Newspaper Page Text
SOMETHING FOR NOTHING"
11 By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD, j
PASTOR UN1VERSAL1ST CHURCH I
HAVE headed this article w
nortion of 'the title of n collectlun
nf essays written by an illustrious
’ «orernor of the state of Illinois,'
*’»use I desire, under this title, to
fl, attention to one of the menacing,
rnlclous tendencies of modern
imerican life.
Fverv individual who has ever had
Vision t" sign or-to receive the slg-
, ture to such on instrument knows
", a portion of the form of every
" II,. drawn promissory note consists
, he ,vords, "For value received.!'
nntP thus becomes a certificate to
hf fact that some medium of value
“ been passed between and recog-
. d by the parties to this transaction,
.H ,hc man who holds high his flnan-
J? honor, or who "keeps his credit
“i,- Is the man who Immediately
*Trniscs the claim of the obligations
created and never so much as
ffS! „f attempting to evade them,
■i". Is the type of man whom the
■r„k, call "good" and whom the com-
ircial agencies rate as “A-l." The
■n.n who repeatedly Incurs financial
■"*" with no definite thought or
clul opportunity closed and barred to
him. and then promptly sets up a wall
about the coldness and hardness of
the world, and the extreme difficult^
encountered by an honest; well mean
ing man In making a living.
The Universal Law of Obligation.
Failure to recognise and unhesitat
ingly to obey this universal law of ob
ligation Is responsible for nearly all of
the moral and financial shipwreck of
the world. Failure to render as "our
reasonable service" all of the good of
which we are capAbte in return for all
of the good which Is constantly lav
ished upon us, must speedily render us
Incapable of receiving good from any
source Just as it will certainly Inca
pacitate us for its transmission. The
farmer speedily learns by experience
If he possess not the knowledge by in
heritance, that he will receive back
from the land only In proportion to the
diligence of his sowing and his tillage!
In this modern and practical age he
does not hope to gather "grapes from
thorns nor figs from thistles,” neither
does he confidently expect a bountiful
yield of the sown crop from a field im
poverished by years of constant and
injudicious husbandry. He does not
attempt to get "something for nothing"
from old Mother Earth, whom he may
SUffi™'their prompt and honorable knot successfully enjoie or (fatter or
isctiaige soon finds the doors of flnan- deceive. He knows that he will re
ceive back from his Held only in di
rect proportion to Ills Investment of
seed, of fertilizer, and pf labor of
brawn and of brain. Foil the crop
which shall gladden his heart at the
end of the summer he knows that he
must pay the full price of money, of
careful study of the condition and
needs of the soil, and of persistent ro
tation of crops us well as of earnest
and faithful toll. And so It is In ev
ery avenue of man's material activity.
Youth’s golden dreams of the free glftB
of a fairy godmother are soon dis
pelled, and stern experience soon
teaches us that the value of the things
which life has In store for us shall al
ways be in direct ratio to the price we
are willing to pay.
"The heights by great ones reached
and kept
. Were not attained by sudden flight:
But they, while their companions slept
Were tolling upward through the
night."
That wondrous talent over which we
exclaim In awe, and for which we
praise the artist, the sculptor, the mu
sician. consists chiefly In the deter
mined application to patient and per
sistent toil, through all the trying and
tedious days of obscurity, the liking
and the adaptability to hard work. It
REVi E. D. ELLENWOOD.
was the price he paid, that Is all.
[keen and cultured Intellect Is the re
sult of constant companionship with
the world's greatest thinkers, together
with much of purposeful meditation
and careful and persistent thought
practice’. A man does not become a
savant or a philosopher by constant
companionship with those Intellectu
ally his Inferiors, nor by devouring,
mentally, large quantities of the "Alt
Story" magazine, or the "UnJversnl
Flreidde Monthly." A man's state of
mind and nf Intellect Is almost al
ways a record of the price he has been
willing to pay for the thing he has
Wanted.
The Obligation Is Unescapsble.
The analogy holds yiood In the moral
and spiritual as well as In the physical
and the Intellectual realm.
I care not what certain theologies
may teach conwnlng a vicarious
atonement for sin, moral character Is
not and can not be vicariously secured.
This would be contrary to the laws of
nature and of nnture'a God.
