SUNDAY COLUMN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 93, 2 December 1911, Page 3

SUNDAY COLUMN.

MAKING HASTE

(Sermon by Rev. I). J. Burrell, 1).D., L.L.D., New York.)

He that believeth shall not make haste.—lsa. 28:1G.

Making haste is one of our prevailing vices. A wise man was asked for a panacea for evil. His answer was: “Patience: all things come to them that wait.” We are accustomed to think that patience is the scullery maid of the sister graces. Finally she will be at the palace clothed in royal apparel and wedded to the king’s son. We lack patience because we lack faith. Cod is far off. The world is too near. I. We are too eager about our tasks. Our children can hardly wait to be through with their schooling. The feeling grows and follows them through life. I went to Phillips Academy for a little polishing in preparation for college. Dr. Taylor said; “My boy, you need two years’ of earnest study.” Seeing my disappointment he added: “There’s no hurry. Don’t fret; the world will wait for you.” True. It pays to get ready and to get ready well. Christ was a carpenter’s apprentice. He made plows and repaired furniture. He knew that the world was dying for His redemptive offices. Men were going lockstep down to hell. A soul was passing into eternity every second, ancj He was aware of it, yet He went on making plows and mending furniture. He learned His lessons line by line, precept by precept, at the Rabbinical school, and in fulness of time, when well prepared, He entered upon His great work. 11. We are given too much to worry. A young man enters commercial life. But measuring cambric and weighing sugar are too slow for him. Ho invests his little all in 591110 scheme that promises immediate wealth; Suppose he wins. Is that success? At the great Chicago fire a man lost the accumulations of a lifetime by opening the vaults too soon. By waiting, bonds and mortgages would have been saved. There was a puff of flame and a heap of ashes. All was gone. Over-eagerness is ruin Tim best livelihood and i he most satisfactory in the long run is that gotten by what Robert Burns calls “gin-house prudence and grubbing industry All things come right to those who wait.

111. We are too eager in spiritual things. Sometimes. But mark the .difference between deliberation and delay. No demy, but much deliberation, Christ pointing to an unfinished tower, showed tho folly of an undertaking without counting the cost. “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” The Christian life is not to be begun thoughtlessly nuor in undue haste, but with deli 1 erat'on unci wisdom. 'et ;• wv.-k •-..{«y l)e done instantly and with deliberation. The blacksmith draws the red iron from the forge, lifts his hammer with utmost deliberation, not in haste yet striking instantly. We sometimes deceive ourselves by waiting for some supposed greater light and stronger conviction, when we should act at once with the light we possess at the timePressing duty should never be put off. Surrender to, God for . instance is a duty. We learn that at! our mother’s .Ipee. No new facts can enter into that problem. Waiting brings,no new developments. He who lets this opportunity go by default is making a bad blunder. , The frontier philosopher said; “Be sure you are right, then go ahead.” Neither Paul nor Plato could have marked out a wiser rule of life.

IV. We hurry in Christian growth. Wo want to run when we are only able to creep. Remember that character is only of slow growth. “First the blade, then the ear, then the full iCQi;n in the ear.” There , must Vv time in grace as in nature 1 for rain and sunshine. The oak that defies tile storm and whirlwind is the 'growth of a hundred years. The fungus under its shadow came up last night, but a breath destroys it. The sturdy stuff of which martyrs are made is of gradual development. The “unco guid’ is simply pious sentiment. Grandmother sitting in the chimney corner with her Bible sees visions through her dim eyes' her heart is full of peace, sin and passion are subdued, no bondage of sin, no warring of spirit and flesh, no doubts or misgiving—she simply rests in God. How came she into such a placid state? It was growth. The Pilgrim’s progress is a life’s journey to Beulah land. At early morn the Alpine tourist began the ascent of Matterhorn. The air was bracing, and he hastened with springing steps. He passed a peasant going on with steady strides, and said: “Slow fellows, these hereabouts.” But the path was rugged and steep. Ere noon his steps lagged, and he sat down under the shadow of a craig. The peasant came along with that steady swinging gait and passed ■by him. It is another version of the hare and the tortoise. True in spiritual as in secular life. It pays to plod. Faith is our alpenstock. Lean hard upon it. The believer can afford to wait. “All things work together for good to them that love God.” Good times will come. Bear trouble patiently. “Bide a wee and dinna weary.” A little while. Hope thou in God. Y. Wo are restless in Christian service. W r e want to do some great thing. But doing the next thing is the best achievement. If the Apostle had not heeded the injunction “Tarry ye at Jerusalem until ye are eudued with power,” but started out to conquer the World for Christ they would' have failed miserably. But waiting not restlessly, not indolently on their knees, they accomplished mighty things for God. Moses, Saul, and others ■ patiently waited in preparation. Then wo are impatient as to results. I know a lad that planted flowering peas beside his mother’s door, hoping that the vines would creep over it. But in In's impatience he dug up tfie roots to see if they were sprouting. We are all doing things as silly in our larger tasks . It is ours to plant fhe seed, it is God’s to see that it germinates. Mr Judson nearly broke his heart because for a long time there was not a single convert, though year after year lie prayed and wrought with a consuming passion. Where was the fault? His? No, God was biding His time. When the time did come thousands cried out, “What shall we do?” The harvest will ripen but it may lie on our graves. The Patinos dreamer saw golden vials full of odors which were the prayers of saints. “Not one of them is forgotten before God.” Let us wait patiently for our Lord’s coming. He will come—come all the q.uicker when His people learn the lesson couched in the text, “Ho that bolieveth shall not make haste.”