The age-herald., 1901-06-03
ME ARE SAVED BY MERCY, NOT WORKS Eloquent Sermon by Rev. Dr..
 A. B. Curry AT FIRST PRESBYTERIAN All Men Need to Be Saved, But None Were Ever Saved Except
 Through the Mercy
 of God.


 terday Rev. A. B. Curry preached an eloquent sermon, his theme being, Not By Works But By Mercy" and his text from Titus III, 5:6. Mot by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renew ing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.''
 'T bring you the old, old story today" said Dr. Curry, ''the story that is old, yet ever new, the story of the gospel salvation. Our text is one of the mount ain peaks of scripture lifting itself high among other precious passages: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, which we did ourselves, but &C., cording to his mercy he saved us.
 "All men need to be saved. It ought not to be necessary to emphasize this fact and yet it is; for many deny 1t and many more quietly ignore 1t. Ours is an age of great advancement in scientific Knowledge, and in natural progress. Many old ideas and methods we have outgrown and thrown away, and some suppose the old notions of sin and saliva ton to be among this number. But this
 
 grow; they belong to the present consti- tuition of the race. They are true of each succeeding generation, and as true of the last as of the first generation of men. Such for example are our birth, our growth and our death. We never get be- yond these; they are always and uni versally true of all men. And such, too, are our responsibilities to God. the fact of sin and our need of salvation.
 trro If They are equally true of the last man born--all sin, all need salvation; the high est as we'll as the lowest; the heathen and the civilized. Look at recent scenes in China. Some are surprised that Flu ropean troops could be guilty of conduct so nearly akin to that of Chinese Boxers. It goes to show that sin dominates both and both need salvation from sin It Is true not only of the denizens of the slums but also of the so-called smart set select 400 of the nation. Recent events in this charmed circle have shocked the moral sense of the country, and I saw the statement two days ago that nearly two score suits for divorce are pending in Newport. It only shows that all classes are akin in this: they all need salvation from sin.
 How We Are Saved.
 ''Let us consider how we are to be
 
 can be saved. God is not willing that any should perish but that all men should re- pent and be saved. And herein is mans condition better than that of the angels 8 that fell.
 There are three phases of salvation from sin, namely, from the guilt of sin from the dominion of sin and from the punishment of sin. Thousands have been saved from all these: there are men be- fore me who were once servants from sin, guilty before God and under penalty of death, who are now delivered from sins power, are free from guilt and hap py in the pardon of God. It may be so for every man. How?
 First. 1t is not by our own works of righteousness. Just here many make a fatal mistake. They feel the need of salvation, but they try to achieve 1t by their own works. The Hindoo with his juggernaut car, his suttee, and his starved body makes this mistake. So does the Confucianist who has a morali ty without religion: so does the nor alist who is simply the Confucianist of Christendom; so did the hermits and the ascetics and fagel1ants of the Christian church trying to save themselves by works of righteousness done by them selves.
 But our text says:'Not by works of righteousness which we have done.' And
  real condition. It Is like the story of a little child, who. while dropping pebbles in a well being bored, in the absence of the workmen, fell in and had to be taken out with grappling irons. That is mans condition, an infant crying in the night, an infant crying for the light, and with no language but cry power outside of himself must save him.
 Experience also bears this out For f0,1r nd ha WI to itself, with what result? Witness Greece and Rome under Nero. The high est and best of our own day depending on self. The scriptures also are plain. For by grace are ye saved not of works least any man should boast" Eph. 1T S:9. Who hath saved us, not according to our works but according to His grace"
 By the Mercy of God.
 "It is by the mercy of God that we are saved. But according to His mercy He saved us.' The ground of our salva- ton, then. is the mercy of God. I am glad of this. for mercy is one of Gods attributes, as Is justice or righteousness, and he is rich in mercy. Some think the design of Christ's atonement was to purchase mercy for us. On the contrary mercy gave us the atonement. o the boundless mercy of God; how our saliva ton springs from this mercy of God, not from our works. Rev. T. Hooker when one said to him on his dying bed, You are going to receive the reward of your labors, replied: I am going to receive mercy would rather trust the mercy of God than my imperfect works of right eousness.'
 Hence those may be saved who are in- capable of either good or evil works; that is. infants and persons of unsound mind. The church of Rome and some others teach that unless baptized infants are lost. as If their salvation depended on this work of righteousness. But we say no.