The Penn's Grove record., 1906-07-27

forgive them" have we any beauty Of
character worthy the name. To hate
IS human; to forgive is divine. To
remember that is to help yourself
over many a hard place of temper and
hatred. 1t is IN axiom that no beauty
OF character can be where no spirit
OF forgiveness abides in the heart.
Hatred, anger, tying yourself up into
a Knot, kills beauty. Forgiveness ex-
pands the heart, opens the mind, ex.
ats the spirit. Then beauty exists.
Would you be able to command self?
Get rid Of sin. Bring in a stronger
VIII, Gods, to reinforce your own.
A third necessity in the retaining
Of beauty is self-forgetf1lness. This is
a passive quality, as is s%elf-controi.
1t is also negative. But It is neither
passive nor negative until certain ac-
tive graces and positive virtues enter
in and make it so. l mean by self.
forgetfulness the becoming Obvious
to those desires and demands Of your
nature, the remembrance of which
make you self-contained and III at
ease, even miserable and sinful. To
become so, possess faith, belief in
some personality greater than your
O- = II any ODJ6tllNe ldEI VI
person more important than yourself
and they all are, for you are a very
insignificant factor in the life prob.
lem, a mere atom in the midst Of the
sensualities, will produce self-forget-
fu1ness. The greater the object of faith
the greater the oblivion Of self, for
it gives self a chance to expand
along the line of the other PERSONS
| nvnA11anan nnI --ol.ofIv
larger self takes the place OF the old
in YOU consciousness 1t is a fore
gone conclusion that faith in God.
through Jesus Christ, enlarges and
regulates the life as can no other per-
son, for you are Immediately given
the worthiest possible object on which
to fix your attention.
Then trust. Do not be afraid to
trust somebody. Test, then trust.
More loss comes to US mortals through
under trust than through over trust.
1t is hard to believe it. just as hard
to believe as to believe that sins OF
omission are more objectionable at
the hand of God than sins of commits
sion. Sins of omission are so Vague
n attenuated that they cut little or
no figure in our consciousness. We
need to be preached to that these are
the great lack among mortals IN the
consciousness of Almighty God. The
! higher and grander the object Of our
trust, the more beautiful the charac-
ter fashioned. Really remarkable that
we are so constructed that we can
trust beyond sense perceptions. It
shows US to be spirit more than aught
else. The heart in US all was destined
before the foundation of the earth to
be Gods guest chamber. Forbid him
entrance, entertain less important
guests, and the spirit is burdened,
and the heart is sad. 1t is His resi-
dence, by both creation and redemp-
ton. And still we are such foolish
children not to yield 10 God and find
rest, eternal rest, infinite calm. that
no turmoil in time or eternity can
overthrow. All this helps US to see
why trust in Jesus produces beauty
in the life. He was the beautiful life
"par excellent" All the virtues bios
somed and emitted fragrance in Him.
OF course, self-forgetfulness is en-.
HANGED and made more sure through
love. And faith and trust always
blossom into love exercised toward a
spiritual object. Love is the peerless
transformer of our life. All else is
medal. Love only is ultimate. Love
only is all-powerful to mold like unto
itself. Love God and you become God
like. Self slips out the same door
that God in. They pass each
other on the threshold. The evicted
tenant goes out bruised. defeated,
friendless. The victor, ruler Of our
fate. comes in with all strength of
cheer and grace of c~ountenance, and
all wealth of blessing in His out
stretched hands. No trouble hence
forth to forget self. and no difficulty
to be beautiful. In forgetting self
we forget u weakness and failures.
our disappointed hopes and sorrows.
Then the soil is ready for the good
seed to be sown, for truth and right
eousness to grow, for beauty to BIOS
som.
This array of foundation principles
is hardly complete without self-sur-
render. The give-up principle in lie
counts for all. The reason we CO
not find is because we r afraid TO
lose. We fail to take hold of truth
because We fail to let go of ourselves
Through obedience we become divine.
All, you say, you are beguiling US INTO
religion. Just so. Did you dream
you could possess beauty of character
without being religious? We desire 10
proclaim nothing other than the DID
gospel. But to set it before you IN
new dress and under an attractive
be%witching title. A man hearing the
second sermon of this series torceu
his way to the pulpit after IT was
done, and exclaimed, Il thought you
would be sensational. The subject
looked it, but you everlast1ngly
preached Christ tonight. | am botn
disappointed and pleased" Yes. Thats
where the effectiveness OF the gospel
comes in. 1t refuses to be suppressed
No topic. if the preacher be true, can
strike home, however ~roundaoou tue
tourney it takes, without meetlns
Christ somewhere in the way. anu
when the meeting takes place, Jesus
always gains the central place, ann
glides into our consciousness as the
hone of glory. Christ's place OF resi-
dence is in the heart. He is the COD
destined Master of Ceremonies. ne
directs the life issues That emanale
from that citadel of attack n oe'
Tense. Let Him in and all is wei.
Then it is easy to keep the heart
|. with all diligence. Remember, the
hearts emphasis is always right.
, emerson said another lasting thing
, What the heart deems great is great
: The Master of Men as our Master
will see to it that all the life issues
will be true and beautiful. Sorrow
will not corrode those outgoing tides
Of affection. Sin will not weaken
them. Death will not obliterate nor
oyerwhelm them. Nor eternity ex-
! haust them. God will recognize the
beauty and exclaim, We'll done; en-,
fer into the joys of thy Lord" ~
Wesley's Motto.
John Wesley's motto: Get all you