The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-01-08
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUM !AY SERMON BY
DR.. NEHEMIAH BOYNTON.
Subject: The Will and the Work.

preached on 1.-THE Will and thu
! Work" The text was from JohI
4:34: my meat is to do the will o.
| Him that sent Me and to finish Hi
work" Among other things, DR.
Boynton said:
The very essence of rational faitf
permitted to make His own impress
| sion upon ones soul as being who
| met and mastered life in normal re
| lations.
If you permit your fancy to dress
Him in the light fluffy and ethereal
garments of an airy mysticism you
add to your imagination but subtract
from His reality. If you array; Him
in the blue and sometimes navy blue
homespun Of a provincial theology
your philosophy aspiring to do the
task of sympathy takes away half
His birthright. He recedes from the
heart and mind of the world! But
if you allow Him to be an actual resi-
to which He came, to work, to won
der, to minister, to suffer, to Joy and
to love. you restore Him to men.
Again He lives in power, and by His
very mastery of life indicates His
claim to be the chiefest among ten
thousand. ...
The supreme divinity of Christ, His
individual and unique relation to the
Father are best apprehended by set
ting His life in it's ordinary and usual
human relations, permitting it to
tell its own story and make it's own
impression. Whether you compare
Christ with the Samaritan woman or
with the astonished disciples His own
transcendant greatness is in distinct
evidence. ,:
Here is travel-stained, weary and
thirsty pilgrim sitting by a well;
there common water carrier comes
to fill his pitcher Their interview
shows at once that they are not upon
the same level; they do not see life
from the same angle. The traveller
is evidently in full possession of
something .nor which the Samaritan
woman has only heart hunger, some
thing very high, noble, soul satisfy
ing.
The disciples who come as she
leaves are not much above her level,
so far as appreciating Christ Is con-
cerned. They wonder that He is will
ing to stoop to speak to such a per-
son! They offer Him food. Hospi-
tality is the only grace they can at
present afford. Master, eat!" How
slight an appreciation they have of
the really nutritive forces Of life! II
have eaten. I have been refreshed" :"
says Christ. "Can it be that anyone
has offered Him lunch in our abb
sence?" they inquire.
MY meat" says Christ, "is to do
the will Of Him that sent Me and to
finish His work" -.
Here is strong meat, indeed! Here
Is spiritual mama, indeed! The will
and the work are the staples of that
perpetual feast which alone will sat-
isfy the higher soul-life Of mankind.
a first great teaching Of this incident
Is the personal nature Of real religion.
One of the pathetic visions of our
own day Is that of multitudes trying
to find place to trust their souls.
Religions which the world has out
grown are galvanized into life again
and are made the repositories of rest
less spirits. New forms of religion
have for many mighty attractions and
for time seem to satisfy the ssul de-
sire. There must be some one thing
about the faith Of Jesus which gives
1t pre-eminence over all otter forms
of faith, however much of fragmen-
tary trust they embrace. And that
one thing is the sense Of personal re-
lation with God. My meat is to do
the will of Him that sent Me-" This
Is the great Christian contribution .
religion. God is Father of all spir-
it's. To connect with His will is to re-
late oneself with Him and satisfy the
longings of ones deepest soul. 81
know Jesus Christ" said Bushnell,
better than I know any man in the
city of Hartford, and if He should be
walking along the street and see me,
He would say, There goes friend
of Mine
The joy. the assurance, tie GER
tainty of {. Christian faith, root them
selves in the sense Of personal rela-
ton I:etweer the soul and God, which
affor;ls the comfort, security and in
spiration of living.
Jesus again is insistent. in His
teaching that loyal will always ex-
presses itself in work: "To finish His
work" A personal relation with God
expresses Itself through social ap-
probation and effort. Nobody ever
travels to Heaven alone. Everybody
must help carry somebody else who
would noun. the shining pinnacles of
the city of lgr Cod. The greatest
work in the nur..; is IT, get cne's will
in play -tc cstab :ish goodwill among
men!
There is the race question, FOR ex-
ample. How are men of different
races to be treated in free America?
1t is no Longer question Of the
colored man alone, but Of the Indian,
the Japanese, the Chinese as well.
Indeed, it is no longer mere Amer
lean question. 1t is an international
question, bound to become more and
more imperative and vital in coming
days. What is the solution? Is it in in
stitutioas Of social sympathy like clubs
and settlements? Is it in laws drastic
and enforced? These can do some
thing, but the real solution waits
upon the will of the people, upon dis
position and attitude. The deeper
recognitions are in orGer. "A mans
a man for a. that" The nobler fell
lowships are due. The will of God
Is waiting for larger expression over
against passion, pride and prejudice!
II Jesus could find in an ordinary
Samaritan water carrier a soul
worthy of His kindly disposition, His
sympathy, His solicitude, then His
followers are bound to find in every
human being a spiritual relative and
maintain toward all made in the i'm