Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-01-13

UARY l3, 1905.
of Christ, It Is painful to go through
the ordeal Of separation. But my
earnest prayer Is that 1t will all be for
the best.
I take this occasion to thank you
all, regardless Of church Affiliations,
for the marked and unceasing kind
ness you have shown me and my fam
lily since we have been in your midst.
It is thoroughly appreciated by US,
and will never be forgotten. It has
been an incentive and an inspiration
to us and q source Of true Joy and
happiness. May our covenant keeping
God, whose promises are sure and
steadfast, bless you abundantly for
this kindness.
| But 1t becomes US, brethren, in this
our last service together as pastor and
people to consider some things which
will have a practical bearing upon the
future work and welfare Of this
church. Finally, brethren, farewell.
Be perfect, be Of good comfort, be Of
one mind, live in peace; and the God
of love and peace shall be with you." ,
Here We have an exhortation and a
promise, an exhortation to be perfect,
to be Of good comfort, to be Of one
mind, to live in peace, and then upon
the obeying Of this command a prom
ise that the God Of love and peace
shall be with you.
BE perfect" II there is anything
lacking in heart and character, in
your life and conduct, 1t Is your duty
to give your undivided attention to
that which is lacking and try In every
possible way to rectify It. You are to
be perfect by filing UP that which is
lacking in character and in conduct.
Whatever you do, don't neglect the
cultivation Of the Christian graces in
your hearts. Especially would I urge
you to cultivate the grace Of charity,
or love, that grace, which suffereth
long and is kind; which envieth not;
which vaunteth not itself and Is not
puffed up; which doth not behave it
self unseenly; which seeketh not her
own, is not easily provoked. thinketh
no evil; which rejoiceth not In iniquity
but rejoiceth In the truth; which
beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things.
May each of you be brought to a thor
ough realization In your deepest ex-
perience of the precious worth and
the infinite power of the blessed gos-
pei Of the Son Of God. May the gos-
pei take firmer hold upon your heart
and upon your life; and, by the grace
Of God, may you take a firmer hold
Upon the gospel. Don't be satisfied
with present attainments. Keep on
striving for something higher and bet
ter and nobler and more god-lke.
giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue and to virtue, knowledge;
and to knowledge, temperance; and
to temperance, patience; and to pa
thence, godliness; and to godliness,
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness, charity" You don't know
what you can accomplish in the field
of Christian experience and Christian
endeavor. You ought to aspire to
larger, and still larger, experiences
and victories as disciples Of Christ.
There is no danger Of ever exhausting
the infinite resources Of the gospel.
Let me urge you then to go on from
one degree of perfection to another,
never satisfied with present attain
ments, but ever grasping for some
thing higher and better in the Chris
tian life.
In order to do this, you must make
diligent use Of all the means OF
grace that are in your reach. Let me
beseech you, then, to keep up the
services Of the sanctuary, the preach
ing services. the prayer-meeting SER
vices, the Sabbath school services.
Keep up your contributions to the
church. Pay all your appointments
to benevolence. Don't let the splendid
record Of this church on this subject
be broken. Don't fail to continue your
support Of a missionary in the foreign
field.
BE of good comfort" Ours Is
gospel Of encouragement. Don't be-
come discouraged. 1t Is sin, as well
as a mistake. The way to avoid dis
couragement Is to go right to work
and get another pastor. 1t Is a re-
Election upon the providence Of God
for you to become discouraged. The
Lords work is not dependent on the
presence or efforts Of any one man.
II God has a work to be done here.
then there is a man somewhere to do
this work; and, II the proper efforts
are made. the man and the work Will
be brought together. Therefore, 1
beseech you not to become discour-
aged, but be of good comfort.
BE Of one mind" Be united. How
necessary 1t Is for a vacant church
to take heed to this injunction! For,
IL this command Is not needed, you
will soon be scattered as a flock with
out a shepherd.
In the selection of pastor, you
ought, If possible, to be Of. one mind
The future prosperity Of the church,
to a very great extent, will depend
upon the man whom you get as your
pastor. II you find there is strong OPP
position to a minister whom you would
like to have as pastor, for the good
Of the church, you ought to relinquish
your efforts to secure his services, un-
less you can overcome the opposition
against him. II the new minister
comes into the field with strong oppo-
sition against him, he will find 1t very
difficult to succeed In that field. And