The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-09-07
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED,
"REWARDS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS"
The Rev. DR.. N. McGee Waters Says That
fYou Would Attain Earthly Prosperity
Christ Must BE Your Teacher-The
TIME Prescription For All Scholarship.

Christ Must Be Your Teacher-The
True Prescription For All Scholarship.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.-Dr. N. MCGEE Wa
gregational Church, took as his subject
Sunday morning, Rewards OF Righteous
ness" His text was from Matthew vi;
SO; "Seek We first the kingdom Of God
Land His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you" DR.. Waters
said in the course of his excellent sermon:
From the beginning until now mans
search has been for the golden age: Some
times he named it the Golden Fleece;
it in a republic yet to be. Bunyan, after
a weary pilgrimage, found it beyond the
Detachable Mountains. Bacon saw it IN
Atlantis, rising out of the midst of an I'M
sailed sea. 1t is always afar of and IN the
future. Like the pot of gold at the foot
Of the rainbow, it is always over the next
hill.
Jesus also p~rophesied a golden age,
called it "the Kingdom OF God" and found
it in the present time. For a long time
men went hu. cry, and 10! there was al
scratched the earth 18th a hoe it laughed
with a harvest" They priced diamonds,
and 10! they were always in the river beds
for the finding. They shivered for warmth,
and 10! coal was stored under the hills.
They longed for some pack horse, and 10!
giants were chained IN every flowing riv-
er. They were alwayss looking for the
golden age. Jesus said: Look within
the Kingdom of God is within you"
Men are always expecting the Kingdom
Of God to come through some device OF
their making. They cry, Let us have a
better government and a better wage, and
We will have the Kingdom of God; let us
toll and hoard a mountain of gold, and
when our barns are filed we will have the
| Kingdom of 1od. Let us search after
knowledge, nd when we are wise we will
have the Kingdom of God. Let us trade
our strength for popularity and reputation,
when with the laurel we have bound our
brow we shall be blessed"
Jesus says just the opposite: "Seek the
Kingdom Of God and you will have no la.
Dor problem, for you will have Il increased
wage; GEEK the Kingdom of God, and you
God, and you viii be enrolled among the
children of Immortality" Men say, "Let
us get rich and*we will be content" Je-
sus says, BE, content. and you will be
rich" Nc say, Let us get wisdom, and
we will be happy" Jesus says, BE hap
py and you will be wise. Men say, "If we
can gain all these things, like houses and
lands, we will be the children Of the King
dom of God" Jesus says, Enter into the
Kingdom Of God, and you Will have all
these things"
When will we believe the teachings of
Jesus? He was ahead Of Els time. We
are growing up to Him, TO understand Him
better than early generations. Ever say
ing of His we find true as law and fact.
Take. that saying Of His, The meek shall
| ,.ha,,@ {Io 1ar4h' Il r-on I'm lo,l Gov
His age. But time, the great tester, pro-
nounces it pure gold. The wise man every
where sees the exceeding reward of meek
ness. They get who forget.
Jesus said to His disciples: "It is ex-
pedient for you that l 60 away" They
| could not believe that then. But when a
long time hath passed we know that really
death is a benefit, and that great men are
never SO valuable to their disciples as after
| they have gone away from the earth. The
text, Seek first the Kingdom of God"
ETC., is one of those sayings that we have
to grow up to. Generally men have read
it in some mystical, way. They have re-
| garded it as true only IN some peculiar re-
ligious sense. But it is a literal fact; it is
truth; it is law of the universe. Virtue
is the road to fame. Goodness is profit
able in this world.
"And all these things shall be added"
What things? Christ has just named
them-food and clothes and the material
prizes for which men strive. Men are
swayed by motives as trees are by the
winds. Tell me what you most love and I
will tell you what you. will be. You love
knowledge with a passion-the Greek did
and he became a scholar; you love pow
er-the Roman did and Rome is yet law
| giver for the nations; you love beauty
| John Keats did and he became q poet.
Among the motives that sway mems daily
pursuit of wealth, the gaining of knowl-
edge and the winning of fame. How can
these things best be won? According to
Jesus. by a deep hearted search after the
Kingdom Of God.
-Wealth-the laws Of wealth are the laws
of righteousness. Kn~owledge-the king
dom of knowledge is tine Kingdom of God.
Fame-"the Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous. but the ways of the wicked
shall rot"
Let US look at the world Of wealth. The
savage has no prosperity; it 10 only the
civilized man who grows rich. What is
wealth? Emerson tells us 1t begins with
a tight roof that keeps out the rain and a
good pump that yields sweet waters, and
horses. or a locomotive to cross the land,
and a boat to cross the sea-" But whence
come the roof and the pump and the ship
and the locomotive? Man did not invent
them; he only discovered them. They are
the laws of God dressed up in clothes of
wood and steel and stone. The laws CT
wealth arc the laws of Righteousness. Men
go toward prosperity as they find the laws
Of God.
Again, how do VIC Get wealth? There
arc three possible ways. A man may beg
il, he may steal it, or a mar may earn it.
l.ut neither rauper nor bcGgar increases
the laws CT industry and vision can VIC in
crease wealth.. But the laws OF labor and
vision are the laws Ct the Kingdom of Cod.
Baroarisn has been, with its poverty, de-
fined as society without the command
ments." ContrariwiGe, taen, civilization,
with all its houses and lands and stocks
and bonds. is society with the command.
r?cntS Violation OF the laws of God in
every age means bankruptcy. Obedience
to the laws Of Cod in every age makes for
prosperity. History writes down the tale
ramids" and "Parthenon" and Changing
Gardens" she expresses their de=olafion
by saying over their ruins, "These people
forgot Cod, ard hence their waste places
She writes down London" Chamber of
Commerce,' "Shipyards." Temple" oil
brary,n and expresses their CORY by say
ing, "Thcsc have remembered God--hence
their prosperity"
The Bible pronounces "Anathema'
against those who make haste to get
rich"-that is. they who, despising the laws
Ct God, take q short cut to prosperity.
Their wealth l. poverty; their gain is loss.
The mistress who holds back the Just
wage from the maid; the borrower who re.
fuses to retu:n to the lender; the govern
l--ent that debases its people with debased
wealth destroys the pcssessor and is like