The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-10-22
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
ADlscouRsE ENTITLED "LIFe's YIELD
TO THE MORAL coNoUERoR."
The Rev. T. r. Williams Urges Cs 10 spend
Our Few Brief Years Fighting Sin ah"
Serving. Man Until We Pass to the Great
Beyond-An Uplifting Discourse.

Qrepational Church, BrautOfd. EnS!di'a,
preached IN Plymouth Church l,rle ,SSence SGaaay
The Rev. DR.. Newell Dwight Hills intro
dnced Mr.. Williams. Earnest attention
was given TO his thoughtful sermon. The
subject was Lilies Yield to the Mora!
Conoueror, and the text was from pas
saces in the Apocalypse. Mr.. Willlams
said:
Each one OF the messages to the churches
OF Asia closes with promise, They con
tain threats and warnings and command
ments. but at the close stands the promise
like distant hill in sunshine. seen
through the storm, to lure on ever the
worst beaten to the better things OF End
md man The messages lay down the
moral task without compromise, BAT Trey
close with the assurance that
"The topping crags of duty sealed
Arc close upon the shining tab.eiands.
To which our God Himself IS moon ana
sum-.
There is here twofoid aspect OF liie
which every morally earnest man is ac-
ouainted with. He knows that its condi'
tions are stern. that there is visor IN II;
but he knows also that the vigor is Blended
With tenderness. that all It's struggle ls
permeated by promise. We might indeed
cav tha. mora. carnestnesS and hopeful
ness 20 togther. Stand Loyalty under the
bower of duty. and you will hear the bird
of hone sing. Unfaithfu,ness to the moral
ideal breeds pessimism OF the worst kind;
fidelity. while it does not encourage cheap
and lightsome optimism, does lnscrIbe n
the heart OF the blackest duty the shining
word OF the coming time God has 50 made
us that EMBODIED in the bosom of Loyalty
lies the assurance Of triumph for the sood.
Now, it is this loyalty to the good, this
fidelity to the moral ideal this persevering
attitude, which l take to be indicated II !,
the word overcoming" or "conquering.
Every promise is made to him who over
cometh" or who ''conquers.' Not, mark
Won. to him who has overcome. or who has
conquered in any full or final sense. These
promises are not Of gifts to be bestowed
at the end of the course, but OF experiences
to be realized in going on. so long az you
90 on in the right way. Now. is j: fact
for il is TO Use preaching theories away
from the facts OF lfe-that the promises
made TO those Asian churches IN the name
of Christ. sent to them by John as dlrec.
from Christ. are t6 be regarded as promises
made to us by God? For myself | can
not regard them so. except so tar as
they contain truths attested by the exper-
ience of men. Indeed. the messages given
to the churches OF Asia are not entIreiy
from Christ as He was, not from Christ as
we understand Him to-day. but from
Chris. as John understood Him. When
we read the promises of the moral life we
read not only the facts OF our moral eXpe-
rience. bit also a certain interpretation
given bv more than one bias. sach as the
personal bias or the national bias. The fu-
ture we depict NAV be in essence guaran,
teed by the universal laws OF the moral
life, but the depletion may bear personal
or national coo which must fade; per-
sonal and national clements which must
be eliminated. John was Christian, but
he was also Jew. Like every man. he
had temperament. both the nationality
and the personality would affect his vision
of the future. Our Christ never takes ab-
sohte and full possession OF Us, our very
bes. understanding Of Him has some mix
ture of ourselves in it, which is not in Him.
"To him that overcometh and keepeth
NY word will I give power over the ma.
tions, and he shall rule them with rod OF
iron, as the vessels OF potter lall be
broken to shlveUs, even as ! received o!
Nv Father" Here are words attributed
to Jesus which none of us would like to
think of Him as speaking. We could not
find in Jesus any promise of authority.
| over nations to rule them with rod OF
| iron. as the vessels of potter are broken
to shivers; nor do we think of Him as
claiming to have received such from HIS
Father That ia not our way OF thinking
of Christ to-dav. Then how did John
come to hear Christ saw that! Because
| John had been reared in the atmosphere
| and fed upon the sentiments of Psalm II.
| His Jewish teachers hau taught him to re-
gard Psalm ii as Messianic. And what was
| the Messiah to do? Tho Lord said to Him.
"Ask Of Me and viii give thee the ma
| tions for thine inheritance and the utter
most parts of the earth for thy posses.
sion. Thou shat break them with a rod
| of iron: thou shalt dash them to pieces
I like a potter's vessel" Some Jews Some
times believed that that was one OF the
things the Messiah would do. When a
Jew came to believe that Jesus was the
at least throw off that Old notion. Jesus
had said. Come unto Me all We that labor
and are heavy laden" etc. II am meek OF
heart, lewly." blessed are the meek, "
etc. "Other cheek" etc. The general
character and teaching of Jesus was the
very opposite of the Psalm ii conception OF
Messiah. Yet the Jew who believed that
Jesus was the Messiah carried over with
him good deal of the old national con.
is what John does here. It was not Jesus
speaking, but his own nationalism that
was representing Jesus. This is not very
surprising when you remember that Chris
tians even vet take the Psalm ii to refer
to Jesus, Nothing could be more unlike
.Jesus Of Nazareth than the description OF
| the Messiah in Psalm ii. 1t is high time to
protest. as Cheyne does, against the habit
of finding Christ" in passages "unre!ateG,
to Christ and His religion" Il fear.
says Canon Cheyne. "that our unmiti'
gated adoption of the Psalter as it stands
may counteract that spirit of love which is
one-half Of Christianity" The fear is too
: well founded What did the great ST
Bernard say long ago regarding the wars
| of the Crussdes upon the Mohammedans:
These are his words: "They are ministers
of God to inflict His vengeance. For them
to give or receive death is not sin, but
most glorious deed; the Son OF God de-
| lights to receive the blood Of His enemies
He is glorifed in the death of the pagans:: ,
1t is most astounding that Jesus could
| have been conceived as the incarnation OF
Gods redeeming purpose and love and yet
ss One who could delight in the blood OF
| HIS enemies. The Messianic Interpretation
Of many psalms undoubtedly tends to un;
Germine the value of the revelation OF God
in Christ. In Christian magazine OF
| ron,e tiroe ,co one article is entitled The