The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1875-05-11 00:00:00

THE TatouNair AT CFICRCR:

St. Mary's Church,
On Sunday the 11.0.11. Y.-0.. attended Divine service at
erruPying the middle seats as usual.
The congregation was lag. g. The Rector, Rev. T. Greaves,
preached from Psalm IL, v. 12, "Kiss the Son, lest He be
angry. and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is
kindled hut a little. Blessed are all they that put their
trust in Him." In the course of his sermon the preacher
sail: In the services of our church we have been com-
memorating the ascension of Our Lord ant His triumphal
sitting down at the right band of the Most High. This is
the subiect of David in this psalm: he tells of the mad-
ness and the rage of the people against that King. whom
God set upon Ili. holy bill of Zion, and then he turns to
His rebelliour subjeett upon earth, who would net have
that man to reign over them, and he tells that God has
very highly exalted Him. And be gives them this Rand
advice—" Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish
from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little."
May the Holy Spirit he with us while we endeavour to lay
to heart this practical advice respecting our ascended and
now glorified Lord ! We have first, the sinner instructed
—" Kiss the Son ;" secondly we have the sinner warned—
" Le 4 lie be angry, and ye perish from the way ; and
thirdly, we have Ai, sinner encoumgesi—" Blessed are all
they that put their trust in Him. First we have—the
sinner instructed —" Kiss the Son." We may give to the
kiss here spoken of many meanings. Flrst, there is the
kiss of reconciliation. When Jacob and Esau met after
their estrangement, they fell upon each others necks and
kb:se.' each other; it was the kiss of reconciliation. And
the father of the prodigal son, before the least was
spread, before the music and dancing began, fell
upon In+ son's neck and kissed him. And the first
work of grace in the soul is for Jesus on God's part to
give the sinner the kiss of reconciliation ; and our
business is to return that kiss, and thereby prove that we
are reconciled to God. Sinners you hate been enemies to
G•sl, enetuier to Christ, you have cast His laws behind
your ha But what 110 you say Are you growing
weary of rebellion? I. the Holy Spirit moving on you?
Then listen to Hi', gracious words, cast away the weapons
of rebellion from you, and how down before the Lord, and
give Him the kiss of reconciliation. Oh ! let there he an
end of your revolt, cease to be His enemies, for rest
84,red He longs Lobe your friend, with open outstretched
arms ready to receive you, with eyes full of tears, with
bowels fell of compassion. Ile now says to you through
Ilk ministers " Kiss the Son." Thir is the lesson
of the Gospel Now then, we are amhaseadon. for
Christ: As though God did beseech you by us : w praY
you in Christ's stead. be ye reconciled to God." Is
this a hard saying? We ark of you to he at friendship
with Him who is your but Friend, to shake hands with
Him wh,. shed Iflr blood for you. We do not ask you to
be the friends of the world, and sin, and death, and hell ;
rather we call upon you to dissolve your league with
them and may grace constrain you to forswear that com-
pany for ever ! Oh, sinner! why will you resist Him who
is your best Friend I Why will you scorn Him who loved
you, why trample upon the blood that bought you, and
reject Christ who is your only hope of salvation? MAY
the Spirit of God bow your obdurate heart., and may you
kiss the Son ! Then main. the kiss may be the kiss of
allegiance. It was an Eastern curtoeil for subjects to kiss
the feet of their sovereign, and sometimes they kissed the
dust of his feet or from the very steps of his throne.
Now ilirist reotairvs that every man eke has been saved
shall acknowledge his rule. There are some willing to be
saved, who are not willing to give up their sins ; they are
not willing to take 11:hrist as their Prince, though they are
willing to receive Him as their prime. But there is no
cutting salvation in twain; the command of Jesus to
sinners is to bow down and acknowledge Him as your
King, to say "Out l. ,rd our God, other lords beside thee
have had dominion over us; but by Thee only will we
make nbentinn of Thy nrlnte." We have worshipped our
•

