The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-11-13
things; but one thing is needful.,,

Things; but one thing is needful.D
III ever we can pardon words of petu-
lance, 1t is when friends are unfaithnii.
Yet even here there Is His perfect
calmness. Looking steadfastly into
the future He says, .'Do We now be.
lleve? Behold the hour cometh, yea, Is
now come, that yc shall be scattered,
every man toNhis own, and shall leave
Me alone; and yet am not alone, be-
cause the Father is with Me-"
Let us to-day consider, in the first
place, the false systems OF rest which
the world holds out and contrast them
with the true rest OF Christ. First is
proposed the false system OF expecta \
ton OF repose In the grave. we often
hear 1t said, There the wicked cease
from troubling and tho weary are at
rest" There is in this kind OF spuri-
GUS pantheism, sort of feeling tina,
God Is alike in every heart. that every
! man Is to be blessed at last, and death
is but mere transition to blessed
sleep; that in the grave there is only
quiet, and that there is no misery
beyond 1t. The worlds peace ever con-
sists in plans to remove all outward
trials. We foolishly think II we can
only produce a perfect set Of circum-
stances. then we shall have the perfect
man; If we remove temptation we shall
have a holy being; and SO the worlds
rest comes to this--merely happiness
and outward enjoyment.
The Redeemer teaches us Just the
contrary. He says. Not as the world
giveth, give I unto you" The world
| proposes rest by the removal OF
burden; Christ gives rest by giving us
the spirit and power to bear the bur
den. Take My yoke upSh you and
learn Of Me. and we shall find rest
unto your souls" Christ does not
promise a rest OF inaction, nor that the
trials Of life shall be removed No mat
| ter what mans circumstances are.
never can the rest Of Christ be found
in ease and self-gratification; never.
throughout eternity. Will there be rest
| found in life Of freedom from duty.
The paradise OF the sluggard. where
there Is no exertion. the heaven OF
the coward, where there Is no difficulty
| to be opposed, is not the rest OF Christ
| Many of us are drifting away from
/ our mornings; we are quitting old
forms of faith and life and are turning
from view to view only to find our
souls as far from rest as ever. The un-
rest is within us; we foolishly expect
/ to find tranquility in outward doc
trine when it can come only from
| cnlmness of the soul what do we
mean by this rest of Christ? Let us
look to those symbols about us in the
| world OF nature by which It Is sug-
| gested. 1t is not the lake locked in leo
that suggests repose, but the river
moving on calmly and rapidly In silent
majesty and strength. In creation the
rest of God Is exhibited as a sense of
power which nothing wearies. When
chaos burst into harmony. so to speak,
God had rest. There are moments
when we find ourselves in harmony
with all that is pure and beautiful and
holy. This is not stagnation; it is
the fulness of life-lite in its most ex-
panded form-and when this force is
4 working IN a mans soul 1t is marvel
4 GUS how 1T distlls into his very words
and countenance.
Il There Is magical power in that
!. prayer wherein we ask of God. who
alone can order the unruly Wills and
affections of sinful men, to grant unto
1 His people that they may love the
thing which He commands, and desire
that which He promises; that SO among
the sundry and manifold changes OF
the world our hearts may surely there
be fixed where true Joys are to be
: found" The mind of the man who
wrote them was in repose-all is ring
) ing Of rest.
Unrest in men is produced by ID
suspicion of God. (2) inward discord,
(s) discomfort. For each of these
/, meekness is the cure. There is no
j, mystery in Gods dealings to the meek
man, for the secret of the Lord is with
, them that fear Him, and He will show
S them His covenant tnere IL no dreac
9 of Gods judgments when our souls
are meek.
{ When we have inward discord We
!, are going on In our selfshness. we are
t unreconciled, and thus refuse to take
/ up that yoke Of His. We must make
SO compromise in taking of the bur-
8 den of the Lord.
: For those OF US who are disc0htentet
t perhaps the greater part Of our misery
e comes from overestlmation of our
, selves. We are slaves to vanity o.
8 pride. So long as we have a false
i opinion of ourselves 1t is Impossible fol
d us to realize true rest, Once let {
d man know for himself what God Is
n and then in that he will find peace
k For God is love. and does not cease t.
d be so because men are low, sad ant
8 responding. 1t is not in understanding
@ a set of doctrines. or some outWart
J. scheme of salvation" that rest ane