Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-06-21

| BiDle teuch! NOT Aulnl;c, nor AnSellc,
nor sinless, hut Christian perfection.
The palm tree Christian then, Is a per.
feet Christian, an allround man.
| Water Is n type OF the foly Spirit;
1t Is cleansing, refreshing and power
full. The woman Of Samaria went out
to get a pitcher of water, but she got
Il whole well instend. Often we Chris
tians come with our little pitchers to
draw water out OF the wells Of saliva
tion. What we need IS the palm tree
idea: it Is rooted and grounded IN the
well, and therefore has the we'll In 1t,
| in every fibre of its being The palm,
tree Christian lives in the Spirit. walks
in the Spirit. and draws his life, light
and power from this secret source. or
In other words, he is bnptized with the
Holy Ghost and with fire. This opens
up the way to the next heading.
III. The woody iibres produced In
the interior of the palm tree are reg
ularly pressed Outwartls, giving Il 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 in every country where it is In
digenous.
II the palm tree Christian is saved.
| sanctited and baptized with the uOly
! Ghost, he must work this salvation out,
| so that there may be Il uniformity Of
| thickness between his profession and
| possession. lie 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 or 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 yardstck, and il the one is Just as,
long as the other he comes TO the con-
| clusiOn that he has Il yard of cotton.
| The only way Il man can tell whether
! Ills life is straight Or not is to place
himself alongside Of the Word of God.
lake. ror instance. the passage found
in Mutt. 5:44: "Iove your enemies"
Now someone will suy: Il can forgive,
| but never can forget Well. then.
! YOU are not straight. Another will say:
Il can forgive and forget. but l call
but l can never love thcul." Well,
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 no man can do
that; but 1t means we are TO try and
do it," How would that brother like
to put 'try" before all the other COM
mandmcnts? Would lie be willing
next Sunday to get up before his peo-
pie and say the Bible says: Thou
sna1t not KlI,'' Dlit or course II uocs
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, or else it does not mean
anything.
". The palm tree is an evergreen.
at grows slowly but steadily, unin-
huenced by those alterations of the
seasons which affect other trees" 1t
does not rejoice overmuch In winters
copious rains, neither does 1t droop
under the drought and burning sun OF
summer, nor can the importunatc
urgency of the winds sway 1t aside
from perfect uprghtness.
Someone has said there are four
classes of Christians: LIST. The sleepy
Christian, who wakes up to everything
when it is too late. ID. The fair
weather Christian, who serves the
Lord when the sun shines. 3D.. The
grasshopper Christian. who takes Il
leap every revival. 4th. The palm
tree Christian. whose path is as the
shining light. which shlneth more and
more unto the perfect day One OF
the great troubles III the Christian
Church Of to-day is that there are too
many grasshopper Christians who are
greatly warmed up In II revival meet
Ing, but after the meeting Is over he.
como cold and Indifferent. The palm
tree Christian must set his face like
Il 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 "brondway."
When he is plowing and the plow-point
strikes stonc lie is Christian.
When the cow gives pail of milk and
then kicks 1t over, he Is Il Christian.
When he is putting ny stoveppcs IN
the fall, lie is Il Christian. When they
are taking up the missionary collec-
| ton. he Is Christian. In all places,
ut all times (witllout u single holiday,
not even election day.. under all cir
cumstanceS. and at all costs, lie Is 4
| Christian.
V. From antiquity the palm tree Las
| been regarded as the choicest Of fruit
trees. 1t has been Known to produce
600 pounds Of dates i'll Il year. Its
| fruit is abundant, pleasant, medicinal
and exhilarating;" "tl Sc who only
know the cate from the dried specimen
shown beneath labeln shop windows,
| can hardly imagine how delicious they
| are when eaten fresh pllny says:
| "When they come from the trees they
are so delicious tina they are eaten Most
! greedlly." 1t Is Il staple article of COM
| merce, and Mosem tradition says:
"rhey are the chief Of all the fruits
| of the world"
| Ii the life of the palm tree Christian
tcstiies to the fact that he is saved
and sanctiticd. and that there Is moth.
| ing more transient about II, he VIII
! not only have the fruits Of the spirit,
| but shall teach transgrcssors the ways
| of the Lord, and sinners shall he con-
! verted. During the last few days
| have read so much about the palm
tree that have II perfect hunger for
dates, aud it seems as though l cannot
wait until l go to town and get some.
The palm tree Christian has Il hunger
for souls. Moses said: "lf Thou wilt
not forgive their sin, blot me, pray
Thee, out of Thy book" Paul said:
"IIe could wish himself accursed from
| Christ for his brethrcn.' John Knox
said. ooh God, give me Scotland. or
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 harvest.