The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-08-03
the glcry that snail vet be revealed? ONLY

the glcry that snail yet be revealed? Only
by finding the way of God, and being
caught up in the mighty sweep of His own
purposes. Here is a vessel longing for her
port, and the wind is blowing favorably
above. But she does not move, she cannot
move till men shall run up the sails and
they shall catch the wind. And then the
ship that has lain like a ~lifeless thing be-
comes a thing of life and hurries on her
way. And so it seems that the time is
come when the crises of history are hinged
instance, has been committed to the hands
of men. And, as I understand it, the sec.
ond text cannot be fulfilled till this gospel
of the kingdom is preached in all the earth.
I dwell upon the subject of unfinished
things, because it gives to us an interpre-
tation that enhances the value of life. One
thinks of his own life in comparison with
the circling orbs, and says it is an unim-
portant thing. It is not useful, it inau:
ences no one. Why keep. up this awful
struggle with heat and cold, and pain and
privation? Why strive to do better? Why
not go with the tide that sweeps away to
the dark? The real danger is not that we
shall think too much of ourselves, but that
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 itself is an insignifi-
can't thing. But when we think of it as a
part of a 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
a 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 %torchlight professions with Transparent
cies and banners. The freshman class,
then only one month old, had this for their
motto: "The university has waited $50
years for u.s." And that he says was a
profound truth. All the institutional life
had been slowly evolving for these light
hearted bows, and on their conduct now
rested the destiny of the future. 1 wonder
if It is possible that this very world has
been waiting for US. And if there are
some things yet unfulflled 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 shail be
notable, or great, or prominent. Not toat
other generations shall know our names;
But that our little lives are of eternal
meaning. ,..,
Mr.. +. B. Meyer has said some beautiful
LIlURS. i lGillSlllDSs ~ "a
time that we are Gods poem" Gods
Workmanship And you %el LnoE ft that ,i +
prose. 1t contains a thought that could
not be put in prose. To ~paraphrase it is
to dull it's beauty. 1t flashes the idea only
in that form. Just as a diamond gives that
CLEAN only from that side. So we are
Gods, poem! And a poem contains a
has meant to the writer a great effort.
And every syllable is of value. And SO
with Gods poem. He is working upon us
that in the ages to ONE He might show
forth the exceeding riches of His grace.
Can any life be insignificant?
Give no place, then, to impotence. God
made this world in the beginning, and to
this present He has sustained it by a we'll
formed plan. The present finds us here:
What place shall We take in this world OF
unfinished things? For myself 1 take a
place of joy, and effort, and hope. I reach
out lame hands of faith for the way OF
God, and lift up a voice that is half a
prayer and half a shout, Gwen SO, come,
Lord Jesus"