The Penn's Grove record., 1906-03-16

thinking. There is too much high liv-
ing and meagre thinking.
The struggle after a more sumptu-
ous life than we can afford takes the
strength out of US, and if we get it it
takes the nerve for toll and s%elf-denia!.
which are only other names for victory,
away from US. Our impotence takes
away our capacity and love for toll,
and we are miserable and useless. Be
happy in a humble home. You will
never have to live so cheaply as did
Jesus.
Then make up your mind to work.
Jesus the Carpenter taught US the dig
nifty of toll. He made the saw and the
plane as truly the ensign of a noble
life az the fasces OF the toga of the
Roman. There is an evangel of toll.
The shuttle and the hoe, the saw and
the reaper have a message which the
world must hear. The workers make
life glorious, the strikers make it de-
testable. "My father worketh hither-
to and I work" was the challenge OF
the Christ to every indolent and care
less soul. Virgil sings of men and
arms, but the song of to-day is a song
of men and tools. l have a Saviour
who wrought the hot day through. 1
can talk with Him of quivering palm
and %throbbing limbs and a fainting
heart and He will know.
You cannot imagine Him as making
a poor joint or allowing a bad knot in
an important place. To meet your
ideal, and that an ideal which He has
founded by His own character, you
will take nothing less than a honest
attempt at a perfect product. The de-
sire to slight ones work will lead to
a compromise of character, and that
will lead to the loss of the soul. 1t is
not the work but the spirit you put into
it which makes the task ignoble or
sublime. L would have every man step
to his work tomorrow without dread
or envy. 1 would have him feel that
Jesus the Carpenter was the great
model, and that if He could fit Him
self for the conquest &C the world at a
carpenters bench any laborer may feel
himself surrounded with glorious hopes
and his dingy little shop become the
habitat of angels. Paul stitching tents
thought out those wonderful chapters
of spiritual logic which move the
world. Carey, the shoemaker, thought
out the plan of giving the Bible to the
AAS AooE AANhCAr
gave the gospel to China. Burrett, the
blacksmith, became the most learned
workman of his day. Daily humble
life lived on high levels-this is the
happy possibility of common men.
What high discourse there must have
been in that humble home when the
days work was over; what acts of af-
lection, what mutual condolences and
holy trust!
But He who made lintels for the
doors of Nazareth set up also the gates
of the eternal city of God. He who
made humble houses for the common
people of His native town was the
Artifcer of the eternal home of the
soul. 1t was not a figure of His i'm
agination when He pictures the unsafe
foundation and the awful ruin of that
insecure house. He had seen the tor
rent rush down the chalk cliffs of Naz-
areth and sweep away the houses Of
His fellow craftsmen. Small wonder
that He looked upon that ruin from
the standpoint of a careful builder.
But when they drove the carpenter
from His bench at Nazareth He went
out to build for eternity. / want TO
ask you to give your contract for an
eternal mansion to Jesus the Carpen-
ter. AS a wise master builder, He
asks you to count the cost. Are you
ready to build? Are you willing to pay
for a good foundation and will the su-
perstructure you rear be a sacred one?
He will not ~countenance the orna-
m~entations that hide the lack of solid
worth. He will have no part in the
consummate fraud of a life that is
built on the sand. He will not build
with hay and stubble. If it were a
house to sell it might be out of your
sight, but he r me when l say il is
the house you are to live in forever.
If there is a flaw in :G you will find
it out. If when the wi16s blow and
the floods come it falls you will go
down in the ruin. Yes .erday a man
gaspin. for breath said Il am almost
ashamed to ask God to have mercy on
me when 1 ignored Him for three
score years." and you will feel the
same. To leave you in old age to the
mercy of the wintry blasts would be
cruel, but the man who shirks in the
building of his souls tabernacle does
that for himself. Only Jesus knows
how to build for eternity. The old
Romans were great builders of roads
and bridges, and the old Egyptians
were great builders of pyramids, but
1 want somebody who can build Il
house for the soul that will outlast
pyramids and stars. No man save
Jesus can have my contract.