The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1892-08-02
Preached by Rev. william PowiclS Sunday
Evening Last.

Preached by Rev. william PowiclS Sunday
Evening Last.
The sermon in the Methodist Episcopal
church on Sunday evening was from
Psalm 86,5, For Thou Lord art good, and
ready TO forgive: add plenteous in mercy
unto all them that call upon Thee" The
goodness of the Lord is originally a matter
Of revelation. There is not much in the
material universe that speaks to us Of
mercy. Law, inexorable law, is written on
everything God has made. "The heavens
declare the glory of God, and the frma-
ment showeth bis handiwork," but only
the word of God-the bible-declares his
long suffering and tender mercy. When
once the revelation of Gods goodness is
made we are able to discover much in
nature to illustrate and even to confirm the
revelation. But it is one thing to interpret
nature by the light of revelation and then
to discard the light and deny its help, and
very different thing to interpret nature
with Jut revelation as may clearly be seen
in the grotesque conceptions of God which
have rewarded the merely rational pro.
cesses of the ssges of heathendom who
have no bible to guide them. None OF
them were able to reach anything ap-
preaching the bible conception of Gods
goodness. The goodness of God delights
to take the special form of mercy. Hi.
goodness is the inexhaustable fountain OF
the streams of pardoning mercy which are
ever flowing from the throne of God
Nothing short of an unfinching faith in
this attribute of God can afford the COM
forting assurance the guilty soul needs.
Loaded with sin or burdened with sorrow
the crushed soul can find solace in the
mercy of an all-wise and all-loving father
He needs not that we should multiply ar
guments. He waits not for us to do any
thing TO make us more worthy of his
mercy. It is of the very essence of mercy
to bless the unworthy. The more un-
worthy and sinful the stronger claim you
have upon his mercy. He came not to call
the righteous but sinners to repentance"
He delighteth in mercy and is ready to for
give. And as though this were not enough
we are assured that he is "plenteous in
mercy" He does not dole it out in mig
gardly manner;
ITS streams the whole creation reach,
So plenteous is the store;
Enough for each, enough for all,
Enough for ever more"
The dealings of man with man are dis
tinguished by nothing more than injustice
and unmercifulness. Guilty man bestows
nothing SO grudgingly as mercy. We
have glaring instance of this in the
recent events at Homestead whose chief
proprietor wrote so eloquently in The
Forum concerning the inexeusable folly of
strikes and lock-outs and the great useful
ness of trades unions and the surprising
value of arbitration as a means of settling
labor troubles and then locked his men out
and denounced their organizations and
refused to recognize them or to arbitrate
the differences between them. But God is
true though every man be liar. Come
let us reason together saith the Lord,
though your sins be as scarlet they shall
be as wool and though they be red like
crimson they shall be whittier than snow.
Let the wicked forsske his way and the
unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him
return unto the Lord and he will have
mercy upon him and 10 our God for he
will abundsntly pardon. We need not
endure grevious penances nor invoke the
aid of any other than the "One mediator
between God and man the Man Christ
Jesus" God is plentous in mercy TO all
them that call uDDn Him We NAV have
little intelligence and less learning, we may
be unable to formulate our needs, perhaps
we cannot express ourselves in what men
call-and often misesll-prayer, but if we
know enough to call we know enough to
sue successfully for mercy. The drowning
man who can call for help can call upon
God for mercy. "And whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved"