he spoke came to him out Of
| gratitude and wanted to contribute to-
ward his support, he accepted their hum
ble gifts on the principle that the laborer
is worthy Of his hire, and thanked them,
were not necessary to his life e'For / am
not in want. he said. Il can earn the
| necessities of life"
And if this is true of religious teachers
| it is just as true of people in other depart
ments of Life. Liberty is but dream for
| any man who must conform his political
opinions to those Of his employer unless he
| would see his supply of food cut off. Many
a man in the business world works for and
| votes for measures in which he does not
! bel1eve, or becomes party to trlckery and
dishonesty, because these are for the, in
terest of the employer, and unless he works
will lack food. Many a girl marries man
she distrusts, or even despises, because she
must marry or become a Dauper.
Therefore let those who would find the
secret of independence in the face of hum
BILE circumstances first learn to work. learn
which they may win from the world the
necessities of life in return for honest and
| worthy service.
2. But this is not the whole of Paul's
secret. For one who has known prosperity
to be obliged to face humble circumstances
extremely difficult. How shall he be able
| to do this:
Let him mediate upon the relation o.
| values. Paul had been man of grea
promise, and was on the high road tt
wealth and exalted position, but he lost il
| all and came to associate with slaves anC
people held in socizi contempt; he wen
: back to tent-making, and from being re
hgieus leader became a common laborer
But his courage, instead Of being dimin
ished, was increased. No braver man eve
lived. His cheerfulness was constant
When they had seourged him and place
him in the torturing stocks he sang. NJ
pessirnistic word ever escaped him, NJ
gloomy reflection can be found in his let
tiers. How did he escape gloom and de
,pair under such circumstances2 He ha'
learned the relation Of values. SAlf thing
which once stood to my credit [ have now
| for Christ's sake, come to reckon as loss
More than that, I reckon everything els
| as loss, on account of the exceeding valu
of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. An
| for His sake / have lost everything an
reckon it Ell as the merest refuse if [ ca
but gain Christ, and be found in unio
with Him" Here was a man who counte
wealth, position. country. home. ever!
thing as so much refuse i only he coui
feel that he possessed true, honest Chris1
like character.
g. But that is not the whole of the 81
cret. Listen: '1 have learned the secre
both to be filed and to be hungry, both t
abound and to be in want" How? Bt
cause I have discovered that II can do a a