I may be encouraged. Inspired, up
lifted by the righteousness of one
whom I love and trust, but not thus
alone may I become possessed of his
graces of deportment nor the excel
lence of character from which they
spring. I may not have a character
bestowed upon me, neither con 1 In
herit it. True enough. It is that I
may have transmitted to me certain
tendencies of strength or of weakness
of moral nber, but these shall prove
only a help or a handicap In my own
Individual struggle for n character
which I may call my own, and which
I In turn shall find myself utterly pow
erless to bequeath. Character Is not a
moral commodity to be bestowed upon
the eager supplicant ns the free gift
of God; It la an Individual attainment
and Its Worth, like everything else In
life, shall be measured by the price
of the soul's needs and possibilities,
the persistent and relentless throttling
of the sensual and the selfish, and the
patient nurturing of the spiritual unto
life eternal.
• When we come to fully realise that
Character Is not merely the "way of
salvation," but that It Is salvation, and
when, having given over tlio Idle and
delusive dream of-havlng the charac
ter of Christ bestowed freely upon us
b.v the sacrifice of Christ, we set pa
tiently and manfully about the task of
winning, by God's help, a character for
ourselves, we shall be able to compre
hend as never before what St. Paul
meant when he demanded that we
should "work out our own salvation,
with fear and trembling." It Is the
only way. Character Is not bestowed,
It Is developed. It costs much of In
dividual sacrifice and effort. Young
man. If you really want to be a man.
you must pay the price. No one else
can pay It for you. Distrust as your
worst enemy that sincere blit misguid
ed theologian who holds out to you the
hope of the Immediate attainment of
the character of Christ as a result of
your belief In the efficacy of Ills
atunement for your shortcomings. God
does not will that Christ should thus
bestow upon you His character. He
would not be n loving and wise Father
if he thus gave to you what can only
possess value to you ns It represents
the results of your own continued ef
fort. Be thankful, indeed, that In. your
struggle for a character you shall have
the help of every noble soul whom
God has raised up to he a witness for
Him, that the yternal spirit of right
eousness shall constantly brood over
J’otl, and that you shall be strength
ened and upheld by your contact with
the spirit of the living Christ, whose
shout of triumph comes to you across
the shortened centuries: "Be of good
cheer! I have overcome the world.”
So shall your Innate manhood assert
Itself, arid you shall rejoice, rather
than lament, that the struggle is your
own and not another's, and that In tha
moral market, as In every other activ
ity of life. It is impossible to get
"somftl^lng for nothing.”
THE CONSERVATION OF SPIRITUAL FORCE
By REV. JAMES W. LEE,
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
T HE discovery of the law of the
correlation and equivalence of
forces, has had vast Influence
ipon the thought of the present time,
has furnished men with a new open
g , through which they can behold
he nature of things from a different
mgle of vision. It has given them a
isiv working hypothesis, and richer
inceptions of the universe and Ita
lUthor. The civilization of the pres,
nt time, with all it contains, and with
II that It promises, Is due more to
his than to any other single dlscov
ry, or scientific principle. The brief.
St formula of the principle la no force
I ever lost. It shows thy agencies
1th which the world Is regulated-and
unrolled to be one great brotherhood.
All forces are ultimately one force.
The rising up of fo^ce In one point,
Ives the subsidence of force In
e other point. The amount rising
aji. too. Is the exact equivalent of the
lpmunt subsiding. When a man lets a
mlt fall from a church steeple, the
arth rises Just as muchjo meet the rock
In proportion to Its mass as the rock
Mis to meet the earth In proportion to
iss. When a man shoots a rlfleball
■ a gun. ns much force goes back
igalnst the man's shoulder, aa goes out
brinish the muzzle of the gun. What
he gun lacks In velocity It makes up
n mass, and what the ball lacks In
It makes up In velocity. When a
bine tree is cut down and spilt Into
imall pieces and put Into an engine,
It the same amount of heat Is gath-
d from It that was garnered from
he sun In' the hundreds of years of
is growth. Then this heat Is con-
ert«l Into an equivalent of steam, this
'team Into an equivalent of mechanical
notion. The sunshine, the pine tree, the
heat, the steam and the mechanical mo-
|.m are only different forma of the same
ihlng. Many scientific men claim that
Mi taw not only reaches throughout the
'hyslcal
Physical and
Husky said that a speech was
arid, but through all realm,
metaphysical. Professor
so
much transmuted mutton. This
principle, which Is perhaps the best
established and far-reaching of nil
scientific principles, we desire to apply
to the life and work of Christ. Grant
ing, as we must, the truth of this prin
ciple and its bearing In all realms,
and .granting,, too, that the work of or
dinary men may be estimated by It. we
desire to Inquire If the life and work
of Christ form no exception to Its
operation, as ordinarily regarded. Es
timated by this principle, cam we ac
count for the work and Influence of
Christ among men on the assumption
tholinh« ( >T>WWdft''lWTlWA>y-«rtTTlni,' Mb
fwlille large operators remain okt little dan-
in Christendom today but has been
I armed directly or Indirectly with ref-
rence to Christ. ' In these places
where character Is formed, where rev
olutions are started, where Napoleons,
and Wesleys, and Gladstones are de
veloped, where eternal issues pend,
Christ has come, quietly and silently,
to regulate, to dominate and control.
