The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1907-07-25
A SERMON
A sermon preached in the First Baptist Church
Brookings, 5. D., by GEORGE Z. MORPhY
and published b. request.

NV pubiisASN " ANt~VS'
fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh
in you both u will and to DO of his good pleas
ure."-Phil. 2:!2.
In ancient times the belief prevailed
amongst the Greeks and Romans that
the sea was inhabited by monsters and
demons. Two of these monsters ac-
cording to their fancy dwelt in the
strait of Nessina separating Sicily
from ltaiy. They were the rock Scylla
and the whirlpool ~Charybodis. Now in
sailing between these portions OF land.
the sailors had TO steer their boats
that the vessel might be dashed to
pieces on the rock, or in avoiding that,
be sucked into the whirlpool and over
whelmed. SO in living the christian
life there are also two dangers to be
avoided. The ono Is that We will
think that salvation is a matter of good
works, and the other that it is entire
ly a matter of faith. The danger, on
the one hand, is that trusting to our
W efforts to save US, and thus be
broken to pieces on the rock Of self
righteousness; the other is that OF
failing to work and being drawn into
the whirlpool of sin. But both sides
of the christian life should be born in
mind and balanced perfectly in our
thought and life; even as the Apostle
! has expressed it in the teXt."WOrk out
your own salvation, for it is God that
worketh in you for the divine bless
ing and human endeavor are both
essential to the highest attainment.
The gospel idea OF salvation is that
the sinner does not earn it through
his good works but receives it as a
gift from God by faith. The attitude
of God is that of a loving father to.
ward his child. Such is the love Of
God toward us that the idea Of exciting
it by our efforts seems utterly absurd.
His love is infinite and eternal.
Gould we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment
made.
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love Of God above.
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
If stretched from sky to sky"
When by exercise of faith in Christ
the fOrgiying love of God is realized in
the soul, the sinner is III the enjoyment
of salvation, he has passed out Of
death into life. This, however, is but
the beginning of the christian life.
The journey lies before and the desin,
alton and the destiny are beyond.
Ere the celestial heights are reached
much ground must be travelled. Ere
the crown of victory is received many
battles must be fought. The privilege
of being a christian is given to many
but not all make the best use Of
their opportunities. There is variety
in the kingdom of Heaven just as there
is in the world Of nature and of human
life. The physical basis of all plants
and animals is the same substance
but each plant and each animal works
out it's own form according to its own
individuality. So also human nature
is the same thing where ever We find
it and yet there are 10 two persons
exactly alike. Each man has a person
ality of his own.
In working out your salvation as a
christian you must take into consider
alton the fact that there is not a per,
feet similarity between all the follow
ers of Christ. The people of n ma
ton differ from those of another. We
may expect also that in ONE respects
the religious life of one will differ
from that Of another. For example
oriental christianity may differ in some
respects from ours. The spiritual life
of the Japanese may manifest itself
in somewhat different manner from
that Of the American. The English
type Of religion may be different in
some respects from that OF the Hindu.
And as persons differ in respect to