Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1904-06-23
"ChRIST'S GIFT OF LIFE"
Sunday Discourse By the Rev. Gore:
r. Dunn.
The fredominate Aim of Jesus-The Larger
Life.

BROOKLYN, n Y.-Sunday night, in the
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church
the Rev. George Il. Lunn, assistant pas
tor, preached on "Christs Gift of Life
The text was taken from John x:l0: 81
am come that they might have hfe.' Mr.
Lunn said:
am sure that | do not exaggcrate when
[ say that no words of our Lord are more
profoundly significant than these words OF
the text. We have in compact form a
statement OF the purpose OF Jesus Christ
All else is subordlnated to this great and
predominant aim. Jesus Christ has come
INTO the world to give that life in ever in
creasng abundance. This is not conclu.
sion of mine worked out after special in
restigation; it is the simple and clear and
torceful statement of our Lord Himself.
rest upon His word as fnality. And
6nd in this verse a 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: a fellowship begun
on earth and continued throughout the
ages of eternity. 1t is the life OF spiritua'
oneness with God, united to Him IN
thought, in purpose, in all our VARYING &C
.ivities 1t is the larger life which com
prehcnds our present life, enrlching 1t With
all the holy purposes of God, our Saviour,
sitting 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
20 lose ii was a calamity, even though .
Han should gain the whole world.
| think | am right in saving that great
many people interpret the words and WORK
Of our Lord as applying chiefly to the Other
p-prlJ a
regard the religion of Christ as an insur
ance 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
Of this thought can be found than the
Nrge numbers of men who delay their de
cison in reference to Christ to some moro
convenient season. They say. not now.
BUT at some future time, | will settle the
GREAT question of my souls relation tc
Cod. 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 | have come in contact with this eX
perience time and again. And as | have
sndeavored to understand what is the I'M
DERIVING cause OF so much indecislOn re-
garding religious things, find that most
Of it can he traced to this Fundamental,
misnterpretation Of the words and work
Of Jesus Christ our Lord. 1ou may eN
Dress this in many ways, but at heart the
point is thls-the saving of the soul after
death, instead OF saving the life right here
md now; the gaining of heaven hereafter
rather than entering into heaven now
And because of this Interpretation men
FEEL no immediate necessity of getting
tight 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 tc
bring the message of the Saviour, II am
come that they might have life and that
they might have it more abundantly." You
,annot 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 pIaiSing. always promising life. IF
.hou wilt enter into life keep My com
mandments," He that helieycth on Me
hath life" AS the Father hath life in
Himself. so hath He given to the Son to
have life in Himself" because ! live We
shall live also" "Ne will not come unto
Me that We might have life" Everywhere
Ne find this same eager pleading with men
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 il
shall die is not so much a threat as she
statement of great truth. For the sin,
ming soul dies by reason of the very fact of
IT'S shining. There is no lite for the hrI.
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 lAeans the real HE OF
Sod may be gained. | have called this
language violent. and such it is. Not that
Jesus anticipated any literal interpreta.
tion and literal following. The forceiul
illustration is used to emphasize a terrible
md an eternal truth. The very possibility
IF mans iailin1; to enter into the life of
fellowship with God, was a thought which
brought strong tears to the eyes of the >a-
vlour of men. | tell YOU that in these days
we are harboring in our hearts senti.
mental sympathy which overloolis sin and
,ondoncS lniquity and seeks to apologize
Cor the stern words of the Saviour. There
was no doubt a 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.
10 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 deSoIatlOn and abandonment.
Does there move IN your hearts the sus,
oicion that such doom Is exaggerated and
ovCrdOne: W hcn that suspicion comes to
le, and it often comes, | remember the
words of santcd preacher: when | am
tempted to think that the doom is over.
lone, | must remember that the Son of
sod, my Saviour, with an infinite insight
INTO all things, superiatively sensitive,
showing the Utmost heart of life, He, our
Saviour, pronounced the doom to be Just.
This Christ. who gave Himself for us. who
Owed us, told us in words-I venture to
,ay loving words, OF appalling tcrror-that
;or the deliberately sinful, and for the de.
lbcrately unjust, there Is no place but the
llght, no place but the outer darkness, no
place but ultimate separatcneSs, no place
out ultimate forsakcnncss and abandon.
nent. These are my Masters words, and
against them | will rear no petty magma
non of my own; | will rather silence my
,wn unilIumlned suspicion and humbly and
quietly take my place with Him. The
wages of sin is the night 1t is the night
now; it is the night hereafter. The es
,ence of sin is death; it is exile; it is aban-
comment. Jesus words were violent, but
Tie was not seeking to produce fear, but
TO reveal fact
Now to all of us who feel this fact go
keenly Jesus brings His evangel of forgive
ness and peace. The words spoken so long
ago have their greatest significance now,
Tor we can see, as those Jews could not see,
their fuller and more. profound meaning
mate terms, bitter resentment arose in
their hearts. As He told them of His will.
hngness to lay down His life for His sheep,
they retorted: "He hath demon and is
mad; why hear We Him" Possibly we
would have spoken likewise had we been
living then. But now in the light Of the
centuries past, we look upon that lonely,
torsaken, crucitied Christ and recognize in
His, face the, glory of the living, suffering
|, o1 For tho tSufTp nf (l,r,at x,,o,o