Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-02-25
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
BEAUTIFUL DISCOURSE BY THE REV.
,~,e c. 0. CASE. PHI. o.

4ssassNss SE*&
Subject: "The Limit of Endeavor''-How
Much Dare You Attempt For God -
He Gives Grace Both For Living and
Dying-Activities For True Christians.
BROOKLYN, n. Y.-The Rev. c. D. Case,
Phi. D.. formerly OF the First Baptist
Church, Montclair. n. j., preached on Sun
day his first sermon as pastor OF the Han
son Place Baptist Church. His subject was
The Limit OF Endeavor. DR.. Case said:
In the fourth. century of the Christian
era the Goths, numbering nearly one mill
ION people, men, women and children, came
| down to the Danube, at that time swollen
! by many rains, to escape to the other SIDE
| A large feet OF boats and canoes had been
| provided, and for several days and nights
! work went on lncessantiy Yet notwith-
| standing the most earnest care scores were
swept away in the food.
| Centuries before this remarkable occur
| renee another vast horde OF men, women
and children came down to another swollen
stream. By count there were over SOC, 900
warriors over twenty years OF age, and the
! entire host numbered about 100000. The
valley into which they descended was of
! peculiar formation. The outer valley was
i six miles and over in width, but there was
| an inner valley ravIne half mile and
over in width, and still within this was. the
/! river itself varying from twenty to sixty
| yards in width. But this river, too, had
been swollen by many rains and the melt
! ing SHOWS farther up its course, and now
1 had overrun its usual banks and was rush
ing along with rapidity.
Strangely enough no boats had been pre-
pared for the crossing of this host, and yet,
as events proved, not one OF the host was
| lost in the crossing. Evidently there was
some vast distinction to be made between
these two great hosts OF antiquity. What
was that Distinction. May it not be this,
| the words that Isaiah uses in the forty
third chapter and second verse, which may
be considered the text Of this sermon:
"When thou passeth through the waters
I will be with thee. and through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee,
On the part Of the fsraelites in their
crossing of the Jordan some special prepar-
atiQn was needed. but not in the procuring
81 beats The coi,,ee--.s,nder of the army had
sent MesasngsEs a Il throaahont the host AID
c1mamusu whieh meant d the Haghina = q r.:s:;
the abstaining from all that might distract
the mind. Similarly Moses had once com
/ Eianded the people to sanctify themselves
to-day and to-morrov. ard to wash their
garments and be ready against the third
day; for the third day Jehovah Himself
would come down in the sight of all the
people on Mount Sinai.
1t was critical moment for the hosts OF
Israel. To fail now meant to fail forever
| 10 succeed now meant a promise for the
future. Hereby ye shall know sale
Joshua, that the living God is among yor
and that He will without fail drive out
from before you the inhabitants of the
land. What nation or man achieves
through God-given strength to-day is al
assurance for victory for tomorrow. Sue
cess is a handmade OF assurance. Eye have
not passed this way before said Joshua
a new leaf in national history had beer
turned; s new. territory invaded.
A new endeavor with the Israentisf
army as with Us to-day needed specia
guidance. The sacred ark was to precede
the people, but far enough in advance te
be seen by all that we may know, seq
the leader, ''the way by which ye must 60. :
Reverence is needed for divine things, bu
divine guidance more. The pillar Of fire
!; /, and tie cloud is now superseded by the
ark, and it in turn superseded by tn;
Christ, who said to all disciples, Follow
Me-" In each case the command is not tt
make the Guide follow You. hrt yo" ~
Guide.
Five miles over the river Is d !, a.leu clty
Thousands are watching from, the walls ths
foolhardy attempt Of the disordered hosts
One person, however, alone upon the wall
unnoticed by the many is looking dowI
with expectancy. That one is Rahab She
watches eagerly as the priests bearing ths
ark by the poles step with measured treae
down to the river, wondels as nothing hap
pens, starts as the priests seen actually a
! the very edge, but at last her hopes arr
| realized, as the rushing current is stayeo
by some unseen force and rolls Up III
mighty wall. while below the waters hurry
away until the last streamlet:; trc!1e dowr
! over the stones and leave lacd foc the pf:S;
, sage of the arI.y.
What, after all, is the limit OF endea74or +?
| LIy,In In,,+t III
Israelite who stays behind and watche:
the foolish performance from the Kill sd
PAGES back and forth in his Gisgus,. ,Sucl
4 foolish waste of life! Such a spectacua a
display. VIII Joshua never be doae with
such undertakings? Any one nligh5 knov
safely across that boiling stream, n
boats, no possibility OF vading, or eves
swimming-it simply can't be done. Blu
watch. 1t is done. / heard teacher in i
certain normal school read in c,ass for ths
correction of professor and student wha
she would say to class OF boys and girl
about the crossing OF the Red Sea by tnt
! Israehtes A strong east wind, she said
blew the water down the sea until tht
lsraelites could wade across. and ther
when the Egyptians came up the wind hae
changed and drowned all OF the Egyptians
in the passage. And what do you SUP
pose." said the would-be teacher. tine peo
pie thought that God MADE the waters t,
go back" That's Science for You. But b,
! the way, such science is Il little out @
| date. Even Huxley declared that Hume
! argument against miracles was Inscientif.
since he maintained as premise tha
nothing miraculous Or supernatural cou.t
j.. occur. As far as science is concerned it i
not necessary for us to determine whetne1
| thing is miraculous or not, the question
is, did the event occur, and if 50, can w,
find cause:
. Nor is the extent OF ones own power al
| adequate limit to ones endeavor. Civ.
: ye them to eat" said Christ. Impossible
| There are 5000 men beside women ane
| | children. It would take an average man.
LIES savings to feed them. We have, il
fact, enough to give few men little tt
sustain them, paltry five loaves and tw.
! fishes, but what are they among so many
Ability says, We cannot feed them. Chris
says. Arrange them in groups; make ready
What, then, are the limits of endeavor
: One limit is certainly Gods command
. The Lord commands and the host proceed
and the deed is done. The Bib.e teem
| with commands. Are they becoming use
less? Has the Bible yet become an obso
lete text book? Does it need revision
Some commands appear out-dated; SOM
| foolish; some difficult to obey. Yet wha
He commands He will give strength to per
form, and the word Of Cana is tae wore
, | to-day. Whatsoever He saith uato you