The Penn's Grove record., 1903-08-07
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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 riyeted upon our efforts
to climb out of the fog. Presently we
emerged from it and were on the mountain
top. My, what a scenei There lay the
valley at our feet, like an extensive world;
towns, rivers and railways-the great Val
ley OF the Mohawk. True, it was nearly
l5O miles away, but We were looking at it.
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. / am full of
JOY" And a few weeks passed and you
sald,. But to live as a Cshirtian is not so
easy; ! do not see the joy. Tbs little val
ley, where is it? What a tremendous
thing it IS to be climbing up to God" And
the cloud settles and you get to be selfish.
but If you persevered and climbed up
ward you have com 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 II some OF us are not still in the cloud,
because we have lost the joy of service.
Suffering Is only incident to service. I
am perfectly aware, when | ask you to en-
ter with greater zeal in the service of God
that l 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 suf-
Ter, and when you suffer you will begin to
enjoy. No man laughs so heartily as the
man VINO 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 servicep' That is exact
IRE 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 / am not. l 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 nv ministry
shall ever be that Jesus is the divine Son
OF God. If He is not divine let US stop our
preaching, sell Dur property and be inf
dels. 1t Jesus is a mere man let US all quit
business. | may be an old fogy, but az
long as this tongue breaches the gospel
Jesus Christ will be the divine Christ in
my message. Do / 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
and He bore it. But the real mission was
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
Il nniU hQrntfon Con that .rHo~1x1, 1a1s---kl
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 unhinch-
lngly died upon it to save us. Suffering is
incident to service. and when / call You to
serve God you viii have your cross. The
men you work with will say you are too
much of a crank and a fanatic. 1t will 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 | have been holding meetings
lately and baptizing some have said, Il do
not like to think of getting up before all
those people and being baptized" / won
der If we are going into the joy of fulfilling
Gods command. If we are we have got to
endure some of that shame He endured.
| baptism and you saw as a minister sees IN
the face of the believer buried out of sight
and raised to resurrection of newness of
life-if you saw what he sees Just once you
would drop your quibbling now. Shame on
US if we 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 op-
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 cheat 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
I begin to sacrifice ] begin to enjoy Be
loved, if you would have the JOY of Chris
tian service you must have the heart OF
Christian sacrifice.