To thus influence and vitally touch
homes, an Immense amount of force is
Required. Christ has given new dates
to the calendar of the ages. Infidels
In dating their letters pay tribute to
His character, In the fact that they
•ecognjze he has ushered In a new era.
.hrlst has claimed and held through
rger Is lurking for the small buyer. It Is hearly two thousand years one day
recognized, however, that prices might , ut of every week to be devoted to his
tfhonV , ?h£ n wSSr5o < } hoinV/.XjEmriS WTIW. The day upon which He was
iher^ow Jld felr toholdtS’onXulth! >» celebrated In the hearts of
lobbing season. ben and In the arts of men. To change
New Orleans. Sept. 8.—Liverpool 114 to 4 ihe world's calendar, to Inaugurate
own Is a shade lietter than doe. Was ez- I ml make permanent a new date, to
.ported 5 points lower. mpcl the world to set apart a day
' T ‘" r ';f/! , %"?:nn'i U MonaT^or HI. worship, to furnisl! the world
TyleE *»d m-Jraw Jrop already “SS* i W,h , MW ***«*•»■ and holidays has
II weevil has done great damage In Im- Required, certainly, a marvelous
nedlnte vicinity of Tyler. Taking every- amount of force. But greatest of all,
.hlng aa It appears In esst Texss, ts fsr Christ has won the hearts of men. To
.«» I have seen, has good crop. Weevil Is win the disinterested love of one man
worse In, this Immediate section than north la k e> much force—more than most
b Western forecast Indicates fair weather ; n * B have. To VVln the loveof a *1®}®
might and Sunday for weatern Texas and fakes more. But to w in anil to hold
morally fair tonight for Louisians with .hrough the perturbations and revolu-
•obnhle scattered showers Sunday. For Ions uf kingdoms and republics, the
le balance partly cloudy weather tonight Andylng love of'the best and the pur-
VU°'" or E::™, iniu—,-. .hew.™ 1st. tat of men on earth requires an In
ks stern forecast Indlratea Jhowera bite S nUe ot n OU nt of force. This point in
force, financial, mental
to build them. Then to keep them sup
plied with preachers and lights and
furniture has taken much force. Con
sider art, music, poetry, painting,
sculpture and architecture. Handel’s
Messiah, Dante’a Inferno, The Laat
Supper, Powers’ Eve, St. Peters at
S ome. The subjects of these have
•en furnished by Christ, and the In
spiration which produced them have
all come from Chrlat. In the concep
tion and production of these, a mar
velous amount of the most refined,
subtle force has been expended. Con
sider the Influence of Christ on the
homes of men. There Is hardly a home
west Florida Ala- lnuc amount oi tone. un,
balance fair Ichrist'a character greatly I
il arid muscular, the first Napoleon. Snld he:
Impressed
T know
men. Christ Is not a man. I have
seen the time when I could Inspire
thousands to die for me: but It took
ihc Inspiration of my presence and the
power of my word. Since I am away
from men. a prisoner on Helena, no one
will die for me. Christ, on the other
hand, has been away from the world
nearly two thousand years, and yet
there are millions who would die for
Him. I tell you Christ is not a man. I
know men.” Time would fall to tell
of all the Institutions, books, philo
sophic apparatus, poem*, symphonies,
lyrics, .newspapers, colleges, clzlllzn-
tions, laws, discoveries, Inventions,
DR. J. W. LEE.
homes and hearts Into which the force
of Christ's life hns for the past nine
teen hundred years been lifting Itself.
