The Penn's Grove record., 1909-08-06
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BIZ
THE REV. r. w. MCLAUGHLIN.
Theme: Truth, Service, Action.

preacher, SUNDAY morning, was she
Rev. R. w. Mclaughlin, of Grand
Rapids, Mich. His subject was:
Truth, Service and Action" Among
other things he said:
1t is said that the masterpieces of
literature are rarely, if ever, the pure
creation of literary skill, but are US
ually suggested by some well nigh
forgotten and seemingly incidental
event Of the past. It is also said that
in the writing of such literature four
factors are essential, namely: Time,
location, characters and sequence of
events. And these four conditions of
literature are found in this historic
statement of fact as recorded in the
sixteenth chapter of Acts. 1t is a
seemingly unimportant statement,
containing ten names, whose only
significance is in what once was or
may have been, rather than in what
now is. And che four factors are
here.
Location-the Phrygian region and
the shore line of two continents, at
points marked on map as Troas and
Philippi. Time-the middle of the
nrst century, while Caesar is still on
the throne and the empire rules the
W. OndI dCISIS All
man, a deyout woman, a ventrilouuist
maiden, a group of selfish traders, a
male magistrate, a frightened Tailor
n Saul of Tarsus. Sequence of
events-to show relation of Phrygia
to Troas and Troas to Philippi, which
relation reveals the power of truth as
it gains possession Of one life and
through that life disturbs and trans
forms the world.
And in the writing of the story
based on these well night forgotten
names, there might be three chap
tiers: Phrygia, or loyalty to the
truth. The narrative states that Pani.
starting forth on his second mission
airy journey, desires to enter the ricn
and populous province of Asia, but Is
forbidden by the Holy Spirit. Nov
ing forward, he comes to the strange
province of Bethynia, and is again
forbidden to enter by the Spirit of
Jesus. And SO hedged to the south
ward and northward, he journeys
westward until he reaches the shore
line of the Mediterranean at Troas.
And this historic statement Of fact,
with Paul as the commanding person.
Rlity, suggests mystery enough for
SHO 6ACNtCoN oLC4S LAT QOOO II
mean? A man, apparently as free as
the wind blowing over the Phrygian
highlands, yet not free. It certainly
means that here is a man not free.
He hears a voice, though he cannot
see the form of the one speaking,
even as a birds song is heard, though
it is unseen because hidden by the
foliage. And this voice is for him the
/ VOjp0 nf fTTrfh IF ic ballad in ana
verse the Holy Spirit, and in another
verse the Spirit of Jesus, but by what
Eve name called, it means only one
thing, and that is the truth of God
reaching for his inner life. And as
the truth of God it is authoritative.
And more than this, it is final; au-
thority for truth is always final to
the honest man. And as final author
itative truth it has power to send him
out yer the highways of the Roman
Empire with sublime abandon. And
this is chapter one in every earnest
life-allegiance to the truth. A will
lngness to follow the truth wherever
it may lead. 1t may close Asia and
Bethynia and drive one on to Troas,
but not until a man is willing to say
1t fortiies my soul
To know that whether I perish,
Truth is So
Is he able to write chapter one in the
Book of Life.
Troas-a vision of service. AS is
true of every good story, chapter two
begins where chapter one ends. Paul
Anters Troas, meets an unnamed man,
has a vision in the night, in which
he sees on the distant shores of
Europe a person pleading for help. It
would be interesting were it possible
10 interpret the feelings of this man
as he enters Troas. Its picturesque
ness, located on a bluff overlooking
the Aegean Sea, across whose blue
CLEAN could be seen in vague outline
the shore of Europe, and its COM
MERGE. The tangled spars at the
docks, and the heavily ladened, gaunt
ea1nelS in the streets, and its historic
reminders. Not far away the tomb
Of Achilles and the marble throne of
Xerxes, and the remainder of Homer's
genius in "the ringing plains of windy
Troy Bnt of more interest still, the
people crowding the streets. And out
Of the crowd there comes n to enter
the circle of Paul's friendship. Is it
too much to think of the two men
sitting on the bluff during the hours
Of the day and conversing about the
deep things in life? But the con-
%versation ends as darkness comes
down upon the earth. The men sepz<
Rrate, and Paul, reaching his lodS
lngs, is soon lost in slumber. And in
his sleep he dreams, and sees the
friend of the afternoon, now standing
yonder in Macedonia, and pleading
with him to help. And thus is chap
ter two in every earnest life.
Allegiance to truth in Phrygia
leads to a vision of service in Troas.
For truth is more than an abstract
idea, or a major and minor premise in
a cold sy1logism. Truth is a CLEAN,
a suggestion, an illumination. 1t
fires the intellect and kindles the i'm
agination.
Philippi-regfon of action. In
Philippi Paul finds Lystra and her
household. Soon he meets a ventril-
oquist maiden owned by a group OF
selfish traders, denounces their bust.
ness; is seized, beaten, thrown into
Jail. In the night he sings and prays.
And then follows the story of the con-
version of the jailor and Paul's free
dom the next morning.
! But why did not Paul remain in
Troas and mediate upon his dream?
Why does the narrative say, "And
straightway?" There are two an
swers: First, life at its best is lived
in the region of action, not in the
realm of dreams. The historian in
Acts has caught the meaning of this.
For he gives one verse to the dream
at Troas and forty-three verses and
three books of the New Testament to
the recording of the action following
the dream. The second answer is, a
man must go from his dream in order
to keep it. The thought unexpressed
lies in a lesson of wondrous meaning.
For every noble thought is the put
come of a heroic dream. There is a
sequence Of events. This does not
mean that the result will always seem
the normal outcome of the ~antecedent
ause. Night follows day, bue night
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