The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-08-12
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
i"CHRlST'S GIFT OF LIFE"
Tho Rev. George II. Luun breaches From
Text Which. He Declares Shows in
Compact Form the Predominant Aim
of Jesus-The Larger Life.

of Jesus-The Larger Life.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.--Sunday night, in the
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church,
the Rev. George r. Lunn, assistant pas
tor, preached on "Chrst's Gift of Life"
The text was taken from John x:l0: Il
am come that they might have life" Mr..
Lunn said:
am sure that / do not exaggerate when
l say that no words of our Lord are more
profoundly significant than these words of
the text We have in a compact form a
statement OF the purpose OF Jesus Christ.
All else is subordinated to this great and
predominant aim. Jesus Christ has come
into the world to give that life in ever in
creasing abundance. This is not concu-
sion of mine worked out after special in
vestigation; 1t is the simple and clear and
| forceful statement of our Lord Himself. /
rest upon His word as fnality. And /
find in this verse fuller and richer ex-
! preston of the purpose of Christ than is
found anywhere else in Scripture.
What, then, is the life which Christ
seeks to give? 1t is the life of fellowship
with God, the Father; fellowship begun
on earth and continued throughout the
ages of eternity. 1t is the life of spiritual
oneness with God, united to Him in
thought, in purpose, in all our varying ac.
tivities. 1t is the larger life which COM
prehends cur present life, enriching it with
all the holy purposes of God. our Saviour,
lifting us by its power into the purified at
mosphere of noble deeds, done for His
sake. In other words. it is the life of
which our Master spoke when He said that
to lose it was a calamity, even though a
man should gain the whole world.
| think I am right in saying that great
many people interpret the words and work
OF our Lord as applying chiefly to the other
world, not altogether, but chiefly. They
regard the religion of Christ as an insur-
anee of safety for the next world rather
than definite program of activity for the
present. They think more of the saving
of the soul after death than of saving the
life before death. No stronger illustration
large numbers of men who delay their de-
cision in reference to Christ to some more
convenient season. They say, not now,
but at some future time, | will settle the
great question of my souls relation to
God. You cannot find man who will not
express some wish to lead better life;
but IN nearly every case they see no need
of an immediate decision. In my pastoral
work L have come in contact with this eX-
perience time and again. And as / have
endeavored to understand what is the UNI
DERIVING cause of so much indecision re-
garding religious things, l find that most
of it can be traced to this fundamental
misinterpretation of the words and work
OF Jesus Christ our Lord. You may ex-
press this in many ways, but at heart the
point is this-the saving of the soul after
death, instead of saving the life right here
and now; the gaining of heaven hereafter,
rather than entering into heaven now.
And because of this Interpretation men
feel no immediate necessity of getting
right with God. So long as they are rea-
sonably sure of life here, they are willing
to delay the great decision of the soul.
Against this view of religion allow me to
come that they might have life and that
they might have it more abundantly." You
cannot read the gospels without coming
into contact with this purpose of Christ at
every turn. Repeatedly do you find the
word life. We are struck with the fact
how constantly the word life was on the
lips of Jesus. 1t is a word which gives us
the very heart of Jesus teaching. He was
always praising, always promising life. eff
thou wilt enter into life keep My COM
mandments," HE that believeth on Me
hath life," GAS the Father hath life in
Himself, so hath He given to the Son to
have life in Himself, Because l live We
shall live also" Eye will not come unto
Me that We might have life" Everywhere
to enter into life, and we further find that
Jesus identified life with goodness To
Jesus life consisted in goodness. Wicked
ness is death. "The soul that sinneth, it
shall die is not so much a threat as the
statement of great truth. For tho sim
ming soul dies by reason of the very ia It of
its shining. There is no life for the hui
man soul but in Righteousness. Jesus,
therefore. uses language which we may
justly call violent when He referred to the
possibility of mans losing his higher
life. Better to cut off the offending hand
or foot if it binders the aspiring soul.
Better to pluck out the eye which causes
stumbling if by that .leans the real life of
God may be gained. have called this
language violent, and such it is Not that
Jesus anticipated any literal interpreta-
ton and literal following. The forceful
illustration is used to emphasize terrible
and an eternal truth. The very possibility
OF mans failing to enter into the life of
fellowship with God, was thought which
brought strong tears to the eyes of the Sa-
viaur of men. | tell you that in these days
we are harboring in our hearts a senti-
mental sympathy which overlooks sin and
condones inbquity and seeks to apologize
for the stern words of the Saviour. There
was no doubt a ringing doom against sin,
But 1t 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
10 pass Dy tnat 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
overdone? When that suspicion comes to
me, and it often comes. l remember the
words of sainted preacher: when 1 am
tempted to think that the doom is over
done, l must remember that the Son of
God, my Saviour, with an infinite insight
knowing the inmost heart of life, He, our