The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-11-16
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
,"CLORlFYlkC THE FATHER"
Preached by the Rev. DR.. Thomas b. Nc
Leod, of Brooklyn, ". Y.-We Can
Make God Real, We Can Make the
Gospel Sublime.

Leod, of Brooklyn, n. 1--WE San
Make God Real, We Can Make the
Gospel Sublime.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.-Upon his return to
his pulpit from his vacation, the Rev. DR..
Thomas B. Mcleod, pastor of the Clinton
Avenue Congregational Church, preached
! an eloquent sermon Sunday morning on
'Glorifying the Father" The text was
/ chosen from John xv:8: "Hercin is My
Father glorifed that We bear much fruit;
Fd,so shall ye be My disciples" DR.. Mcleod
=; said:
How vital, dear friends, are all New
Testament representations OF reilglon!
Compare the New Testament with the eth.
ical teaching, or religious teaching of ali
. other books in this respect, and you are
simply astonished. There is nothing me-
| chanical in them, nothing formal, nothing
| inst:tutional-every process is a process OF
life. 1t is no use for a man, or tor men, 10
| claim that they have Abraham for their
father. Religion is not a matter OF who a
mans ancestors were: it is a matter OF
what a man himself is. Jesus has gwen US
in one pithy sentence His estimate OF the
worth of the claim that is based on de-
scent, on heredity, on social prestige, when
| children, unto Abraham out of the very
stones Of the roadside. The concern that
interests God, when it comes to the matter
| of. religion, is whether a man is a living
| plant or a dead stick. The hedge, though
it be a hedge of flowers or roses, in which
| the stake occurs, does not make the stake
a living thing. The line of descent in
which a man stands, nor the social posi-
! ton he occupies, nor the church OF which
he is an attendant, or a member, IS noth-
ing. The man may after all be nothing
1o44on &L,r q loo1 cfola in a HODGE.
There was a certain fine man, q I'M man
socially, religiously, politically-one OF the
hest of men as men went-came to Jesus
to make inquiry on the subject OF religion.
He was reverent and devout and respect
full and courteous and cultured and learned,
a leader and teacher of the people, a lee
turer on ethics, but when it came to rell-
gion, Jesus said to that man, eye must be
born again" The vitality Of the represen-
tation we find in the New Testament rell.
gion is its life; II have come that We might
| have life. and that we might have 1t more
! abundantly." 80
And so of tests. Not simply of the rep
RESERVATIONS or descriptions of religion, but
| also of the tests, the New Testament tests
of religion. How are we to know that we
| are living. Christians?' How are we to
know that others. are living Christians?
| Why, the New Testament pushes us up to
| the point of urgent belief, and insists on
it, that the test is fruit, not leaves, not
| flowers, but fruit, and that f~ruitfulness IS
the only essential thing that shall triumph
under the test. Jesus may endure barren
ness outside Of the church, but He cannot
endure it inside of the church. A brambie
in the woods is bearable. but a bramble in
| the orchard, that is intolerable. by their
| fruits We shall know them. Men. do not
gather figs of thistles or grapes of thorns."
1.-THE mar of God is perfect, fruitful unto
| all good works"
How little stress Jesus lays upon those
tests that are 90 universally adopted and
applied, and admitted to be sufficiently adj
| equate; attendance upon religious ordln-
! ances, subscription to creed and statement,
routine observance of rites and ceremonies;
He makes nothing of all that, and He
comes to US, friends, just as He came to
the fruitless, leafy fig treerby the wayslde,
searching for fruit, not for leaves, not for
blossoms, not for horescence, not for es-
| thetic delight in sacred music. not for fond
ness of the literary side of religion, not for
a keen appetite for we'll digested n pre-
sented truth, but for fruit-fruit. and He
| comes up closer to US. friends, than any
body else can COMEDIAN our dearest and
| nearest can come-for, after all, these can
see only outside appearances. He sees real,
lIleS. lUeS ste lIllhSS lHuS pass tot So.
works in US, born, it may be, OF wicked
| ambition or of self-conceit. He sees right
| down into the centre of the soul. and He Is
| looking for fruit. What shall He find in
YOU and me? Fruit or leaves, or just bare
branches? =,
The test is fruitfulness. Now that ought
to be an easy test to apply, and 1T surely,
| friends. is a safe test to apply-for you and
| me to apply to our own selves. But then,
/ some one may say, "VVell, what constitutes
| fruitfulness? ] am ready now to lay bare
my soul before God: l am ready, now to go
down on my face before God and apply the
| and to measure myself by this standard,
but I want to know what constitutes
fruitfulness." What are the fruits that
Jesus expects and that I I'M to look for
and by which | am to measure myselt!'
| Why, the Bible is simply full of that. 1t
| has set the whole thing so plain, and so
| fully. and so variously that a wayfaring
man though a fool need not mistake az to
| what fruitfnlnees IN the Christian life Ia:
| Jesus says. blessed are the poor in spirit"
Come now, we are examining, ourselves
| spirit; blessed are the meek: blessed are
the merciful 1.-THE good heartfelt; blessed
are the pure in heart; blessed are the
| peacemakers; blessed are they who have
not simply a relish now and then, but a
hunger and a thirst after Righteousness
rightness. These are the fruits that the
Christian man is expected to grow IN his
character.
An apostle says, the fruits, or the fruit
of the spirit. is love, Joy, long suffering,
patience, meekness, faith, temperance. The
will be developed, that Jesus will expect If
there be lfe-love-the heart of all good
~ness-love to God and love to man. "Who
loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how shall he love God-how can he love
God whom he fath not seen?' Fruit; love
Joy. Joy in fellowship with God; JOY in
fellowship with believers; Joy in service
and ministry. Love-joy-peace. Content
ment of mind under all circumstances; the
harmony of conviction, of thought and at
| fiction. Long suffering patient endur-
ance not only in affection. but patient en-.
durance of wrong and provocation; and
meesncss and temperance and all the rest.
What does fruitfulncss mean? 1t means
simply the development or achievement OF
character that will approve itself to Cod.
But this growth of character docs not ey-
haust the expectation of Christ concerning
| us. 1t does not exhaust the fruit which
the Christian has to bear. There is other
fruit. You read that passage again and You
will see that the tenor Of it has to 90 with
fellowship-fellowship with Jesus. fellow:
ship in His purpose to redeem this world
from sin. Jesus is not thinking altogether
of the good His disciples are to get through
fellowship with Him. but Hc is thinking
also Of the good which His disciples are to
do through fellowship with Him. Not alto.
| gether of what His disciples arc to receive,
but of what His disciples are to achieve.
Except the branch abide in the vine it
| bringeth forth no fruit. If yc abide in Me
and My words abide in you, ye shall bring
| forth much fruit,
Oh. friends, VIC limit the range Of the