As the sun expresses l|self In the mea
dow and lifts Itself Into the trees of
the forest, so Christ has been embody
ing. Himself In the Institutions, litera
ture, licurts and thoughts of men; The
scientists say all force can be account
ed for. When force rises up nt one
point It subsides nt another. The
amount of force that rises up, they
say, Is the exact equivalent nf the
amount that subsided. Upon this the
ory we must account for all the force
coming from the life of Christ that has
expressed ltsc|f In the domestic, so
cial, political, ecclesiastical, literary,
commercial and other Institutions of
tnen. More has risen up than can bo
computed by human arithmetic or
compassed by human thought. Where
did It come from? Where did It sub
side? At what point did It disap
pear to rise again In such overwhelm
ing volume, and such sweeping nnd
fur-reaching Influence?
We go back through eighteen hun
dred years. Wc are standing Ih Jeru
salem. We hear conflicting rumors
,of a strange, dnrlng young man. At
length he Is pointed out to us. Th«ro
Is nothing remarkable about his np-
pearance. He Is a Jew. He was born
among the poor. He is not noted for
culture. He has no social position.
He hns no money. He hns no political
power, or prestige. He hns no nrmy
at his command. He faqs no philosoph
ical Bystem. He Isi connected Aylth no
academy. He Is only 3.1 years old.
His words are contained In no books.
They are simply In the memories of
His disciples. He Is misunderstood.
His own disciples do not knifw what
to make of him. Finally he Is arrested
and tried and condemned and crucl-
lled. He dies between two thieves,
scorned,. scoffed, buffeted nnd friend
less. Keep In mind the principles we
> Are considering. All force can be meas
ured. No more force rises up than
subsides. Action, nrtd reaction nre
equal. We are seeding to account In
accordance with thin principle for the
vast amount of force Christ has poured
Into the Institution and thought of hu-
manltv. Is this young mnn’s life,
seemingly so Insignificant and weak,
the exact equivalent of all the churchea,
schools, colleges, arts, literature, homes.
f overnments, sacrifice, good works, he-
olsm, martyrdom, patience, love nnd
hope, that have, by general consent,
resulted from His existence In the.
world? If so, was He only a man.
Multiply 33 years fay poverty, toll, con
tempt, sorrow and crucifixion, and yop
have one product. Multiply 1900 years
by millions of churches, schools and
homes: by social position, wealth nnd
power; by success, triumph and con
quest: by love, mercy and truth; by a
hold upon humanity unequaled, and by
nn Influence upon human thought un
rivalled, and you hnve another product.
The question is,' Does one nf these
products seem to be the equivalent of
the oilier
pass, by an Infinite degree,
Is not the evolution out of all propor
tion to the Involution? Has not n
(rent deal more force risen up than
Seemingly subsided? Is there not much
more power seemingly on this side the
cross than intro pas on the oilier?
Manifestly nnd dearly, Christ's life
nnd work cannot be accounted for by
the law of the convertibility of forces.
Mahomet’s life and work can be ac
counted for by this principle. He suc
ceeded by the ordinary methods by
which men succeed. He appealed to
men's love of fame, conquest, wealth,
power, pleasure. He offered man, ns a
reward for their fealty to him, a great
enrthly kingdom, and sueh n heaven
boyond the grave ns would regale the
senses, please the fancy’ nnd gratify
the appetites. He simply organized
and applied the Intent enrthly forces
already existing In his countrymen.
His success is In line with Caesnr and
Bonaparte. The kingdom which Wo
proposed to establish was a merely
earthly, sensual, carnal kingdom. His
methods were carnal, the motives to
which he appealed were sensual and
the hopes ’ he inspired were carnal.
Christ, on the o|h*r D Bn< h condemned
man's love of conquest qnd fame and
wealth and power. He made the con
ditions of dlsclpleshlp tQ consist In the
denial of self and the relinquishment
of all eqrthly hopes, gratifications nnd
prospects. "If you find your life In My
kingdom.” snld He. "you must lose It In
thlA" He proposed to build up a king
dom that should be a» wide as the
world and ns lasting as eternity, wlth-
f iut adopting a single method or utlllx-
ng any of the means ordinarily relied
on for success. Not only did Ho pro-
hose a new kingdom, but to populate
it with new men, motives, hopes, con
ceptions and opinions. Hence, to come
Into His kingdom, men were to be made
over. They were to die to self,- to the
world, to pleasure. So Christ's work
and Influence In th* world not only
forma an exception to Che principle of
tho correlation of forces, but here wc
have an unparalleled amount of force
rising up, when to all human appear
ances none subsided at all.
