The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-04-02

and night AFTER night spent among
"all sorts and conditions of men,, ad-
vising the p~erplexed, answering the
questioner, healing the sufferer, COM
forting the respondent, warning the
proud, rebuking the hypocrites, help
ing the weak-hearted and lifting the
fallen.
Follow that life into the season nov
with us, which prepares us for its end,
and see if there be any suffering or
sorrow like unto His who, the Head or
the Church, was communicated from
the Church; who, the Friend of Sim
ners, was rejected and ~despised Oy
those for whom His life and love were
given; who, the Son of God, vas ac-
cused and crucifed as the Blasphemer
of God.
And why n for whom was this sllf-
fering? 1t was for our forefathers a
for us, TO give power over sin and hope
Of redemption to you and to me. There
is no other way for us save in the foot
steps of our suffering Saviour to gain
the victory Of our risen Lore. For
unto you it is given in behalf of Christ,
not only to believe on Him, but to suf
fer for His sake"
But" o say, 1.-The Christians life
should be one of joy, not sorrow. We
take it up to rid ourselves of suffering,
not to add more to that we have"
Yes. the Christians life is a life of
joy-the joy of a splendid faith and q
noble purpose; the joy that has roots
much deeper down than the mere sat
| isfactiOn of selfishness, the Joy that
finds itself best satisfied in sacrifice
and suffering for the good of Others
The true Christians life is free from
; much suffering-the useless suffering
that fills SO many peoples lives, the
suffering over lost riches, wounded
vanity, fading popularity, the suffering
which comes from the enmities, jeaI-
ousies and petty of life.
Nor even here is the Christian free
from suffering in the sense of getting
rid Of it, so much as through the power
Of overcoming it and being lifted above
it.
On the other hand, the Christian is
called on to suffer in ways that others
are not. There must be that suffering
in this life which always accompanies
the death of wrong n evil. Being by
nature possessed with evil tendencies,
he must suffer in the struggle against
them, perhaps v expelling but
gradually overcoming, with a sense of
| Self-mastery that cOmpensates for ali
suffering.
He may be called upon to suffer the
ridicule or opposition of those not Of
his faith, a thing that has to be met
by every man who has a high purpose
and a love of duty. But the truest suf-
fering Of his life is in the Christening,
purging, refining furnace where real
character is made.
These sufferings, coming &c o and
to me and to every Christian, since the
life of Him who wrote the teXt-they
are not the penalties but the privileges
of our faith. They are privileges in
the n that it is a privilege to be al
lowed to suffer some for Him who suf-
fered much for us-and how little is
ours compared with his. It is the same
privilege-only infinitely higher--that
makes the child anxious to share ia the
| parents responsibilities and duties
the privilege not only Of admiring but
of initiating the Hero OF our minds.
The Christian is willing to suffer for
his Lord and Saviour, the pattern Of his
| character and strength of his life, who
hesitated not to give his life to save
| his peopIe-for he loved them and they
| are not ashamed to love Him before
| men and in spite of men. The Christian
is willing to suffer as a privilege-to be
deemed worthy of suffering and by it
to be moulded into a manhood Or
womanhood that counts for something
in the world.
And finally the Christians privilege
is that of being fitted through suffering
here for the JOY hereafter, for only
those who really suffer can truly ell
joy. We pity the life full of suffering,
but that life is more to be pitied which
knows no suffering-if there be such
a life-or that seeks to shake off sor-
row in the excuses of society, OF to
drown it in dens of dissipation. At the
end of that life. where is it's power to
feel release from a suffering and sor-
row it has never acknowledged? IL in
Gods infinite mercy such a life is
given longer probation hereafter, think
of the WEAKNESS, the loneliness Of be-
ginning the lessons and trials of life
all over again, after the appointed time
! is past, separated from others who
have learned their lesson and are puri-
fed and redeemed. If there be no pro-
baton to those lives who have found
satisfaction in the fullness of earthly
things, what further satisfaction re
mains for the hereafter? Let us remen-
Der that the riches of heaven are for