The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-08-25
TIE, PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. r. w. M'LAUGHLlN.
Theme: Truth, Service, Action.

preacher, Sunday morning, was the
Rev. R. w. Mclaughlin, Of Grand
Rapids, Mich. His subject was:
Truth, Service and Action" Among
other things he said:
It is said that the masterpieces OF
literature are rarely, If ever, the pure
! creation of literary skill, but are u.s.
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 the 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
first century, while Caesar is still on
the throne and the empire rules the
world. Characters An unnamed
man, a devout woman, a ventriloquist
maiden, a group of selfish traders, a
male magistrate, a frightened jailor
and 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 or The story
based on these we'll night forgotten
names, there might be three chap.
tiers: Phrygia, or loyalty to the
truth. The narrative states that Paul,
starting forth on his second mission
airy journey, desires to enter the rich
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
ality, suggests mystery enough for
the greatest story. What does 1t
mean? A man, apparently as free as
the wind blowing over the Phrygian
highlands, yet not free. 1t certainly
means that here is a a. 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
voice Of truth. 1t is called in one
verse the Holy Spirit, and in another
verse the Spirit of Jesus, but by what
ever name called, it means only n
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 over the highways Of the Roman
Empire with sublime abandon. And
this Is chapter one in every earnest
life-allegiance to the truth. A will
ingness to follow the truth wherever
it may lead. 1t may close Asia and
Bethynia and drive one on to Troas,
but not until a nan 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 n ends. Paul
enters 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. II
would be interesting were it possible
to interpret the feelings of this man
as he enters Troas. It's picturesque
ness, located on a bluff overlooking
the Aegean Sea, across whose blue
CLEAN could be seer in vague outline
the shore Of Europe, and its COM
merce. The tangled spars at the
docks, and the heavily ladened, gaunt
camels in the streets, and it's historic
reminders. Not far away the tomb
of Achilles and the marble throne of
Xerxes, and the remainder Of Homer's
genius in 1.-The ringing plains of windy
Troy" But 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 1t
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 sep
arate, and Paul, reaching his lodg-
ings, 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 syllogism. Truth is a CLEAN,
a suggestion, an illumination. 1t
f:es the intellect and kindles the i'm
agination.
Philippi-region of action. In
Pnilippi Paul finds Lystra and her
household. Soon he meets a ventril-
oIuist 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 FREQ
dom the next morning.
But why did not Paul remain in