The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-08-19
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A STRONG DISCOURSE ENTlTl ED,
GODS LOVE FOR MAN"
The Rev. DIR. Robert Rogers Delivers
Thoughtful and Convincing Address
Urging Us to Allure SGl6shness and
AnimaIiSm-Christ the Ideal.

I y
! Rev. DR.. Robert Rogers, rector OF the
| Church Of the Good Shepherd, preached a
| thoughtful and convincing sermon on
| Gods Love For Man" The texts were
| from John iii: Ii: God so loved the world
| that He gave His only begotten Son, that
| whose beiicycth on Him, might not perish,
| but have everlasting life, and Mark ix:24:
Lord, ! believe, help Thou mine unbe-
| iiet. DR.. Rogers said among other things:
l. begin our thought this morning with
! the great declaration of the beloved Apos-
| lie John who, better than any other of
Chrlsts disciples, understood the vital
meaning underlying the Masters life. Jesus
was to Johu distinct personality with
| whom he VA" acquainted, q man among
! men, but lie was more than this. He was
also at The same fine the love of God in
earnate in this Mans nature, so that He
representcd the nature OF God and His
iee'ng and desires and purposes toward
mankind. God loved the world. Now, af-
ter beginning with this thought, | have
taken another verse from Scripture, to in
dicate lnau's attitude OF mind toward
Johns declaration. Lord, / believe, help
Thou nine unbelet.'
Johns statement is a condensed but
very complete outline Of what the Chris
tan religion aims TO teach men. Ii is the
message OF the Christian Church that Jesus
Christ is the personal demonstration of
| Gods love for man. The life and words
OF Jesus are the illustrations Of how God
loves aud how He acts toward man, and
also what God desires chat man shall
think and do toward God and toward his
fellow man
Now this kind of thinking leads us into
the acknowledge Of the supernatural.
it brings us to the admission that our Di-
Vine Father loves man, and teaches him,
and guides him by laws and standards
which lie reveals to man according to his
needs. in other words, the Christian re-
llglon stands Tor the presence Of God in
this life we are now living, and that He
has help to give to man, and demands to
make 0t man.
There are countless men and women
who believe implicitly in this statement of
God $ presence ruling over life, and who
live IN their belief. offering up themselves
to divine guidance, regretting their sins
and lnplOrng pardon in perfect faith that
1T viii be granted. There are. on the other
hand. some perhaps. who say they have
no belief in the divine aud spiritual, and
who would place themselves outside of the
declarations OF the Christian religion but
| believe this number to be few and grow
ing smaller every day. as the fuller vision
of the world and it's rich spiritual meaning
daWns upon their intelligence. But there
IS another large class with whom | am
specially concerned who believe and yet
do not believe They would not deny the
Christian faith, neither are they ready to
give their full allegiance to it. There is a
multitude OF such people among our men
and women, and may we not ask seriously
why Is this the case? Is it because Chrst's
teaching and His life are so. hard to be UNI
derstood that spiritual things can make no
derstood. Are some kinds so constituted
naturally that spiritual things can make
no effective appeal to them?
Ii we were for a moment to admit this
1t would destroy the greatest power which
we believe Inherent in Christc religion,
namely. that to every man, bond or free,
black or yellow, barbarian or Scythian,
jew or Gentle. learned or uulcarued, rich
or poor, it has the power of entering into
his heart and transforming his life There
Is no respect OF persons with God. | grant
you that Christ found that there were GER
tain places where even He could not pre-
sent His message with conviction, but the
cause of His failure was the hardness of
mems hearts and aot the difficulty of
comprehendmg His gospel, and this same
reason will be found TO hold good in these
days
Atheism is no longer supposed to be
necessary adjunct of the scientist; but on
the contrary, the men who are opening the
widest visions OF new truth to the world in
gthese days and teaching the profoundest
lessons to mankind are men who are sin.
cere believers in the message of Gods
presence as revealed by Jesus Christ, or at
least are able TO say with earnestness.
lord, believe, help Thou mine unbelef"
hen we come to consider our own lives
and those OF the ordinary men and women
around about whom we can understand,
what Is IT that prevents the message of
Jesus Christ from having the effect upou
us all that it ought to have?
There has been for the past few years a
warning sounded that men are not attend
ing our Christian churches, and the rea-
sons are being given in various ways Cer-
gymen are uninteresting; churches ere cold.
uninspiring places; doctrines 30 anti.
quated and illiberal and meaningless to
man In the struggle for life. Perhaps
there Is truth IN all these statements: it
is not difficult for even a stupid man 10
find plausible excuse for ANYTHING he
cares to do, or to leave undonc Parents
Who are bringing up children teachers
who are educating them, understand the
readiness Of plausible excuses.
But these excuses, whenever given. are
not the real reasons why some men do not
attend church. Let me say, first that [
believe 1t Is open to demonstration that a
larger number of men are interested in
the work OF the church and attending its
services and oheying its inspirations than
at any other time in history. And what
is more important. they are attending
churches willingly without the con,pulaion
OF ancient times when heaven and hell
were regarded as in the sole power of the
church. and men were afraid to absent
themselves Our y. NJ. c. AS were never
so prosperous. The religious nature of our
college students was never more genuine
than in our own DAYS.
But to speak OF those who are not at
tending our churches, is it not because
they have never had true vision of the
vital reality and praeticability of Christ's
messages? The great majority of men in