National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-10-16
THE FREEDOM OF THE ST.,
TIE fhhhpVn We inA ',SUL.
Revival Meetings at the <aunarv ohureh-
Sermon By

the revival NEE ngs are still going on at the
founotE Let evenAsg the Rev. Jehp Chester
piesepeo nom the text, st. John, yilt:34-SS:
Jesus answered them, verify, verify, say unto
YOU, 6hosoever committeth sin is the servant oil
Sin. II the son therefore shall make you free, ye
shall be free Indeed"
These words, said the Doctor their blessed
Lord had spoken when the multitude had gath
cred to hear them. He had Just before made the
announcement, "The truth will make you free"
When the word free" had fallen upon their
freedom they scoffed at the idea that they were
not nee, He was speaking of the bondage OF sin,
and therefore he had laid down this principle,
That was the bondage Of the soul. They had the
Gospel In substance, the bondage and the re-
demption, in these words. He believed tAat those
two verses presented to them the two great facts
that the soul needed to kpow-the bondage Of
grace.
The bondage of sin could be demonstrated by
observation. Heathens were under bondage TO
their idols; the ancients had been under bondage
TO their gods, their defed passions. In Christian
life they found the principle still holding good.
The gambler was SO completely under the vice
that he sacrificed to it his money, his time and
bis soul. A still more perfect exemplihcation OF
the principle was the drunkard, who sacrificed
everything to his master, drink. The drunk
ards only hope of freedom was through Christ.
there were habits of affections set on the world
and not on God. Men were not infidels in their
the bondage of the heart that held them back, q
power that could only be broken by the Son Of
God. "1f the Son. therefore, shall make you
free Ye shall be free indeed.p That was blessed
revelation. The Lord when he had preached his
first sermon in Nazareth had preached upon the
same subject. Christ first set free the desires Of
the soul When Jesus came to make the heart
free the first thing that he did was to give the
desire TO be free.
Jesus also gave the soul hope and faith, to en-
able 1t to come out of the bondage. When t
faith came to the soul, when hope began to dawn,
then the holy spirit leads the souls out OF this
When God proposed to bring a man out of bond
age, he proposed to do It without any violation OF
his divine justice. When the soul, having
wrought in 1t the desire, the faith and the hope,
laid hold of Christ. the pardon that God had
given, then the soul was made free. When the
manded to run the race for the high mark set In
Christ. When their blessed Lord took hold Of a
q fight TO make, but it was not its own tight; It
was with the strength of Christ.
When n man came from prison he was avoided
and Stunned; but If the Son made them free, they
would be free indeed. A soul freed by Him
would be known in Heaven, not as sinner, but as
soul saved by Christ. 1t would enter Christ's
family. Thus their blessed Lord fllled every part
they needed. That was the deliverance they had
come to offer that night Their message that
night was to those who we're without Christ, still
Jesus, the son Of God, the appointed saviour,
said to them that he would make them free. Per-
haps there were some who were so far in the
bondage OF sin that they considered their cases
hopeless; TO such their message was "If the son
therefore shall make you free, ye shall be FREQ
indeed" Tris Christ had said: "Oome unto me
all ye who are weary and heavily laden, and I
will give you rest" He iD7!ted such as were
heavily laden to come, and If they would be set
free that night there would be rejoicing in heaven
At the conclusion of DIR. Chester's remarks
the Rev DR.. DOmer made a few remarks before
prayer was offered. He said that after such an
invitation it was worth while to try; It was worth
while to come to Christ; wherever they went out
side of Christ, to seek for rest they would find
Themselves deeper down in their unrest He
urged that they try to come into real freedom
that freedom in which they came into Joint heir.
ship with Christ. 1t was worth while to come
into such freedom and such glory.
The Rev. DOmer then offered fervent praye-
for freedom.
DR.. Cleveland afterwards made a few remarks,
referring TO the fellowship of Christ as the key.
note OF unity. Nothing panied him more than a
lack Of cooperation among those who were freed,
He believed that the next great revival in the
church would be revival Of cooperation. They
were, indeed, having q revival Of Christian unity
and fellowship.
Or. Butler then offered prayer, and the cougre.
cation was dismissed with 8 benediction from DR..
Chester.
There will be no meeting tonight, but the pas.
tor of Foundry church, Rev. H. A. Cleveland,
will preach in the morning on the sNeed Of Re-
vival," and in the evening on "Man Cooperating
with God"
The revival meetings will be held during the
next week, and be governed by the action Of the
union meeting on Monday.