Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-01-21

fesS To be my disciples, Ye are the
light of the world 10y which the world
may judge whether or 10 my gospel is
a saving gospel Ye members Of
Christian churches. is il not an over
whelming fact that il depends on our
lives what is the estimate the world
will form of the religion we profess?
What an impressive fact il is that men
will determine 10y our lives whether
christianity is the sustaining the
transforming power that ii claims to
be,
Christ's disciples. in the first place.
must have Il divine light Their fires
must he ignited at the great affairs of
Gods mercy. They must so live and
act that they shall feel God has par
doned and cleansed them from all sin.
They must so live and act that other
people will feel that spiritual fires are
burning within them and that those
spiritual fires are cleansing the impuri-
ties out of our lives. The greatest puri-
fer on earth is fire. AS we are appoint
eel TO lead others 10 the Christian al
which is pure. because Christs fires
have burned and are burning within
us.
We Need the Divine Flame.
Only the divine light can produce the
true light of life. One day the lantern
was talking To the candles which stood
upon the mantel." wrote an magina-
fix.a
ter thinks of me-" il said. He has Of
ten told me II would he impossible for
him To go ont into the dark nights IL |
did not go with him 10 point out the
way" AYE. aye" answered a candle.
THAT may he ali true. But your master
would sing different song il it were
not for my bright eye In your socket.
shining through your windows of glass.
Did il never occur to you. o lantern.
that you would amount TO naught I'M
! less my light shone within YOU and
through you?' Christian disciples. does
il not occur To you that you are rs moth
ing and will continue to be as nothing
as divine light unless Chrst's light is
i'm YOU and shines through you? We
must have n divine II me burning with
in us before we can he divine light to
a sinful and dying world.
But. though the divine flame within
us is absolutely essential for the send
ing forth of divine light out of our
lives. how many of Christ's professed
disciples neglect imparting the holy
fires within themselves which are al
ways burning ut Gods mercy seat, In
one of the heather temples of the east
saw Il fire which. the priest told me.
had been in existence hundreds of
years. Those priests never allow that
fire to go out. Have we always kept
the divine flame burning within us:
BY diligent and unceasing prayer. by
continual reading of Gods word. by
holy communication with Gods saints.
by a pure. gentle. true. forgiving spirit,
have we always fed the necessary fuel
TO the fires of our spiritual life? Like
Enoch. have we been continually walk
ing hand I'm hand with God? DO not
think for one instant that you can i'm
pose upon the world an earthly flame
as heavenly light.
Music For Music's Sake.
A musician told me recently that she
could intuitively feel when she was
playing whether or not the members Of
her audience loved music. If there
were twenty listeners present and nine
teen were merely pretending to be low
ers of harmony. she would play over the
heads OF those nineteen to the twenti-
eth. who loved music for music's sake
| So in your life God knows whether
your light is a divine flame. and man
| also intuitively can separate the earth
| ~ light from the divine Oh, so called
| Christian disciples. before you attempt
to lead others to the cross get the di-
vine fires burning within you at the al
tars of your own hearts. BE not like
the five foolish virgins with lamps. but
with no divine oil for their lamps
Pray. pray. pray, Plead. plead. plead
at the affairs Of mercy for this light
He only can make the spiritual fires
burn within you.
When the divine fires begin to burn
within us. what happens? Their infiu-
SlCt CAtttS us. HtlT
power is felt by the people with whom
we come in contact Their quckening
rays fall on fields that we know not
of and nourish and develop seed that
may have been carried from remote
sources. Many years ago Mr.. Beecher
homesick and lonely. was wandering
through an Alpine village. where. to his
surprise. he found some of the Ameri-
can flowers growing in the gardens Of
the Swiss hamlets far from their ma
| tive soil. When our gospel light be-
gins TO shine it will develop spiritual
plants in fields or rocky soil and in
mountain ravines. far from the places
we ever expect to find them.
Spiritual Light Needed.
Did you ever stop to think that spir-
itual seeds are great deal like the
common seeds we plant in our gardens?
Their development depends not more
upon the soil than the sunbeams which
kiss them. What is the matter with
my gardcn:" l ask a neighbor. Il have