The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1914-05-15
SERMON TO GRADUATES
Rev. Halter Discusses Theme In
terestinsly and Eloquently
Before Graduates of the
Hiah School.

Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly
Vision."-Acts 26:l9.
paul is speaking of an experience
which has come, in some form or other
to the lives of all the great and the
good-the dream, the vision, the sud.
den Illuminating convicting of Di-
vine strength and of a Divine con-
solation-the sense of finger point
ing and n voice calling upward to Il
higher life. These experiences arc
found in the lives of all rcformors and
prophets All OF the leading charac-
tcrs of the Old Testament had them.
Notably, to Jacob, to Elijah, to Isaiah
and to Ezekiel come the vision in u
miraculous manner But the rcycla-
ton made to the understanding, to
the heart, to the spirit and to the will
is ever the same in reality, whatever
Its accomplishments or the circunl-
stances Of its Appearances
Besides the many outward and
ordinary means, there are also gol-
den moments of inspiration and en-
enlargement for which all of US can
and ought to watch. Dull indeed, or
very dcpraved is the life that never
knows them. There are many chan
nels thru which God sends these into
the twilight in which we move. No
mysticism; no idle dreams here! Men
have always been inspired and
strangely guided by these visions and
idols We are creatures Of mood,
but it is the higher moods that we
seek and our visions should enable us
to find Them
"Of course we must not look for
Heavenly visions Of a miraculous kind.
Our utter Importance in the history
Of the world would not warrant our
indulgence in Of his own creating. 1t
took shape, in a measure, out Of the
circumstances Of his birth; it took the
color Of his relations to life and OF
this view of life. It may wei have
had mingled with it a dream Of iltWp
Greatness. His cpistlcs show him to
be a man of profound intellectual pow
or; and the story of his life declares
him q man of marvellous energy, dar-
ing, pcristcncy. AItho at this time
q young man he was already WELDING
authority
If one part Of his vision g,owcd
with brighter hucs it was the dcstruc-
ton Of the Nazarene heresy. But
there arose before him another visun,
no longer self-made, no longer earthly!
1t showed him that vast martyr
throng whom he would hate to prison,
compel to blasphcmc, condemn to
death: but he, Saul of Tursus, was
among them. 1t showed him that
Jesus as the Messiah demanding,
saul, Saul Why Persecutest Thou
Nc? ?"
But whence come these visions or
ideals? Surely not of ourselves.
Moses could never have had that in
spring ideal Of what his people must
become, that ideal which possessed his
imagination and filled his heart with
holy CLEAN of hope abiding with him
day and night, making him strong
to endure and to do had he not been
shown the pattern in the mount. Paul
could not have portrayed to himself
that glowing picture of the whole
Roman empire regenerated, bowling
at the feet of the Crucified had not
the glory beyond the brightness of
the sun CLEANED from the heavens
binding for time his natural WIS.,
ion but photographing itself indelibly
on his soul"
"Our ideals come to us mediately.
But must take immediate hold of the
imagination and kindle the fervor of
our soul even as if we had been with
God in the mount or had been struck
by the sudden glory from the skies"
"But we need more than visions to
make our lives great. Paul had no
magic secret that kept labor sweet
to him. He had two things-visions
and obedience, and he had them in this
order-visions first obedience after
ward"
"Many who have fine vision and
great dreams have nothing else. When
they turn from the airy fabric of their
vision to face the stern realities, to
touch the hard facts, and the dream
their hearts fail and they become help
less. In all that history which genius
has created the greatest failure is
Hamlet Prince of Denmark. The alb
ysmal depth to which he sings, the
wide roads Of agony which his very
powers open end, come from one point
of weakness and that is the point
where Paul made the connexion-the
point where he was obedient to his