Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-03
Gptuortb league
Uopie
REV. SAMUEL w. GRAFFLIN.

Amos, 2:14-16; GAL, CTS. Luke,
| 12:16-21.
0 the average man or woman, boy
VI or girl. nothing seems more i'm
probable than that there should
| be, for them, such thing as spiritual
disaster. The ground seems so firm be-
meath our feet; the air is so fresh and
free; nature Is SO kind, and life so bright.
that calamity js the 'unpronounceable
word" We lull ourselves to sleep with
harmonies of hope and dream pleasant
dreams, Of present pleasure and future
| bliss.
| fierce conflict and fiery trial Those only
| who weather the storm or overcome the
obstacles and handicaps of life: who with
faith unfaltering have kept their pact
| with God may claim His aid in time Of
need, and rest secure upon the rock foun-
dalton Of His providence.
From the Scriptures and topic we CLEAN
three thoughts:
| !. The weakness of mere human
strength. 1t matters little where we
stand upon the highway Of history,
whether beside the fallen Caesar; William
the Conqueror. dead. or Napoleon; the
thought that crowds upon the soul is still
i
domitable wills, their dauntless courage
or their nimble wits; they rode rough
shod over the plans and purposes OF God
and men, and saw their castles fall, their
which they had depended work their
| overthrow"
| Against this place the histories of the
early saints and martyrs; Of the mission
his foes, only to win them to the cause
of Christ; of Augustine, the true con-
queror Of England; of Luther at Worms;
of Wesley facing the mobs Of his day.
and mark the contrast. "One man ana
| God are majority"
Not to the strong is the battle,
Nor to the swift Is the race;
| But to the true and the faithful
Vict'ry Is promised through grace.
| II. Seedtime and Harvest.-In no
department Of endeavor is the law
of cause and effect, Of seedtime and
harvest more memorable than in the
spiritual realm. Not in all the book of
God is there a more awful passage than
that given us in the sixth Of Galatians.
beginning. BE not deceived, God Is
not Knocked, for whatsoever a man
soweth that shall he also reap" How
often are men found trif1ing with God,
and when disaster comes and they
must cry for help to Him whom they
| so lately Knocked how pitiful the
sight.
Somewhere long years ago we saw
upon a billboard the picture OF man
| in deep distress. Around him was the
night and storm. black cloud and
| lightning typified his inner thought as
he cried out: "Oh, God. turn back the
universe and give me yesterday" But
| God does not turn back the universe,
| nor give us yesterday. We made our
| yesterdays-faunted them in the face
| of God, and the remorse and retribution
| of today are the offspring of those
yesterdays. God made no hell for men;
Jesus said so. He'll Is for devils and such
men as care for things that mock the law
and love of God The ruined races of
! the past, the whole long catalogue OF
souls, from Cain. first murderer. to the
| last victim of remorse, cry out: Beware
| thou mock not Cod ,.
III. False Security and Spiritual Dis
! aster.-As the Lord and Master Of us all
comes to the end of "the sermon on the
, mount He tells with graphic detail the
story of two men. Both built; one upon
| shifting sand and one upon the rock.
Both houses may have been alike, both
| builders craftsmen equally adept. The
storm came; one house fell and one house
| stood. not Of itself. but on the rock. The
strength was In the rock.
And there are men and women, youths
and maidens in our day who build their
lives upon the thousand and one trifiing
pleasures Of the hour, hooking the SOD
emn note Of Gods rebuke strong in their
strength and feeling 50 secure, so heed
| less of the storm inevitable. The storm
cometh; only the Rock, Christ Jesus, is
secure