The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-11
CHRIST'S INVITATION
COMFORTING SERMON PREACHED
 BY MIR. MCQUEEN.
Come Unto Me all Ye That Labor and Are Heavy Laden and VIII
 Give You Rest."--the Text.

e-
 'Christ,s Invitation and Promise to was the subject of a comforting ser mon preached yesterday morning at the Episcopal church of the Holy Comforter
 The text was chosen from St. Mat
 "Come unto Me ali ye that labor and are heavy laden and Will give you
 These words of our Lord" said Mir. Mcqueen "embody an invitation and a deed. s e every promise of His rests on a condition. He gives the promise. We must fulfil the condition. otherwise the ignore entirely the condition and then complain that the promise Is not, kept How unreasonable and childish We We do not meet the condition. hence we have no right to the promise.
 Observe, Christ does not assure rest, are heavy laden Far from 1t. but only to those who come to Him. vital dis junction. we should. always bear care tice, precedes the promise. Its accep- latter. How common 1t Is for us to be- account of the cares anxieties. trials, burdens, of life. We labor. We are heavy laden. We get no rest: Tn 9yr 9yr say He has not kept His promise to give us rest, Nay, The reproach is upon us. We have not made. good his condi- invitation-s'come unto Me In word, we are not His, hence we have no right to that which belongs alone to those
 We must realizs Who 1t is that gives that labor and are heavy laden" Wh,o, give you rest" Thus shail we be help ed to appreciate the constraining love. the impeiling force, the o,a.nr attractIve tb.s lies in n each, It IS He who is set before the world as its Savior It is He who, under the Old Dispensation, was shad- owed forth as the brazen serpent to heal the wounded, as the city of refuge to protect the man slayer. as the saGritGs to remove the the sinneTns; Nn n;.rnaa u ton, speaks of Himself as bread for the hungry. as living water for the thirsty. as physician for. the sick, as their sins, as the light of The world, as the burden bearer of humanity, as the resurrection and the life: This Is He made m"H that pfvineiy compassionate promise. which has comforted. uplifted. and sustained miliions, of drs souls sdysitn fr9m and tempestuous trial.
 Thou knowest. Lord, the weariness
 "of the sad heart that comes to Thee Cares of today, and burdens of to-
 Blessings implored. and sins to be We come before Thee at Thy gracious Ana lay them at Thy feet: Thou know
 est. Lord"
 Christ,-Come unto Me. Not only Is 1t first in the text. but 1t is first in act and first in fact so ot far dn as rest Is ti3 son before rest can come unto us. Of course. need hardly say. He does not
 e9ms qneS H bnt in in se sense of of believing in Him with. all our heart. and mind and strength, believing in linn. Him in our daily lives. loyalty as T oar Lord, obedience as our King. and ser vice as our Savior; believing in. Him gotten of His Father before all worlds God of God. light of light" We are to come unto Him as the one alone who Gen Test EfiVe fs to be be found. surely it can not world, in the glory of material things in the qualification of our fleshy ap- perience testifies. Nor must we dis regard the invitation through fear we or cleanse ourselves from our iniquities For 1t is only in His blood we can have redemption. It is only by His all sufficient grace we can subdue our Nor should we delay our coming because of a mistaken sense of our own unworthiness. as if He required us to bring some personal merit to win His favor. Nay, we should come just as we are, come with all our sins upon us-only come.
 F"The invitation is given to those who labor and to those who are heavy laden which means, tt is all embrac- ing. for 1t applies to every child of Labor is active: Heavy laden is pas dive Labor calls for the putting forth of energy. perseverance, continued ef- Yort Heavy laden is the bearing of burdens, sorrows, trials. cares It calls for patience. resignation, fortitude The two together compass the whole ranee of human life, for does not life consist in working and bearing bur l dens Iaboring and being heavy. laden? | SC how tbe invitation applies {" every | cisss. to those. for instance, who are 1 Struggling with temporal allliCtions, 1 fo those who have trials whether of | aaripIr. deep of sorrows cup. to those | SoMt"d down beneath the weight of | Sonttnual end excessive diversity, to | tbnse who suffer from any of the ca SSannj njties hound up in our earthly ex- | Ere who are subject Co tdc changes 1 nrd harces of this mortal life as we | se,,rrav from the cradle to the grave | {S "aanniiAs also to spiritual affairs for | H ; t Ip Faddressed to those who .are dis | eoirssed and downcast by the sense Il