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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1907.
Remember Jesus Christ
“Remember Jesus Christ."
Sd Timothy, n :s.
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE,
Pastor Second Baptist Church
I T IS the revised version that un
covers for us this short, sharp
and incisive message of the apos
tle to a young ChrlsUan who at that
time was in a great city almost alone,
trying to live a clean, straight life and
bear a loyal witness for God and the
Gospel.
It puts a volume of homilies Into a
sentence, “Remember Jesus Christ” It
is true that it stands related to a pas
sage In which Christ's resurrection Is
pointed out as a thing to be especially
remembered, and this accounts for the
unsatisfactory translation of the old
version: but I have no doubt Timothy
seized these simple words, "Remember
Jesus Christ,” just as I have seized
them today, and that he felt their great
quickening power in his heart instantly
os though a trumpet had blown.
Of ail the faculties of the mind mem
ory Is the one Christianity most hangs
upon.
The Apostle Paul was prepared to
appreciate its indispensable place in the
preservation and propagation of the
Gospel, for at the time he wrote there
was probably no written record what
ever of the life and teachings of Jesus.
Think of it! Paul had the life of Christ
on his tongue’s end. lie had heard it
over and over from Luke and Matthew
and Mark and John and Peter, but ho
was wholly dependent upon his memory
for It What a burden of truth did God
dart* to lay on the unaided human
memory! We may reckon that Paul
had not long before patiently drilled
Timothy’s memory in it. Now he
writes urgently to the necessitous point,
’ “Remember Timothy.” Don't for
get. “Remember Jesus Christ." That
is the message I bring you here, “Re
member Jesus Christ.” Could any ad
vice be so good for those just begin
ning the Christian life and are not
trained well as yet in withstanding
doubts and temptations? Could any
advice be better for the older Chris
tian who has too often neglected his
Lord? Take It with you every one,
“Remember Jesus Christ.” Think of it
a dozen times each day. It will guar
antee to you a blessing, a peace, and a
security you have never known from
any other resource.
Paul Persona Grata.
There are some simple reasons I wish
to give you for remembering Jesus
Christ.
First. Because one of the very noblest
men this world ever afforded is the au
thor of that good advice.
When we are advised a great deal de
pends on our opinion of the man who
advises us. Borne men can not Influ
ence us, no matter what they say. Their
•characters in our opinion are such that
we are repelled by their words. Other
men influence us Instantly and never-
fallingly. Their characters and careers
are such that we yield to them a will
ing homage. John Stuart Mill was
the only person In England who con
sidered his wife a writer at all, but he
believed that she was a great literary
genius. He read her character Into her
attempts at composition which others
could not do. A certain critic some time
ago scathingly reviewed a book by a
young lady. He crushed it beneath his
sarcasm and contempt. He ground It
beneath his beef as the veriest podge
of a book. The public was greatly
astounded a little later to read another
review of the book by the same critic.
He praises It unstintedly, points out
and makes clear its elements of power
and gives the authoress a niche In the
temple of fame. The little history be
hind .it all was that he had met the
young lady and she was now his wife.
Now, when the Apostle Paul says to
you and to me, “Remember Jesus
Christ,” I am moved to do it at once. I
acknowledge that man’s right to give
me advice. Ho rises up before me os
one whose experience is as command
ing as a mountain peak in the world’s
history. I used to hear an old Confed
erate soldier who made speeches on
gala days. When he held up his empty
sleeve and shouted, “Young men, be
true to the South.’’ I was always thrilled
and consecrated by It. So when Paul
comes before me with his record, his
scars and Imprisonments and ship
wrecks, his beatings and his grand
heroism at a time when It meant more
than it means now, and says, “Re
member Jesus Christ,” I feel like taking
off my Bhoes In the sound of his words
and saying, “We will, Paul, God help
us, we will!”
A Very Present Help.
Second. Remember Jesus Christ, be
cause His memory will sustain and
protect you.
