The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-03-31
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81 ThE REV. MXETM
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Subject: The Elements Of Success.

Subject: The Elements Of Success.
Text, II Tim. At: II have fought
the good fight; I have finished my
course; I have kept the faith"
Paul draws US a picture here OF a
man who has been fighting with the
cestus and who, full of honors and
glory, with the laurels Of victory on
his brow, lays down his instruments
of hostility. He pictures q runner
who has gone the course, who mas
run the race and has won, and who
has received the palm Of victory. He
depicts a maj who in the affairs OF
the spiritual life has been true to
his Maker and his God and Is upon
the threshold Of entering into the VIC
tory of the life eternal.
This assertion of Paul that he has
fought a good fight, has finished the
course, has kept the faith, Is the as
surance Of a man who was successful
in all that to which he laid his hands.
Paul was a man who had attained,
who had reached his reward, who had
gained success. He had put into
effect certain plans that he had for
the ordering Of his W life and the
betterment of the men and women
with whom he had come in contact.
He had executed arrangements for
the preaching Of the blessed news OF
Jesus Christ, and he had his eyes
fixed not so much on what he had
accomplished as upon the victory
which he had achieved, upon the
crown which was awaiting him when
he should go into the presence OF the
Lord his God.
St. Paul was q man who accom-
plished. He not only put tasks in
motion; he fulfilled them. He was
q mar who achieved much. In a
world where so many of us do things
In a small way, he did things might
lily and inspiringly. He was a mar
whose achievements were like unto
the mighty victories won by Christ.
This success of Paul Is the ideal OF
every man and every woman. This
victory and success which crowned
his efforts is the desire of every hu-
man heart that is normal. There is
not one of US but has dreamed Of
mighty things, but has longed for
ability and power to accomplish great
things for God and man; none of us
but who, in our youth, and perhaps
In later days, has reached unto great
er things than any we have yet &C
complished, for this power Of Paul
to. execute and effect.
This ability to affect the whole
history of the lives Of the men with
whom ne comes in contact is the de-
sire and the ideal Of every human
soul. But our great question is, how
shall we achieve? how shall we &C.
complish that. to which we lay our
hands? how shall we execute the task
which under God is given us to do?
How shall we attain, how shall we
achieve, each in u peculiar sphere,
according to our peculiar ability, that
we may do something either small or
great for the veal of men and for
the glorious peopling Of the kingdom
Of Jesus Christ?
It seems to me that there are four
elements that enter into success, four
things that are necessary that we
shall be able to do a work for God
that shall count, a work that shall
amount to something for the veal OF
men, for the betterment Of lives
about US, for the satisfaction of our
own ideals.
A man cannot do very much unless
first of all he has some self-apprecia-
ton. That is not to say he should
have egotism; that Is not to say that
he disdains others, not that he
weighs himself in the scales to the
disparagement Of other men; but 1t
is to say that he has placed himself
effectively over against his own per-
sonality and has sized himself up so
that he has a first-class and first
hand idea Of his own ability. 1t Is
a good thing to have an appreciation
of our own abilities, a better to have
a comprehension Of our own limita-
lions; but, while it is a good thing to
know our own limitations, l am a
profound believer that we know too
many times the extent Of u limita-
tions and not of our abilities. We
seem to think that what other men
have done we cannot do; that what
men Of equal brains and ability have
done we cannot do; we are afraid
to lay our hands to the work Of God
because we fear perchance we cannot
do that to which we have laid our
hand. To many a man the a%pprecia-
.tion of his own divine power is in
the terms Of Limitation rather than
in the terms OF real ability. How
many men we meet will tell US what
they cannot do, who would do thus
or so If they were able; who are SO
taken up with the consideration of
those things which God hath not
given them the ability to do that they
forget the potentialities divine and
eternal which God hath placed within
their own grasps and personalities.
St. Paul al a man who had meas
ured his abilities and knew what he
could do, who had no mean apprecia-
ton of what he could do. When he
met Jesus face to face there was no
hesitation as to whether he was a
mai who was divinely called, as to
whether he was the man who was
called to do the work. The knowl-
edge that God had called him was
sufficient knowledge that he had the
ability, that he was of some worth
for the bringing of the good news of