lasts, tour untie,or isassions, our selfishness; hut hence-
forth non shalt Ise our only King. and we will worship
Thee alone.- We must kit Him with the kiss of fealty,
of loyalty, of homage. Aml it this a h .1 thing to ask
you to low down to Jesus I Is it a rig.srous law, like that
which the Egyptians gave tithe I.raelite+ in Ecypt I You
must take His yoke upon you, and bear His burden: but
Ile rays, "Come unto Me, all ye that lahour and are
hem laden; take My yoke upon you and learn of Me.
for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" There must
be the kits of allegi ince, of homage, to Christ : yet more
than that, there must be the kiss of worship. It was the
rod of the blolators of the Ek.it to kiss the gods they
no foolishly worshipped, as we reml respecting the worship
of Eaal and of the calves. Divine wonship is to be
brought to Christ, for the Father willeth that all men
shoal honour the Son even 44 they honour the Father.
But some say Christ is only a mere 111211. Well then,
Col will not change His gospel to suit this
heresy, and you must not marvel if in the last
day you shouhl hear Him say, "Anti those mine enemies,
who would; not that I should reign ewer them, bring
hither, and slay them before me." The man who rejects
the 11.11,0,1 of I 'Mist is building his house upon the sand,
and when the tlo.sls voile, 411,1 the winds blow, and beat
upon that hose, it shall fall. It is the joy of the 1 hristian
to w.srshits t:hrist ; the song if the redeemed is " Worthy
the Lamb that was slain, to receive blessing and honour,
and glory, and power," so we also must hewn down and
give Jesus the kiss of worship. We must adore
Hint by our faith trust in Hint by our service
live for Him, consecrating our whole being to Him.
Much more, and almost sweeter still, there must be
the kiss of gratitude. There was a woman in the city of
Jerusalem, who ha-I hems a great sinner. But Christ had
forgiven her, and she loved much and longed much forth.
company sif Him who had done so much for her, and so,
when Jesu• was sitting in the house of the Pharisee, she,
poor sorrowful one, crept in behind Hint and wept so
profusely that she washed His feet with her tears; and
then nowitoling those brgids of hair with which she had
entangled many lovers, she unbound them, bowed down,
and with them wiped hi* feet, and kissed His feet. In
like manner the si 111 l er comes to Jesus, antitrust. in Hint
and then, stooping down, kisses His feet. And does Jesus
permit nos to kis+ Him! Does He permit me to say like
the snot's." in Solomon's song. "Let Mu kiss me with the
kisses id His mouth." Oh then, let tie kiss Him ! Oh,
perhaps there is some poor trembling sintosr who saws—
Kiss His feet ! oh that I might But lam afraid to
conic to Him, even to come behind Him." But if you are
willing to be reconciled, it is God who has mails you
willing, and He would not put the will unless He
meant to gratify it. Do not imagine that Jesus is
slower than . you age' we never loved Hint till He
first loved us. Anti oh ! lay brother, who art longing
this day to kiss the tiavi tttt r, rest assured the Eternal
Son is yearning over you. There is only one kind of
kiss that Jesus cannot brook ; I trust in Hod that none
of us shall ever give that kiss to Jesus ; it is the
I kiss of falls prpfession, it is the kiss of treachery, the kiss
. . . . .

of those who, loving sin and walking in sin, yet make
pnsfession of love to Him. Jesus will say to thaw men as
He said to Judas. "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man
with a kiss r Thus we aro to give to Jesus the kiss of
reconciliation, of worship, of grateful Dec.—Secondly, we
have the si 111 l er solemnly warned- "Kiss the Son, lest Ile
In, angry." Can Ile be angry? Is Ile not the Lambe( God?
Disl Ile not weep for sinners I Did He not bleed for
sinner,? an He be angry? Yes, and when He is angry,
on anger can match it. The most dreadful thing in the
Bible is, I think that dre.ulful shriek of the ungodly to the
rocks and mountains "Pall on Us, and hide us from the
face of Him that sitteth on the Throne, and from the
wrath iJ the lamb." ! picture His dear face, those
eyes so often tilled witli tears, those hands that bled for
thisee lips that uttered messages of mercy, those feet
that went on journeys of love—can it be that those eyes
shall flash the lightning? Can it be that that voice shall
den., the sinuer, and those feet shall tread down the
sinner as OM that trewleth in the winepress I But it will
1,,' so. " Who is this that comet?, from Edoin, with dyed
garnients from Boorish r Nat from Gethsemane or from
Jerusalem, or Calvary, but froin glom, the land of His
foes—" I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save."
We lerstooll from his garments slyest as his who had
lwen treading in the winepress, that He had been mighty
to destroy ; but Ile is mighty to save! Yes, and that gives
the edge to all the remorse ; Ile that is mighty to save will
be mighty to crush. My linstbren, there is a more terrible
thought than this—that if you and I live and die unsaved,
there is this awful sentence—therefore "Kiss the Son, lest
He be angry." Do not you see that, once Jesus a
thehopesall our ho are lost. There is a poor girl who
ovensdopped the paths of nght she perseveres in her
Iniquity despite ..any warnings ; friends rise up sod try
to save her, but one by one they drop off, for she has
become incurably heartless. Still there is one who receives
her lack again; her own father says "She is by child,
polluted and vile though she be,. and I cannot reject her...
1111.1 he receives her home and gives her the kiss of recon-
ciliation. But she goes out attain on her hardened course,
an.l one day her destiny is fixed. Some one says to her
"Will you not seek a friend to help you over this anguish
and distress t Ilave you no seer Anil she says " Yet ; I
have a father; but he is angry with me." Her last hope
is gone, ansl she is . .