Nothing in all this world Is worth
half as much os a practical help to a
man who wants to do right and live a
true, noblo life'as the realization of the
companionship of Christ. Do you ever
catch yourself Indulging ugly thoughts
and vulgar imaginations and when your
conscience pulls at you the fleshly mind
of you pul Us just as hard tho other way,
and you can not shako off tho slimy
thing? If you have, and many of you
have, I know, I want to tell you a gen
uinely practical thing that rescues the
mind and frees the soul like magic,
“Remember .Jesus Christ,” bring Him
straight before the camera of your
mind. The pull of the mean thought
will relax and weaken and cease. Re
member Jesus Christ when you are
angry: remember Jesus Christ when
you aro fretted; remember Him when
you are envious or selfish.
I have read the lives of many great
heroes, of heroic armies, of martyrs and
missionaries. Without exception in
every instance the main spring of their
courago and valor has been a great
memory kept in view at the hour and
moment of crisis.
The battle of San Jacinto, which won
Texan Independence, was decided the
moment some of the officers started the
cry, “Remember the Alamo,” among the
men in the ranks.
Napoleon always appealed to memory
in his famous bulletins before the battle
began.
A Scotch regiment In the British
army noted for its Invincible courage,
when the call to valor came, could be
heard muttering, muttering all along
the lines, “Stand fast. Crag Ellachle.”
They were remembering the great
mountain Crag that was standing guard
over their far-oft Highland home nnd
loved ones. This, too, has been the
secret resource of the Christian henes.
They remembered Jesus Christ and It
was not hard to die. Fifteen thousand
missionaries are kept at their posts in
foreign lands this very hour, not by 'he
money we send for their support, not' by
the encouragement of revolutions they
are working, but by an oft-invoked ten
der memory of Jesus Christ.
Matthew Arnold has told the wholo
romance of Christian heroism in one of
his sonnets:
Twaa August, and the fierce sun over
head
Smote on the squalid streets of Bethnal
Green
And the pale weaver through his win
dow seen,
In Spitalflelds, looked thrice dispirited.
I met a preacher there I knew and said:
“111 and overworked, how fare you in
this scene?”
“Bravely,” said he, “for I of late have
been
Much cheered with thoughts of Christ,
the living Bread.”
“Remember Jesus Christ.” There Is
power In it, my friends, keeping power,
Inspiring power, sustaining power, the
power of God.
It was this ‘power Christ promised
His followers as they faced a dead
world. “All power Is given unto me*
“Lo! I am with thee, oven unto the
end.” How often have they remem
bered Him and were delivered from all
their fears and discouragements!
The Grand Old Word—Christian.
Again, remember Jesus Christ, be
cause you are a Christian.
Dr. Wharton had an amusing story
he did not tell in Atlanta, and 1 will tell
It now to illustrate a point:
“Two young men who were college
mates and had not met for twenty
years were surprised one day In com
ing suddenly upon each other. One
said to the other: 'Hollo, Jim, how are
you? How have you been all these
long years?* *Well,’ said he, *1 have
had a great many ups and downs since
I saw you last.' ’Sit down, old fellow,
and tell me some of them.' 'Well, I
married since we met.’ *Ah, indeed!
That’s good.’ 'I don't know whether
it’s good or not; I reckon I married
the meanest woman in the world.'
•Well, that’s bad, too bad.' T don’t
know whether It Is or not. She had
lots of money.' That’s good.' 'I don't
know, I spent tho money, for a sheep
ranch and tho sheep all died.' 'That
was bad luck.' 'I don’t know, I sold
tho wool for more money than I paid
for the sheep.’ That's good.' 'I don’t
know, I spent tho money building a
house and it burned down.* 'That's
bad.' 'I don't know, my wife was
burned up In tho house."'
There arc a great many Christians
who so mako a habit of being up and
down, and off and on, that when you
appeal to them to do a Christian thing
in a CUristian way because they are
Christians, they fail into the dumps
immediately and tell you that they
don’t know whether they arc Christians
or not
I am assuming that the appeal I am
making for Christ today is made to
those who are Christians and who want
to bo truo and loyal Christians, even
though they confess many a slip and
many a fall. “Remember Jesus Christ”
and keep Him. In command of your
motives and conduct because you aro a
Christian. If that grand old word.
