The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-03-16
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV. JOHN WESLEY HILL, ID.
Theme: The Workings of Providence.
TeXt=Rom. SIS.

together LOT SOou W lueA 'ud' NV
God"
We have here Paul's epitome of
Providence, his summing up or hu-
man life and experience under n
superintending hand of God. Had ne
been a materialist, he would have left
God out of the question, and said,
"You are a part of a great, merciless
machine, wound up by chance and
controlled by circumstances, Il your
sufferings are due to the inexorable
movements of fate, against which you
struggle in vain" Had he beer a
| Stole philosopher, he would not have
said, "All things work together for
good" but, "You are in the hands OF
an awful system, of which evil Is an
inevitable part" and his exhortation
would have been, resist the evil
with the bold front Of an unfinchlng
spirit" Had he been an Epicurean,
he would have said, "Chance has pro-
iected evil into the world. Flight
chance the only way in which you
can. by drowning all your cares in a
sea of sensual pleasure" But Paul
was neither a materialist, nor a Stole,
nor an Epicurean, but a Christian
philosopher. He believed that Gods
plans are eternal, that human uter-
ing is a part of the necessary dlscl-
pline of life, that eternity alone IS
the final Interpretation Of time, n
that call things work together Tor
good to them that love God
Under Divine Protection.
Note the boldness of this Pauline
declaration: Cali things work to-
gether for good" Had Paul known
nothing of the shocks and storms OF
life, had his career been one Oh un-
interrupted inspiration and unaoatea
triumph, then it might be urged tnat
the audacity of the proposition is evil
dence of ignorance Of the facts in
volyed. But Paul's life was inter-
woven of sunshine and shadows; in
fact. he knew much more OF the
storms of life than of it's Gains. The
vision of the past was ever before
him: the prisons through which ne
had passed, the uproar at Ephesus,
the earthquake at Philippi, violence
at Jerusalem, trials with the churches,
chains at Caesarea. shipwrecks and
stripes. while before him passed
scenes of anguish which were far be-
yond his power to describe; and yet,
towering above these dark and pain
ful memories, we hear him eXclalm,
Cali things work together for good
TO them that love God" He thus
congresses the universe into this one
little word Of three letters, all!
Glorious truth! We are not alone
in life's vicissitudes! Gods eye is
$1,000 o-l IIis anne QnnircI1 fS.
We are not helpless, for the 1nhnlte
Deliverer is eve present, even Wnen
we are unconscious of His presence
inspiring with wisdom, lmpartlng
strength and enabling us to come on
more than conquerors over all the
trials and difficulties of life, the tolls
and sufferings, defeats and crosses,
gains and losses; all things seen and
unseen, near and remote, dark and
bright. good and evil, are harnessed
as swift steeds to the chariot OF the
divine purpose, and nothing can per-
manently obstruct its progress.
Harmony and Cooperation.
Again, let us notice the law of this
Providential process: "AL things
work together And what is this
but the law of cooperation? Moth
ing in the universe below the being OF
God is complete within itself. Every
thing leans upon and helps to bear
up everything beyond, below, above,
and around itself. The dewdrop
works with the sunbeam. the seed
with the clay, the bee with the now
er; the valley with the mountain, the
rivulet with the river, and the river
with the ocean; the heavens lean up
on the earth, and the earth reflects
the splendor of the heavens from It's
laughing valleys, its sn~oW-croWned
mountains and its ever-changlng sea.
There is no isolation anywhere. Inc
faintest trace of matter, the most del
icate, microscopic cell has it's place IN
the universal creation, and performs
it's function, not only for itself, but
in behalf of all. The gases that COM
pose the'air we breathe work togeth-
er with %life-giving and health-sus-
tanning power; eliminate the oxygen,
and this old world would be shroud-
ed in death; the seasons work togeth-
err, spring and summer, fall n win
ter, in a grand procession of beauty,
order and fruitfulness.
Light is beautiful, but light cannot
form the exquisite picture. Shadows
must lie there, a dark background
upon which the light can pencil its
beauty. The sunshine and shadow
must work together. Why, God can
not paint a rainbow until He has I'M
braided a beam of light into its seven
prismatic hues, to borrow from and
lend to each other enhancing lowell
ness. So also the Lord knows how to
blend bright and dark things in hu-
man life, so as to produce the most
happy, holy and heavenly character.
Oh, my friend, you can afford to be
patient and trustful, for God is mold
ing you to a pattern brighter than
angelic being, ever according to the
image of His Son. The blow Of the
hammer and the incision of the chisel
may be painful, but these are neces-
sary to the removal of imperfections
and to the revelation Of the angel
that is lurking in the hiding places
of your being. God is the great, in
finite Sculptor, and you a depend
upon it He will not overlook the
roughness, nor fail to smooth down
the rebellious grain.
All things work together. The
lightning in it's 1ivid rage only puri-
fes the atmosphere; the thunderbolt
that prostrates the giant oak, beneath
which many found shelter. lets the
sun shine uDon a spot of earth that