The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-07-11

in OtEef WOrQS, lie is bdpllHeti Will tIif
Holy Ghost and with fire. This opens
up the way to the next heading.
III. The woody tibres produced in
tie interior of the palm tree are reg
ularly pressed outwards, giving Ii uni
fornlity of thickness throughout. 1t is
therefore straight and very lofty, al
ways growing upright, and has not
failed to attract the attention OF writ
ers in every country Where it is H.
digenous.
II the palm tree Christian is saved,
sanctitied and baptized with the Holy
Ghost, he must work this salvation OUT.
so that there may he uniformity OF
thickness between his profession ana
possession. He must therefore be
straight in all his dealings with the
children of men. a great many Chris-
tians are in doubt rs to whether their
lives are straight OIL not; now the only
way q man can tell whether he has Z
yard Of cotton or not is to place the
supposed yard Of cotton alongside or
the yardstick. and il the Que is Just ms
long rs the otEer lie comes to the con-
clusion that lie has Il, yard or cotton.
The only way 4 man can tell whether
his life is straight or rot is to place
| himself alongside Of the Word Of God.
| Take, for instance. the passage found
| in Mutt. 5:44: Love your enemies"
Now someone will say: Il can forgive,
but / never can forget" We'll, then,
you are not straight. Another will say:
Il can forgive and forget, but | can
but l can never love them" We'll,
then, you are not straight. Love your
enemies" Someone says: 1T does
not mean that" A minister, while
preaching, quoted the verse: Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all
| thy heart" etc, and then said: 1t
does not mean that, for 10 man can DO
| that; but it means we are to try ana
do it," How would that brother like
to put "try" before all the other COM
mandments? Would he be willing
next Sunday to get up before his peo-
pie and say the Bible says: Thou
| shalt not kill" but Of course it does
not mean that, for 10 man can live
without killing: but it means you are
to try and not kill The Bible means
what it says, Oh else it does not mean
anything.
". The palm tree is al evergreen.
"It grows slowly but steadily. unin-
fuenced by those alterations OF the
seasons which affect other trees 1t
does not rejoice overnluch in winters
copious rains, neither does it droop
under the drought and burning sun OF
summer, nor can the 3nportunate
urgency Of the winds sway it aside
from perfect uprightness.
Someone has raid there are four
classes of Christians: 1st. The sleepy
Christian. who wakes up to everything
when it is too late. I'd. The fair
weather Christian, who serves the
Lord when tile sun shines. Sd. The
grasshopper Christian. who takes n
leap every revival. 4tb. The palm
tree Christian, whose path is rs the
shining light. which shineth more and
more unto the perfect day. One or
the great troubles in the Christian
| Church OF to-day is that there are too
many grasshopper Christians who are
greatly warmed up in Il revival meet
ing, but after the meeting is over be.
| come cold and Indifferent. Tile palm
| tree Christian must set his face like
a flint" for lie processes to be follow
ing Christ and doing rs Christ would
do under every circumstance, and
while it is .true that everything
changes, he must never change from
the highway" to the broadway"
When lie is plowing and the plow-polnt
strikes stone. lie is Il Christian.
When the COW gives a pail of milk and
then kicks it over, he is Christian.
When lie is putting up etovepipes in
the full. he is Christian. When they
are taking up the missionary collec-
| ton, he is Christian. III all places,
Mt all times without single holiday,
not even election day., under all cir
cumstunceS, and Mt all costs, lie is q
| Christian.
V. From antiquity the'palm tree tas
been regarded rs the choicest OF fruit
trees. 1t has been known to produce
600 pounds of dates in Il year Its
fruit is abundant. pleasant, medicinal
and eXhilarating;;" those who only
know the cate from the dried specimen
shown beneath q labelin shop windows,
can hurdly imagine how delicious they
are when eaten fresh Pliny says:
When they come from the trees they
are so delicious that they Are eaten most
greedily." 1t is staple article Of COM
merce, and a Moslem tradition says:
They are the chief of all tie fruits
of the world
If the life of the palm tree Christian
testifies to the fact that he is saved
and sanctitied, and that there is lloth-
Ing more transient about it, he Will
not only have the. fruits of the Spirit
but shall teach tranSgreSsors the ways
of the Lord and sinners shall be con-
verted During the last few days !
| have read so much about the palm
tree that l have perfect hunger for
dates, and it seems as though cannot
wait Until go to,town and get some.
The palm tree Christian has Il hunger
for souls. Moses said: "If Thou wilt
not forgive their sin, blct NE, pray
| Thee, out Of Thy book" Paul said:
"He could wish himself accursed from
Christ for his brethren" John Knox
said: "Oh God, give me Scotland. or
I die" Is there any fruit so delicious
to our souls as leading others to
Christ? Oh, brother, sister, Lift up
your eyes and look OIL the fields. for
they are white already unto har' est"
Begin to-day and gather this fruit unto
life eternal.
VI. The palm tree grows under
heavy weight and pressure. Natural
lists say it grows when it is most
pressed down. You cannot Keep it
down, or make il grow crooked, even il
you lay heavy weights upon it.
So it is with the palm tree Chris.
| tian: the more you try to keep him
down. the more he grows. The Jews
said. with regard to Christ: Away