The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1917-01-05
Dare to be a Daniel.
Dare to stand alone,
Dare to have a purpose true
Dare to make it known!

Such firmness Is the fruit of faith.
Men who have tried other cures for
enslaving habits, but in vain, have
found help here.
After virtue comes knowledge"
How appropriate that this should fol-
low virtue, for no man is more dan
gerous than he who has a strong will
but is not Instructed in the use Of it.
He Is related to the mule rather than
to the ideal man. But the new spirit
which comes through faith in Christ
brings light as to our duties and the
word of God is found lamp to our
feet. (The knowledge referred to here
Is practical rather than speculative
we may not be told the dimensions of
heaven, but the way to get there is
made plain.) .
Temperance" or self-control, comes
next. What commentary ON our ma
tiOnal sin that the word suggests alb
stinsnce from drink! But it's meaning
is much broader, for our judgments,
our tastes, our speech must be con-
trolled, (Here is found one of the Sc
crets Of greatness of character; great
men impress us by their reserve, while
little men put all their goods in the
showcase.)
Patience" may be defined as cheer
full or hopeful endurance. 1t is far re-
moved from the stoical idea; it is not
the patience of the Indian at the stake,
but of the Christian who sings as he
suffers. 1t grows out of faith but is
nourished by the hope of Christ's' ap-
pearing, for we read often of ''the pa
tience Of hope"
The next grace is goodness" the
fundamental idea of the word being
reverence toward God. There is a no.
table lack of this virtue today. Would
that we could keep ever before us such
a revelation of God as is found in
Isaiah 40, where we see him holding
the oceans in the hollow of his hand,
weighing the mountains in scales, call
ing the stars by name, and accounting
the nations as the small, invisible dust
of the balance!
Following godliness is "brotherly-
kindness" or as the Revised Version
reads, "love of the brethren" This is
distinctively Christian, for those who
are near to Christ will love one ain
other. Many young Christians have
been helped to assurance by the text,
1--WE know we have passed from death
unto life because we love the brethren"
Finally, we have charity" or love.
This is love to all men, in the most
general sense. Hence, Christians are
melted to do all that mere humanita-
rians will do, and more!
It Is to be noted in this cluster of
graces, growing out of faith, that two
are active, virtue" and knowledge; ;"
two are passive, Temperance" and
PATIENCE" one, goodness" has ref
erence to God; another, 'brotherly love"
has reference to the church; the last,
"love," has reference to all mankind.
How appropriate that they should be
just seven in number, for this is the
number of completeness!
We cannot urge sufficiently that
these graces are not to be added, one
at a time, but are to grow and develop
simultaneously, out of our faith in
Christ. Galatians 5 % speaks not of
the fruits of the Spirit, but of the
fruit growing on the one cluster.
Old Jeremy Taylor speaks of this
text as "a rosary of Christian graces.'
Let us tell over its beads frequently,
with much prayer that these things
may be in us and abound. .