" -hurled,
Anywhere, anywhere, out .4 the world."

She ends her days, because her last hope is gone. The
poor dove has ffml ,out of the ark, and has flown many
weary leagues over the SCA : it flutters back to the ark,
but she finds the window and ibair shut, and she cannot
but foil her wings and drop into the black waters and 'lie.
Then think of the desperation of mind if 1/11013 JeAllt be
angry, and shut you op in dark despair, for none can bring
you hope or joy when once He is angry. But then notice,
I pray you, the effect of His anger. "Led ye perish
from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. A
little ! You have heard of the prairie fires, which begin
often with a very little. A traveller drops a little spark,
the grass, the reeds, everything takes tire, and the devour-
ing flame sweeps over almost half a continent What is
it to that which shall be when the breath of the Lord, like
a stream of brimstone, shall cause the flames of Topliet
to rid up above all Calvin translated this passage rather
differently—" when His wrath is kindled in a little time."
Because when once a !win has rejected the Lord, and the
day of mercy is past, Got is soon angry, Itis wrath is
kindled in a little. It should snake us anxious about our
souls when we think that tlmican take Us away in a little.
You think you will not die a audden death, that you will
expire by some slow disease, Flying you sullicient time to
prepare, but I warn you to ' Kiss the Son, led Ile lie
quay, and you perish from the way when Ilia wrath is
kindled in • little time." But I go back to the words,
" When His wrath in kindled but a little." A little
kindling of llis wrath will I.lay the soul i who then can
dwell with everlasting hurnings There is a land of thick
darkness awl &mixer, where the worm dieth not., the
datile is not quenched, when., the bottomless pit
is realism!, the true realisation perhaps of that
horrible nightmare you may have felt—of always
always hopelessly falling,—, land in which the wicked
linger in eternal death and yet never die for ever and for
ever, where the wave rolls its fiery tide ever on the shore.
May it be that you and I can have our lot in that land of
woe Must these eyes of ours weep the briny tear that
cannot assu.v,se thirst? Must these ladies le eternally
tormented fir evert Must this body be the living gulf
into which the streariva of God's wrath shall for ever pour 1
My brethren, if you saw the 110 W bent, the arrow pointed
on the string, would you say I was a harsh prophet if I
sail that in a little while the arrow would reach its mark
There are some sinners who are like arrives fitted on the
how, sin is the string that impels thein on, and as the
arrow Ines swiftly in the air, no are they hastening to
darkness and despair. Sin is the way to hell, my friends.
011 to lbsl that toy head were as waters, and my eyes as
a fountain of tears, that I might weep over you! Oh that
I had the eloquence of Paul or Apollo+ to move you By
judgment, by heaven, by hell, by eternity, I implore you
to stop and kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish
Are have the sweet note
from the way, when his wrath is kindled huts little. nu,
"warning. The Lord 411)-1
sinner, if he does not turn, and repents-and believe ; if he
t their trust in Him." Are
does not kiss the Son, twist perish from the way, as soon
as ever his wrath is kindled. Lastly tor &moment, we have
ohienrerierira.eatreeminnalleenr
tthenioteturharaged.tht
pie
'
you a poor sinner, nestlini beneath the wind of Irist !
thet trust
nrY mum,.an This
blessed
(or Blessed are all they that put
their is blessedness is no fiction the
mem they dire into it, the more blessed they tin;l it
They are consciously blamed, they are blessed in their
durrows because they are comforted, they are Messed in
their joy* because they are satisfied. "Incased is the man,
consciously blevasl whose inlquitim are fontiven, whose
ton is covered." They are increasingly blessed
.• the river
of their jot' grows ever sleeper ; they are blessed when the
first ray of heavenly light streams upon their eyes ; they
are blessed when their eyes are open, they are blessed in
the hour of sheath, and, best of all, they are blessed with
the blessedness of heaven itself, with the perfection of the
sons of God. " Blessed are all they that put their trust in
Hiss." Oh my friends, suffer, pray you, the word of
affectionate exhortation—" Kiss the Son, lest he be s
and ye perish from the way, while His wrath is ki=
but & little." This lithe only was of blawallawo ; You

