The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-05-08

e0SS Nv ~ S-S
has a good word for those who are
leaving sin behind, but the gift of
Christ to point to US the way, and
the sending of the spirit who shall
send us on ahead toward God, are
more necessary and grateful to u
hearts than all Jehovah's words OF
praise. Appreciation, applause and
approval are good; we'll wishings
and g%odspeeds are full OF incentive to
any man; but that goodwill which
assists and aids and helps to clear
the way to material success or to
God is the goodwill which most
brings us cheer. Goodwill is willing
helpfulness.
Faultless, truthful, graceful was
the Lord Of our lives. And 1t Is be-
cause He was without spot or blem-
ish or reproach; because He was b
incarnation of divine virtues; be-
cause He showed grace that is sui.
ficient unto our salvation, that we
crown Him King. Had the Christ
not been without blame; had He not
been the living expression of the
truth that He was; had He failed to
evidence a helping grace, our hearts
could never hail Him as divine.
The first appeal of Jesus to u
minds is His faultlessness In the dis
semination of the truth Of God; the
next appeal is the absolute consisten-
j cy Of His actions with His words.
! The spiritual facts which Jesus
brought to men deserve and fasten
their attention. For depth in philos-
ophy, for insight into the furthest
reaches of human life; for ~clearness
of application of divine truth to the
needs of men; for exploitation and
unfolding of those words Of wisdom
which point us to a fuller life in God,
the Master is Incompatible. Many
of the teachings of Jesus were not
new in substance, many OF His ut
terances may be ~paralleled in the
writings of the Old Testament and
in the teachings of not a few philo-
sophie leaders Of the worlds great
faiths. But Jesus magnifed n
sanctifed all the old material that
He touched, by the way He spirit
ualized 1t and turned it up toward
God. Many of the more prominent OF
Jesus thoughts were not new in SUBJ
stance to the men and women of His
time; most of them felt and admit
ted the force of His message no
doubt, so far as they went with Him;
but the central facts are these: thai
Jesus breathed new life and impart-
ed new meaning to their old beliefs;
and then lived entirely the life He
preached.
Jesus was faultless, full Of grace
and truth. His faultlessness implied
- 1..~ - Ill Tic mos tho f11n61S
of grace; that is to say, He not only
brought men assurance OF His power
to save, by word of mouth, but also
proved by deed His potency n Ell.
fciency. Full of truth, He lived that
life we should expect. He demon
strated the worth Of His own teach
ings by His own allegiance to them.
Believing that sin was shameful, He
lived a blameless life. Preaching
free forgiveness and the possibility
of a richer life through the grace OF
God, He proved His own possession
of the grace He claimed to be the
need of men. TO Him truth is eter-
nal and is to be obeyed. Claiming
to know and to reveal entire truth
Jesus never balks His own best
words. How different r we. We
hate sin, we want grace, we love
truth is fact. And we who have tried
truth. But yet we hug the wrong;
we shut the heavenly glory from our
hearts: we block and balk by action
| the truth we try to preach. Jesus
is faultless. His grace is real. His
truth is fact. And we who have tried
the power of His grace to reform our
lives and to renovate our souls are
sure that only as we live His truth
are we able to be found without a
fault. 1919.
Full worthy was our Lord to be
our Savior and to receive u trust
and faith. The beauty Of His mes
sage and His life are past compare.
Nowhere do we find another such a
man. On His divine side He is SUI
preme. AS a man He is the manifes-
tation of the humanity of God. Christ
not only spake things but lived them.
The spirit of alteration that bound
the twelve to Jesus should make US
learn to love Him more. Entering
into. union within Him We may pro-
gress into faultlessness and grow in
wealth of grace and the knowledge
Of the truth.
DR.. Parkhurst has said a true word
when he calls attention to the fact
that "Christians grow by addition,
not by subtraction" When first we
think upon it the statement seems
to be but half the truth. But do we
consider for a moment we will find it
| fair. The a~ccretion by the Christian
Of spiritual power will drive sin out.
There. will be no room for evil. The
life that is drawing close to God has
no need to subtract sin. Let the
heart pay strict attention to the Work
of soul culture and Satan will SUBJ
tract himself. Most Of us spend so
much time in subtraction that we
never learn to add. Keep increasing
the measure of soul force that is
yours and sin will make itself a
minus quantity. Try to do what you
know you ought to do and you will
find the problem Of how to escape
sin is lightensd of itself. 49,
All things in the last analysis must
be brought to the test OF Jesus
Christ. He is our Savior and our n
example. He is the test of our fit
ness and the pattern for our faith.
His grace may be ours; the appropri-
alton of His truth is the business OF
the Christian. The vigor of u grace
and truth is the measure OF assured
success. Our faultlessness will be
Judged of men and God by the sam
piles we are Of the influence of the
life and word, the truth and grace OF