A poor young carpenter dies. He
goes down In Ignominy. Amid the Jeers
nnd contempt of the multitude He
goes down Into the grave. But from
(hat moment commotion begins. Fur-
S ivencNs of sin In the name of Christ
' preached; disciples are won;
churches nre built; bonks are written:
Civilizations nre touched; movements
nre Inaugurated; persecutions, relent
less and bloody, nre waged. The fires
Of liafC are kindled, storms from all
round the social, political and religious
Sky gather and howl and empty their
fury upop the new movement. Noth
ing Impedes It: fire runnnt hinder it;
the sword does not alarm It. Now, we
Submit, does not such a movement,
starting from such n source, nnd mov
ing out with sueh vigor, nnd hemm
ing Intenser nnd deeper as It Is ex
tended, form a remarkable and singu
lar exception to the principle we are
considering? Is there-nny rule known
among men by which It may be esti
mated, and classified nnd labejed?
Can any human, or logical, or philo
sophical formula, Or principle necount
for tho multiform nnd widely diversi
fied facts In this ease? Is It not an
exception to all rules and human meth
ods of measurement? Do we not aug
ment the difficulties of accounting for
ihe work of Christ by minifying Him.
nnd railing Him a mere man? Is not
the easier way to account for Christ's
wtirk, to ' accord to Him all that He
claims for Himself and all that Ills dis
ciples claimed for Him. He snld: "All
power is given unto me In heaven and
in enrth." Jt wc accept this’as-true
we can account for His work. Then
we enn apply this principle In it*
higher bearings to the life of Christ
nnd the Influences which have grown
nut of It. Then wo can say that the
life of Christ was the equivalent of the
kingdom which hns been established
in the world through His name and
the power of His word. But in this
view \fe will see that Ills life was di
vine, nnd one with that of the Father
of us all. Then we will see that He
was the Son of God, the Word made
fiesh. the lncnrnntlon nf the Divine
mind and wisdom nnd power.
DEATH-SONG OF JESUS
“And whsn they had sung an hymn,
thay went out into tho Mount of
Olivot.”—Mark xlv: 2#.
t
i !
4 L
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE,
PASTOR SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
W E are constantly supposing
that all the facta and eventa
of the life of Jeaus have been
fathomed and set forth by the students
<he h>w Testament, that nothing
has escaped thetr attention. But It la
■ »» This text contains, what to
I:t and to most people, I Judge, la a
Kl stai-UIng portrait of Jesus.
nr»t pleaching. Chrlat weeping,
tnri.-t suffering, Christ weary. Christ
“ins. j'hrlst ascending, Christ In Hl»
wueMuniwn portraits wa have coma
well. But what one of us has
to knu
» bis gallery a portrait of Christ sing-
115 * ""ng? I pause to let that picture
nzm,, Itself before you.
The singing Christ! This once and
I j? onl >' are wo told that Jesus sang.
n,lt doubt He sang many times
woide. but only once did He sing as
no d.„ s he re This was the death song
«Jesu*. in front of His great passion
fto sang „ hymn. Strange that neither
!;*' n ?‘ no inter nor expositor has cel-
„rj."" the Significance of It and the
sublimity into which the fact lifts the
‘“ranter of Christ.
Song, of the Haartbraak.
•' -'W always arrests us. On the
,,r 'et. Issuing from the open window.
S'herevf.
hear It. we ,xlve atten-
' Especially songs aupg In dread-
hours. song* on the death bed.
1,1 sickness or sorrow, take on
Paul
and rtlius singing at midnight
W llu 'igc<in at Rhiltlbi: Jerome of
Chrf, ? singing at the stake: ths
hsmn ,l!< " l the catacomb* chanting
then ' lev went out to death 111
. unman amphitheater; how our
•hale hav « thrilled with such heroic
Mozart ompletlng his reverie on
41, bed feverishly then called
*« hl .* r ' Km| lv. telling her that
. asflnishod; that his work was
I*. ,,u t she should sing It to him,
ante obeying; and at length, when
He., 1 IloteK of her voice and the
b, '*’”* 'bed out, she turned with
tun, g, eyes full of tears to refolce
t,.;.. ™'i. -'he found him Bmlllng In
■ ’ "e feel the beautv and the
»iui,i,„ ‘ ,n tne lire or n great
Ton you recall'the first time
Pfinbl,", lhe , Hlor y ° r the fall of the
Ho™ 1 "'Ml In New Hampshire?
