Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-08-18

| WllHOuG Cne love OF GOQ unCll ne
becomes subject of the work of
the Spirit of God. All the Christ
ian graces are graces of the Spirit.
If any man have not the Spirit of
Christ he is none of His. There is
a consciousness of strength which
the healthy feels. This is one OF
the joys of living. There is also a
consciousness of spiritual life pro-
duced by the Holy Spirit, and it is
this which the apostle wishes his
brethren to possess. When he
says wish a blessing for you he
means an inward desire for spirit
ual good, and such welcome for
the Agent of spiritual life as to OBJ
tain a joyous consciousness of
power. Jesus came into the world
not to lessen enjoyment of life but
to increase it "that they might
have it more abundantly."
The next two things the apostle
speaks of are social. "Be of the
same mind, live in peace" These
eXhortations are addressed to them
collectively; unity and harmony
are necessary characteristics of
any successful organization. The
church is no exception. Just as
feuds in a community are apt to
be bitter, or family quarrels hard
to heal because of the rupture of
delicate ties, SO church difficulties
are likely to long outlive the oc-
casion.
Let us notice the first one of the
two social good things: "Be of
one mind" or as the R. V. has it,
"be of the same mind" The unity
spoken of is not mere uniformity
as of drilled soldiers, but a unity
that proceeds from oneness Of
sentiment and practice; sentiment,
ideal and endeavor are one. The
great object of the existence of the
Christian church is to secure the
worldwide proclamation of the
glorious gospel of Christ, by lip
and life. The great commission
reads: "Go ye therefore, and
make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to OBJ
serve all things whatsoever | COM
mand you, and 10, am with you
always, even unto the end of the
word" Matt, 2S:19. The reason
of the existence of the church is
not selfish, but it exists for the re-
clamation of the world.
Now let us look a moment at the
second social thing, viz: olive
in peace" Even though the aim
of the church is one there is always
room for diversity of counsels in
the practical conduct of affairs,
and there is sometimes danger of
a spirit of willfulness becoming
dominant. Every member of the
church ought to regard it a high
honor to be numbered with Gods
people, and he should be willing
to subordinate himself for the
general good. There is a right
and there is a wrong way of doing
a right thing; Gods people should
choose the right way of course.
Let us read James, 3 3:13-1S: "Who
is wise and understanding among
you? let him show by his good
life his works in meekness of wis
dom. But if ye have bitter jeal-
ousy and faction in your heart,
glory not and lie not against the
truth. This wisdom is not a wis
dom that cometh down from above,
but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where jealousy and faction
are, there is confusion and every
vile deed. But the wisdom that is
from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, easy to be en-
treated, full of mercy and good
fruits, without variance, without
hypocrisy. And the fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace for
them that make peace" The
things | have spoken of are these
four: desire for perfection, the
welcomed help of the Holy Spirit,
unity and harmony. Two things
personal and two things social. In
conclusion he says, "and the God
of love and peace will be with you.
Otherwise, then the God of love
and peace will not dwell with the
church." Everything depends on
the blessing of God. Without it
there must be failure.
In taking leave of the Presby-
terian church of Ironton, l can
conscienciously say that 1 have
striven to preach the gospel
throughout the time | have spent
with you. 1 have made no mis-
take in this, and it is with feel
ing of satisfaction that look back
in this respect. And l hope that
the faithful preaching of the word
of God may bear fruit in the days
to come, as | doubt not will be the
case so far as this estimate is cor
rect. My parting word must be a
word of advice simply and an
assertion of my abiding interest in
the people of this church. want
to thank you again for many in
dications of interest in me and
mine, and your forbearance with
imperfections of mine of which
am keenly aware. l am shorten
ing up my time of service, as |
feel necessarily, to enable me to
reach my new field of labor at the
beginning of the fall season.
Some justification is afforded me
in the fact that this month belongs
to me according to the old but now
abrogated contract. With this as
my last service as your pastor |
must say goodbye to all. 1t will
be practically impossible to call
| 4 4 u I u.