The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-08-05
SHARING UUK BLESSINGS.

And 10 make this healing contact possipls
we ere told In the words OF our text maj
When the man OF that place had knoWIeog'
of him, they sent ont into all mat c0uhtr!
round about and brought unto him all ina
were diseased t.,
come 10 US. Through contact with MIN we
have been made whole. But In the regions
round about and to the uttermost paris O
the earth, nre unnnmbered millions VINO ar
in the death grip OF sin. Contact Wlin Inv
LII fe. Giyer they must have or PERISH. surely
our Saviour eXpf cts US 10 do what Inc met
of Geuessaret did. make the healing contac'
possible. 1,
Then the contact was with Him who 4
called the Word OF God. II was made through
the human body in which he dwelt AUG
| through which he revealed and made e1aca.
cious the divine mercy ana love. Ieuay tns
contact IL with the same Live.Gtver througt
the written Word Of God, IN when we may
say he dwells, and through when inc oi.
vices mercy and love are made eHectual
Then men were brouaht 10 the saviour
Now we are to take this Word 10 men, wnsc.
ia taking the Saviour to men, for he mai
nromised his presence wherever this gospeI
shall be arried. -
While therefore,, this passage does mol
speak of 1t. II makes us conscious OF our GUY
10 do the very work which this Bible society
IL doing. Through thisS Society, through oui
Mission Boards, through the support OF tne
GOSPEL We may-as Christians we must
make possible this contact between lost souit
and the Saviour.
1t will serve perhaps TO bring the response
bility home to our conscience TO ASK on
whom the duty rests. 1t was men OF tna'
place to which the saviour had come ,pnS
spread that knowledge: enjoying MS oenents
they offered them 10 Others. In this they are
q pattern 10 Us. =.
hare It's blessings. The Father could not en-
10Y the felicity Of his holiness without ofei'
ing q like felicity TO lost men. HOW then can
we enter into the spirit OF our oily rellglnn,
without a desire and effort TO give Its oenef,t
70 our lost fellow men? The Creator made
men brothers. his Son has taught them tna'
they are such. And only those 1nVlVldualt
and communities that have The knowledge
Of him recognize the fact and perform zoe
debt OF those who have not 10 those VINO
have; our Redeemer made known the greater
debt of thohe who have To those who nave
not. The world knows love for self. ne
taught the higbbr love which seeks equal
good for our %neighbor. He was the son OF
God, be made us sons Of God. He was ricn;
be became poor that we might be made rlcb.
He was kipg OF kinSs .o ne y mage hM sb az H 70 I Is
he desires TO make us; all that DE has ne De
sires TO give US. And those who know him,
like these Galilean villagers, catch bis spirit
and 20 forth 10 share their blessings. ana
thus from those places TO which this Saviour
has come has spread abroad the only real
philanthropy the world has known.
Much has been done. In every lar be-
meath the sun the salvation which has come
10 us Ia being offered TO others through the
gospel, In Christian lands privileges once
enjoyed by the few have been bestowed on
ali as rights. Culture, once limited 10 tpe
few, is offered 10 sll through free schools In
Christian lands hospitals and asylums seek
In as far as possible 10 give 10 the un1ortu.
nate the comforts OF their more favored
brothers.
blessings. Much has been done. But very
much remains to be done. A thousand mil
ton souls know not the true GOD. IN Ibis
world their homes are the abodes OF cruelty,
In the lex, their home must be hell. The
difference between their condition and ours
/ both worlds measures The debt OF Chrlsien-
dom 10 heathendom. l need not detaln 10
describe conditions In heather lapds-the
degradation 30 besotted, the INTENDED suffer.
Ing 70 pathetic. the moral impurity even OF
religious rites SO ipdescribably revolt
Ing. You know these things and you
know the remedy; IT is tbs Wora' Wnose
proves. Queen Victoria was not mistaken
when she pointed TO the Bible as the secret
of England's greatness. II America knows
the home and Asia does not If America Knows
the meaning OF wife and sister and Asia does
not, II we enjoy the beIeits OF medicine and
surgery and heathen people do not. II we
have laid, the hidden forces and resources CT
nature under tribute. with a marvellous re-
suiting material development, and,t the nom
Christian races have not, IL is not because we
are Apglo-Saxon and they are not. We have
the B%lble-there lies the explanation. They
have lntellects which are not 10 be desplseu.
India and China have civilizations which IN
some respects are admirable. But there ls In
them q strang impDtency In the matter Oh
moral elevation and physical amelioratiop.
AmeliorsLion and moral eieVailon csme
through Jesus Christ, neither ia there saliva
tion In any other. The betterment, therefore,
OF human conditions for time and eternity
depends on the men OF those places to which
He has come. Sin has no blessings 10 snare,
un belief no gospel to preach. Intdelity re.
forms NO abuses. Heathenism relieves no
suffering, opens no paradise 10 the lost. II L.
Christianity that does these things. Let US
give them the knowledge OF our Saviour that
ne may be theirs.
II is instructive TO note also where these
men of Genessaret found their field. They
work ed where their efforts would count for
most. The divine Physician wonld have
left heir village before the sick from Damas.
Gus or Tyre could have been brought, and so
they sent out into all that country round
about and brought unto him ell that were
diseased. In this again they are u pattern
to US.
He IS not following their example who
wastes life and energy trying 10 get At some
thing 1T youder while duties At his feet go
undone. Such efforts are often q penance
with which We salve our co%nsciences for the
NEGLECT uf duty which is not to our liking. II
is u moie "greeable work 10 send the gospel
to Central Africa than 10 give the gospel by
worn Vi mOulu w ~ iiiNo az ~ uooi'
But preference has no place In questions OF
duty. We can not square accounts for
neglect at home by sending a bible to the
heathen.
There is nothing which has been placed 20
rear as duty. 1t stands across our pathway,
II pushes itself upon our hands. That work
which is beyond your reach belongs 10 some
one else. BY doing oil the intervening work
you may com TO that later, but you can not
maxi 1t your present duty by. jumping over
the intervening LAHORE. Only he who has
been faithful in a few things Is made ruler
over many things. II the cup OF colo wafer
upon to break the bread OF life 10 sonla. Let
w ask Him to open our eyes and ears and
hearts that we may see and hear and respond
TO the calls OF duty around US. SO lone as
this community there Is wolk for his fol.
And in speaking 90 I am not ~ipjuring the
great cause In whose interests We are met To-
gether. l am speaking Of our duty as indi-
vidual Christians in the community. But
that is but half our duty. We are members
OF the Church of Jesus Christ, whose Held Is
ciety, the handmade of the church In her
worldwide work. To organized bodies of
men like the church and this Society the
world has become merely one great neigh
borbood. Mexico is next. door nelghbor 10
our little church. China and Korea and Afri.
ca are within speaking distance OF our
Southern Pre- Shy terrain brethren. The great
Methodist chulch can say az Its founder
could not: The world is my parish. The
American Bible Society is literally sowing
,beside all waters" If you wish as an indi-
vidual 10 do an independent work having a
world-reach II Is impossible. But If you will
work through the church end other Christian
organizations like this Bible Society, then
you can give to the heathen the glad tidipgs
Of salvation, before you could master the
alphabet OF the language in which they read
the message.
This talk of heather at home Ia a subter.
fuge by which men would justify themselves
In peglecting their share In the world, wide
work OF the church. 1t Is easier to talk Of
neglected work at home than II is actively TO
c,anari iha work abroad Rnt dntu IL moi q