It th, , n a hundred girls employed
i»ta by aide, a sudden.
it, th „ “ sh . as the floors gave way utr-
«n J, ''eight and throb of machln-
Honing ne al ! to the ground and
"" n the workers at their
St jo," ;l , y i«e of crushing timbers!
btJ*? “ f hfe starts from an over-
fatt th.ts Bni * spreads amid the
kh-jtwi 5 Bre “bowing the helpless
,ku ‘ “th white and terror-atrlck-
cn faces awaiting their doom—the un
speakable horror of being burned alive
—the ring of apectaura from the other
mills gathering for tescue, only to be
driven back. Oh, the sickening scene!
The screams have teased. Then one
of the girls, perhaps delirious, perhaps
not, started up the song they had been
singing In chorus whenthe crash came,
and one by one, till their voices all
Joined In a great song that rose above
the roaring-of the flames, and died out
onlv when every tongue was still In
death, they sang—
"Our heavenly home Is bright and fair.
No pain nor death can enter there.
Its glittering towers the sun outshine,
That heavenly mansion shall ba mine.-'
The death song of Jesus was like
unto that, a song of victory, of pralae.
of trust, of triumph nmld the encir
cling gloom, the deepening darkness of
Impending agonies.
"And they sang n hymn and went out
Into the Mount of Olives."
Let us ask a question you hnve never
asked, and probably never heard
asked before.
Tha Death 8ong of Jesus. ■
What waa the hymn that Jesus sang
with His disciples on the night of His
betrayal?
There la every reason to believe that
It was the 118th psalm. This psalm
Is the laat of the great Hlllel which
was always sung at the conclusion of
the Passover. That night In Jerusalem
thousands were singing |t as they rose
from the feast apd parted. They sang
It os was their custom, drew from It
the Inspiration of their faith and went
out and away to their peaceful homes
In Palestine. Christ took that psalm
as His death song. He fulfilled It, filled
It full of reality. No other singer that
night could sing It as He did. no other
singer felt It as He felt It. The shad
ows of Gefhsemane and Calvary, the
awaiting torture, the fast closing mis
eries of physical and spiritual pain are
like a Hood Just outside the door of
the upper room. In Ihaf terrible buur
this Is what Jesus sang: "The Lord Is
on my side. I will not fear; what can
man do unto me? I shall not die, but
live; the stone which the builders re
fused Is become the head of the cor.
ner. Thla Is the day that the Lord hath
made; we will rejoice and be glad of
It God Is the Lord which bath showed
us light. Bind the sacrifices with
cords; even unto the horns of the altar.
Thou art my God BBd . 1 l w * , ! ll P™' 1 !!
Thee, thou art my God, I will exalt
Thee. O give thanka unto the Lord,
for He Is good, for Ills mercy endureih
,n The«e were the words of the song
that Jeeua sang In the face of His
afflictions, and then He went out Into
the Mount of Olives to meet them
alone. "Into the woods my Master
Went" with this song on Ills lips. I
think It 'nrmcd HIM for the conflict.
I think It comforted His soul to Its
papnlnn.
great «oi|l8 have drunk deeper
of fht courage of forint than Martin
Luther. He had learned the power of
tfae denth song of Jr-in"- The 118th
psalm was his favorite.
oftentimes when the perils of death
were about his head and dread persecu
tions, he would seek out his faithful
companion, Philip Melanlhon, nnd say,
“Come, Philip, 1st us »Jng the 118th
psalm.!' Luther's room became like
unto the upper chamber ringing forth
the words, "I shall not die but live.
Tills Is th« dll" - hl-h the Lord hath
made; we will rejoice arid be glad In
it; O, give thanks unto the Lord, for
He Is good, for His mercy endureth
forever." When Luther came to trans
late this psalm and dedicate It to his
friend, Frederick of Nuremburg,. he
wrote. "This Is my psalm, my chosen
psalm; I love (hem ell. I love all holy
Scripture, which Is my consolation and
my life. But this psalm Is nearest to
my heart, and t have a peculiar right
to cull It mine. It his saved me from
many a pressing danger from which no
emperors, nor klpga, nor safes, nor
saints could have saved me."
Oh, It I* more than Luther's! It la
Luther’s Lord's own hymn dedicated
by Hint to all who face agonlea and
pains andetecessllous houra.
The Midnight Agony.
But our eyee are still upon that up
per room In Jerusalem, our ears are
llitenlng to the tinging there. What
a trial to sing It must have been that
night. Here Is John on one side and
Peter on the other of Jesus, singing,
"Bind the sacrifice with urjrds, even
unto' the horns of the altar.” Blessed
Ignorance! They do not know what
they are singing. Had they known,
could they have sung at alt? But
Issut knew. Yet He sings. He sang
that song knowing what It meant, aang
with the heart-break upon Him, sang
on through to the end, and aang tri
umphantly.
But recently I have read an account
of a young mother wlibae meana of
livelihood waa her gift of song. An
actress she was and must face the
heartless throng night after night,
though her only child, a little girl, waa
III unto death at the hotel. She had
to sing for bread. Bhe refused an
encore one night to hurry back to the
little sufferer* side. When she got
there it wa* only to hear that there
was no hope; that the child had been
calling for her, begging her mother to
sing to her. fan you think of any
thing more terrible than that midnight
aguny? In the very presence of the
REV. DR. JOHN E. WHITE.
shadow of death the brave little woman
gathered her baby to her breaking
heart and u-nLked up and back the
death room singing what Jhe child
wanted:
"I think when I read that sweet story
of old,
When Jesus was once among men.
How He called little children like
lambs to His fold.
I should like to have been with Him
then."
Can you think how hard It was to
sing In an hour like that? Oh, then.-
what a sublimity of pathos It was for
Jesus to sing on the night of His be
trayal! The footsteps of the betrayer
have hurdly died away; The whole
day and night has been one pressuro
of pain, fan words bear half the bur
den of love and tenderness which the
hour, the circumstances are putting
upon the lips of Jesus? Taking the
bread from the table und holding It
before them. "This ts my body, bro
ken for you," and the cup red and
beaded to a bleed glow, "This Is my
blood which is shed for you," and then
rising up, surrounded by the eleven
men He loved so well, who could not
understand, who In a few hours'would
forsake Him; his murderers yonder
waiting with swords and staves; In
full view,to Him Ihe hall of falapha*,
the carpenter at His own old trade
mnklng a cross for shameful suffering.
In-which he would be the sufferer; I
standing there, the loneliest soul of
the world, singing—
"I shall not die but live and declare
the works of the Lord. This Is the
day whlc)t the Lord hath made. We
will rejoice and be glad In it. God la
the Lord who hath showed us light.
Bind the sacrifice with cords even
unto the horns of the altar. Thou art
my God jnd I will praise thee. Thou
art my Goil. I will oxnl| thee, O, give
thanks unto the laird for He Is goqjl.
for His mercy endureth forever."
Oh. there’s a life’s gospel In that for
us somewhere. A message from God
today for every one who will see tho
courage and fidelity nf Jesus In the
face of hi* troubles. " r |
In n few minutes you will be going
out. Do you know, can you know to
what? Yes, some nf you know exactly
whnt you are going out to. Some here
will be going back to the old Geth-
semane, the old cross nnd the pains
they have become familiar with. Some
times the constant going bark to the
old sorrows seems unbearable long
er, "I* It to be this, tMa always?" You
ask, and resentment Is In your heart
against your fate and often against
God! One time you have dared even
to say, "It would be better for God If
I didn’t believe In Him, for then I
would not feal th* resentment against
Him." So you are going out today to
front this old Gethsemane and the
crucifixion of your. life. Will you not
be entreated of Christ and sing some
thing brave, something noble, some
thing with the larger vision In It?
I do not mean that any man should
!try to sing aw*y the facts of his life
| cheaply, that your song should be an
' effort to forget your troubles. There
I Is enough of that, men drowning trou-
I ble, kicking It off and casting It out of
injnd. There Is enough of that, wom
en .throwing themselves Into the gay-
etles of society to make forgetfulness.
There Is nothing noble In that. It Is
only a kind of cowardly mental opiate.
The song that Chrlat sang was In the
face of His sorrow, not away from If.
As on the cross He refused the nno-
dyne, so In HI* song He turned not
away from the path of Ills pain. He
sang and went out—out to meet His
sorrow, nut to tread the wine press
alone. That Is the entreatv of this
text. Don’t try to forget, don’t sealr
escape, but alng a song In the face nf
your old griefs and sing It bravelv
through. And do I mean, my friend,
that vott are to go on end on forever
In a plaintive, pathetic fashion of tune
ful resignation? No, I do not. Re
sign nothing. Hope, believe, expect
everythin*. The hour will come when
voit will not need to sing songs In the
night, because the day of victory and
relief hit" come. The song of Jesus
was a prophecy throughout.
"Oh, but who can see as far as that?
