The Penn's Grove record., 1906-06-22

III other words, lie is baptized with the
Holy Ghost and with fire. This opens
up the way to the next heading.
III. The woody fibres produced in
the interior Of the palm tree are reg
ularly pressed Outwards, giving & uni
formity 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 i'll every country where it is in
digenous.
If the palm tree Christian is saved,
sanctiied and baptized with the Holy
Ghost, he must work this salvation out,
so that there may be a uniformity of
thickness between his profession and
possession. He must therefore be
straight in all his dealings with the
children of men. A great many Chris
tians are in doubt as to whether their
lives are straight OF not; now the only
way a man can tell whether he has a
yard of cotton or not is to place the
supposed yard Of cotton alongside Of
the yardstick. and if the one is just as
long as the other he N to the con-
clusion that he has a yard of cotton.
The only way a man can tell whether
his life is straight or not is to place
himself alongside of the Word of God.
Take, for instance, the passage found
i'll Matt. 5:44: Love your enemies"
Now someone will say: Il can forgive,
but l never can forget Well, then,
you are not straight. Another will say:
Il can forgive and forget, but l cali
but l a never love them" Well,
then, you are not straight. Love your
enemies" Someone says: at 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: at
does not mean that, for no man can do
that; but it means we are to try and
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 no man can live
without killing; but it means you are
to try and not kill. The Bible means
what it says, OF else it does not mean
anything.
w. The palm tree is an evergreen.
1T grows slowly but steadily, unin-
fuenced by those alterations of the
seasons which affect other trees" 1t
does not rejoice overmuch in winters
copious rains, neither does it droop
under the drought and burning sun Of
summer, nor can the importunate
urgency of the winds sway it aside
from perfect u%prightness.
Someone has said there are four
ola cSnS of ChpicfinT acs let nh -1Aon,,
Christian. who wakes up to everything
when it is too late. ID. The fair
weather Christian, who serves the
Lord when the sun shines. Sd. The
grasshopper Christian, who takes a
leap every revival. 4th. The palm
tree Christian, whose path is as the
shining light, which shineth more and
more unto the perfect day. One of
the great troubles in the Christian
Church Of today is that there are too
many grasshopper Christians who are
greatly warmed up in a revival meet
ing, but after the meeting is over be-
come cold and Indifferent. The palm
tree Christian must set his face like
a flint" for he processes to be follow
ing Christ and doing as 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 he is blowing and the plow-point
strikes a stone, he is a Christian.
When the cow gives a pail of milk and
then kicks it over, he is a Christian.
When he is putting up s%tOvepipes in
the fall, lie is a Christian. When they
are taking up the missionary collec-
ton, he is Il Christian. In air places,
at all times without a single holiday,
not even election day., under all cir
cumstances, and at all costs, lie is a
Christian.
V. From antiquity the palm tree has
been regarded as the choicest Of fruit
treeg. 1t has been known to produce
GOO pounds of dates in a year. "Its
fruit is abundant, pleasant, medicinal
and eXhilarating;;" those who only
know the cate from the dried specimen
shown beneath alabelin shop windows,
can hardly imagine how delicious they
are when eaten fresh Pllny says:
when they come from the trees they
are so delicious thatthey are eaten most
g%reedily." 1t is a staple article Of COM
merce, and a Moslem tradition says:
"They are the chief of all the fruits
of the world"
If the life of the palm tree Christian
t~estiies to the fact that he is saved
and sanctitied, and that there is moth
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 I have a perfect hunger for
dates, and it seems as though 1 cannot
wait until ] go to town and get some.
The palm tree Christian has a hunger
for souls. Moses said: eff Thou wilt
not forgive their sin. blot me, 1 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
l die" Is there any fruit so delicious
to our souls as leading others to
Christ? Oh, brother, sister, Lift up
your eyes and look on the fields, for
they are white already unto harvestr"
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 it grow crooked, even il
you lay heavy weights upon it.
So it is with the palm tree Chris
tan; the more you try to keep him
down, the more he grows. The Jews
said, with regard TO Christ: Away
with such a fellow from the earth, for
it is not fit that He should liver" Cru.
city Him. Cruelty Himr' "We will
not have this man Christ Jesus to reign
over u.s."
''They drove the nails into His hands,
The spear into His side,
The crow of thorns into His brow,
And they Knocked Him till He died."
They smote the Shepherd and the
sheep were scattered, so that from all
appearances Christ and His religion
were things of the past; but were they?
1t was not fifty days until a band of
men and women were in an upper
room, praying for the coming of the
Holy Ghost, and when He came 5000
were converted and added to the