St. Paul daily globe., 1893-06-26


After the sermon, delivered by Bishop
Charles 81. Fowler. over $4,000 addi-
tional was subscribed, to cover shrink
age on the original subscription, taken
May 20. 1891. The original plan is
being worked by the. pastor and the
board of trustees, and the pastor
is confident that in a few days
every dollar of the debt will be fully
provided for. Oxford church was or
ganized May 26, 1887. with nineteen
charter members, ten of whom are still
resident members, and the present
membership is about $50. The society
owns three beautiful lots at the corner
CT Holly avenue and st. Adams street.
where tasty chapel was es,cated Oct
80, 1887; also comfoEsSNe parsonage.
The present pastor is Rev. j. w. Davids.
The society has had steady growth
from the beginning; the present confer
ence year has been successful, spirit
ually and financially. and thirty EIGHT
new members have been added to the
society.
Bishop Fowler preached from He
brews. XII. II: BY faith Abraham, when
he tried, offered up Isaac; and he that
had received the promises offered up
his only begotten son." The bishop
said:
This text brings us face to face with
the greatest Old Testament event, we
are brought to contemplate one OF the
greatest Old Testament characters, and
tits in the sacrifice here referred to that
the great character was matnred. 1t
took almost as much faith in Abraham
to receive Isaac as it did to sacrifice
him, and he was unto him all that
could be expected and all that could be
asked.
Surely, I can think of no stronger
case than that of Abraham's affection
for Isaac. When he hears the voice of
God saying, abraham" !" he answers,
Here am l." and relying on the prom
-ise OF God makes preparation to carry
!. out His command; putting the faggOtS
upon the shoulders of Isaac, the old
man leads the way along the path up
which, nineteen centuries later, Gods
Son shall carry His cross. And as we
sleOk at him FOUNDER on the same sum-
nit, it,afterward known as Mount Calvary,
and see this old man trying to cOnSum-
mate his offering and see his hand
caught by the angel and know that that
is the hand of the Angel of the Cove
nant, none other than the Christ, we
cannot but recall the words of the mob
OH the same summit, ''He saved others,
Himself He cann0t save"
There are people who say they cannot
accept this story, and quite an eminent
divine of late has thrown out the entire
story, saying that he could not think of
God at all as making such an order. |
don't think / could take it out in my
most logical thought. Ii you take it
out, you take it out by human authority,
and SO must make the authority of the
book human; and il reduced to mere
human authority, then Christian and
gentle stand alike. on the same footing,
and the facts of the universe about us
In the administration of the good God,
in whose name you strike it out, is as
much your administration as it is mine,
and you are under as much obligation
to explain the theory on which you cast
it out as am to explain it in.
We must take this event as part of
the history, a part of Gods process for
educating and training the race, a great
object lesson. The great purpose of
the all-loving Father is by some possi-
bility to get into the mind of the race
some idea Of Jesus ChriSt-some con-
ception of His mercy, His tenderness,
His pardon, His righteousness and
this is one of the great, long-drawn
object lessons of instruction. 1t took
1900 years to make room for the
infant in a mangsr, and He worked
by all possible processes; He thundered
from the summit Of Sinai: He drew out
the long instruction of the temple and
its sacrifices; He kept their attention
continually turned toward Him; He de-
livered them from their enemies; He
chaStened them for their sins; He
wrought His miracles of power for their
protection, century after century teach
"a mr
that the law should be schoolmaSter
to lead the race to Christ; and so when
He starts His chosen people, as the line
of His revelation, as the line along
which His Son should come, He starts
them in the image of a sacrifice.
And that there might be no mistake,
see how tightly God wove together the
type and the anti-type, so that nobody
who would be thoughtful might in the
least mistake it. Isaac was a son of
promiSe-Jesus was expected four
thousand years; Isaac was supernatur-
ally born-Jesus was born of a virgin;
Isaac walked among men thirty-three
years-JeSuS was i'll our midst thirty
three years; Isaac consented to his dy-
ing, for, in the maturity of his manhood
he could easily have thrown that old man
down the mountain side and gone
ing--Jesus laid down His life "for His
Sheep" No man took it from Him;
Isaac was three days as one deed !
Jesus was three days in the sepulchre;
Isaac was received back as from the
dead-Jesus was raised from the dead;
Isaac was indeed the offering OF a
father, giving hts affection in obedience
to the purpose of God-JesuS was the
Offering of the Infinite Father, perfect
ing and unfolding his long-drawn pur-
pose of redeeming love. Thus Isaac
comes as the type of Jesus, and Abra-
ham stands before us as the father of
the faithful.
There are two or three lessons in this
l will tarry to refer to; the chiefest IS
that sacrifce is power. We go forward |
as church only in proportion as we
touch this great law; the moral forces |
of this universe go forward in power
always in proportion to the sacrifice; l |
do not know what God will do for you |
or with you it you trust Him; but this |
L know, that if you will let Him bring
you up to some new level of spiritual |
power. He will give you new spiritual |
kingdom; He will make Of this church |
a great light in this community, and |
will shed out through it the blessed light
of the Sun Of Righteousness.