Newspaper Page Text
—-
f
A SEEMON FOR SUNDAY
HELPFUL AND READABLE DISCOURSE
ENTITLED *?A LIFE MADE OVER."
h
Cha Dtsttnimtahad Paator-BvancreUBt, tha
Bev. Dr. Jt.Wilbur Chapman, Ru Fro-
pared the Following Sermon For tha
Preit—God Hal a Plan For Kronr Uto.
New York City.—The Rev. Dr. J. Wit-
pur Chapman, the popular pastor-evangel
ist, \Fho preaches to overflowing congrega
tions in this city, has furnished the follow
ing eloquent sermon to the press. It was
preached from the text “So he made it
again. Jeremiah 18: 4.
To any one familiar with the prophecy of
Jeremiah up to this point in the Scripture
it will be apparent that Israel was rushing
on to destruction, and Jeremiah seems
powerless to stop them in their mad
course. One day as he passes along the
highway he beholds a potter working in a
booth, and as he turns aside he beholds
him with the clay in his hands and the
wheel revolving, toiling away until this
piece of work is finished. He looks at it
with disappointment, and then crushing it
into his hands he kneads it over and over
and'finally makes it again as the text de
clares. Jeremiah is interested, and then he
saw the spiritual significance of it all as
we read irr the fifth and sixth verses of
this 18th chapter, "Then the word of the
Lord came to me, saying, O, house of
Israel, -cannot I do with you as this pot
ter? Saith the Lord, Behold as the day*
is in the potter’s hands, so are ye in Mine
hand, 0 house of Israel.” The trouble was
not with tbe potter; he was evidently a
good workman, nor with the wheel, for
that seemed to do its work well, but en
tirely with .the clay. Sometimes the clay
was coarse and difficult to mold, other
times it was full of grits,-but there were
two courses that were opened to the pot
ter. First, he could purify the day by re
moving the coarser elements, and second,
he could moke a rude vessel of the material
at hand. This is g familiar figure in the
Scriptures, for we read in Isaiah 64: 8,
"But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father:
we are the clay and Thou our potter: and
we all are the work of Thy hand,” and
then we read in the New Testament in
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, the Dth
chapter and the Slat and 22d verses,
“Hath not the potter power over the clay,
of the same lump to make ouo vessel unto
honor and another unto dishonor? What
if God, willing to show His wrath, and to
make His power known, endured with
much long suffering the vessels of wrath
fitted to destruction.”
> i.
We are the clay, God is the potter. Clay
In itself is most unattractive, but the art
ist looks upon it with interest because ol
what he sees in it ia the way of beauty af
ter his hands have touched it.' This makes
the difference in two pieces of canvas, one
if touched by the master hand and is a
masterpiece, the other is simply canvas in
its natural state and is not interesting.
A traveler stood watching a potter work
In the factory one day and said to him,
"Why is it in these days when duch won
derful mechanical tools are constructed
this work is not done by machinery rather
than by hand,” and the potter said,
"There are some pieces of work which can
only be brought to perfection by the
touch of a human hand,” and so it is ia
the formation of character. Whatever
may be one’s social position or bis financial
wealth he will net be able to please God
nor to be prepared for heaven until the
hand of God has touched him.-. This is •
picture of our regeneration, for regenera
tion is the coming into us of the life of
God. I stood one day in Venice watching
the glassblowers, and while glass in its
natural state was most uninteresting, just
as soon as tbe workman began to blow the
breath of his own life into it it became a
thing of bcanty. Adam, back in the Old
Testament becoming a living soul is the
Old Testament story of God’s inbreathing,
while the child of God in the New Testa-
3 pnt is the New Testament’s story of that
me inbreathing.
H,
The day of our conversion we yielded
ourselves to God: that was the closing of
ourselves in the sands of the potter. As
we came into the light with Him God saw
imperfections in our make-up, things that
were not pleasing to Him, and so He put
His finger upon this or that: some of these
things we have not been willing to give u]
and so our lives have been marred. TV
have had n controversy with Him, and
wherever there is n controversy there is
no peace. We are Christians, it is true,
but we are fruitless and joyless, and many
of us are shorn of power. The vessels were
marred in the making, bnt it ii a comfort
ing thing to know that we are in the handi
of the potter •till, and although we failec
yesterday we need not fail to-morrow, for
He will fashion us if we will but permit
Him to do so in the likeness of His own
dear Son. We are to be holy, we are to
be pure of heart, we certainly are to have
fellowship with Christ, wc have been in
bondage long enough, now the question is
shall we yield or not. Suppose we do not
yield, are wc then lost? Certainly not.
Paul says, "He is able to keep that which
I have committed unto Him, and in the
eighth chapter of Romani he seemh to ex
haust language to soar into heaven and to
make his way to the very depths of the
earth and then to cry aloud, “Nothing
shall lie able to separate us from the love
of God which ia in Christ Jesus our
Lord,” but we shall be shorn oi peace and
of power and of blessing, and while certain
kihds of work will go on in onr lives an
other kind of vessel will be made. Ro
mans 0: 21, “Hath not the potter power
over tbe clay, of the same lamp to make
one vessel unto honor and another unto
dishonor." We might have been a vessel
in tbe king’s palace, we might have been
in the throne room of the king, we might
- have been used to carry life to the dying
and God would and ydu would not is
sad story of many a life.
m.
God has a plan for every life. Jeremiah
did not know what waa in the mind of the
potter, bnt he knew that he waa working
according to a plan, but we know what ii
in God’s mind. Romans 8: 29, "For whom
He did foreknow. He also did predestinate
' to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the first bom smonj;
manv,brethren." Philippian* 3:' 12, “Ne i
as though I had already attained, either
were already perfect, but I follow after, if
that I may apprehend that for which also
X am apprehended of Christ Jesus." God
cannot be satisfied with anything less than
this. A workman in a factory fashioning a
beautiful design saws an imperfection in
tbe plan. To carry it on meant ruin, an<
so He carried it back to the artiet am
found that it was sn error of the copyist,
and that is the difficulty of an inconsistent
life. It misrepresents Jesus Christ. There
are people in this world who would scorn
to be heterdox. so far as the Scripture* are
concerned, but eo far as the manifestation
of the Christ life is concerned they are ex-
A distinguished preacher has said,
•There is a definite and proper end and
issue for every man’s existence, an end
which to the heart of God is tbe good in
tended for him, or for which he was in
tended; that which he is privileged to be
come, railed to become, ought to become;
that which God will assist him to become,
and which be canuot miss save by his own
fault. Every human soul has a complete
and perfect plan cherished for it in the
heart of God—a divine biography marked
out, which it enters into life to live.”
Surely this is a great thought, and qas that
gives to life—to each ana every life, the
smallest, the obscurest—a sacred dignity
and importance. Nothing can be trivial or
common which tbe great God thinks about,
plana and creates. The lowliest place in
this world, to the person whom God made
to ocqupy that place, is a position of rank
and honor glorioua as an angel’s seat, be
cause it is one which God formed an im
mortal being in His own hands, and with
immeasurable possibilities to fill. George
MacDonald says, "I would rather be what
God chose to make me than tbe most glo
rious cresture thst I could think of; for to
have been thought about, born in God’a
thought, and then made by God, is the
dearest, grandest and most precious thing
“ think’ “ i
nor what we are ourselves. hut altogether
the question is as to whether we are com
trolled absolutely by Christ. This is tbs
surrendered life.
ceedingiy ’feretical. It ii
gas ify'L: xksakl fail.
in all thinking.” God’s plan is the
The legend of the old olive tree is interest
ing here. The monks Wanted oil, and they
asked God as they planted the tree to send
upon it rain and sun and then to send the
.frost to toughen it, and the frost killed it.
and then another monk planted a tree add
asked God to do at He would regarding it
and the tree became a thing of beauty!
When you have crossed the ocean have
you not os yon studied the captain’s chart
seen the little zig-zag line* running north
and south, and have you not sometimes
wondered how it was that we could reach
home in that fashion, but when the- jour
ney is ended we find that every dot
marked the progress of the homeward
journey, and when we reach heaven and
enter the graft room of the sky we shall
find that every line led homeward and
things we could not understand pointed
heavenly.
"Tbe years of man are the looms of God,
Let down from the place of the sun,
Whereon we are weaving hearts,
Till the mvstio web is done.
And when the task is ended,
And the web is turned and shown,
He shall hear the voice of the Master,
It shall say to him, ‘Well done.’ ’’
God has a way of making lives over.
First, by outer circumstances, like the
potter’s wheel, such as trials and disap
pointments.
Second, by His own word. It is called
tbe light, and light reveals imperfections;
it ia called the fire, and fire purges the
drozs; it iz described as water, and water
cleanses all displacements; it is said to be
a hammer and the hammer in the hands of
the artist fashioned the angel from the
block of marble. Dr. Arthur T. Pierson
tail* of the potter who was seeking to make
] orcelain for the king’s palace, was greatly
discouraged in the work and in desperation
threw himself into the fire, and there was
something about the burning of his own
body that gave an inestimable value to the
torcelain which is still in existence, and
hat to the value of this hook. God threw
[ into it in the person of His own
Mvu,«ud no man can read it without feel
ing His powsr.
IV.
There are some lives mentioned in the
Bible which have really been made over
again like tbe clay in tbe hands of the pot
ter.
First — Jacob. By nature he was a sup-
ilanter and a cheat: he stole his brothers
lirthright and deceived his father, but by
the power of God he became Israel, the
S rinee. .and all because be and God met at
abbok’s Ford, and God touched him and
he limped awey from weakness to power.
Michael Angelo was banished from
nance, but afterward they wanted him to
return. They wished him to take a block
of marble, which bad been lying at the
gates of the city, and fashion it into some
nasterpiece, and Michael Angelo came
jack to the city, end out of the piece of
marble that had been lying for yean in tbe
dirt ol the city he made his David, which
is his masterpiece in many respect*. God
by the touch of affliction sometimei and
the touch of disappointment again has
made many a life oyer. May He make
yours?
Second—Elijah. He was a man of liko
passions with ourselves and came from a
rugged country, but God made hit passions
and his appetites to be like horses to his
chariot by means of which he was trans
lated, and he will make the weaknesa of
your life to be power if you wifi let Him.
Third—Paul. His was a bitter nature
and his spirit that of s persecutor. He
hears of a few Christians in Dan, and hur
ries away that he may cast them into pri
son, and from the man of bitterness and
prejudice he is changed into the little old
nan a prisoner in Rome who cries out, "I
know whom I have believed and am per
suaded that He is able to keep that which
I have committed unto Him against that
day,” and all because he had found Christ.
When the children of Israel made their
way across the land they came to the
waters of Mnro, which were very bitter.
They were all but dying of thirst, but
Moses cost the wood of a certain tree into
the wateri and they became sweet. Into
Paul’* life had been pressed the principles
of the crose; not His wifi, but God’s was
to be done, and he was made happy.
Fourth—Peter. He was a man of weak
ness, but transfigured into a man of
strength. He was ignorant, but he writes
the Epistle that stands as his monument
in the purest Greek oi the New Testa
ment, and all because he added Christ to
his life. So it is not a question as to who
we are or what we have been, but whether
we are united to Him.
It is said that Ole Bnl was making his
way at one time through one of the great
American forests, and he came upon a hut
in which dwelt a hermit. He had left his
city home because disappointed in busi
ness, and had been living alone for years,
his only companion being his old violin,
an which he conld play a few homely
pieces of music. Ole Bull stopped in the
nut over night, and in the shade of the fire-
light, to entertain hia guest, tbe old her
mit took down bis violin and played tbe
simple pieces with which he had whiled
away hia long honrs of loneliness. When
he hod finished playing the great musician
asked him if he' thought he could piey. Tbe
reply was, "I hardly think it possible; it
took me rears to learn,' and yet," said he,
"you might try,” and ao tbe great violin-
1st took the instrument, drew his bow
across the string* and instantly the room
was filled with harqjgpv. He played
“America” and "Home, Sweet Home,"'
until the old hermit sobbed like a child,
and then putting the instrument back
again in its plaee the old hermit was made
to understand that he was in tbe presence
of the neatest violinist of the day. But
what a difference of tbe violin when in tbe
hands of tbe hermit and in the hands of
I the master.' The tones of one were any
thing but complete; the maple of the s;u-
Bear To One Another’* Burden*.
In order to be satisfied even with the
best people we need to be content with lit
tle and bear a great deal. Even the most
perfect people have many imperfections;
we ourselves hare as great defects. Our
faults combined with theirs make mutual
toleration a difficult matter, hut we can
only "fulfil the law of Christ” by "bearing
one another's burdens " There must be a
mutual loving forbearance. Frequent si
lence. habitual recollection, prayi,-. self-
attachment, giving up nil critical tenden
cies, faithfulness m putting aside all the
idle imagination* of a jealous, fastidious
»elf-love—all these wifi go far to maintain
peace and union. How many trouble*
would be avoided by this simplicity!
Happy is he who neither listen* to him
self nor to the idle talk of others. Be con
tent to lead a simple life where God has
S laced you Be obedient; bear your little
aily crosses—you need them, and God
gives them to you only out of pure mercy.
—Fenelon.'
The Cure Foe Loneliness,
The medicines for the cure of loneliness
are portion* of generosity, thoughtfulness
of others and Chriatian self-sacrifice, taken
in large doses.—Presbyterian Banner.
THE SUPREME COURT BENCH.
The Resignation of Judge Hal. Lewis
From That .Position Necessitates
an Election.
Tbe vacancy caused on the Supreme
Court Bench by the resignation of
Judge Hal. Lewie has precipitated
an election which Is of paramount in
terest to the people of Georgia.
Among those whose names are
prominently mentioned is that e<
Judge John S. - Candler, whose rela
tionship to the present governor of
the state makes his candidacy and
previous record a matter of news inter
est to the people of the state. We give
below a summarized history of his
political career, believing that our
readers will be anxious to know all
that is possible in regard to the can
didates who aspire to the Supreme
bench.
Judge Candler'was born In Carroll
county,- Ga., In 1861. He Is a brother
of Bishop' Warren A. Candler, Asa G.
Candler, of Atlanta, and Ex-Congress
man Milton A. Candler, of the Fifth
Congressional District. He Is also
first cousin of the present chief exec
utive of this state. In 1887 Judge
Candler was appointed Solicitor Gen
eral of the Stone Mountain Circuit by
General John B. Gordon, and at the
next session of the Georgia Legisla
ture was elected to fill the same of
fice without opposition. In February,
1896, on the death of Judge Richard
H. Clark, Judge Candler was appoint
ed by Governor W. Y. Atkinson to fill
hts unexplred term as judge of the
Stone Mountain circuit. In October
of the same year. Judge Candler was
elected, without opposition, to the
same office by the Georgia Legisla
ture. In 1900, Judge Candler was re
elected by the popular vote of the peo
ple carrying every county in his cir
cuit with the exception Of one, that
being the one in which his opponent,
one of the most popular lawyers In
Georgia, resided. His home county,
DeKalb, gave him a larger vote than
was received by thu governor and
state house ticket which had no oppo
sition.
While attending to his own courts,
Judge Candler has found time to as
sist many of the other judges in the
state.
As judge of the Superior Courts of
the Stone Mountain Circuit, he pre
sides over the criminal branch of the
Superior Court of Fulton county. Whon
he went upon the bench it required
twenty-eight weeks to dispose of tho
criminal bua4ness of this county,
Under his administration last year,
court only, sat in Fulton county
for eight weeks, thus reducing tho
expenses of'this court from 118,000
to less than |5,000 per year. Whllo
the records of the courts show that
there was 25 per cent less crime in
1901 than there was in 1896 .
When be went on the bench there
were city and county courts in most
of the counties cf the Stone Mountain
Circuit.. All of tb-jse courts, with
the exception of one have been
abolished, and at the same time
the Superior Court sessions in each
county in this circuit have been re
duced from one-half to two-thirds of
the time that was formerly required
to dispatch the business of these
courts. No old cases are on any of
the dockets in this circuit
Judge Candler has been Judge Advo
cate General of the Georgia State
Troops and Colonel of the Fifth Regi
ment and was Colonel of the Third
Georgia Volunteer Infantry In the
Spenlsh-American war.
Loans! Loans! Loans!
WK CAN PROCURE A LOAN FOR YOU ANY
WHERE FROM $150.00 TO $5,000.00 FROM
0. 7 TO 7 i 1-2 PER CENT. AND AT A VERY
SMALL COST. i.
Henderson cfo Jordan.
Hair Cut, Any Style!
If you want a first-class Hair Cut, Shave, Sham
poo or Shine call to see me. Next door to the
Racket Store.
AUGUSTUS JOM ES, Barber.
JJ A NEW TRAIN
l - -BETWEEN—
Helena, Abbeville,
Cordele, Americus,
and Columbus, Ga.
Via SEABOARD
AIK LI/ME KAILWAg
With Connections From—
FITZGERALD, ALSO DAWSON AND ALBANY.
Beginning Sunday, August 17th, trains heretofore operated be
tween Ocllla and AmertcuB will be changed and will be run between
Helena and Columbus as follows:
Lv. Helena ...
Lv. Abbeville .
Lv. Cordele ...
Lv. Americus .
Lv. Richland ..