Who can ace all the way to resurrec
tion and dellverpnce?” 1 do not say
that any man can "see the triumph
from afar and seize It with pie eye.”
ns the old hymn has It. I do pot suy
that Christ saw all the way beyond
Calvary to the Enthronement when
a e snng Uls death song; but I do say
nt He knew It. He knew It by faith.
Fnlth never sees. Faith knows, trusts,
goes on believing thqt somehow, be
cause the Father has promised, clouds
will brink, somehow deliverance will
cotpg. Faith goes on stepping In the
fight of the present; trusting for light
for the future.
T do not psk to see the dlllgpt se*ne.
rtnc step enough for me."
Wns It not grand last wlpter In At
lanta, yet fearful—the trees all man
tled In lee, rnch branch apd' twig grip
ped In winter's cold, hard hand and
crushed and bruised nnd broken? Woe
has come upon the trees. Ixiok nt the
sill) fresh wounds. We called It hav
oc and ruin, but do you know nature
was not singing n sad and hopeless
song that day? All her outlook wai
toward repair and replacement. She
foced her trouble ruggedly. Nature
knows that spring Is coming;—that
resurrection Is yonder. If we will
thjpk we pH) know It, too. Because
we see any buds or feel any euminer
wind? No. By faith we know that
spring will come and cover all these
wounds In bowers of green. "Oh, ye of
little faith. If your Father so repair
the trees (t°w much triore shall He re
pair your' broken heart, liow much
more a little pays hence prill
He cure' your darkness and give
you floods of light, and such fight
as was never seen on sea or land. Ev
ery brave song and every brave etep
In your gloom le carrying you through
and out of It toward the sunrise.
There are others here who will In
a few minutes be going out of this
upper room. Do you see, can you sec
to whBt? You cannot see, but you can
know, for faith acquaints' us with
griefs as well as Joys. Let me tell you,
the pealfhltst and happiest nf yop. that
there waa nothing endured by Christ
which each one of you may not be
called op to suffer In his own degree.
You cannot see your Gethsemane, but
you con know that It Is Inevitable.
"Into each life some rain must fall."
May I not know It for myself, that
upon my.’as yet, unbruleed shoulders
a heavy cross will yet be laid, that
fife will not, cannot be all health and
youth nnd unaffylctcdneae? May I not
know It for you? Before you Is a
garden of Ollyes and the oil press of
agony. What song Will you Sin* to
day before that? Let ua atrjke a brave
note, sing a brave song and go out
unshrinkingly to confront whatever
cross awaits us. Let us be strong In
the Lord nnd In the power of His
might.
Sing On, Dear Heart, Sing On.
A friend In this city called me to
Ids room three years ngo and said:
"The doctor has Just pronounced a
sentence of death upon me. He suys
I cannot live more thnn two years.
He advisee me to glvy up work and
take things quietly nnd easily. Now.
I cannot do that. SJy family, my chil
dren nre dependent upon me. I don't
want to do that. I nni not going to
do that. Between you nnd me I like
my doctor and I believe him when It
will do any good l». but I don't be
lieve a word he says about this. I am
not going to die, I tun going to live
nnd serve God." ■ r ' -
And he did. He snng n brave song.
He sang It and went nut to his Geth-
seinane and his crucifixion and con
quered both. Therp Is something be
yond the cross of pain to the man nr
the woman who will sing the song
of faith and confidence and go nn. '
The death song Of Jesus Is a song
of health tor u«. lie Is singing It sifll.
It Is an endless music that heaven
K ura down for us all. But we must
In tune pith It nnd sing- It with a
will if we alng It nt nil.
"When friends are few or far away,
Sing on, denr heart, sing on!
They rl*e to sing who kneel to pray.
Bing on, dear heart, sing on.
The songs of earth to heaven ascend
And with adoring anthems blepd.
Whose ringing echoes ne'er shall end,
81ns on. dear heart, sing on."
"And whep they hod sung n hymn,
they went out into the Mount of
Olives.”
Important Change of Sched
ule on Seaboard Air
Line Railway.
Effective Sunday. September 8th,
important change of schedule will ba
made on the Seaboard Air Line. Par
ticular attention Is called to the fact
that train No. 38, which now leave*
Atlanta, 9:33 p. nt.. will oo and after
September 9th. leave Atlanta at 8:00
m.. Central time.
QPIUM
and WHISK IY HAKTI
cared at home with*
t%e^£rsiat
as W. WOOLLEY,
dice 104 V. Pryor