“Christian,” Is dragged into the filth of
selfishness and avarice and wilful vio
lation by some, see to it that you keep
your banner up, remembering Jesus
Christ whenever you would know for
sure what you ought to do.
Now, there Is very little doubt In the
world’s judgment as to what a Chris
tian is. He is one who tries to have
the mind of Christ about things and.
who Is not afraid to yield to prompt
ings of God’s spirit—the Holy Spirit—
tho spirit of Jesus Christ when he tr
deciding what he shall do or say or
give or take. The Christian never dares
to seize the reins of his conduct abso
lutely In his own hands. Ho holds
himself subject to the righting and the
guidance of Jesus Christ. It Is evident
then that to be a true Christian you
must be constantly remembering Jesus
Chridt. “What did He dor’ “What
would He sayr’ “What does He want
of raer’
To Illustrate, and tho illustration
comes handily: We are going to take a
subscription today for causes unques
tionably dear to Jesus Christ. Without
Him they would never have been found
ed, and without Him they would perish.
Tho question will come up practically
before you, “What shall I do? How
much ought I to giver’ No one but
yourself can get a right answer to such
question, and you ar.e not sure you can
always. But I will tell you the only
safe method you as a Christian can
abide by In such matters, “Remember
Jesus Christ.” Remember that He
stands over against the treasury be
holding. Ask Him and that will leave
nothing more required of your sincerity
in tho sight of God. Only take warn
ing that nothing less than obedience to
your conscience of what Ho wants of
you, the actual doing of what you are
convinced will please Him with you,
can range you as an honest and sincere
Christian. The only weakness of this
illustration is that It Illustrates too
well. It touches and lays bare a mat
ter about which there Is probably Jn
our time, when Christians arc making
a great deal of money, a greater dis
position to forget to think of Jesus
Christ than about anything else.
Finally, remember Jesus Christ be
cause He Himself asks you to.
He wants to be remembered. Among
the last deeds of His holy mission He
appropriated the ancient and most sa
cred memorial of tho Israelites to HI*
longing to be remembered In tho world
by those who loved Him, and said:
“This do In remembrance of me."
Nearly every summer of my lifo I go
back to the home of my childhood at
Clayton, N. C. When I have met old
friends and many klnspeople and have
slept, I have always gotten up early In
the morning and have gone upon my
tender pilgrimage to my mother's grave
alone. I would not want even my only
brother there then. ’Tis tho loneliness
I seek. My spirit craves that, needs
that—tho loneliness of memory, the
solitude of communion.
Is the marble slab loosened and lean
ing? Then, “mother, that shall be
straightened.” Is the turf scant, tho
mound sunken, the rose bush wild and
scraggy? Then, “mother, it shall all bo
repaired.”
That shall all be done because it Is in
mo that her grave shall be well kept
as her memory Is. But suppose her
last words to me had been that I should
visit her grave every year and keep
it carefully green In remembrance of
her, how much more would 1 bind my
soul to tho dear task!
Oh, then remember Jesus Christ, be
cause He does'ask you to.
“I think of Thee when morning springs
From sleep, with plumage bathed in
dew,
And, like a young bird, lifts Its wings
of gladness on the welkin blue;
And when at noon the breath Of love
O’er flower and stream is wandering
free,
And sent in music from the grave,
I think of Thee—I think of Thee.
“I think of Thee when soft and wide
Tho evening spreads her robes of
light.
And, like a young and timid bride,
Sits blushing in the arms of night.
And when the moon's sweet crescent
springs
In light o’er heaven's wide waveless
sea,
And stars are forth like blessed things,
I think of Thee, oh, Christ—I think
of Thee!”
the dinner hour and be tnay even continue
his game while turning lignin ro a serious
discussion of some important subject.
Envy is the sorrow of fools.—German.
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