Ar. Columbus .
Lv. Albany ..
Ar. Richland
..... 6
8:
00 am
58 am
:58 am
02 am
:10 am
:50 am
:30 am Lv. Richland
30 am Ar. Albany
Columbus
Richland .
Americus .
Cordele ...
Abbeville .
Helena ...
2:30 pm
3:55 pm 1
4:55 pm'
6:06 pm
.7:07 pm‘
8:00 pm'
Lv. Ocllla 10:30
Lv. Fitzgerald. 11:00
Ar, Abbeville ..12:20
am 4:
am 5
pm 7
:55 pm:Lv.
•25 pm'Ar.
00 pm|Ar
4:10 pm'
7:00 pm
7:00 lun ”3:16 pm
9:00 am 4:20 pm
Abbeville....
Fitzgerald
Ocllla 10:00 am 4:45 pm
Schedule from Intermediate points furnished upon application to
Seaboard Air Dine Ticket Agent, or
C. P. WALWORTH, A. G. P. A., Savannah, Ga.
JOHN F. POWELL & SON,
LAWYERS,
VIENNA, GEORGIA.
WOMAN CUT-s HOPE.
Daughter of Murdered Man Takes
Part In a Hanging.
Boisy Bryant waa hanged at Nash
ville, Ga., Friday at noon for the mur
der of Town Marshal Hynds.
Mrs. Etta Hynds Parker, daughter
of the murdered officer, watched the
proceedings of the execution from
the scaffold trap.
As soon as Bryant was pronounced
dead, Mrs. Parker, with her father's
knife, cut the body of the murderer
down. v
Mrs. Parker retained the first piece
of rope for herself. Five hundred per
sons were allowed to witness the ex
ecution and the negro's body was
turned over to lrlends as none of his
relatives were present.
Bryant was Interviewed shortly be
fore the execution, saying (hat he had
been saved and was ready to go and
did not dread deeth.
He said be bad killed Hynds after
he had covered him with a cocked
pistol.
The crime was committed in .Adel,
a nearby town last May. The negro
was wanted on a misdemeanor charge
and Town Marshal Hynds attempted
to arrest him. As the marshal ap
proached Bryant, the negro drew a pis
tol and fired upon tbe officer, mortal
ly wounding him. Bryant escaped
but was captured a taw days later,
and placed in jail at Nat hr file.
Owing to threats of lynching a spe
cial term of court was called and Bry
ant was convicted and sentenced to
be hanged on September 12th.
CHEAPEST
MONEY DEARTH!
We guarantee to make
yon a loan on yonr farm
for less expense and on
easier terms tlian any one.
If yon need money it will
pay yon to see us.
J. H. WOODWARD & SON.
LAWYERS,
Vifiima, • • Georgia.
A portable street light of great il
luminating power has been devised by
tbe Westminster County Council for
lessening accidents from fogs in Lon
don. Tbe torch, a cylindrical tank,
eighteen inches In diameter and two
feet high, is charged with petroleum
and compressed air. When it Is light-
. * . ed, the torch flares up two feet with a
ter was perfect, and ao it i* not ao much a newer of 1,000 candles,
flotation U to jriul our fives ton beta, '
A. L. McARTHUR,
DENTIST,'
Rooms 2 and 4, People’s Bank Build*
ing, Cordele, Georgia.
W. V. HARVARD,
ATTORNEY-ATLAW,
Vienna, Georgia
DR. C. T. CTOVALL,
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON.
Vienna. Ga.
BIVINS & MOBLEY,
T. F. Bivins, M. D., H. A. Mobley, M.D.t
PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, >
^ Calls Promptly Answered.
VIENNA, GEORGIA.
A BLOW TO CORK KBS.
Board of Trade (liven Black Kye by
• hieago Judge. ,
A moat important decision against
the Chicago board cf trade was ren
dered Saturday by Judge Axel -City-
traus In the July oats corner Injunc
tion cases. Not only does the opinion
of the court, if sustained by higher
tribunals, put an end to all corner* in
commodities on this exchange, bnt it
strikes at the very life of the Instltu-
j Ucn asjyj" crgqalzefl,
HALL A GEORGE,
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW,
VIENNA, GEORGIA.
D. A. R. CRUM,
LAWYER,
VIENNA, GEORGIA.
J. M. WHITEHEAD,
* DENTIST.
Will be In my office from 15th to
last of each month.
, . , VIENNA, GEORGIA.