The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-07-11
TIL PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
TIE REV. WILLIAM T. BEST,
Subject: Christian Prosperity.

Remsen, n. IA notable sermon,
entitled "Christian Prosperity" was
! preached here OH Il recent Sunday by
| the eloquent divine, the Rev. William
! u. Best. He took for his text. "Ihe
/ righteous shall flourish like the palm
/ tree and said:
Look ut the wonderful way in which
iLe Holy Spirit works on Il man. Just
! think OF man whose throat rs an
open sepuIchre" his mouth full or
cursng." his feet swift to shed 1nHo.
cent blood, his heart "deceltfui anu
desperately wicked" "spreading him
self like n green bay tree" II tree that
| is good for nothing, but to keep the
sunlight out of the Inarsh. the very
place where it ought to shine). ana
| then think of the Holy Spirit taking
hold Of that man. bringing him "frolu
darkness to Tight" from the power of
sin and Satan to God. putting a new
sonc'' in his mouth. placing his feet in
the "way of peace" taking away the
"stony heart" and giving him an heart
OF flesh" changing Him from 4 hard,
fruitess. good-for-notlling bay tree into
an upright. useful. victorious palm
tree. II is wonderful wonderful! but
that is not all.
"For God will give him all things"
Christ will never leave nor forSake
him; the Holy Ghost will lend and
! guide him into "all TRUTH" the angels
| of Heaven will have charge concerning
| him to keep him in all his ways. He
| I,,l I,o tran nlu ntp1 nv tho
! prs of water. that bringeth forth lis
| fruit in his season; his leaf also shall
not wither and whatsoever he doetll
shall prosper" He shall flourish III
the courts of Cod" lie shall flourish
"like The palm tree" "he shall still
bring forth fruit in old age, lie shall be
| fat aud ftourishing."
! The palm tree is the prince of the
i vegetable kingdop. so named from its
noble aspect: it sometimes rises one
hundred feet unDroken by branches.
bearing Mt its summit Il magnificent
| and graceful crown of large. fam
shaped aud fen thery leaves, in the
| shadow of which are suspended great
clusters of fruit. No tree can look
more lordly or beautiful. 1t is not.
however, only beautiful. for. from the
| bottom Of its lowest root to the top
of it's highest leaf, it is useful; from its
leaves. baskets. bags, mats and brushes
are made: from it's trunk, fences, canes,
poultry cages. building material and
! fuel are obtained, while from its
tibrouS webs thread is procured. which
may lie twisted into ropes and rigging.
1t furnishes food. shelter, clothing,
| fibre, starch, paper, wood. sugar, Oil.
wax. tannin. dyeinS materials. resin
| and host of other things, in all. MAX
ing three hundred and sixty. In Egypt,
Arabia and Persia many OF the inhab-
! itants subsist almost entirely on its
fruit. For more than one hundred
years If maintains its vigor and beauty,
| and there is no more charming DOR
majestic sight than this king among
! the trees of the plain" ''as it looks far
away in the distance and gaZes into the
! face Of the sun. Il symbol of life in the
midst of Il world of death"
The Christian may be compared to
the palm tree in The following respects:
]. The palm tree is Of humble
growth. its stem being thick in proper
| ton to its height. and is not more conf
plicated in structure than that of the
common butcher broom. Sometimes it
produces series Of adventitious roots.
which thrust themselves into the soil
and serve to steady it. On account
of its weakness Pliny says. they will
sometimes plant three or four Of them
together. forming one strong. lofty and
beautiful tree. They were planted in
the courts OF the temple.
The little things Of to-day are the
! great things of tomorrow. The King
! dom Of Heaven "is like grain Of mus
tarl seed. which main took and cast
into his garden; and it grew and waSed
great tree When Il man is born
into the Kingdom of God. he is but a
| babe in Christ, and looks 10 those
around him for help; but how often he
! is disappointed, and finds that they,
who should be his best friends. are
often his greatest foes. This teaches
him the great lesson of taking his eyes
off men and placing them on Christ,
! and by prayer and faith to reach out
! and take hold of the solid rock. so that
when the winds of temptation and
| floods Of doubt come, lie is enabled to
stand. The great privilege. However, is
open to him of uniting with the Chris
! tian Church. and thus with people like
himself, planted in the house of the
Lord, grow up into Il beautiful Chris
tian character.
II. The palm tree grows in the
! pureSt soil; it will not grow and tcur-
ish in filthy places like some trees
Its heart is soft and tender, and is fed
by hidden springs. that flow beneath
the surface of the ground. its roots
drink deep. and are sustained. while
they send up the moisture into the
leaves and branches. and they are re-
freShed and invigorated. "lts pres
/ ence, travellers assure us, indicates that
water is near, and may be obtained
from springs. or by digging; according
ly, Israel found twelve springs and
seventy palm trees at Elm."
The palm tree Christian grows in the
! purest soil, where the Gospel is
preached III its purity. David said.
"NWho shall ascend into the hill of the
Lord? lie that hath clean hands and
pure heart" The Saviour said,
blessed are the pure in heart for
| they shall see God" The blessing Of
pure heart" and the blessing Of
holiness are one and The same thing;
pure means unmiXed, holiness means
Wilderness, both mean perfectness. God
said to Abraham, II am the Almighty
! God; walk thou before Me, and be thou
perfect" David said, Mark the per-
feet man and behold the upright, for
the end of that man is peace" Jesus
said to the young ruler, If thou wilt
be perfect so and sell that thou hast.