The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-07

= words. the past dominates them. Lake some horrible nightmare, t envelopes their minds and wills in It's death-lfke embrace. They just simply will not Tor get those things which arc hehind. So we see today nation after nation through out the world. submitting stupidly to in- justices and tyranny for this very req son. They are bound in the chains of the past. It benumbs their energies. It deadens their efforts. They seem in- capable of realizing the fact that na- ton cannot possibly make any advance in liberty. in self,government unless 1t does forget those things which are be- hind.
 This same characteristic of human weakness Is seen in the march of new ideas. In the world of intellect and thought and reason. it's leaders have al- ways had to battle with 1t. Instances are seen everywhere: in the mechanical and industrial arts, in science, methods of church work, and theology. New ideas must fight their way inch by inch. First, they gain . hearing. Next, they gain e footing. Finally. after strain and struggle. toll and effort, patience and perseverance, they are accepted ana utilized. This slow advance is because LdcIA dE0 lOdtuC lO 1OEk6t kuUD6 knAu8c which are behind, ,--the past. Then, too. not few people fancy that inasmuch as they have never heard of these ideas before there must be something wrong about them and therefore antagonize them.
 Just here. let me. say, St. Paul does not mean to teach us that we are to for get altogether those things which are be- hind, to blot out absolutely everything from the past. That Is impossible un- less our memory utterly fails. Far from this, for there is much in the past which we should not forget: what 1t has taught us of things good and true, for instance. We are not to forget its mistakes even. They are immensely helpful to us if we deal with them in the spirit of humility and good sense. You recollect Henry Ward BAecher's re- marks: "A man who does not know how to learn from his mistakes turns the best schoolmaster out of his life.' Of course, those things which are behind are for ever gone. Nevertheless. they have be- come real part of us. And they have 8 genuine and permanent effect upon the future. But. remember, they are of value to us only when used as a stimu- Jus to prompt us to reach forth unto those things which are before. The point is: we are to forget those things which are behind only when they act as clog upon the wheels of progress in religious or material things, making us lazy, negligent and faithless; otherwise, we may revel in them to our hearts con- tent.
 Of course, from the past, materials have come, materials in the shape of light and knowledge. They are not to be carlessly disregarded. They are not fn hA m oVft aHr are to be used wisely and faithfully, If 30, they become stepping stones to higher things. In fact, they now belong to the present. And as we deal with them so will the future be to us. For the fti- ture is the outcome of the past and the present, as the oak is of the acorn. Ger tainly, St. Paul does not mean that we should entirely disregard those things which are behind. But he warns us, lest we weakly and sinfully allow them to weigh us down in the race that Is set before us and SO, fall to reach forth unto those things which are before Observe how this principle of St. Paul applies to religious life the essential law of which Is: growth, development. We must grow in Christ. We must grow from glory to glory. We are not made Christians in an instant through some strange, semi-miraculous process, once done and done with forever. No, no, we grow day by day into Christ or away from Christ. Moreover, we should never be satisfied with what we have already accomplished. Nor should we be hope lessly discouraged by what we have not accomplished. In both cases we must forget those things which are behind. Thus, and only thus, will we earnestly reach forth unto those things which are before, and So succeed in warding off spiritual stagnation-that ever-present and most subtle menace to religious life. And so we must look to the future. in spirit and onward urged by Divine vis- ions of faith and hope and courage. Yes, we must do this even when the mists of doubt and despair encompass us, shut ting out for a time the Heavenly light.
 St. Paul tells us, also, you remember, that we must reach forth unto those things which are before that is, what lies in the future We must face it calmly and bravely. We must grapple with It's duties and opportunities in the spirit of patience and perseverance. We must struggle against the constant temptation to take a gloomy, hopeless view of what we have done or left undone among those things which ar6 behind. We must Ro forward in the spirit of glad obedience. For we know that He who is with us is greater tnaH n0 that IS againSt ugl We know that our Lord and Savior is ever ready to take us by the hand and guide our footsteps along the path of right eousness and truth and eternal life. We must not stand inert, coward Christians, l overwhelmed with doubts and fears. We must not let the errors and failures and sins of the past discourage and destroy us; but forget them and reach forth unto those things which are before. Let us, therefore, men and brethren, look up, and press onward "toward the mark. for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" Let us be animated. strengthened, vitaiized by the spirit of hope. Divine hope. For hope Is everything to us. It is a sort of in- spiration. It makes our burdens light, our tolls sweet, our duties seem privi- leges. When the Apostle tells us to for get those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before, he is, in a very real sense, but urging us to hope But, not that kind of hope which deludes us into believing |. that things will turn out right some- how and we need not trouble ourselves, we will be saved in heaven at< last" Away with 1t! For 1t is not hope at all, but the work of the devil. It is an ignis fatuus which will lure our feet to certain death. No, we must possess that hope which not only tells us to have faith in the future, but above all, to do .our part Gin the way of toll and ser vice and sacrifce) to make that future what it ought to be. Thus shall we be stimulated by Divine discontent with our fin aV1Hr 1r