Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-03-08
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BISHOP HALL AT RANDOLPH.

biOuOt tiHhL ~ hrHboLi Us
On Sunday, the 4th inst, the Ri. Rev. A.
G. A. Hall, ID. d. third bishop of Vermont,
made his first visit to st. Johns church,
| West Randolph, and the parish OF Grace
church, Randolph Morning Prayer with
Holy Communion was held in st. Johns
at 1890 o'clock, and large congregation
paid close attention to the eloquent SER
mon delivered by the bishop, who chose
| for text the first clauses of the 9th and
J 35th verses the sixth chapter OF St.John,
which follow the Gospel appointed for the
| fourth Sunday in Lent-"Labor not for
the meat which perisheth. but for that
meat which. endureth rnto everlasting
| life" "And Jesus said unto them, | am
| the bread of life." God is not only the
creator of every form of life, but He is the
supporter and preserver of that life as
well. His watchful care is over all His
| creatures, and lie is nigh unto all them
that call upon Hin. Our Heavenly Father
did not make this world, ordain laws for
! its governance, set il in motion, as the
matchmaker winds his eight-day clock,
and then leave it until it should run down
or become hopelessly disordered. Neither
did He make man in His own image,
b-eathe into his nostrils the breath of life
and then leave the creature that He had
called into being ana endowed with in
teiligence with no means of holding COM
munion with his Maker. Such was not
the divine plan. When man by trans
gression fell, the Father sent His only be-
gotten son, Jesus Christ, by His incarna-
ton, Who too; our nature upon Him and
became lies ensample, that through
Him we miyta tain unto that higher life
for which ~, v, &c created. "Jesus said,
am the bT',t4 o. Life and the sacra-
ment, SO q wrongly considered as sep
arate from Jon, was instituted for the
strengthening and refreshing OF our souls,
the support of our moral life. Our bodies
are the images of our souls, and as those
bodies are strengthened and refreshed by
the bread and wine, so our souls are by the
body and blood Of Christ, which are spir-
itualiy taken and received bv the faithful
OF the Lord s Supper. Yet we neglect the
meat that endureth into everlasting life,
and labor for the meat that perisheth The |
pugilist, stamped with the image Of his |
God, is content TO be only a magnificent /
animal, with his mental and moral en-
dowments dead within him. Rising above \
his animal nature, the man OF keen intel |
ligence develops his mental resources to |
their fullest extent but fails to feed his |
soul with the bread of life and disdaining |
all means OF grace, shuts himself off from /
communion with his Maker, whereby J
alone he can attain to that highest form l
of life for whioh ne was intended. How 1
repulsive to us is death! Not because il is |
the absence Of life but because il Is the loss /
OF life. stone which never had life, we \
hold in our hands, wear about our persons |
and treasure in our cabinets, for il is a
precious jewel; but we turn with a feeling
of repusion from the cola form from
which life has departed. OF the lower an
imals which have but little intelligence,
we make pets and even companions, vet /
recoil from the idiot child with a feeling /
of horror. II is not the absence OF life or
intelligence where neither is expected
that dlstresses US, but their loss by the be-
ings once possessing them. II the sight OF
the dead body or the idiot child is so Of
fensive TO US, how repulsipe must we be in
the sight OF Heaven with our dwaried or
undeyeloped mental and moral natures,
our groyeling on the lowest plane of life
when We ought to be living, as God in
tended as to do, on the highest plane, sus
tanned and preserved by that close com
munion with Him, which should be to us
the bread OF life. Against Thee only
have / sinned and done this evil in Thy
sight, cried the Psalmist, and against
God only, our Creator and Preserver. have
we sinned, when we wrong ourselves and
neglect the means OF grace offered TO us.
As well might the infant raise les puny !
list and strike the mother who nourlshes
It, rs we rebel against the God to whom
Ne owe the very breath OF life, when even
he winds obey Him. These bones OF his
discourse the bishop clothed with forcible
md elegant language and sharpened his
points with many apt illustrations. In
he afternoon he addressed a very large
at the Center, many from
lere being present as well as the Normal
Students, and the clergy and members OF
he other societies. In the evening sec
md service was held in St. Johns church,
5 hich was also well attended, ana the
bishop, preaching from Ephesians vi. 13-
", proved to his interested hearers their
Urgent need to put on the whole armor OF
jod Bishop Hall has a fine voice,
pleasing manner and the power Of holding
he undivided attention OF an audience
rom the beginning of his discourse TO its
nd. lie speaks without notes yet fiuently
md easily, and states the Gospel truths In i,
vigorous manner. In every parish which )
he has visited. he has left a very favorable
and 10 is now the general opin-
on that as they become better acquainted \
With him, the bishop will endear himself
more and more to his people in the do 7
csc OF Vermont.