The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-02
'DR. PATTERSON DELIVERS
 MESSAGE FOR THE NEW YEAR
Eloquent and Earnest Sermon by the Pastor of the First Presbyterian ChMch--Ap-
 peal for Higher Ideals.

no glOatinE recalilngS or the acnleve- ments of self.
 .-The tenfptation of such a recalling is to the magnifying of the human in strumentality. We are in danger of laying an undue emphasis on self, of thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think And this exalta- tion of ourselves means decreased ef- ficiency in the service of our Lord. When we approach the point where we say with Nebuchadnezzar, Is not this great Babfyon. which I have built we are nearing the point when we are useless to our Master. We are to for get our successes.
 we are to forget our failures. Here, lit seems to me, an especial emphasis needs to be laid The memory of fail- ure is weakening. depressing. dis couraging. And a discouraged man Is a conquered man. How many a poor fellow is now on the streets, with bow ed head and discouraged heart, living the life of a beaten man. simply because in the stress of life he became dis couraged. We say of a man some- times, He has lost his grip It is an eloquent phrase. It describes the condition of the man who has been remembering his failures till he has become convinced there Is nothing but
 
 use for him to exert himself. Suppose we have made failures. There is no one who has not sometimes failed It does not help matters to brood over the errors of judgment, the miserable mis- takes, the foolish blunders of which we have been guilty. These are emphati- cally of the things that are behind and they should be forgotten
 The Promise of the Future.
 'The second great emphasis of the text is laid; on the promise of the fu- ture. the joy of the things that are before Paul imagines himself on a race course. not engaged in counting the steps he has already made, the strides already taken. but leaning for ward in his running, with outstretched hand toward the shining goal. He Is reaching toward the things that are be- fore. and pressing towards the mark This was ever the great Apostles idea The better things were always ahead No matter how glorious the past, the future was brighter. His was a most excellent idea. He was like his Master In this respect! He also had a joy that was set. before him. Every eff fective man has had similar view. The Psalmist looked to the hills from whence came his help. The men who have kept young Tn spite of advancing years, are those who have followed the beckoning of the notion that there was | something better just ahead.
 'In the course of a conversation with a friend one day, he remarked that his rule was to start every day with the idea that 1t was to be the best day he had ever had. This was his philosophy of life. It had great wisdom in it. The ! forward look gives the true perspective to life. It is the natural corrective to the mean, the little, the sordid. As We view the larger things ahead, those | around us expand. Too much concern | tration of attention on the present, the near at hand. Is narrowing and dwarf ing in Its effect on both the views and practices of life. The workman who makes nothing but pin points becomes as narrow and contracted as pin point. The larger. broader, more beau tiful life is wonder, not here.
 "Why not take this view of the year on which We now enter. Is 1t not to be the best year of our lives? We | bring to 1t the experience of all the years that have passed We bring to 1t the trained capacity, the tested spirit. | If it Is not the best year we ever spent, will it not be our own fault? What if the present conditions are de- pressing? What if in these last few
  have been dissolved. There will be other and greater opportunities open | ing before us as the weeks roll on. What If we have every reason to be- | lieve tbCt this new year is to bring to us experiences of hardness and diff culty which we have never yet faced. There will be a deepening of our lives | by the very hardness We will endure. Look at the year in the joy of It's iR otn In toe and look clear over the edge of mortal and temporal things and feast your eyes on the gleaming glories of | the other country Forgetting the things which are behind reach out to the things which are before.
 Nature Of this Promise of Future. 'The text next lays It's emphasis on ! the real nature and character of this promise of the future. The Apostle tells us that ''the things which are be- fore constitute 'prize.' and he leaves us in no doubt as to the character of | that prize. It Is not temporal achieve ment. It is not material gain. It is emphatically spiritual in It's nature | The Apostle tells us it is the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus We may not know with abso- lute comprehension just all such an | expression should convey. but we may be sure the inspired writer would not | so designate anything that was made with mems hands, of silver or gold. ""The prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus! I think that means all there Is of Christian com munion. Communion between men of the same faith in God, the same high ideals, the same powerful heavenward impulses. It means that clearing of vision, that deep inner sympathy, that is more and more enabling the follow CTS of Jesus to forget the lines of di- vision erected by differences of creed, to love each other with sincerity and truth, and to work together, hand in hand, for the increase Of the glory of the common Lord.
 q think 1t means all there Is of Christian conduct; all the triumph over sin and self; all the Christ-likeness that can characterize the daily life of Gods children; all the zeal in worship. all the fervour of spirit, all the tender ministrations that grow out of the presence in the life of the Christ Spirit. q think 1t means all there is of Christian character, all there Is in ap- proach to the likeness of Christ in the deep inner life. All the transmuta- tion of being in the alchemy of the Spirits sanctifying work. All there Is of growing love, all there is of increas- ing purity. all there is of holy white ness of soul
 T think 1t means all there is of Christian toy through the ineffable vision of Him who is fairest among fen thousand' I think it means every thing that Is suggested as being possi-