The Penn's Grove record., 1915-07-09
DELIGHT TO OBEY
And Direct and UnmiStakabIe Are
the Appeals That Come
From Above.

1t is a great moment when n can
look back over his experience and can
say with earnestness and confidence,
as Paul did, Il was not d~isobedieut
unto the heavenly vision" Heavenly
visions are not i%nfrequent. They
come to US right often. The spiritual
influences come as quietly and as IN
seen as the electric current, and with
something, too, Of its magnetic energy.
The Holy Spirit causes a still small
voice to be heard in the soul. Duty
impresses itself with peculiar force O
the spirit. The a-ttractiveness of right
eousness, the beauty of goodness, the
call Of the good-it is a dull and I'M
spiritual soul that does not see and
hear these things. Heaven is all about
US, not only in our infancy, as Words
worth declares in the poem, but also
In our maturity. How direct and un-
mistakable are the appeals and the
calls that come from above.
A habit Of obedience to the heaven
ly visions marks those that are max
ing greatest religious and spiritual
progress. The thing that means most
for spiritual development is a deter
mination to respond to those impulses
which come from God. Jesus Christ
leads those who will follow. He opens
new experiences to those that are
obedient. He discovers the deeper
things Of truth to those who obey. He
takes all those who are willing to be
led into the richer experiences Of
Christian living.
The deepest personal humiliation in
to which one can enter is the con-
seriousness that he has not been obedi-
ent to the spiritual influences that
have touched his life. Esau, mourning
over the birthright he had bartered
foolishly away; Saul, feeling the might
OF Jehovah upon him and his whole
soul afame with great visions and
ideals, and yet, u~nresponsive to them
all; Peter, mourning over his failure
to be 'heroic and strong and true when
he had thought to play the man-these
all are illustrations Of the distress and
humiliation felt when one has been
untrue to the spiritual impulses that
have come into his life.
Descent Into Darkness.
Doubtless there are many who know
the deep darkness into which a good
man descends when he has been dis
loyal to Gods call in his soul. There
is no deeper sorrow than that which
grows out Of self-reproach. The
Quaker poet did not ~exaggerate when
he said, "Of all sad words of tongue
or pen, the saddest are these-Tt
might have BEEN"
There is danger that men and wom-
en- may become so interested in the
ambitions and en1oyments of the mate
rial world that they shall fail to see
the heavenly vision. Sometimes the
music of this world sounds so appeal
ingly that We fail to catch the celestial
music. There were those of old time
who merely said that it Numbered
when the heavenly father himself
spoke out of the open skies and said:
This is my beloved son, hear ye him"
~ 40 q ao6CAI nhCA AAO AuLCiCSlH vi
this present world serve t o dull the
spiritual apprehension.
Keep the soul open to the influences
that come from above. Determine
that the nature shall always be quick
ly sensitive to spiritual impression.
The way that opens with absolute GER
tainty into the deepest satisfaction OF
the Christian life has over its gate
way this one word-"Obedience." One
has reached great Christian attain
ment when he is able tc look back
yer his life and say with confidence:
l have not failed to respond when God
spoke to me by his spirit. l have not
been disobedient unto the heavenly
vision.