The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-18
SERMON At ROBERTS PARK
BY REV, ALBERT HURLSTONE
"Christ'S Call to the Individual, y
the Subject of His Interest
ing Discourse.
GRANDEUR OF CHRIST

!
"Christs call to the individual was the
| theme on which Dr. Albert Hurlstone
! preached at Roberts Park NJ. f. Church
yesterday morning. Text, John xi: IS. The
sermon was followed by the administra-
ton of the Lords supper
The pastor said: 1.-The Bethany home
was a favorite resort of the Son of Man
/ who had not where to lay his head. In
] that home find an illustration of the
beauty and blessedness of true affection.
| Without hearts there is no home! AS the
notes of music are different whilst the har-
mony is one, so the characters of the
! Bethany trio varied whilst they were one in
heart, in aim, in hope. in Christ. so Jesus
| loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus
| When death entered the home and claimed
the brother Jesus was absent. In response
to a call for help he comes Martha goes
| to meet her Lord and says to him, If thou
hadst been here my brother had not died
Jesus said, Thy brother shall rise again.
l am the Resurrection and the life Then
she went away and called Mary, her sister.
secretly, saying, The Master is come and
calleth for thee.
This saying suggests the moral grandeur
of Christ here called the Master Master
of the home, master of health master of
death, master of the world, of things pres
| ent and things TO come Glorious title.
One in our Master even Christ. Both sis
ters expressed the conviction that if Christ
had been present their brother had not
died. He is master of death and to demon
strate, He filings His voice into the sepu-
chre saying: Lazarus, come forth and
| Sheeted in he'd
| 10 His mastery CALL Christ is also master
of time. He is Interchangeable. The Scrip
| ture says or Him, and thou, Lord in the
| beginning has laid the foundation of the
earth; and the heavens are the works of
thine hands; they shall perish. but thou're-
| mainest, and they all shall wax old as
doth garment, and as a vesture shalt thou
| fold them up and they shall be changed;
but thou art the same and thy years fail
| not. our master transcends both time and
space. He also transcends both science
| and morality. A Russian painter who pro-
| posed to paint the sunset was conqured
| by its splendor. After gazing for some
time into it's glor;es and dazzling bril-
lance, he was asked by the friend at his
side If he were not about TO begin. Not
yet was the reply, and again it was not
yet until the shadows of night fell and the
great painter went home, paint box and
all. And If we cannot paint the shadows
of His face who shall speak worthily of
Him in whom dwelleth light and no dark
ness at all and whose life was the light
of men? Christ is master of thought. For
and spiritual power the thoughts of Christ
will never be surpassed. His proposition
to convert the world to himself is one of
the boldest thoughts ever suggested For
originality of conception, for simplicity of
method, for certainty of results it has no
parallel in the world of thought. Towards
this contamination devoutly to be wished,
the whole creation moves with slow but
measured and triumphant step.
GRANDEUR OF JESUS.
"These words reveal not only the grandeur
of Jesus, but also his graciousness. The
Master is come! Think of the condescension.
He reached His crown by the cross. Christ
did not invite us to come to Him until
He had first come to us. Christ
bridges the chasm between earth and hea-
ven. The lfe-boat's noble crew do not in
vite the shpwrecked sailors to come to the
lifeboat until the life boat has gone to them
So the Master is come. Come not to teach
science. to discuss politics to seek
wealth. Not to be ministered unto, but to
minister" to seek and to save that which
was lost, and to give His life a ransom for
many. God is not the embodiment of intel
lect merely, nor of justice, nor of power
merely, but of sympathy, tenderness, long
suffering, grace, patience, love. Christ came
10 teach us that man through obedience and
love may know God. We cannot by search
ing find out Cod but 'whosoever loveth is
born of God John Bunyan had a blind
|
know his shape his wonderful history she
had the slenderest knowledge of his fancy.
his knowledge, his Imagination and artistic
skill. But did she not know him, through
love, as none of the historians or critics have
known him? So we are often like children
light and with no language but a cry; but
God hears us through Christ and since the
Master has come we may know that he
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God We
must not lose sight Of either side of Christs
character His grandeur His graciousness.
How gentle was Christ. He came not to
destroy, but mighty to save. So quietly did
He enter the village of Bethany that Mary,
who sat in the house, knew not of His ar
rival. Would Cicero, or Caesar, Herod or
even Pontius PLATE have entered thus unos-
tentatiously? His gentleness was associated
with conscious power and authority. Gen
tleness is strength tenderly used. His gen
tleness was also linked with intense moral
sensibility. He wept at the grave of His
friend. He also overcame the king of ter
rors by word. The Master Is come and His
gentleness makes us great.
How precious the truth. In days of peni
tence this lifts the wounded spirit of man
and fills him with courage, purity and hope
This is the handspring Of Christian love-
Let us remember it in the discipline of life
In the sorrows and dis disasters of life The
strong. God is law and force and logic, and
the weakest go to the wall Now in one
sense this is a great truth, but II is only a
partial truth. The Master is come and in
Him we learn that 'all's love, yet alls law
In Christ is one whose hand throws open
|
He robs even death of its sting. He gives
us promise of Immortality and best Of all
He gives us fitness for it also
THE Masters call Is to the individual
Nature is said TO be careful of the type and
careless of the single life And again the
modern teacher says: The individual with
ers and the world is more and more But
this was not in accord with Christ's method
In this busy age discuss how to reach
the masses But Christ called for the indi-
vidual. The Master Is come and calleth for
thee Alone must every man face the issue
of life. Alone must every man meet his
Christ Alone must every man breathe and
alone do we meet the great tests of charac-
ter.
THE individuality Of the soul necesstates
this: Each man is a new soul I'm the world
untried. with boundless potentialities. The
scientists tells US that no atom in creation
touches another atom. They only approach
within a certain distance, then the attrac-
ton ceases, and an invisible something re-
pels No soul touches another soul except
at one or two points, and those mostly ex-
ternal A fearful and lovely thought. but
one of the truest of life. Death only re-
Allies that which has been the fact all along.
In the central and abyssmal depths of per-
sonality we are alone. And to the individual
Christ calls The single person, the individ-
| uaI be he Jew gentle. Greek or bar
barian bond or free. Is loved by God, who Is
! no respecter Of persons While we insist, as
we must on the social side of Christianity,
we are equally to insist on its personal side.
We preach the true indiVidualism, the sane
tity and responsibility of the separate soul.
The Gospel Is for the race. Yes.