The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-08-08
GOD 7H[ SUPREME NEED OF LIFE.
The Reverend Columbus Polk.

I riety and richer In fragrance and lcauty.
Even TO the 800 species OF roses, from the
lhy via rose TO the gorgeous Am -ricJn
beauty, there shall be added Others m.re
beautiful.
The history Of man. from the time God
created him and endowed him with powers
to this world. has been "A thrill
ing one, tt.al, indeed, haVc been ms
/ achievements Such strides has lie made
In making the forces OF the world serve
him that the most marvellous Inventions
cease To be "A wonder.
AT our very doors are evidences Of
tho w"rld'G progress sufficient 10 fairly
daze one. i:ut the Worlds Fair does not
reveal one 1.-THE of what the future colds
In store. The scientist and Inventor arc
yet to startle us with greater things. We
shall SEQ greater things than wireless
ielegraphy. In the near future ~" AZ" 10
fly with the birds and converse with 9th
cr worlds.
Not only has our material pas. been
an advancing one. but our spiritual cOnii-
don ha, improved with tho ayes. The
story of tho Christian religion. its begin
ninss and growth. IL. trials and trtumphs.
It's battles and its victories are enough to
stir the most ~irr"sponsive soul. But the
religion OF Jesus has a far greater future.
Messengers of The gospel. in increasing
nuinhet,, arc to push INTO all quarters OF
nations are to be born into the kinSdoin
In n day.
Tho historian Of tho future will make
n new record of worldwide soul-winninS.
Much Of Christian history has been al
ready wrought, but tho larger part is
stretching away yonder in the future.
what OF your future? This is a proper
question, for man lives mostly In the fu-
ture. The beast livos altogether In the
present You do not tell your horse or
dog OF the morrow, but God Is ever talk
ing to man of his future. Take the fu.,
ttire tense out of the Bible and you viii
reduce It's pages one-half and rob 1t of all
hope, promise and power. To know a
mans nllna Ia IN EnnNl tho man. ann 10
forecast his future. lie who left an e%-
ample. faced his earthly career with deli
Int aim and perfect plan,
The follower Of Jesus should catch the
spirit of him whose purposes never
change and whose plans never fail. the
maii who Is To do greater things in inc
future than he has IN the past must fulfill
the prcTnec OF Joel. Your young men
shall see visions and your old men shall
dream dreams Before the task-tne
dream: before the achievement the vision;
before the acCofnplishment-ths plan. 1t
hath been said, Coming events cast Their
shadows before them but / say unto you.
Coming events cast their headlights be-
foro tNm.' for every man carries his own
light in the v~lsion-which iIlumines his
soul. One may read his own history be
fore 1t IS enacted. Just as the engineer
reads the sccuritJ o. Ui'.EeT before Nm
by tho light from his engine.
1t Is u generally accepte fact that no
man can control his future. but the truth
is that God breaks off moments Of eternity
ana gives them 10 man. VITA Wlllth it IS
10 make his own history. in a very large
sense every man holds his future In his
own hands. He alone must decide whether
his future will be worthy or insignificant.
lie is deciding that question now. for there
can be no bright Tomorrow without deti-
mite plans to-day. Your to-day is prophet
ic OF what your tomorrow Will be;
Every individual and every nation I'M
der God Is the arbiter Of his own destiny.
When Rome lapsed into extravaganza. vice
and licentiousness she builded for a future
onies declared all men to be free and equa'
they. made possible the greatest nation on
earth.
to max the name Cary immortal, but
while he was working at his last he was
studying and praying and planning for
the cause of missions. and therein was the
prophecy and promise of his future power.
Again, my friend. II you are to see
greater things In your life work there must
be a determined will. However large and
be realized without an infiexible viii. 1t
is the will that carries out the plans. A
r%esolute will sharpens intellect, Quickens
perception. defes obstacles.
II who resolves upon a worthy end. by
that very process overcomes the barriers
to 1t. We are oft tempted to attribute
our failures to a frowning fate. when de
ing will. Unstable as water, thou shalt
not excel Were I called upon to express
in a sentence the cause Of failures, I should
say. L ne want OF Il VIII.
when Warren Hastings was 9 wears old,
his father lost his estate. Just before the
family were to leave the home, young
Warren went out by a little stream and
said. I can and 1 will max the money
to reclaim this estate He lay down there
as a boy, but he rose up as a man, be
cause q great purpose had taken hold of
him. Forty years later he vent to the
same spot and carried in his hand the
newly secured deed to the estate. II was
the I will that made the task possible.
dition to. greater things tor YOU Is faith.
1t was the Master who said. IT re have
faith. nothing is impossible with you
to play an important part in the worlds
greater things must have faith In God.
He h leaves God out Of his plans can
have no glorious future here nor here
when Jacob said. The Lord shall be
my Cod he settled his whole future. BY
this decision he came in line with the
pF ST Z men and ID P Swe pa st GRe; hay. lived
pure lives and have been potent In push
ing this world forward and upward-com-
mercial, civil or religious-have been pos
sessed OF a faith that wrought
Phillips Brooks said, 1t Is faith that
makes a man work in this world 1t Is
faith hat makes tomorrow and next
What took Moses from the desert and
made him greater. than a Pharaoh in
Egypt? His Connection with God through
that medium man calls faith What took
Paul from among the prosecutors OF the
church Of Christ and made him greater
thar Nero on his hrone? His connection
with God through faith in nur Lord Jesus
Christ. What took John Knox from among
the galley slaves. and made the most fas-
cinating of Queens fear his prayers more
than an army of ten thousand? Faith.
"When one beholds the achievements OF
the past gathered up in such serene, re-
.plerdent glory as Is seen from the base
Of the Louisiana Monument CT from the
gliding gondoIas, or from the Sunken Gar
dens, when the lights are turned on-thoss
pictures likest unto heaven ever presented
70 mans natural vision. he can but ex-
claim Shall we see greater things tnan
thesey
''Oh. yes. When all the electricity pent
I'D in earth's bosom shall shine forth In
Respondent brightness. when her mines
shall pour forth in rivers of gold. when all
her hidden forces have been discovered
and applied and have been brought to the
highest perfection In every line OF energy
and action. when every being shall have
mastered the material universe-then, even
then, man must not be satisfied. for God
is not satisfied.
Not till all things shall be overshad-
owed by the divine element: not till every
hill shall reverberate with the echoes of
salvation: not till every tongue shall praise
the name of the Lord: not till the Son Of
Man shall come in all his glory: not till
the fu'fllment of the prophecy OF a new
earth wherein dwe'leth righteousness, will
Christ's promise of greater things be fully
realized"
Reverend DOCTOR PALM0RE