Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-01-07

enough to Him whom we believe in to have
his presence made ever more immediate
to us, His reality more real to as. It 10
for that reason that some believers can be-
heve very nicely and vet behave very bad
~. There is not the slightest incompatible
ity between being orthodox and being vile
famous, only IN order that that may be
possible the orthodoxy in question must be
dead orthodoxy, last years leaf though
still glued to this years tree.
When Christ taught us to pray ssGiye us
this day our daily bread" He probably
meant us to understand that in the spirit
ual HE as well as In the stomach continue
GUS health means consecutive supply. There
is no incompatibility between your parlor
being brilliantly luminous at noon and
black with Egyptian darkness at midnight.
Light is not laid on in fast colors; neither
Is the light of God, and the heavenly RAJ
dance that was upon us in 1902 Is no guar
antee against devilish blackness being upon
us in 1903. Even Christ's power over us is
valid only for the time that it is over us,
SO that the iveliest kind Of orthodoxy.
provided it is merely mummifed re-
slduum from an extinct experience, is no
kind OF an embarrassment to the very
hvehest kind of depravity. It is all right
to believe in the doctrine of perseverance
OF the saints that persevere, but that doc
trine, applied in cold liberalism, has done
vent their persevering. IF the money a,
man has in his pocket to-day is thought by
him to be sufficient to pay all his debts,
defray all his expenses and secure all de-
sired comforts and luxuries for an indefi-
mite time to come he will feel no incentive
to going out and earning couple Of dol
lars tomorrow, and so his confidence in the
absolute and everlasting sufficiency of his
present pocket containings may easily is
sue IN his turning pauper. Those illustra-
tlons only serve to indicate what ] mean
by saying that man may be as orthodox
as Calvin and as wicked as he knows how i
The principle we have been discussing
also explains why it is that so many people
who show a good deal of Christian zest at
the start SO soon get tired of being Chris-
tlans. 10 have earnest views of Christ and
to be intensely interested in them and con-!
trolled by them canuot, unfortunately, be,
taken as certain sign of the continuance
OF that interest. The falling off, the cool
ing down of Christian enthusiasm is COM
mon experience. Even the disciples, at
Jesus temporary withdrawal from them
at crucihxion, threw up the whole matter,
resumed their old life and went back to
their fishing. Interest is not self-sustain-
ing. Enthusiasm, like burning candle,
consumes itself in its own heat. The sun,
out and our systems fall back into original
darkness were not special provision made
for keeping up the suns temperature.
At the same time there are lines OF eff
fort and employment where interest, on
the contrary, never does seem to flag,
where heat is not only maintained, but
with a mercury that is rather steadily on
| the rise. Setting aside the familiar and
rather shop worn instance of the money
getter, who, the more he gets, the intenser,
as a rule, becomes his ambition to get,
| that is only one of the many pursuits
where the like enhancement of interest,
mounting up In many cases to the height
Of steadily growing passion. is seen to
evince itself. Examples of this are, I
should say, especially frequent among
scholars devoted to the scientific investi-
| cation of nature and natures beauties and
| marvels. But in the instances of such ad-
vancing and steadily intensifying interest
| the particular fact I would beg you to no.
tice is that what keeps the Investigators 8
fervor is not the array of facts that have
been brought distinctly within the range
! of his knowledge, that he has been able
definitely to tabulate, and of which in
some time past he has issued a complete
and finished catalogue. 1t is the constant
keeps his thoughts alert and his heart
aglow. Whatever it be, the old is always
tiresome, only the new is interesting. To
the naturalist the world retains it's fascina-
ton, although an old world, because of the
l deeper entrance he day by day gains into
of newly discovered wonderfulness and
beauty that she thereby makes over to
| him. In the same way there are certain
| books that we read and re-read. In way
| they are old books, but it is not their old
ness that fascinates us btt a certain ever
lasting newness that lay beyond the reach
of our previous perusals, as eyes that look
| rnfo fO hn OH 1rx, Spp
stars that are sunk too deep in the frma-
ment to be caught by first and easy
glance. And that suggests the old holy
book, the Bible, which is always new and
which the church always loves, because
there is that in it always which our last
ing If the church should ever come to the
end Of the Bible it would throw it away
Some people have thrown it away al
ready; some who seem to themselves to be
Christians have thrown it away; it seems
to them they have come to the end of it
more, so, of course, by the principle we are
/ illustrating they can do nothing but throw
it away. The OK knows enough to fee
when it is dark, but never sees sunset.
/ All of this leads up easily to an explana
ton of the fact stated moment ago that
so many who have begun to be Christians
get tired Of being Christians after while;
. to which interest can attach and by which
therefore enjoyment can be kept alive
They reached little conviction as to the
real import of Christ, entered into Ger
tain amount of relation with Him, had a
degre of experience of Him, learned LITTLE
) Of what He could do to strengthen in weak
ness, brighten in darkness, comfort in sor
row and disappointment, and then every
thing stopped. Instead of 'fgoing on tt
know the Lord drawing closer and closer
E to Him, and pressing forward into ths
deeper and deeper meanings involved il
/. His Spirit, presence and companionship
they drew up all that part of the matter
r ruminated only upon such little prospec
r as had opened to them, till they becam,
weary of it, drank the old cup of consola
v ton till its waters became stale, munchet
I the drying crumbs of light, strength ant
q comfort till they were moldy, strainet
themselves to keep warm by a fire tina
:. had gone out, and ended, of course. by con
+ | cluding that whatever might be the theo
: retical value of personal religion it wa
nothing if not uninteresting, and peopl
: will not, if they can help it, permanently
!. commit themselves to a course of drudgery
: even if that drudgery be baptized by s.
4 honorable name as Christianity.
s Closing this morning with the praye
:; | that we NAV all of us feel ourselves move,