The Penn's Grove record., 1903-04-17
SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE EMIT, En-
sDoiNc THE WILL OF COD"

AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
sDoiNc THE WILL OF COD"
The Rev. John Erskine Adams Explain,
h Profound Purpose Which Animal.
ed h Life and Labors of Our Lord
Dangers Of the Spirit of Materialisn,
New YORK CIrY.-NDoing the Will Of
Cod, was the subject of the sermon
preached Sunday morning by the Rev,
John Erskine Adams, pastor Of the Ross
Street Presbyterian Church. He took as
bis text John 4: "a. my meat is to do
the will Of Him that sent Me. and to finish
His work" Mr.. Adams said:
these words express the profound pur-
pose which animated the life and labors al
our Lord. He has been engaged in that
wonderful conversation with the sinful
woman OF Samaria, and to her He has un-
folded truths which have in part at least
been Kept up to this hour even from His
faithful followers. Things which had been
hidden from the wise and prudent are 70.
vealed unto babes. Some Of the most won
derful truths that Jesus uttered were to
slnners; some of the most gracious prom
ises to those who, like Himself. were de-.
spised and rejected of men. To this ont.
cast woman whose life was branded with
shame, He not only reveals His WILLINGNESS
to impart the gift of God, the living water.
springlng up into everlasting life, but He
reveals TO ner his divine nature and Mes
am He" ~
The woman has gone from His presence
with a new hope in her heart and a new
light upon her face, and the disciples an
proach their Master. He must be HUNGRY
for the FAST like the way, has been long
and they offer Him meat. He replies: III
have meat to eat that We know not of: NV
meat is to do the will Of Him that sent Ne
md to finish His work" Again does our
LORD declare that man shall not live by
bread alone. There is a deeper satisfac-
ton than that which comes from grat;6.
cation of the carnal nature; the satisfac-
ton OF outreach toward lost souls: men
and women IN famine, hayward children
OF the Father, and in that outreach: doing
the Fathers will, who desires that NOT
one of these little ones shall perish. That
philosophy, which proved too profound for
those d!sclpies ls, we fear, just as incom-
p~rehensib!e to the commercial and mater
lallstlc spirit OF this latter age. The ques-
ton; what shall we eat and what shall we
Drink! Is more lmperious to-day than ever.
Eplcurus has his disciples still. and Nam
mon Its shrine before which countless null
tltudes bow. To eat, drink and be merry.
that is the worlds definition Of life.
l have said that the words of the text
express the purpose of Christ's life. They
are the motive of all His deeds; the norm
by which His every action is Judged. ssIn
the volume OF the book it is written of Me:
Lo! l come to do Thy will, O, My God"
The will OF the Father was the actuating
power OF His incarnation. He knew no
other lmpelllng force. 1t was this which
turned His face toward Jerusalem for His
fnal trial and triumph; it was this which
gave to Him the victory in the garden of
Gethsemane, and enabled Him to put the
cup to His lips and drain it to the dregs.
IN ITS glow all lesser lights paled: to its au-
thorlty all His powers were brought sub
Ject, and through its power all temptations
were beaten down, all personal ambitions
were destroyed, earthly distinctions and
emoluments rejected. His responsibility
to the Father pressed upon Him when only
q boy. OF twelve years, and deepened in His
consciousness till it became the oyermas-
terlng impulse of His life. Responsibility
to Almighty God was Webster's definition
OF the ~profoundest thought that could
come to a man; the Fathers business,
was the supreme business of Jesus life:
de knew no other mission or message.
n we are speaking truly when we say
character and work. without t. His 1 life.
however beautiful, would have been at best
an aimless one. Without that purpose of
doing the Fathers will and manifesting
His glory there would have been no coher-
ence to Christs deeds or teachings. but in
the will of God we find all that He was
and did brought to the focus; to do that
will was His meat and His drink.
Now what was true of Christ is in ike
measure true of every one of US. What
0urnoca rvao onH noxya ~ Az 1fo &c 1.-.
Lord, it must be and give to us. We can
no more live lives of strength without the
deep impulses of a noble purpose stirring
within them, than can the vessel reach
her destined haven without the compass
or the pole star. Behind all things are the
infinite purposes, Tennyson gives us the
thought:
"Yet I doubt not thro' the ages one in
c~reasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened
with the process of the suns"
God takes no delight in chaos or confu-
sion. His works are ordered according to
q divine purpose. Not only His works of
creation, which move in the harmony of a
perfect plan, but those of redemption and
grace. st. Paul asserts that His manifold
wisdom is declared according to the ter
nal purpose which He purposed in Christ
OCouS Jul Lulu. Guu II 0OQ l1dI1lltStS
His glory in the accomplishment of His
purpose in nature and in grace, and if
Christ's life was lived in the light of a no
bic purpose, how essential is it for us to
move onward in accordance with well de.
lined plans, under the inspiration, aye,
compulslon of some aim In life, that shall
give to life definiteness and conference.
Saint Bernard had over his study table
IN illuminated letters these words: Der.
made, ad guild venisti?" Bernard, why are
you here?" The reference was not to the
termined for him. But it was: What Is
the animating purpose of your life? What
is the meaning of your existence? l.
every pleasure and every task made sub
servient to the one purpose; the one su
preme motive of your being? Amiel in his
Journal records, Life is a mass of begin
nings and endings." We have all expe
rienced his meaning. We have begun tt
build, but did not finish. We have laid oul
plans and found them broken in upon and
destroyed; we have skinned over the sur
face of things, but not gotten at their hid
den meaning. And if we ask the reason i
is evident. We have failed because M
presiding purpose has woven the tangled
skein into harmony and beauty. We have
been dallying with purpose, we have beer
half willing, we have been hanging forevel
in the balance, and So we nave been losing
our grip on life.
As a man purposeth in his heart so il
he. The difference between aimlessnes
and decision is the difference between thu
~stagnant pool, lying motionless, thick ant
Shiny, breathing malaria and breeding
venom, and the cataract, which PUSHES on
ward, o living, moving, piunging thing
something destructive In its energy, but
thing of beauty because a thing OF life
Better an ignoble purpose even" says DR.
Pierson, than none at all" Better to 81
a Saul of Tarsus, breathing out threaten
ings and slaughter, but breathing, thar
such a man as Robert Dale Owen, who con
fesses: 81 committed one fatal error in my
youth, and dearly have l bewailed 1t;
started in life without an object, ever
without an ambition. My temperament
disposed me to ease, and to the full l IN
dulged the disposition. | said to myself
I have all that I see others ~contending fol
why should I struggle? | know not the
curse that lights on those who have never
to struggle for anything. Had created fol
myself a~de6nite pursuit-iiterary, scien
tifc. artistic social, political, no matter
what. SO there was something to labor FOL
md TO overcome might have been happy
I feel this now-too late. The power J.
gone. Habits have become chains. Through
all the proitless years gone by | seek VAN
" for something to remember with prld.
or even to dwell on with satisfaction.
daro throvn auav a life feel sometimes