Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-04-20
'sss8.ssssssssssssssssSss
SUNDAY SERMON

Y Y Y Y
A Scholarly Discourse ]
Rev. F. F. Shannon.

= Rev. F. F. Shannon. q
S&&&&&&SS&SSSSSSSSSS&S&S&S
Brooklyn, N. Y.-Sunday morning, in
| Grace M. r.. Church, the pastor, the
| Rev. Frederick Il. Shannon. had for
| his subject "The Thousandfold Man"
| The text was from Joshua XXiii:1O:
! "One man of you shall chase a thou
! sand: for the Lord your God, He it is
that fighteth for you, as He spake unto
you" Mr.. Shannon said
World building is not so interesting
as man building. Some philosophers
held that tasks are interesting in pro-
| portion as they are difficult to perform.
If this be good logic, then swinging
worlds into space must take secondary
rank to building man in time. We
have no intmation that God had any
trouble stringing planets along the
| path Of His power. Yet the centuries
unite in the verdict that God has had
much trouble in producing the divine
| style of manhood. Therefore, it is
safe to conclude that God never I'M
| dertook n vaster plan than to build a
man. Worlds play out His purposes
in the harmony of gravitation. They
spell out His plans in the law of obc-
diencc. But man Ofttmes thwarts
those purposes and destroys those
plans by setting his own will over
! against the will of God. Thus he
wanders, a kind Of lost human pleiad
through the space called time, always
and ever coming to himself, but never
wholly arrived.
Yet man is Gods human world
| greater than any star-wOrd twinkling
in space. because he thinks, loves,
feels and wills Now, some men eX-
crcisc these functions more largely
| than their fellows. Then we label
them with that ancient degree called
| greatness. After comforting the de-
| gree. We spend the rest of our lives
| musng over what such men did when
they got together. They may have
been great thinkers, great fighters,
great takers, great writer's, or great
friends. But in the last analysis, the
| greatness men adore is the alteration
| great men have given to God. This is
| why we never tire of studying the
friendship Cf Moses and Joshua. They
are two links in the golden chain
which moorS this old world to the
! throne of God. Napoleon said that his
tory Is fable about which men are
agreed. Rather say history is a stream
| flowing out from the Eternal Heart.
| Sitting along its shores. like deathlcss
ScntinclS. are the men God raised up
for handing His name and truth down
| the ages.
Our text asks for consideration of
| thn iln, n fDIl al
| for his multiplied power. "Onc man of
yon shall chase Il thousand" More
startling words could hardly knock at
the door of the human intellect. They
are too vast in their Outranging mean
| ing to be easily Comprehcnded. Nat
| urally enough. the mind asks for Il
| second consideration of them. But
Il second reading fails To rob them of
| their significance. Really big things
| don't GROW less on second sight. Like
| st Peters, their bigneSS only helps
the mind expand to Il more capable
| appreciation of their true dimensions.
1t is so with men, and it is so with
the great objects in nature. Just so
a great sentence like this, pregnant
/ with large thought is not stripped Of
| its treasure by Il second or third read
| Ing. 1t is thought centre round
which the mind may revolva with in
crcasing profit
Strictly speaking. then, wiat :s
meant by one man chasing a thousand?
Does it mean that one man, by his
| physical prOweSS, can drive Il thou
| sand men before him? You wonder
at the folly of such question. Still
-,
life and men by the yardStick of physi-
cal bulk that its abSurdity may mock
them into better view. Physical
things never did run smoothly on
spiritual track; and they never WILL
because it is impossible. The thou
Sandfold man, according to Joshua. is
the man in league with God. housing
Gods purposes ana cooperating with
Gods plans. awaiting Gods signals
ana answering Gods voices, watching
Gods strides in history ana hearing
Gods truth. dropped in golden num-
bcrS. from "thc harp of Gods eternal
years. lie is the man with his feet
on he earth, his head among the stars,
and his heart located in heaven. be-
cause heaven is located in his heart
He is the son of yesterday. the man
of today, the hcit of o-morr0w-grate-
ful for yesterdays goodness inspired
by to-day's blessings. and rejoicing in
to-morrow's hopes. And he is all this
because he is in league with God, and
knows it; because lie is in love with
God. and feels it; because he is living
In obedience TO God, and Wills it.
Moreover, the thousandfold man is
the man God waits for. 1t has ever
been zone man of you" who has opened
the largest doors of opportunity and
achievement in the history of the
world. One man and God-they are
absolutely unconquerablp. Grasping
the tangled threads Of history, they
have tied them into one solid knot of
divine purpose. And that purpose for
ever stands the pledge Of a better
world and nobler race. Do you
wonder that even God can afford to
wait for such man? Then let your
wonder give away before this mighty
fact: God has to wait, so long as the
world remains constituted as it is, for
q man to come forward and say, Here
am I-use me-" God answers back,
II have to use you, because l haven't
anything else to use" When n man
comes out like that from the lttleness
of self into the largeness of God, that
moment he stands forth in Gods uni
verse q thOusandfOld man! Chasing