The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-09-14
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON 6Y
DR.. c. F. J. WRiGLEY.
Theme: The True Life.

preached Sunday morning on The
True Life" The text was from
Matthew 1925. Il thank Thee, 0
Father, Lord Of heaven and earth,
that Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast re-
vealed them unto babes" DR.. Wrig-
ley said:
When a mar makes up his mind
not to vesetate, not to be. content
simply to exist, but to live the life;
when he realizes that he is not only
an animal, having much In common
with the animals; but also a man,
having much in common with the
world of mystery by which he is sur
rounded, there are very few ultimate
ideals to which he can turn. Inc
fact is, there are only two such Ideals.
if We bar out that insane suggestion
Of the %disordered mind of Nietsche
that a man should cultivate the will
to enjoy or the will to have pow
err" which is not a philosophy of life,
but suitably a f~oolhardy agoism.
The mans choice really lies be-
tween a life of pessimism and agnos-
ticism, a life which gives up all the
real problems of life and settles down
into all existence Of grim despair n
apparently hopeless ignorance of all
the things which, most Of all, a mar
wants to know. or q life which AN
swers the challenge Of all suffering
and mystery and sin by affirming the
everlasting yea" On the one side
we have Buddha and Buddhism,
which even yet holds in its grasp In
dia and China and other Eastern
countries, and is the cause of the un-
progressive and despairing life OF
those peoples; and, on the other
hand, we have Jesus Christ the
confident and affirmative attitude
that He takes toward life, proclaim
ing a bold faith in a fatherly God,
who is guiding the world toward a
certain goal of goodness and perfec-
ton. He points out to us a life OF
fuller content than any of which man
had dared to dream; and He joyfully
points it out to us, calls it His Cos
pei, and declares that it shines
through all the perplexities and
struggles of u existence-nay, that
1t is the author and origin not only
Of all our troubles but also OF all u
satisfact.ons. That it is the quality
of the everlasting, that it is Selling
hold CT man and triumphantly bid
ding him to put his hand into the
hand o: God, and through the mys-
teries All mists of life to trust the
Father, and not only allow himself
to be led. but himself to struggle up
toward he eternal.
Which Of these ideals shall a man
accept to-day? Is there any choice?
Can a man study the two for even a
short time and still be undecided?
True, the man may not have heard
Of tho second ideal, and that it is
which constitutes the clarion call to
missions; but if he has heard, can
he long question which ideal he is
to choose? Why, without thinking
a moment, an ordinary, unprejudiced
man would say, as he looked upon the
two pictures Of life, I would rather
be wrong with Jesus than right with
Buddha.
But, in speaking Of this life, Jesus
said: II thank Thee, Father, that
Thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and revealed them
unto babes" What does that mean?
Surely, not that the gospel Is hidden
from men CT great intellectual power
or mental acunen; not that knowl-
edge or wisdom is a bar to the &C
ceptance Of the teachings of Jesus.
This is untrue as a fact, for, since
the coming of Jesus Christ into the
world, it is safely within the limits
of truth to say that the vast majority
of the really wise and Intellectually
great men of the Christian world
have been Christians. When a man
says that his worldwide knowledge
hinders him from accepting the Ear-
row revelation Of Jesus, l point to
Gladstone. When a man says that
his scientific studies are a hindrance
to his faith, l point to Lord Kelvin,
for both Gladstone and Kelvin repre-
sent towering intellectual ability, the
one in the departments Of literature
ard craftsmanship, and the ether in
pure science. No, Jesus does net
mean that wisdom prevents 4 man
from believing, o does He disccur-
age learning; Christ's religion, in
fact, has been the leader always in
the educational world. but He means
that 10 amount of learning can give
to a mar that which He comes to the
world to give. Worldly learning can-
not reveal heavenly things. In other
words, worldly wisdom cannot be
substituted for revelation.
Jesus Christ came into the world
to live q life, which should be in it.
self a revelation OF new values. 1t
is needless to say they are opposed to
world values. For instance, Jesus
begins with life itself. 1t is the su-
preme value, hence the horrible char
acter of murder and suicide. The
Christian world has not yet grasped
the real meaning Of the value which
Jesus placed upon life; not cultivated
and refined, but just human life.
Then humility, the possession
of which puts q man into the right
altitude toward God and his fellow
man. Then unselfshness, which en-
ables him to shed many of the char
acteristics Of the brute world. Then
obedience. which enables him to cul-
tivate the qualities OF the ruler. that
he may be self-po2sessed and strong.
Then love, which leads to gratitude
to God, and the help Of his fellow
man. These things are supreme
values in the revelation of Jesus
Christ. He has little to say about
birth. A Llan may have been born
in q hovel, or TIE heir to a throne;
it matters rot so rs his work is we'll
done. A man may be worth much
money. CT MONO: he may be very