The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1910-07-08

takes the whole solar system to grow
a berry. And it takes the power OF
the Holy Spirit, the third person of
the Trinity, to grow a simple grace
like humility. Ruskin says that If
you were to cut a square inch out of
Turner's skies you would find the in
finite. In it. Just so, the lowliest
grace is rooted in the Infinite. Where
is boasting then? It is excluded.
Grace shows Boosting to the door and
bows 1t out.
II. 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 the
Gentiles preached not because he was
gifted oratorically. Not because he
felt a joy in the exercise, but because
he had been anointed. ITO me was
this grace given" The preacher
may have the strength of a Hercules,
the heart of a Howard, the >tongue
of a Cicero, the courage of a Luther,
the passion of a st. Francis. He may
have all these things and fail. Not
until he is given an JUNCTION 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 the baptism of his Lord.
He must be sure that God has spoken
to him before he can venture to speak
to others. Does he come from some
university? Then he car 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
- Do rl;aroorf Tho ho oan 1iff
us to politics. But if he would lift
eret of His presence. He must have
the fragrance of the Kings garden.
If he would lead us to Zion he must
wear the halo of the Infinite.
Now what is grace? Let us be
quite sure that we are travelling on
familiar lanes. 1t is not an aesthetic
outfit. Gracefulness is, but not
grace. It is not a mere 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
romance. Do you remember those
old wooden pumps in the country?
You had to work hard to get any
water, and. sometimes you had first
TO pour water in to get any out. How
different from a spring! A pump
labors, but a spring bubbles. Grace
is not love that is pumped out. 1t
is love that bursts out. 1t is a spon-
taneous, gushing, artesian. 1t is the
outrush of the love of God. Love
with us is a passion. Love with us
is an attribute. 1t is the great card
attribute of the Divine Essence.
III. He Is intrusted with a mes
sage. And he must not change the
message-not a %dipthong of it. Can
the telegraph boy change the tele-
gram? No; that Is not his province.
The Apostle to the Gentiles is our
model. Never for n moment was
he in doubt as to what he ought to
proclaim. 1t was not always pleas
ant. Sometimes 1t was unpleasant
and unwelcome. The faith he says
was once delivered to the saints. 1t
was not invented by them. 1t was
handed down to them. 1t was deliv-
cred. Nay, stronger than that. 1t
was "'once for all" delivered-deliv-
cred, he means, in its completeness.
The minister Is a voice. The mes
sage does not belong to him. He be-
longs to the message. Preaching is
not a man using the truth. 1t Is
truth using the man. He does not
possess it. He is possessed by it. He
bears the burden Of a divine urgency1
Ever should we be on guard lest wei
forget that the true minister is a
prophet, not a s~oothsayer; not a fore
teller-a forthteller. He is not NOV
ing away over there in the realm of
the remote. He Is living here in the
present. He deals with the twenti-
eth century, not the twenty-irst. He
Is a man of his age. He is a living
voice. He speaks for God. He is
the interpreter of God. His Office is
possible only to the basis of a revela-
tion. He is the exponent of a COM
mission.
And what is the commission?
Note carefully again the wording,
please. THAT I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ" Now that is an
hnsearchable sentence. 1 cannot exi
plore it. 1t is beyond me. The de-
scriptive word in it is a rare word,
It means literally Not to be tracked
by footprints" 1t is found only in.
bne other place in the New Testa-i
,nent-in Romans. How %unsearch7
able are His judgments and His ways
past finding out" Past findingI
putt" That's it. The figure Isl
oceanic. "IIis way is in the sea and,
His path in the great waters and His
footsteps are not known"