The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-29
CLOSED HIS PASTOR ATE.
Rev. 4. VI. Williams sermon at Wes-
ley Monumental Church.

Inc laSt sermon OF the pdStOratC or kew.
\. NJ. Williams at Wesley Monumental
church was preached last night to a large
congregation.
With this conference year. the term OF
MIR. Williams at Wesley will expire, and
he will be assigned to some other charge
His final sermon was drawn from the
text found in Luke l5:2: This Man Re
ceveth Sinners"
1--WE have come" said Mr. Williams, TO
an hour of some import to you and myself.
The tender relation in which we have
stood to each other for years is about to
be dissolved. 1t Is a solemn moment for
all the great opportunities of this rela-
tionship are to be closed tonight AS l
look over this beautiful building. and into
these familiar and beloved faces the sense
OF the many imperfectons Of these years
oVerwhelm me, and | am almost silenced
with the solemnty Of the moment.
The naturalization of the preacher
with his people and the purpose for which
they are banded together is, perhaps, the
most intimate of any work the world
knows. l am not unmindful of the close
ness existing in all kinds of business be
tween the worker and his work | almost
deity work of any noble kind, from the
tller of the soil to the inspired seer re-
Veallng the secrets of the universe to its
intelligent ana spiritual members In the
gospel ministry, however this union is
more perfect. The preacher is considered
the embodiment of the cause As | have
stood here the public has looked upon me
not merely in my own poor personality, but
as the representative of what you believe
in, aspire to- and strive after. The church
Is the membership lowering in its minis
try. The ministry is the seed of the
Kingdom reproduced in the membership
Is
to ask what of the work We have thus I'M
dertaken.
The sentence constituting the text was
uttered in criticisms of Jesus Ii was a
reproach brought against him by the
purists. the delicate, the Pharisee of his
day. Presented as by them 1t is a fear
full sin, but, like all sin, it had its foun-
dalton in righteousness. There is a sense
an which receiving sinners rs a disgrace.
The man who harbors sinners on account
of their SIM because he loves upright
eousness, because his moral nature is so
corrupt that he takes pleasure in the in
dulgence of sinful passions and desires,
rs a heinous man in the sight of God.
There was nothing of this kind in Jesus.
Compare his sermon on the mount with
such a thought. The thought is incrcdi-
BILE. Jesus never received sinners for the
pleasure of partaking of their sins
Mr. Williams said that another form in
demnation is where peNsons consort with
the low-lived for selfish purposes, as the
business man cajoiing the wicked for
moneys sake; the politician resorting to
the saloon for votes the gambling he'll for
influence in the next election with its Vo-
tarles; the brothel for the political pull it
gives him with its frequenters. Jesus had
no such motive in his course of action.
He that would push aside a crown of gold
for one of bloody thornS that would put
up the indignant sword of his loving de-
fender for stripes, gbes, a cross had no
thought of personal advantage in seeking
his associations.
Jesus received sinners first. from his love
to the human that is within them. Like the
miner sees in the rough black rocks of
the mountain side the traces of the rich
mineral locked in its bosom, and puts all
his power to work to bring It out so Je-
suS sees, through the cOVetous publican,
the outcast Magdalene, the crucihed thief
the God given spirit and the human heart
that transcends the gems of the heavens
in beauty. In hundreds OF the abandoned
and degraded souls we spurn, there Is as
tender a heart and though hushed, as
pure a longing for the good, as In those
whose surroundings have always kept
them free from asperson. These Jesus
sought out and saved. To these Jesus
opened the door through his church. Have
we during the past four years,
with voice, with gesture, with
loving sympathy an enthusiastic zeal,
kept it wide open? If we have not, ] fear
there is profound humiliation and cause of
weeping now.
Jesus sought for sinners because he
felt profound confidence in the possibility
of their redemption. His entire life might
be made into a picture of the hues of a
glorious rainbow; the mellOwest, most
moving tint would be that Of the sinners
restored to self, to God, to society. Trace
him speaking hope to the woman who was
a great sinner that timid follower, living
under the ban of his countrymen, the pen
itent on the cross, to whom he spoke con-
ISOLATION out of the depth of his own ag-
ony, this day shalt thou be with me in
paradise" The chariot that waited the
Emanuel back to his Fathers mansion
carried in 1t the redeemed thief-first
fruits of the saved out of many genera
tons and varied conditions. 1t is glor-
Gus TO take the rugged marble and shape
1t into wonderful forms of fancied beauty;
il Is grand to take a few dumb colors,
and with a brush make a feeling thing
of life; 1t is great to take the chaotic
words of a vocabulary and fashion them
into the rhythmic story of the poet.
Greater grander, more glorious it is TO
take the depraved heart of man. the
bleared life of woman, the sinned, cursed
human soul and make the saint and the
angel This Jesus did; this he appoints
us to do. In our fidelity to this great
commission, in our conformity to this
lofty spirit in our success in winning
souls from lives Of darkness to the path
way Of life is to be found the test of our
work. Judge by this measure how unsat-
isfactory, how empty our work appears"
-s-@-s-
Foot Ball Injury Fatal.