The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1895-09-20

slavery OF sin; Paul's cry had been ut
tered In substance over and over again
70 wretched man that / am who shall |
deliver me from the body of thisEdeath?.
SO when Christ came and was recognized I
by the disciples Of John as the Messiah. |
they exclaimed 1--WE have found Him
the rescuer from the body of this death, |
this decaying, loathsome body to which
we find ourselves chained, the deliverer
from bondage.
So my ministry during these two
years has been an attempt to proclaim
this good news that came with jesus
advent into the world; not to tell you
with tedious repetition that you are
helpless in your sin, but to point to the
Lamb of God who taketh away the sins
of the world. Ii Jesus came to fasten
the cords of sin the more tightly about
us, then He did not come to make us
free; If He came to lock us more secure
ly in the Dungeon of Despair, then His
coming was only to execute the penalty
for our crime. But believe He did not
come to put burdens heavy and grievous
to be borne upon mems shoulders; He
did not come to make poverty the more
grinding and humiliating, sin the more
dreadful and unremovable and irremed-
10 n 10 oni1t tho nd fnll
of despair, life the more full of care and
| worry and
LESS DESIRABLE FOR US
all. Jesus came to give gifts to men !;
through Him they were to have life and
| to have it more abundantly. To the one
standing by the open grave, looking
down into its gloomy depths and seeing
half of the heart and life buried there,
Jesus came to say, ST am the Resurrec-
ton and the Life;" to the one burdened
with the struggle of life, lying down
upon his bed at night but finding it any
thing but bed of sweet slumber, Jesus
came to say: "Come unto Me, all We
that labor and are heavy-laden, and ]
will give you rest;'' to the one wander
ing in the labyrinths Of doubt, and per
picked to know if there is any certain
road when the cries are on every hand,
"Here herel" Jesus came to say, 81
am the Way, the Truth and the Life;'
to the one tossed upon life's sea, eve,
making for the quiet harbor but finding
none, ever experiencing ''fghtings with
in and fears Without Jesus came te
say: "Peace / leave with you, My peace
!; give unto YOU"
Jesus came with good news for us all
My friends, when the ship has beer
many days overdue, when the register
of marine intelligence has been consulted
! for tidings from the missing vessel il
vain, when the mother appears in thu
company's Office and anxiously inquire
of the one in charge, "What newss
! she does not wish to know that the sea
, are still raging, but whether there i
: any good message to give her, whethe
: the watcher at the lighthouse ha
, caught sight of the vessel as it ha
doomed above the horizons rim, or, a
the very least, whether there is hop
. that the ship bearing her loved one
will soon be in port. When we ar
; standing by the bedside Of the one dear
< er to US than our own life who is yer
4 sick, as the physician feels the pulse an
t we turn our anxious eyes to him, we d
not wish to have him say, "The case
8 very grievous, the pulse is low and fee
ble;" but we want to know whethe
3 the turn in the fever is nearly reached
/ whether he has any good news to tell US
t whether there is any chance for recov
e cry, whether there is any hope. So this
D my people, has been my message to you
not one sermon, hardly one word, hav
spent to convince you that you are sir
ners, that you are
BURDENED, WEARY, STRUGGLING;
but have preached in season and out O
s season this thought, Christ is your all i
: all, through Him you have life and hav
/. it more abundantly, He is your delivere
from the power of sin, He will was
e away every blot, He will cleanse ever
f stain, He is your hope, your star, you
sun.
Il That is the Gospel, and it is the powe
j of God. When Paul said so wretche
e man that am! who shall deliver m
8 from the body of this death ?" he felt hi
/. utter helplessness, he could not delive
t himself. So every man at some tim
. feels with crushing weight his weakness
= What is he? What can he do? Espes
i tally is this true with regard to sin. N
4 one can rid himself of sin; it fastens it
= folds more tightly about men than the SCI
' pents' folds were fastened about Laocoo
t and his two sons. No one can forgiY
D ain, no one can take it's sting away bu
u God. That is the power of the Gospe
' that is it's peculiar power, and it is tn
t mightiest power in the world.
= Often I hear people say, the Bibl
t holds up too high an ideal; Christ's Lii
t lis glorious example, but it is like
= star-we may look at it, but never reac
t Lit. admit that my preaching for tn
t past two years has held an ideal befor
= you; and that ideal has been just as hIg
{ as could make it, which was Christ
!, life. do not expect you to reach tina
t ideal now, but / do expect you to reac
! that ideal some day. / want my preach
. ing to be directive, to be ever pointing a
e that which is beyond. You remembe