The record-union., 1897-11-12
THE GREAT NEED OF REST.
HOW NOEL II. JACKS HANDLED
THE SUBJECT.
There Is Rest and Peace for All
Who Trust in the Divine
Son Of God.

Noel H. Jacks, in his address to men
at the Young Mems Christian Associa-
ton last night, took as his text what
he called AN Old Prescription" found
in one of the Oldest books extant To-
day, the Bible. This text was from
Matt XII, 2S: Come unto Me all ye that
give you rest" Mr. Jacks spoke SUBJ
stantially as follows:
There are few passages in the four
gospels more important than this. There
are few that contain more precious
! truth. For 1880 years these words
4 have been the source of comfort ana
blessing to myriads of souls In the
| first place, it reveals to US the heart of
! the Lord. God is not a tyrant nor a
/ hard taskmaster, who delights only in
suffering and misery He did not ere
ate man and give him tasks to perform
and burdens to carry, and then leave
/ him to make the best of the situaEi ion.
/ Much of the science of the day would
! have us believe that God is divided
/ from the world; that His hand is not
in the affairs of man; that .whether
sparrows fall or heroes perish, Whether
atoms or starry systems crash, whether
/ bubbles burst or worlds are wrapt II
conf1agration, God has no thought or
care He is removed, impossible, iso-
lated: or, as another has said, the per-
sonificatfon of an infinite I do not care.
How different the Scripture view of
God. Open it's pages anywhere and we
/ find such words as The Lord is my
| Shepherd or He leadeth me-: or. In
the time of trouble He shall hide me in
| His pavilion; or, The Lord God is a
sun and shield; The Lord will give
grace and glory: No good thing will
be withheld from them that walk up
rightly But why multiply quotations
Any man familiar with the Bible knows
that from lid to lid it reveals God as
Creator, provider, protector, friend,
Savior. Which view do you choose to
accept? AS for me give me the Bible
view. Call me narrow, bigoted, uncult-
ured-I can endure all that, but l cam
not endure the loss of such precious
faith.
| 'The saddest man ever met was one
who out of deep sorrow exclaimed, No
body cares for me, and if there be q
God He has forsaken mel How dark
must be the life of such one, described
|
and without hope He is like a sailor
! lost and driven on a shoreless sea-.
1T is true men do forsake one an
other. Is there a man who never knew
what it is to be deserted by friends
/ in an hour of trial? There are few such
| if so, for human experience is on the
other side. But the Bible teaches that
God never forsakes those who put their
trust in Him.
| Now, l know the majority of men do
not turn to God or the Bible for instruc-
ton in these things, and the result is
a tired, weary world. The great char
acteristic of this age is unrest. We
see it on every hand. Hence the great
need of the world is just that which the
text offers-rest. Yes, rest; rest for
| those laboring in the tolls of formal re-
| ligion in their vain endeavors at self
Justification; laboring to get gain, hon
or, ease; laboring with Satan, lust,
drink, infidelity. Then, too, there is
one universal sorrow from which none
can escape, no matter how free from
care their lives have been. The rich,
the poor, the great, the humble, all will
some time sorrow over the death of
loved ones.
There is no flock however watched and
But one dead lamb is there;
| There is no fireside howsoe'er defended,
| But has one vacant chair.
Mark, then. in the face of ali this
sorrow, unrest and trouble the gracious
offer Of the text, I will give Not tell
or show, but give you rest. We may well
ask the question, Who is this that o.
fers rest? Certainly it is a bold, auda-
cious thing to do unless he who offers IL
is able 70 fulfill his promise"
Here Mr.. Jacks proceeded to show by
convincing proofs that the one who Of
fered this boon to the world was none
else than what He claimed to be, the
divine Son of God.
He then took up the kind of rest Je-
sus gives to those who come to Him
dwelling especially on the rest of for
giveness, of defense, from the desire tc
sin and the rest of knowledge. These
points were amply illustrated win
pointed stories that made them easy &c
remember
Mr.. Jacks will speak again tonight
and tomorrow night, and his last ad-
dress will be given Sunday aftern Jon
to men only, at the Clunie Opera house
| y