The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-02-04
Then it is that Christ Himself \

our nature for sympathy and commdl
with the human heart.
Christ 'rithin US is also the source ofl
power. Christ does not give US power by
making mere machines of us. We are the
| clay In the potters hands, but we are some
thing more. God does not want us to be
slaves, but freemen; not subjects, but sons.
An equally false way of considering the
help that we receive from God is that we
are to do all that We can with our natural
or redeemed powers, and then let God do
the rest. So the longer we i've, the strong
er we are and the less we need Gods in
terposition. Every time God helps Us, we
are less OF . man or woman, and the strong.
er we grow the more independent, and the
less we need faith. The end Of it all would
be absolute Independence Of God. Surely,
this is not Gods idea.
The true way of looking upon our rela-
ton to Christ is that His presence within
our heart by faith gives us energy to
achieve, not by enslaving, but by enfran-
chising the will, invigorating it, energizing
it, vitalizing it, until with Augustine We
can say: Eve viii, but God works the
willing; we work, but God works the
Philippians, .: y, 10. has often been mis-
! understood. 1t says: Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling. For it
is God which woTSeth in you both, to will
and do OF His good pleasure" To work
OUT does not mean to work into outward
expression what God puts within us, but
as it literally means, to achieve" for sal
vation is an achievement as well as being
at the same time gift. Nor does it mean
that we are to work in PauFs absence.
The possibility Of working out our saliva
ton rests upon the fact that God is with
in, so that we can will and do OF His good
! pleasure. Thus, will is not an instrument
which we can turn from side to side, and
which when necessary God can use; 1T is
ourselves acting. That which God does is
not our act unless God works through our
| wills.
The possibilities of such an empowered
life are divine. We need not be perfec-
tionists and still believe as we ought that
| Christs grace is sufficient for us. Many
| pretend to believe it, and do not live il, 4
They worry, they fret, they give up. The
most of us seem to think that the normal
Christian life Is to rise and fall like the
tides. Yet Paul says: There hath no
| temptation befallen you but such as is com.
mon to man; but God is faithful, who will
not suffer: you to be tempted above that
ye are able; but will with the temptation
| be able to bear it."
Christ within also makes all living sa-
| cred. We have made sad divisions among
| objects. We have divided space into holy
| and unholy, and declared tnat God could
be found only in certain places, which had
been consecrated. We have divided time
into holy and secular, declaring that we
would serve God on the Sabbath and con-
| duct our business and amusements as we
pleased the rest of the week. We have di,
vided money into two parts. We have said
| that the giving Of the one-tenth, or one
| twentieth to God, justified US in the claim
of unlimited freedom in the disposition
| of the rest We have divided up persons,
| and put a certain class of people called
| priests ministers, missionaries, upon ped
estals, declaring that the standard OF con-
! duct for them differed from the standard
| for others, and that their work was espe-
cially religious.
All wrong. All space is holy, and the
| green grass may be the chancel carpet and,
| the trees the massive pillars and the sky
| the dome, if below there is a heart pray
| ing in spirit and truth. Ali time IS 5ncred.
| The Monday should be as much dev3ted to
Gods service as Sunday, and the Office and
| the store should be as much shrines OF
| devotion as the closet. All money is sa-
cred, and the money spent upon the nee
essaries OF life, upon business and pleasure
should be spent with equal consciousness
as upon the church. All Christians have
| Christ within them, and they should aim
to objectify His life. There is nothing We
| need to-day quite as much as the Chris
tianization of the secular life.
Then at last, the Christ within is the
source of final holiness. Christ at last
| is to present US holy and unblamabie, and
| irreprovabie in His sight.
Sin does two things for us, separates
us from God and distorts our nature. When
we are forgiven We are restored to the d.
| vine fellowship. But what about the ef-
fects OF sin upon our nature! see the
| scars upon the tree and what the hte OF
| the tree does for it. Listen to what Paul
| says: Il am perplexed until Christ be
! formed within you" As Christ had His
Betn.ehem, His Nazareth. His Olivet, so
| does He again in His reincarnation have
His Bethlehem, His Nazareth, His Olivet-
Who knows why one plant grows into the
geranium, and the other into the rose; Inc
| type is something more than the ideal pre-
sented for the imitation OF the plant IL
is an informing life;
A. S. Gumbert wrote for the Examiner:
| "Among the Dutch the rose was sometimes
! cultivated by planting an inferior rose To-
| close TO a. rose of superior variety. The
rose OF inferior quality was carefully
watched and anthers removed to avoid
Standardization; the object being that
it should be polenized by the superior
| rose. Gradually the rose thus treated took
upon itself the characteristics OF the sepe-
rior life of its companion. 30, our hVes
are pollenized as it were by His righteous
ness. ~.
Thus Christ within becomes to US the
! source of divine companioaship, OF power
for achievement, of the exaitation OF con-
duct, OF final holiness. He. who wishes
to piant hope within his own heart OF such
prospects. should begin and never cease
exercising faith in Him who loved us and
! cave Himself to die for Us.