The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-01-26
A SERMON Fur SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
'ClVlNE cOMPANlONsHlP."

The Rev. Charles +. Benedict Makes a
Beautiful Commentary on the Brietest
Yet Most Comprehensive Biography
Ever Written-Retain God's Love.
BROOKLYN, n. Y-The Rev. Charles +.
Benedict, pastor of St. James M. j..
Church, Eighty-fourth street and Twen-
tieth avenue, Bensonhurst, preached Sun
day morning on divine Companioaship.
The texts were from Genesis va: "Enoch
walked with God. and he was not, for God
took him. and Hebrews Xi:5: Before his
translation he had this testimony, that he
pleased God" Mr.. Benedict said:
This is one OF the briefest yet most com.
prehensive biographies ever written. These
passages, containing twenty-three words,
man Enoch. Imagine the story OF your
life tod in three sentences! He walked
with God, he pleased God and he was
translated This is the record of Enoch's
life. 1t reads more like ali epitaph than
biography, yet I would rather have those
first two statements true OF my life than
to have the most eloquent tributes or cue
CYSTIC praises ever written or spoken by
men. To walk with God and to Please
Him! DO you know Of anything more de-
sirable?
1t is said thai mans walk is indicative
Of his career. Manner and gesture are an
index to character. 1t is possible to make
an estimate approximately correct of the
type of men you meet on the street by not
ing the poise and bearing OF th: average
pedestrian. One walks with a tirm, quick
step, head erect. shoulders back, and you
feel instinctive'y that he is an energetic,
resolute, self-respecting man, bound to suc-
eeed. Another sham5les by with shftless
gait, dragging his feet rather than lifting
A third glides along noiseiessy, threading
his way in and out among the crowd, and
you know intuitive.y that he is sly.
schening .trickster..,; another walks with
unsteady gait, stepping carefully, as if the
pavement were rolling and humping against
his feet, and as with pityirg glance You
watch him stagger along you say, The
poor fellow is drunk" So mans gait be-
trays him. His walk signifies the manner
of his life.
One is likewise known by the company
he keeps. We are largely what our friends
and companions are. Tell me the sort of
persons with whom you associate. in whom
you confde, to whom you go with all your
troubles and with whom You share your
every JOY, and l will have no difficulty in
ity of character if ones associates-are base
and ignoble is an lmpossibiiity.. And it.
would seem equally impossible to live an
impure, vicious, wicked life if all our asso.
ciates are noble and virtuous. We are in
huenced unconsciously by the words and
actions of our friends Like the chame-
leon, we take on the hue of our surround
ings and reflect the likeness Of our COM
panions.
The human heart under normal condi-
tions Graves companionship. From the be-
ginning it was So. God saw that it was not
good for man to be alone, so He gave him
a companion and helpmeet. We are so
constituted that we must have some one
with whom to share our happy hours:
some good, true friend who enters into
our experiences with sympatheti appre-
citation, whose heart aches in our sorrow
and rejoices in our JOY: 80. -.
, The: strangest truth contained IN all
Gods wonderful volume of truth is that
He who created the universes, the Lord
God Omnipotent, whose wisdom is omnis-
cience, whose goodness is perfection. whose
to become the companion and associate of
man, His creature. I said that this is the
strangest truth. Let me take it back.
There is one truth more astounding yet.
IT'S this-that man should refuse the
friendship ard disdain the companionship
of Jehovah, his God.
Of all the divine .humibations what could
be geater than this, that He should seek
the friendship of mortal man and find. it
not? That He should offer Himself for the
closest and most intimate relationship, as
companion for life's pilgrimage, comrade
for life's struggles, an associate and conf
dant amid all life's changing scenes, and
yet be rejected! >"-,....
The trouble is and has ever been when
men have rejected God that they love the
darkness rather than the light, because
their deeds are evil. From the opening
chapters of human history until now it
has been true that man. the creature. has
been out of harmony with God, the Crea.
tor.
1t is refreshing, therefore, to find in the
inspired record, amid the genealogies of
ancient nobodies who lived long, bore chill.
dren, and eventually died, the story Of one
who pleased God. From this fragmentary
The lines and penetrating beneath the sur
face of the words which contain his bio
graphy, we may discover some helpful
truths concerning divine companionship.
To walk with God implies, first of all,
reconciliation with God. Man by nature is
not on good terms with his Maker. Time
was when the most loving intimacy and
harmonious relationship existed between
them. "Adam walked with God in the
garden in the cool Of the day" Not be-
fore Him as herald, nor behind Him as
slave, but beside Him, al His companion.
and I had almost said HIS equal. But
something came between them. They had
falling out. As one has expressed it.
"Sin came and opened the mighty chasm Of
separation, and since then the carnal mind
has been enmity against God"
The Fathers neast has yearned for rec,
onciliation, but how could reconciliation;
be made? The heart of man was wholly
estranged. An impossible gulf yawned be-
tween him and his Creator. He had
sinned against Divine Majesty ard for
feited the Divine favor. But
The love of God is broader
Than the measure of mans mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind"
Therefore, "God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great, love wherewith He loved US,
even when we were dead in sins" deter
mired to bridge the chasm to heal the
I