The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-19
LAST SERMON OF DIR. SHOAFF Leaves PastOrate of Dexter
 Avenue Church. HE GOES TO COLUMBUS An Eloquent Exposition Of
 Christian Doctrine. Appeals to sDying Men and Women" to Rest Their Faith in Christ .
 Mir. Cox Comes in

Before large congregation yesterday morning. Rev. J. w.. Shoaff. D. D., preached his last ser mon as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Methodist Church. he having been transferred to the Georgia Conference by the Alabama Conference, which met recently in Selma.
 Dr. Shoafr goes to Columbus, Ga, as pastor of St. Paurs Church.
 His sermon yesterday was not in the nature of a farewell address, but many become deeply attached to Dr. Shoan during his years ministry here were touched by the occasion.
 The Last sermon.
 Dr. Shoaff chose his text from the Gospel of St. John, vii, S1, 39.
 "These words" aid pr. Shoaff, lofty in import and divinely significant, fell from the lips of the Lord upon the last day of the feast known as the feast of tabernacles. Meeting the multitude as they returned from Siloks crystal wa ters he stood up and cried. If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink AndiSt. John adds the inspired statement. But thus spake He of the Spfrit. for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Christ was not yet glo- rifed.'
 .-The words of the text in the light of this inspired interpretation Just quoted contain a truth of far-reaching importance-namely. that the Holy Ghost had been given in plenary power and fullness because of the completed work and exalted relation and function of the Son incarnate."
 Continuing, Dr. Shoaff spoke sub stantially as follows:
 hA Gnirff cnn1d ha rAvnaIed in the fullness of His ministrarion, Christ had to offer Himself as the sac- rifice for sin.
 "But not only was the death of Christ necessary to the dispensation of the Spirit in pentecostal power, but His glorification also But thus spake He of the Spirit, which they that be- lieve on Him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified.' Between the moment of our Lord 8 death and the beginning Of His exaltation there could have been no possible lapse of time.
 "Rising from the dead in the inn periaI declaration of his lordship over the dead and the living He ascended LID on on high and carried his humanity into the hidden depths of eternal God land. Enthroned in imperial ma jesty in the heavenly places the first work of his service at the right hand of the Father was the gift of the Spirit in plenary power and fulness to the race.
 "The Holy Ghost thus given is the divine representative of the atoning. triumphant, and glorified Christ. in his teachings. in the majesty of his person and in the functions of his mediatorial office He represents the exalted Christ to the world. He not only shines upon the written world, but He shines in personal consciousness He takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto us.
 Gift of the Spirit.
 'The gift of the Spirit obtained for us by the gloritied Christ, upon the simple condition of faith is given to redeemed humanity as the full compli- ment of deathless desire, If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink
 Humanity in it's depraved tendencies may grasp for the fieeting plantoms of earth, drink from its evanescent foun- tains of pleasure, wallow' in the lap of wealth. court praise at the shrine of fame, wade through fields of blood to thrones of glory piled on human skulls only to send up at last the wall of agony from a famished soul-I thirst
 luS yedfNlHeS ol dh iHihioA Sdi eoui, the possibilities of redeemed humanity rise above the temporal and the seen like angels in their swift winged flight to the throne of the eternal. They rise towards the infinite and only find their satisfaction in the presence and fulness of the Spirit. Said Christ Co the woman of Samaria, 'Whosoever drinketh of the water that l shall give him shall never thirst
 The Spirit thus given is creative. He is the agent of life in the soul Through the ages He has thus exerted his divine activities. He kindled the fires of the universe. Before his breath the silent stars blazed in the hill of heaven. He charioted the sun in light and crowned him king of day