The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1906-12-20

| NO sooner had the first disciples
become satisfied that Christ had
really risen from thedead, and were
| filled with joy tneXressible, than
they were dumbfoulIed with the
! announcement that Fa vas about to
bid them farewell. The were thrown
into CONSERVATION Jlst at the su-
preme moment, wien they needed
iim the most as the. supposed, they
were to be left alone 10 face an I'M
feeling world. And tie strange thing
about it was, He CLAIMED it was the
best thing for then. "It is expe-
dent for you that 1 &C away" For
three years he had been their guide,
teacher, comforter, and leader. He
had Strengthened all heir tangles,
and settled all their difficulties And
now he was going away, and he had
left no successor. When Elijah was
translated Elisha took his place, but
when Christ ascendsd He had no
successor, Nothing 14lt An indefinite
promise of a coming Holy Spirit
WIZ mission they could not COM
prehend.
And yet the event proved that the
departure Of the Christ was the very
best thing for the church and the
world. For it meant for one thing,
omnipresence instead of presence.
While Christ was in Palestine he
was local, the moment he ascended
he became universal. Then, he could
be in only one place It time. Nov;
there is no foot of t'a planet where
he is not. Then only those in Beth
any, Jerusalem, or Nazareth could
touch Him. Now,
The healing Of
His seamless robe,
Is by our beds of paipi
We touch Him in lies throng and
press,
And are made whole again
1t is easy enough to see that
Presence, who can be said to be with
all disciples, always, is infinitely to
be preferred to onc who is subject to
the limitations Of flesh and blood,
and the laws of the material world,
as we are. When those disciples
were driven out Of Jerusalem, and
scattered as autumn leaves are scat
tered by every wind that blows to
every quarter of the earth. what an
inspiration it must have been to
every fleeing disciple that he could
leave his Master in the home of his
friends, take him with him on his
otherwise lonely journey, by land or
sea, and find him waiting his arrival
in the place CT his exile.
After all, there is nothing strange
about this: The artist who Is to pro-
duce matehless works; must not al
ways sit at the feet of the master.
If he is ever to originate anything he
must be thrown upon his own re-
sources. The rudiments of an edu-
cation may be taught, the applica-
ton must be worked out by the pu-
Pill. The leaners never amount to
anything in this world, the lifters
show the value of their training.
Those apostles had been called for
the express purpose of planting the
banner of the cross on every hill top
and in every valley O. the earth, and
not one of them had ever set foot
outside the boundaries Of little Pal
estine. 1t was time they were about
it. They were to be teachers of men;
1t was time they began to speak.
They were to be leaders Of men; it
was time they blew the trumpet of
alarm. They were to be the antago-
nizers Of hoary institutions; 1t was
time they begun to unlimber their
batteries. They had been sheltered,
protected, vouched for long enough.
1t Is always a trying time when a
man faces the world for the first
time. Graduation day is to many the
most serious day of life, for 1t
pushes him over the threshold, to
sink or swim, according to what he
Is. 1t seems rather a hardship when
the old eagle tears its nest asunder,
leaving the fiedgings homeless,
but without it, the eaglets would
never learn to fly. The Ascension
was the grandest thing that ever
happened to the apostolic college.
They Strengthened up and took the
responsibility. The first time young
pilot Is entrusted with the steering
of a ship, laden with precious
freight, he is not fiippant, nor frivo-
lous. When he was a mere assistant,
he may have been careless, but he
will not be careless now. He sees
every signal, he feels every throb OF
the engine, responsibility wraps him
as a cloak. The marvellous history
of the church in those early years Is
To l,o Oft vi to tho papt that
every actor in that great world
drama felt that there was an unseen
Presence ever at his side, depending
upon him to do his best under all
circumstances.
1t is not always wise to do things
for others, that they can do them
selves They may not do it at first
quite as we'll as you could, but they
never will improve unless they get
chance to try. When Christ turned
his disciples loose upon the world to
preach, to teach, to witness, to bap-
tie, to make others disciples, he
himself a thousand fold,
and the results demonstrated the
wisdom of his plan. Endued with
power they scattered
the seed of the kingdom on every
hillside and in every valley, the har-
vest of which Is being gathered into
the granary to-day. The Great Com
mander's Headquarters are in the
skies, but He manages the cam
paign in person, and is every whore
present on the battlefield of life.