The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-11-30
FREEDOM IN CHRIST
Brilliant Sunday Sermon By Rev
Edward Huntington Rudd.
Shows How Faith upholds Itself Ia Many
Forms OF Christian Experience.

gregational Church, Dedham, Mass,
preached Sunday morning in the Tomp.
large audience. His. subject was Free.
dom in Christ. and the text was from
John H.: l3 and IA: But as many as
received Him to them gave He the right
TO become children OF God, even to them
that believe on His name, who were born
nor Of the will of man, but of God" Mr..
Rudd said:
Can do as please? Or must will to
DO as another pleases? Am l free agent
or are limitations placed upon me? Is lib
erty unrestrained freedom, or am l the
more truly free when my actions and
words are controlled by divine laws, im.
lightened selfY
To answer these questions intelligently,
clearly and helpfully takes us at once into
that field of Christian sociology and of the
interrelation of man with man and Of man
with his God which so engages the atten-
tion Of men everywhere to-day. The place
fnd duty of the. church is very clear. 1t
Is to show men in the spirit of candor,. of
sympathy, of open mindedness, of toler
Ance, that the word of God gives us great
elemental teachings by master thinker
and reasoner, who was divine and who
claims the right to influence men. The so.
called great problems of labor and capital
will ind permanent solution only by
The arbitrament of the Man Of GaliIee
But it is your duty and mine to remind
ourselves and Others that according as we
square ourselves with the requirements of
God in Christ shall the problems OF life
be met and be grappled and worth while
results be achieved.
We are here to-day to ask entrance into
the Light. We are here to know more
truth, 80 that truth may make us free.
We long to know how to be happily and
contentedly free. To have our freedom
70 used that everywhere men shall recog-
fize it as the article they wish, and, pos
sessing it with us, we shall together make
men strong. Bearing one another's bur-
dens we shall surely fulfill in part the law
pie yet profound, shows us how to gain
freedom in Christ. II reminds US what is
20 necessary to recall in this easy going,
non-thinking age, viz, that in no real and
permanent sense are men children, of God
until Christ has made them such by vital
union with Him. That we have no right
to call ourselves children until God Him
self transfers that right to us by an act of
will and obedience on our part, so recog-
fifzed by Christ. who has in the very pro-
claim the friendship of another is not to
possess it, To say OF Christ and our rela.
tions to Him, rs we say of some we'll
known people, "Oh, yes, know Him we'll;
He is warm personal friend" when in
reality little more than a formal introduc.
only about Him, and that in formal
sense, instead of being divinely commits
stoned by the living holy spirit of God
to be "child of God" and an heir with
Christ to eternal life. Manifestly, then,
this is an important matter to US al i
even to the careless, thoughtless ones who
make up part of every audience. Have
We any right to call ourselves children
of God?" And il we have, what has God,
by His regenerating spirit, done in us?
nd
who said:
The thing we long for-tha. we are
For one transcendent moment.
But even the poet fails to be true to
fact unless we have such definite, genu.
inc faith in Gods power and willingness
to give us Himself and to make us sons
and daughters of the living God, that we
receive Him and by that act avail of Hin
as our Saviour not only for one transcend.
ent moment, but for all the moments for
the rest of time, and in that act we are
born of God, and by that act we are
given the right to become-aye, to be be.
gotten as children of God.
Almost Immediately in this sublime,
scholarly and heart searching gospel OF
John, that great disciple speaking the
words of Christ Himself, begins by divid
ing mankind into the same two divisions
which are represented in this audience,
and in every audience, viz, those who
have received Him and those who, though
they were His own by creation, received
Him not, by regenerating faith. And l
want just now, if possible, to avoid alb.
struse, moss covered theological terms and
phraseo eology, and to ciothe these burning
issues in simple, clear Bible language, but
none the less to remind ourselves that
many of us are longing to get out into the
open sky, in some OF the o.d fashioned,
necessary doctrines of the word of God
We have gotten some of the choicest and
most essential statements of divine truth
beclouded, and we are not quite sure
where we are. May Gods spirit eniight-
en- and allay doubt and uncertainty on
these truths this day, ID align US all
in the comforting strength OF His own
sonship, And frankly believe, my broth
er maR, we cannot be satisfied in this sub.
. lime hour by turning to therpoets, much as
they will uplift and rest us. Even tnOugn
you tnrn to Emerson, who has been so ex-
alted and almost deiied by some in New
England Unitarianism and ask him about
man, and in one place he will tell you:
"a man is the whole encyclopedia of facts.
The creation oil thousand forests is in
one acorn. and Egypt. Greece, Rome.
Gaul, Britain, America, lie folded already
in the first man" Yes, potentiality lies
embodied, but naught else can bring it to
surface and TO living power save the touch
of Christ the Redeemer of Manhood. Nor
does the statement of Carlyle satisfy me,
for you recall in his essay on character
istics." he says: Man stands in the cen
ire of nature; his fraction OF time encir-
cled by eternity, his handbreadth OF space
encircled by infnitude." i say this can
not satisfy you, for you long to know how
you can best live and expand. while you
are in this centre OF nature" and where
and how you are TO spend eternity. And
you turn to that beautifully human and
real poet. Robert Burns and remember
with him THAT mans a man for a that"
and here you feel that you may be argu-
ing in circle. and If Burns had only
known more OF the Man of Calvary. he
would have been saved many OF the sins
which blighted his whole life. Or you
may stand with that dear English poet,
Gray, as from afar he beho,ds Eton Col.
lege and exclaims, "Ah. tell them they are
men," and those words and this poets
longing, more nearly voice your own souls
wish, and you add. "Ah, tell them of the
Man, who became flesh and dwelt among
US, that He might redeem men for Him.
self" 1t is to this Incarnate word that
we must turn ii we are TO be enligb tened
and satisfied. And few passages in Gods
word speak out more hope and immediate
blessing than the text: AS many as re.
ceived Him, to them gave He the right
to become children OF God"
But some one asks, what is the process
by which this is doneg Aud | reply in
the continuing words OF this same verse:
Even to them that believe on His name"
But what 10 it to believe on His name?
What is faithy And we reply with Bux-
ton: Faith is the filial, trustful relation,