may do a hundred things, and yet be none the better ; hut
be like the poor woman, who had sutferisl many thin-. of
loony physicians, and had spent all that she tool, anti
nothing bettered. but rather grew werse. Rut oh ! trust
in Jesus, and you will hail that is the only way of blessed-
ness ; Gol hiss put all pardon, peace, awl hope for sinners
into the cross, and you may he blessed there but no here
eLse. It is the sure way of blessedness; }eii, never sinner
trusted in Christ and perished. But you may say " I fear
lam not one if Go Is elect." If you believe in Jesus you ;
are one of God's elect You may say " Suppose
Ile did not die for rue." I will not suppose any each
thing. Never shall it be sail on earth, never even i
in hell. shall the !jack Mayhemy be uttered—" Here
is a caner who trusted himself to Je:ll4, and was not
carried safely through." It is the only way, • sure way,
and, thank God, it is an open way of blasedness. There
is not one of you who feels in your heart that you have
been • rebel against Christ—there is not such a poor
sinner convinced of his in and need, who is not nov wed
come to come to Jesus. We have heard of the "Gates
Ajar;" the gates of heaven are not ajar, they are thrown
wide open, that the poor wrishing sinner may come in and
be saved. Venture alit risk all! Nay, there is no risk;
trust in Jesus to do all to save you, to work all your works,
to wash you from your sin, to de'iver you from your cor-
ruptions, to bring you to heaven. Yes! even trust in Jesus
—for the heart to trust Him, for the courage to trust Him,
for the faith to trust Him. Trust in the Lord with all
your heart, and you shall find, as many poor perishing
sinners have found, and as many more shall flail—how
blessisl are they that trust in Him.
; The weather on Sunday was line, and there was a good
muster for church parade, at the King's Statue. There
were present, the Lieut-Col. Commandant (Lord R.
Grosvenor), Major Yeatinan. 4 captains, 7 lieutenants, 2
sub-lieuteniuits, Adjutant Geniis, the surgeon, assistant
surgeon, veterinary surgeon, tie uarterwasters, Is sergeants,
15 corporals, 2 trumpeters, farriers, 143 rank said tile
total :115. Eighteen were absent sick, % with leave, and
15 without leave, making the total strength 261. The
we.ather continued tine, and in the afternoon the Yeomanry
band played at Gloucoder-ruw.
MONDAY.
The following promotions have lately been made :
Sergt Seymour to be quartermaster in Captain Bower's
troop, vice Harris resigned; Private J. Barnes, Capt. Sir
Richard Glyn's troop, to be corporal.
Monday morning broke beautifully, the sun shining out
in full force, and although there were occasional clouds
Inter, there was no other sh.rn of rain. The recruits paraded
for squad drill at 7 a.m., nt the Statue, with carbines, and
Sergt Costello gave them a quarter of an hours drill at
the firing °itemise. About half-past eight they began to
muster in front of headstuarters at Gloucester-row. An
accident happened to one of them, Mr. Bennett, of Buck.
land Newton, who has been staying at Mr. Ward's, hurry-
ing over to be in time, it being about twenty minutes to
nine. Hi* horse slipped on the pitching in front of
Chapelry steps, the man fell and alighted on the back of
his head. He was taken into Mr. Conner's, and is under
the treatment of the regimental surgeon, Mr. Good.
At nine o'clock the regiment rude off in high spirits and
headed by their hand, to the drill ground. Perhaps owing
to its being rather curlier than usual, the crowd assembled
on the J.:visaed° was .11111 ii
MONDAY A rreaxoces.

The Q.0.11.Y.e. returned from exerclae at the hoilitioor
about a quarter before two o'clock. and were at once dis-
missed opiamite the Royal I loteL The weather is gloriously
tine, there are many vi.itors, and we seem all at once to
have leapt into the warmth and brightness of the
"Neavol.'