East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1911-10-09
PRESBYTERIAN
SUNDAY SERMON
L. j. NIilnes, Minister 1909 L. Court,
Phone Main 54I.

nal weight of glory" I'd Cor. 4:l7.
Notwithstanding the marvels of
modern scientific achievement, the
psychic miracle of so-called mind
( reading has never yet been demon
strated to the satisfaction of intelli
gent men. Much less can we read |
/ the mind of God. Surely His ways are
past finding OUT When We are
! told, therefore that it is not the |
! Fathers win that any should suffer .
we we'll may ask. "by what authority" /
comes this Information? What spir- !
itual genius has so pentrated the Sc
Cret thoughts of the infinite Jehovah? /
What great philosopher, theologian
/ or prophet has ever been so venture /
some OF a sertion Did Plato, Py-
thagoras, Socrates or Aristotle Did
Leibnitz Spinoza. Descartes, Berkeley
or Kant Did Origen, Gregory. Ire
naeus or Anselm? Did Zwingli or
4 Calvin or Schleiermacher? Did Mo-
ses, Isaiah, Paul or Christ And to
whom has God revealed His will, il
not TO these But let us not bicker
in words. Time is too precious and
the subject too serious for mere con-
tention Needless to debate the
reality of suffering with a man who
has the toOthache. Cruel to argue
when hearts are bleeding and lives
are shadowed by clouds of bereave-
ment. The unmetaphysical common
sense of mankind will scarcely be
lieve that when ora falls head-first
down stairs, he simply passes down
When bull dog grabs me by the calf
an Inclined series of perceptions
of the leg. don't tell me that | expert
cnce merely a pugnacious idea. The
testimony of pain comes sobing up
out of the aching heart of the past so
unintermittently that there is scarcely
a. page in history but drips with
tears
The cause of suffering may be de-
batable, but the fact stands without
intelligent challenge. We may sing
with Milton
"of mans first disobedience. and the
| fruit
OF that forbidden tree. whose mortal
taste
brought death into the world. and
all our Woe"
But of what avail? What cares
the heart for causes and origins when
| all its powers are engaged with stern
reality The quest is, what COM
pensation does grief afford? What
mission of benefcence may it serve?
This depends upon our own violtion.
For it is unthinkable that anything
in inflicted by a God of love which
may not serve our ultimate good. We
| cannot phpnCa h,1
come to us, but we can choose what
suffering shall mean to us 1t may
make Us bitter and resentful or it
may mellow US into sweetness and
love. Whether or not God can de-
| wise some other way, certainly He
never has devised means of our per-
lection without the ministry of suf-
| fering; and it remains for us to Sc
cure the best of whatever things are
| unavoidable. What, then. is this best.
| this ultimate compensation which JUS
| titles the belief that suffering is APP
| pointed of God? The compensation,
| if we permit it is the expansion and
| refinement of our powers. Moral Wig
or is the product of discipline Af-
| Fiction brings it's gifts to character.
| and misfortune often holds a hidden
| DuI heavenly DeNeulctlOn.
All refining processes are severe.
Every piece OF steel which is to per-
| form any function in tn worlds in
dustry. must first pass through the
forge, writhe upon the anvil and quv-
er beneath the relentless hammer that
= fits it for its place. And if we look
into the biography of the leading men
n Of history, we find that the strong
h types of character and manhood have
, | been hammered out on the anvil Of
adversely, affliction and sacrifice.
When We come to see that burden
q bearing and suffering have a sacred
> use, we may employ them as the
sculptor his chi-els, the smith his
hammers. and the weaver his mingled
threads of every hue. He is the win
ming man who can use afflictions as
rounds in the ladder of his own de-
signs, who sees a teacher in every
body an occasion for self improve
ment in every event for whom moth
ing is useless, nothing in vain.
Furthermore, our afflictions being
; only means to an end, are but for
a moment" while the end. or weight
of glory" is eternal. The cross is
! temporal, the crown eternal; the dis
cipline temporal, the character eter-
nay. The Apollo Belvedere stands
toCay miracle of beauty two thou
sand years after the chisel perished
which scuIptured it into form and
grace. Cologne's great spires stand
like pillars supporting the rafteress
ski and with a similar aspect of per-
manence; but the scaffoldngs tools
and other means of construction have
long since passed away. SO affliction
administers its discipline and passes
away. leaving its eternal blessing And
what a blessing it is-"a weight of
glory Indeed. 1--WE glory in trbu-
lation; for tribulation worketh pa
tlence." David said at is good for
me that | have been afflicted" Jesus
was not only "a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief" but at pleas
ed the Lord to bruise Him" For thus
He was made perfect through suf-
fering." God chastens those whom
He loves and it appears that certain
blessings can come in no other way.
Many man has been nobler from
the very hour in which a darling
child took sick and died. once