The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-06-23
A SERMON FOB SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
:"cHRlSTS GIFT OF LIFE"
f1ie Rev. George r. Lunn breaches From
. Text Which He Declares Shows in
Compact Form the Predominate Aim
of Jesus-The Larger Life.

tOr, predcHeQ OH CnrISL Gltt or Lille,
The text was taken from John x:lO: &c
am come that they might have ife" Mr
Lunn said:
1 am sure that I do not exaggerate wher
I say that no words of ou Lord are more
profoundly significant than these words o.
the text. We have in a Compact form a
statement of the purpose oil Jesus Christ
All else is subordinated to tlis great and
predominate aim. Jesus Christ has come
into the world to give that life n ever in.
creasing abundance. This not a conclu.
sion of mine worked out after special in.
vestigation; it is the simph and clear and
forceful statement of our Iord Himself.
rest upon His word as .nality. And |
find in this verse a fuller and richer ex.
preston of the purpose oiChrist than is
found anywhere else in Scripture.
What, then, is the life which Christ
seeks to give? 1t is the LIE IF fellowship
with God, the Father; a fdloship BEGUN
on earth and continued throughout the
ages of eternity. 1t is the Iifeof spiritnai t
oneness with God, united Him in
thought, in purpose, in all our aryinr ac.
tivites. 1t is the larger life Mich com
prehends our present life, enrichg it with
all the holy purposes of God, ou Saviour.
lifting us by its power into the nifed at
mosDhere OF noble deeds, donefor His
sake. In other words, it is tn life OF
which orr Master spoke when hid that
to lose it was a calamity, even ouch
man should gain the whole world.
I think l am right in saying that Great
many people interpret the words aI work
of our Lord as applying chiefly to tlother
world, not altogether, but chiefly. They
regard the religion OF Christ as afnsur-
ance of safety for the next worldather
than a definite program of activity the
present. They think more of the wing
of the soul after death than Of saw the
life before death. No stronger illusition
of this thought can be found tina the
large numbers of men who delay thu de-
cision in reference to Christ to someore
convenient season. They say, not ow,
but at some future time, will settthe |
great question of ny souls relatic to |
God. You cannot find mai who whot |
express some wish to lead betterfe;
but in nearly every case they see no ed |
of an immediate decision. In my pasal
work have come in contact with thiy-
perience time and again. And as | re
endeavored to understand what is the-
derlying cause of so much indecisione-
garding religious things, / find that IT
of it can be traced to this fundamel
misinterpretation of the words and W
of Jesus Christ our Lord. You may
press this in many ways, but at heart
point is this-the saving of the soul al
death, instead of saving the life right h
and now; the gaining of heaven hereaft
rather than entering into heaven nd |
And because of this Interpretation nj ;
feel no immediate necessity of getti [
right with God. So long as they are re j
sonably sure of life here, they are williil
to delay the great decision of the soul.
Against this view of religion allow me s
bring the message of the Saviour, Il al
come that they might have life and tha
they might have it more abundantly." Yot
cannot read the gospels without comm,
into contact with this purpose OF Christ a
every turn. Repeatedly do You find tn
word life. We are struck with the fac
how constantly the word life was on tn
lips of Jesus. 1t is a word which gives IL
the very heart OF Jesus teaching. He wa
always praising, always promising life. Il
thou wilt enter into life keep My com
mandments," He that believeth on Nj
hath life," "As the Father hath life il
Himself. so hath He given to the Son t.
have life in Himself" Because l live "
shall live also" Eye will not come unto
Me that ye might have life" Everywhere
we find this same eager pleading with mel
to enter into life, and we further find tina
Jesus identified life with goodness. IL
Jesus life consisted in goodness. Wicked
ness is death. THE soul that sinnath. i
shall die" is not so much threat as The
statement of a great truth. For the sin
ming soul dies by reason of the very fact O.
its shining. There is no lire for the hu
man soul but in righteousness. Jesus
therefore, uses language which we may
Justly call violent when He referred to the
possibility of a mans losing his higher
life. Better to cut off the offending harC
or foot if it hinders the aspiring soul
Better to pluck out. the eye which causes
stumbling if by that Leans the real life o.
God may be gained. l have. called this
language violent, and such it is. Not that
Jesus anticipated any literal interpreta
tion and literal following. The forcefu
illustration is used to emphasize terrible
and an eternal truth. The very possibility
of mans failing to enter into the life oi
fellowship with God, was thought which
brought strong tears to the eyes of the Sa
viour of men. / tell you that in these days
we are harboring in our hearts senti
mental sympathy which overlooks sin and
condones iniquity and seeks to apologize
for the stern words of the Saviour. There
was no doubt ringing doom against sin
But it was not the doom of a threat
Jesus never threatened. He revealed
what sin is; its very nature is death. The
open door of life in God is before men,
To pass by that door does not mean that
God will arbitrarily punish, but that the
very passing it by is death. The issue OF
sin is doom, exile into the night, the
eclipse of desolation and abandonment.
Does there move in your hearts the sus.
picion that such doom is exaggerated and
overdore? When that suspicion comes to
me, and it often comes, l remember the
words of sainted preacher: when / am
tempted to think that the doom is over.
done, l must remember that the Sen of
God, my Saviour, with an infinite insight
into all things, superlatively sensitive,
knowing the inmost heart of life, He, our
Saviour, pronounced the doom to be just.
This Christ, who gave Himself for us, who
loved us, told US in words-I venture to
say loving words, of appalling terror-that
for the deliberately sinful, and for the de-
iberately unjust, there is no place but the
night, no place but the outer darkness. no
place but ultimate separateness, no place
put ultimate forsakenness and abandon
ment. These are my Masters words, and
against them 1 will rear no petty magma
ton of my own; / will rather silence my
own unilumined suspicion and humbiy and
quietly take my place with Him. The
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