Bible Truths Illustrated by J. C. Ferdinand Pittman

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It
BIBLE TRUTHS ILLUSTRATED
from Joppa carried a passenger who, beneath his berth, cut a
hole through the ship's side. When the men of the watch expostulated
with him, 'What doest thou, O miserable man?' the
offender calmly replied, 'What matters it to you? The hole I
have made lies under my own berth/ " "This ancient parable,"
says C. H. Spurgeon, "is worthy of the utmost consideration.
No man perishes alone in his iniquity; no man can guess the
full consequences of his transgression." In the same way, it
can be said that the consequences of good deeds cannot be
measured.
In seeking to influence others for good, care must be taken
lest attention be drawn to one's self, and the effort made to
perpetuate one's own name or views, rather than to lead men to
a knowledge of and obedience to the truth. Christians should
be willing, like John the Baptist, to decrease, even to nothingness,
that Christ may increase.
467. Oh, it is a terrible power that I have—this power of
influence ! And it clings to me : 1 cannot shake it off. It was
born with me : it has grown with my growth, and strengthened
with my strength. It speaks, it walks, it moves; it is powerful
in every look of my eye, in every word of my lips, in every act
of my life. I cannot live to myself. I must either be a light
to illumine, or a tempest to destroy. I must either be an Abel,
who, by his immortal righteousness, "being dead, yet speaketh;"
or an Achan, the saddest continuance of whose otherwise forgotten
name is the fact that man perishes not alone in his
iniquity. Punshon.
468. "Not what has happened to myself to-day, but what has
happened to others through me—that should be my thought."
469. George Eliot wrote : "What do you live for, except to
make life less difficult for each other? If ever we are inclined
to throw up the sponge, it will be well to remember the following
story: 'Where are you taking me?' exclaimed the little taper
to the lighthouse-keeper. 'To make a great light,' he replied.
'But I am too small.' 'Leave that to me,' he answered. Presently
a magnificent light shone out over the sea twenty miles. . was
started by the little taper."
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