Morning journal and courier., 1883-02-15
Lenten Service.

Sermon Last Evening at St. ThOmaS'
 Church by Rev. Dr. TatlOck.
 The inclemency of the weather and the
 rather dangerously slippery state of the side
 walks last evening undoubtedly prevented
 large attendance at St. Thomas'' church at
 the united lenten service. Rev. Mr. Vibbert,
 of Fair Haven, read the lessons, Rev. Mir.
 Lines officiating during part of the services.
 Neither do condemn thee, go and sin no
 more" furnished the subject matter for the
 sermon by Rev. Dr. Tatlock, of Stam-
 ford. The. reverend gentleman gave
 some account of the discussions
 as to the authenticity of the words and acts achieved by the Saviour as the theme of the narrative of which the text and words, are part, and said that the story of the woman taken in adultery had been consid-
 cred as out of place in the book of St. John where 1t is found. But we all feel that it is like the utterances of Christ and has the true ring of the Christian scriptures. ''The nar- ratlve," said the speaker, ''probably does not belong in this part of the gospel" but it need not be doubted that Christ acted and spoke as related The question to be con- sidered was Did Christ make light of sin? Far from it. The Sadducees and Pharisees ! would have been glad to have placed Christ I in an embarrassing position It was the same spirit actuating them that led them to de-
 mand judgment in the matter of tribute l money. They thought to entangle him, for I the woman might be subject to either the laws of Moses, in which her punishment would have been death, or might have been | subject to the Roman law. Not only was the question put to the Saviour one in which legal difficulties were presented, but it was 8 | moral as well as @ political dilemma. The case of this woman furnished an opportunity for the Pharisees to fix upon Christ the ! charge of inconsistency. They must have anticipated that he would answer in some heterodox way. He dealt with it as he did | with the tribute money by deciding the | on an entirely different plane | If he had condemned or if he had acquitted the woman, or had refused to decide, they would have carried their point. The answ CT was not adroit, it was wise-"Let him who is l without sin cast the first stone.' This took | and policemen. Clearly the purpose was not to punish sin. but to get rid of it. The woman's ofense was sin, not to be punished but forgiven. She WAS not to be driven to l despair, nor, indeed, were the Pharisees to | escape with complacency. Their sin was un- I due pride in themselves and when they heard these words in judgment on the case, ! they all went out one by one. To the wo- 1 man, selftormented, he said ''Go and sin no more"
 The preacher made it appear from the story under treatment that Christ judges by making men judges of themselves. He was
 not sent to. judge between man and man, but | between men and God His judgments open | the eyes of men who are convicted by their ! own consciences. This was his way on one | occasion when he wrote upon the ground What was 1t that he wrote? It might have been warning like that of Belshazzar. He 1 stopped and wrote again and they went out from his presence self convicted.
 ''Self deception" said the speaker, ''stands | in the way of true repentance" The object l in Christ's spiritual administration was to get l rid of sin. For the guilty woman and the l ver-righteous Phariasees he had directly op posite management. He reminded her that | she was not wholly lost or not so bad as she 1 felt herself to be, and he reminded them that 1 they were not so good as the appeared. He did not make light of sin in this. He simply | declined to pass legal judgment and the spiritual judgment was postponed.
 The sermon was an exposition of Christ's
 work among fallen men, and the speaker
 found opportunity for the conveyance of much gospel truth.