The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-10-26

I prayer III the prayer DOOh. UO Aol
| consider it in exactly the light in
which am presenting this truth. oh.
God it says. pour into our hearts
such love for Thee that we loving
Thee above all things may at last at
tain Thy gracious promises We cam
not love God unless the power be
| given us: we have not the capacity
ourselves.
Now. the greatest gift Of all; the
| gift of His dear Son. Creation. provi-
.ence, power and faculties. can have
i: reason or right of operating unless
! interpreted by the coming of Jesus
Christ to earth for you and ne. This
incarnation is the key to unlock the
cause Of our being. His birth is the
solution of each mans existence. He
is in this sense The Light of the
World. Now God gave the best that
He had. the very best that He was
capable of bestowing-Eis only begot-
ten Son. Nay. more, His Son is God
He gave Himself. We shall not try
TO explain its mysteries: it is unsoiv-
able. 1t is an illustration Of what we
| may DO in small matters. 1t means
sacrifice and surrender and unselfish
giving. for He came to do Gods will.
| That will was to save US from our
sins. God gave up His best and left
| the Joy and Sanctity of Heaven to
clothe Himself with our broken hu-
manity that we might see the Sodhead
bodily. touch Him with our hands and
| go 20 Him with our sins and knowing
| Him might accept Him as our Savior.
He folded His eternal nature around
His person and He led it forth to sac
rifice. so that His earthly life was
long series of sacrificial acts. When
He lay in the manger this life of sac
| r.tice had begun: when He hung upon
the cross it was the continuation OF 1t.
! In the last moment o. agony and
| shame He was controlling forces that
seemed to be mastering Him. He WAS
! the priest upon the cross: He was His
own victim. His life was not wcunS
out of Him: He. Himself. pronounced
| its dismissal. He gave it up 10 Him
whose it was, saying: Father. into
Thy hands commend my spirit All
this for our redemption. for our rescue
and that we might have peace in be-
Iieving and serving and following. for
our eternal joy and peace hereafter in
the Divine comradeship. Now. will ye
freely give:'
This is our practical issue: the
question of our life experience. Do
we give. and what. and when? But
lives. What do we give? When do
we give? Do we give ourselves: Yes.
hut how? Is it unreservedly? Is it
bountifully? Yes. we give something
Sometimes-some prayer. some wor-
ship. some money Is it enthusiastic:
At the price of sacrifice? Does it real
ly cost US much? We give ourselves
to this world-our time and ability,
with yea! and zeSt in business affairs.
That is right. Christ does not tell US
/ to be sluggards in business. But He
does tell us to give in the same meas
ure Of earnest interest to Him-some
measure Of earnest interest to Him. l
mean no standard Of gold. / am not
talking about gold to-day. mean no
measure Of paymen". mean the full!
and long living surrender Of every
thing to His will. I mean the conse-
Grafton Of each stroke Of the laborer's
! brawny arm, of each device OF the in
NeHlOI pOWSl, luc SOhSSSiotlOli VI Jul
whole being and service to the su-
preme Master of our destiny. Such A
conservation makes life beautiful. 1t
sanctifies labor. trade and business: IT
lifts every project of human ambition
up to a level on which angels tread
and where we may talk to God Him
SELF 1t tires itself out in its arms for
the redeeming of the world. 1t sees
Jesus walking up and down in the
earth and it must impel every human
being to follow Him. 1t impels men
| to go forth into the world to others.
| The saint leaves his closet and goes
abroad instead Of ponderine by him.
self homeless that he may carry the
| Gospel. that he may lift the cover or
| ignorance for some benightei soul; the
| missionary makes himself homeless
that he may carry the Gospel to the
| heathen. Where we do the service I'D
will Of Jesus is our free giving in re-
turn for what He has given us. TEen.
and only then. do we amend the con-
tradictiou. There is the soul and spirit
of the incarnation. Freely give is
! the word. Really that means fully
| fully give 1t requires us to say. Here
propect, no duty. no JOY that l will
place between Thee and me. l yield
myself absolutely to every manifesto
ton of Thy will. ! am all the time
eager to know what Thy will is. This
is my duty; show ME what Thou
wouldst have me to do and give The
saint of old said: Master, show me
Thyself and then show me myself
Such prayer should be offered from
hour to hour. and then at last there
will be the gradual glad consciousness
coming to us that We have freely re-
turned to God thank offering.
Then the giving Of our time to His
service and to other people will be SO
natural that we shall do it spontan-
eouSly. 1t will be so easy to offer
money and heart and interest to
| Christ'S service that it will be second
nature"