The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-07-14

Gas many as are led by the spirit Of God,
they are the sons OF Cod 1t is for these
that creation waits. and without them the
universal process halts. This world began
with the fiat CT God. and the mechanical
forces with which the stars were ttunS IN
their orbits. But in the process of time
God said, Let Us make man. and it was at
that point the purposes OF the universe
became personal and human and spiritual.
And now. Oh, matchless wonder. the rex:
step cannot be taken without the hep OF
man. 1--WE are laborers together with
Him" Not even God Himself can de-
velop the possibilities He has bound up in
us unless we give Him leave. His final end
is reached not by law, but by His Soas.
How. then. are We to swing things on
from this first to this last? From creation
to the coming, and then again onward to
by finding the way of God, and being
caught up in the mighty sweep Of His own
purposes. Here is vessel longing for her
bort. and the wind is blowing favorab.y
above. But she does not move, she cannot
move till men shall run up the sails ard
they shall catch the wind. And then the
ship that has lain like lifeiess thing be-
comes a thing of life and hurries on her
way. And so it seems that the time lss
come when the crises of history are hinged
upon the work of man. The gospel. 1or
instance, has been committed to the hands
of men. And, as understand it, the sec
ond text cannot be fulfilled till this gospel
of the kingdom is preached in all the earth.
T dwell upon the subject OF unfinished
things, because it gives to us an lnterpre-
tation that enhances the value Of life. One
thinks of his own life in comparison with
the circling orbs. and says it is an unlIn-
portant thing. 1t is not useful. it lnf1u.
ences no one. Why keep up this awful
struggle with heat and cold, and pain and
pr;ration? Why strive to do better! Why
not 60 with the tide that sweeps away to
the dark The real danger is not that we
we shall count our lives as. worthless
things. We cannot afford to lose sight OF
the place We hold in the purposes Of God.
A mans life taken by itse.i IS an lnslgnlta-
can't thing But when we think OF it as
part of great whole it becomes OF INFINITE
value. It is as vast as all the schemes OF
which it is the part. This is an instance
where the part is as large as the whole.
In his college sermons DR.. Peabody uses
beautiful illustration Of this very
thought. He refers to the two hundred
and fftieth anniversary of the founding OF
Harvard College. The students marched
IN torcnHSnC pFocesslOns Win '1u"p'Ii
cies and banners. The freshman class,
then only one month old, had this for their
motto: "The university has waited 80
years for us" And that he says was a
profound truth All the institutional life
had been slowly evolving for these light
hearted BOYS, and on their conduct now
rested the destiny of the future. l wonder
if it is possible that this very world has
been waiting for US. And If there are
some things yet unfulfilled that are wait
ing for the way we use these days. II so
that makes life vastly insignificant. vi
course, it does not mean that we shall be
other generations shall know our names;
But that cur little lives are of eternal
Mr.. F. B. Meyer has said some beautiful
things. I remember hearing him say one
time that We are Gods poem Gods
workmanship. And you know that 4
poem is something very different from all
prose. It contains a thought that could
not be put in prose. To paraphrase 1t IS
to dull it's beauty. 1t flashes the idea only
in that form, just as diamond gives that
gleam only from that side. So we are
Gods, poem! And poem contains IA a
has meant to the writer, great. effort.
And every syllable is of value. And so
With Gods poem. He is working upcn us
that in the ages to come He might show
forth the exceeding riches of His grace.
Can any life be Insignificant:
Give no place. then, to impatience. God
made this world in the beginning, and to
this present He has sustained it by we'll
formed plan. The present finds us here:
What place shall we take in this world of
unfinished things? For myself I take
place of Joy, and effort. and hope. reach
out lame hands of faith for the way of
God, and; lift up a voice that is half
prayer and half a shout, even so. come,
Lord Jesus" a@ .. .s