The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1910-07-07

surpass one of my works" That was
she old appraisement. The world ac-
cepted YOU at your own valuation.
Therefore put the price as high as
possible. Once humility was a stig-
ina To-day IL is a compliment.
Christ took the hateful word and
made It honorable 1t is the Chris
tians loveliest virtue and his crown
ing grace. The old order of chivalry
has passed away. 'Tis the meek who
are mighty now.
Can life become humble apart
from God? | will answer that ques-
jion by asking another. Can straw
berry ripen without the sun? The
strawberry will grow and get Juice
and color; but no berry ever had its
sour sap changed into sweetness
without the shining of the sun. II
takes the whole solar system to grow
a berry. And it takes the power of
the Holy Spirit, the third person of
the Trinity 10 grow simple grace
like humility. Ruskin says that If
you We're to cut a square inch out of
Turner's skies you would find the in
finite in It. Just so, tho lowliest
grace is rooted in the Infinite. Where
Is boasting then? 1t is excluded
Grace shows boasting to the door and
bows it out.
H. He's a man characterized by
the gift of grace.
God resisteth the proud but CIV
eth grace unto the humble" Unto
me was this grace given" WAS"
past tense. The great apostle to tho
Gentiles preached not because he was
gifted oratorically. Not because he
felt joy in the exercise. but because
he had been anointed. "To me was
this grace given" Tho preacher
may have tho strength of Hercules,
the heart of a Howard, the tongue
of a Cicero, the courage of q Luther,
the passion of a st. Francis. He may
have all these things and fail. Not
until he is given an unction from
above is he equipped for his work.
His success depends not on the depth
of his thought or the sparkle of his
style, but on tho baptism of his Lord.
He must be sure that God has spoken
to him before he can venture to speak
to others. Does he como from some
university? Then he can lift us to
learning. Does he come from some
school of music? Then he can lift us
to art. Does he come to us from
some Parliament? Then he can lift
us to politics. But if he would lift
us to God he must come from the Sc
cret of His presence. He must have
the fragrance of the Kings garden.
If he would lead us to Zion he must
know the way there. He should
wear the halo of the Infinite.
Now what is grace? Let us be
quite sure that VIC are travelling on
familiar lanes. 1t is not an aesthetic
outfit. Gracefulness is, but not
grace. II is not a nero soft senti-
mental emotion. 1t is not simply
good will 1t is a great tidal flow.
1t is the divine heart at work in the
world. Gods love as an energy 60
ing out to the sinner--that is grace.
You do not know much of village
pumps here in New York. Perhaps
you have never felt their interesting
Tomance. Do you remember those
old wooden pumps in the country?
You had to work hard to get any
water, and sometimes you had first
10 pour water in to get any ont. How
different from a spring! A pump
1abors, but spring bubbles. Grace
is not love that is pumped ont. 1t
is love that bursts out. 1t Is spon-
taneous, gushing. artesian. It IL the
outrush of the love of Cod. Love
with us is a passion. Love with US
Is an attribute. II is the great card
attribute of the Divine Essence.
III. He is intrusted with q meg
sage. And he must not change the
message-not dipthong of 1t. Can
the telegraph boy change the tele-
gram? No; that is not his province.
The Apostle to the Gentiles Is our
model. Never for one moment was
he in doubt as to what he ought to
proclaim. II was not always pleas
ant. Sometimes it was unpleasant
and unwelcome. The faith he saya
was once delivered to the saints. II
was not invented by them. II was
handed down to them 1t was deliv-
cred. Nay, stronger than that. 1t
was "once for all" delivered-deliy-
cred. he means, in its completeness.
The minister Is a voice. The meg
sage does not belong to him. lie be-
longs to the message. Preaching is
not a man using the truth. II Is
truth using the man. He does not
possess II. He is possessed by it. He
bears the burden of a divine urgency.
Ever should we be on guard lest we
forget that the true minister Is q
prophet, not a soothsayer; not a fore
teller--a forthteller. He is not mov-
ing away over there in the realm of
the remote. He Is living here in the
present. He deals with the twcnti-
eth century, not the twenty-first. He
Is a man of his age. He is living
voice. He speaks for God. He Is
the interpreter of God. His Office is
possible only TO the basis of rovela-
tion. He is the exponent of a COM
mission.
And what is the commission?
Note carefully again the wording.
please. That | should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ" Now that is an
unsearchable sentence. ! cannot ex-
plore it. It Is beyond me. The de-
scriptive word In 1t is a rare word.
II means literally Not to be tracked
by footprints" 1t Is found only in
one other place in the New Testa-
ment-in Romans. How uusearch-
able are His judgments and His ways
past finding out" Past finding
OUT" That's II. The fguro is
oceanic. 'His way Is in the sea and
His path in the great waters and His
footsteps are not known"