The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-08-24
THE PULPIT.
An ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV. /. w. HENDERSON.
Subject: The Christ Life.

=
70 live is Christ" He said in the
course Of his sermon:
II is nay desire TO convey TO your
minds and to press lastingIy upon
your hearts some hOmely. vet helm
ful, truths relative - the Christ life.
/ Persuaded of the similarity of your
cares, trials, difficulties, problems, TO
my own, and recognizing the COM
mon needs Of all men, / would talk
TO you about this text.
Horace, the old Roman poet, sings
! the praises OF him to whom It is
sweet and honorable to die for his
country. I bring 10 you from the
! Book Of Books no note OF death, but
a psalm Of life. For me to live is
/ Christ" and to pass beyond the veil
| is but - enter into life more abund-
| ant" Thus says Paul. For him and
! for us there IS no death. To live the
Christ life here is to dwell within the
%lOry OF His presence there. For
me to live is Chris."-a plan Of self
/ dedication to His service here, an
earnest Of our entrance into JOY
eternal there For auart from Me
ye can 90 nothing" saith the Lord.
st. Paul, the most strenuous Of
4 III 4f'AAtAtAat tllkbIllEfD Ailt AnflSlldN
l.fe in these words TO the church at
PEilippi. His utterance states the
sum and substances of the complete
spiritual life. Our aim and our
! pleasure it should be, as it is our
duty, as men and women who love
our Lord, TO so live, that men, look
ing upon us, may view in us the
risen Christ
The text presents 10 our minds a
fOurfOld thought. PrOadly speaking
We may say that men have four rala-
tiOns in this liEe-tC God, to society,
TO the home and to themselves. TO
set forth the same thought different
ly: Men have spiritual, civil, dome8-
tic and personal duties. Relation
might be multiplied upon relation;
duty upon duty could be indefinitely
remarked But that would be to
suggest subdivisions rather than fun,
damcntals. Indeed, | am cognizant
that the moral duty to the home ray
easily be included under the head of
social relations. But for the pur-
pose Of the moment we Will resolve
the ethics Of the Christ life into the
aforementioned divisions.
The first, the greatest, the noblest
imperative in the life Of the man who
desires to conform TO the pattern of
the true Christ life, who wishes to
make the words Of Paul his motto
for right living, is TO love and to
serve and obey our Heavenly Father.
| may say that the whole duty Of
man is bound up in this declaration.
For, Christianly speaking, there is
no department of life into which the
service of our God does not enter.
Loyalty to God is the basis Of all
purest living and highest thinking.
To be true to the Father is to be
loyal to society and strong for self.
We may not be true to God and un-
true to the social, civil and domestic
conditions with which the mere fact
Of life cOnfronts us.
THE earth is the Lords and the
'ulness thereof" sings the psalmist.
To be a traitor TO the world is to be
craven toward the Maker We may
not praise God with our lips and dis
obey Him in our every act. Our
words, honeyed though they be, will
count naught for us unto righteous
ness. The test Of fealty is in action.
We must measure true to the ideals
that we preach. Prayer and praise
are worthy, but they are not service.
Prayer pleases God and it strength
ems us. Praise. no doubt, makes Joy
among the angels who surround the
throne. nut it is the service which
does things; the prayer which re-
solves itself into action: the praise
that is founded upon the knowledge
Of a task, through His grace, we'll
MI
and for Joy in the heart Of our King.
The Christ was true to God and to
man and to self. The happiness of
His Fathers universe was His hope
and care. To His home. to His
ncighbors, TO His country, TO all
trusts. the Saviour was faithful. He
had an eye sinGly toward holy and
hallOwing service. Preaching 4 gos-
! pei of life, He lived a life of love.
And so. TO be like Christ we 4lust
! live like Christ. His hopes must be
our hoOes: His pleasures must be
our pleasures. The motive in His
| life must be the force which, in our
/ lives. will make for goodness and
/ C0dlpc5s. Aud godlincss is but
goodness raised to infnity.
As the Christ was. SO must the
/ CHRISTIAN De, truly Splttludi. rus
guide and his guard must be the
! Comforter who cometh from above.
| Divinity. deep down in his heart, will
! be the power and the handspring in
! lis life.
Christianity is pure politics, clean
/ business methods, sturdy honesty
and noble purpose, all rolled into
one. \ clear conscience means n
brave ballot; and. conversely, a dirty
ballot means a smeared soul. Up
! riGht business methods earn their
own reward: perhaps not in undo
served dividends and wrongly divid-
cd or diverted profits. but in happi-
ness of heart. Honesty is but step
toward holiness. Nobility and sin
cerity are mighty forces. And these
| facts the civic and the business
worlds are recognizing more and
| more. Dishonesty is bad asset;
and the Christian man, who stands
four square to the world upon the
rock Christ Jesus is to have the call
! Time-serying politicians may scoh'
/ a enc rfso In the