Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-08-18
Rev. Aeomb's Farewell Sermon.

TEXT.-Second Cor. 1871: "Finally,
brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good
comfort, be of one mind, live in peace and
the God of love and peace shall be with you"
BLESSING - ITS NATURE AND
SOURCE.
Finally-This word marks the
conclusion, the end. Finis means
the end; you see it at the end of a
book or of an address. Sometimes
it is omitted. Finally denotes that
the end is not far off; it is so used
here. l have chosen this text be-
cause it seemed to contain an ap-
propriate final word. Before pass
ing to the important things of the
text, it is we'll to notice the spirit
in which the apostle speaks. He
says "finally brethren, ,'-indicat-
eating that the spirit of his utter
ances was friendly. He recog-
nized the relationship existing be-
tween them as that of a family.
Now at the end Of my sojourn with
you would speak in his spirit.
Farewell! AS the apostle uses
this word it is wish for good for
them. An examination of the
word abundantly justifies this use.
Fare means to 60 or have a jour-
ney, and aUel bears it's usual sig
nificance of enjoying good. Thus
farewell is a wish for happy ex-
periences for them. Nothing in
the apostles estimation exceeded
in value spiritual good. We can
not err in saying that he wished
spiritual good for them-the bless
ing of God. Not wealth, not
money, or houses and lands, or
stocks and bonds, nor luck nor
happiness. These are good for
the body, but the soul is the better
part of man and he would provide
for that. We ought to feel that
spiritual things are more desirable
than wealth.
The things which constitute the
best the apostle speaks of in the
clauses following, he mentions
four; there are two personal and
two social. Be perfect, be of good
comfort, be of one mind, live in
peace. We wish to consider them.
Let us look at the personal things
and then at the things social.
First, be perfect. There are two
ways of attaining perfection; one
is outward, the other is inward.
For example, children are required
to go to school but scholarship is
the result of the application of a
mind actuated by the love of learn
ing. One is outward, the other is
inward. A material thing is
wrought into shape by the skillful
hand of the artisan; vase in the
hand of the potter is shaped and
decorated and glazed by his art
But the artist himself becomes
skiilful and proficient by study
and by striving to realize his idea.
his mental conception of beauty
One is attained by the outward
application of means to that end
the other is from within. Now
there are two reasons for seeking
spiritual good: on the one hanc
seeking it because prescribed by
authority, and on the other seek
ling perfection because it is the de-
sire of the soul. Now judging from
the Greek it is this which the
apostle speaks of when he wishes
they might heartily desire to be
perfect.
Notice now, if you please, the
second personal thing mentioned
be of good comfort. | think it in
teresting to observe that comfort
means strength. The word which
lies back of it means more than
mere physical strength however
1t means that peculiar power given
by the Holy Spirit to believers. II
is derivative from the same root
as that used by the Savior for the
Holy Spirit, viz: parakletos, rend
cred Comforter. John, 14:16, "and
| will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another Comforter, that