The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-03-07
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StNDAl SERMON :
Y Y y = q
a Scho, erlY Discourse oY 4
r.. Rev. P:shop Seymour !.

Seymour was the preacher Sunday
morning. He chose for his subject,
"AIy Shepherd" and his text was
Psalm l:23: "The Lord Is my shepherd;
therefore | can lack nothing" he said:
We pass from the brightness of
Christmas and Epiphany 20 the sea
son of Lent that closes with the dark
ness of Good Friday. Ere we bid
Epiphany goodby let us consider what
It tells us. namely that our Saviour
came to be the Saviour of all mankind.
Epiphany falls into two divisions: The
Christmas of the Jew and the Christ
mas of the Gentle. First the Christ
mas of the jew, when the shepherds
came as the representatives of the
shepherd nation; came called on by
an angel through whose dispensation
the law was given to the jew
came to the manger; came to worship
And then the Gentle Christmas called
Epiphany. when the kings were led by
the star TO worship the child. And
then The fact that the jew and the
Gentle alike fell down and worshiped
the little child. a baby, weaker than
the weakest. l may say. of all the
young. and yet-Him by whom the
worlds were made. 1t is indeed a won
the Gentle alike worshping the babe.
We leave the angelic host that sang
over Bethlehem and le brightness of
the star which brought the three kings
at all events the kings Of the East
worshiped the little babe with appro.
pirate gifts-for the transition period
of Lent.
Could | do better than ask you, with
myself. to consider our personal re-
sponsiblity in the wc"ds of the text:
The Lord is my shepherd; therefore
can I lack nothingf" Here is dec
laratlon which may make or not. as
we choose. for the pOssessive pronOun
is intensiye-"my" as though 1t were
something that we loved, as jewels OF
earth-"they are mine; l own them"
So: The Lord is my shepherd" and
based upon that declaration is the
fact; therefore can | lack nothing"
There is no word which more frequent
" falls from our lips than Il" 1t is
the shortest word in human speech
a single letter-because it brings TO
The surface personality. Go whittier
you will, on every side you will hear
men. women and child uttering "I."
Il" is TO each one the centre of the
universe; everything radiates from it
and everything comes into it, And this
Is right in its way, only sometimes ii is
exaggerated and we have what we
call se!hshness. But | am not dis
posed to criticise tha- Just now, only
to say that this pconoun my grows
out Of tie PERSONA prOnoun Il" be-
cause il denotes Ownership-"my
And we may say. the poorest Of us,
first we own ourselves: Il, myself; l
belong to myself" and it is on the
basis of that claim tEat we have the
wars for independence for liberty or
personal right, and Elen resist the idea
of being owned by the others, and pre-
eminently in this land of freedom
claim to be free-'I own myself"
have not time to analyZe the worth OF
the claim. for it is immense: milne,
spirit, body" this creature, of God
like mould and summing workmanship
how marvellously built up! A single
profession. numbering some of the
greatest men, devotes days and weeks
to studying ii and yet has not fathomed
its secrets. The medical profession is
largely experimental to-day. 1t has
made wonderful discoveries in fifty
years. and still it has not yet probed
this little mass of matter, the body. to
its depths. And back Of it is the mind
the intellect. the memory that holds
the past and hope that grasps the fu
ture; the mind that deals with prem
ises and conclusions and reasons. Il
has no moral quality, it is pure intel
lect Deeper down than it is the spirit
the seat of conscience, the moral sense
marvellous beyond expression! that EN-
phasizes our nearness to God Body
mind and spirit bound up together ant
each Of US claim to own that trinity
blended into unity. II. myself, l owl
myself"
Let us pass on. My time" that is
''my life. These hours and days ant
weeks are mine,' and, hence. the wagl
question, when men claim the right L
sell their time for so much. So, yol
see, we claim the ownership of time
OF course, it is not really oui's. "Ou
times are in His hand" Still, W.
claim it, MY years are so many.
Hence, we see another element o
wealth-time, opportunity. Then
gain. character, my character" EN-
lhaslzed by the name a good nam,
is worth a good deal. We pass still
further: "My position in life, in so
ciety my parentage, my surroundings
my friends and relatives-these belOni
to me-" And they are worth q grea
deal sometimes. Then we come dow
TO that with which we are most ia
millar: MY material wealth, my stock
and bonds, jewels, wardrobe. They be
long 70 me-"
Now that brings us to David
claim: The Lord is my shepherd
You do not give up the other things
but you make another claim, and tha
you can only make through Him VIII
allows It,, and He allows 1t by comm
here TO be reached and embraced.
you Will, and loved He revealed Hin
self as one Of MS IN order that thrOug
Him we. by the Holy Ghost, Nigh
reach the Father for He comes on
from the invisible TO be visible. II
can be touched and handled and see
here. He was here with certain gen
GRAFTON when this was the case. w
must not envy them, for we have
greater privilege than they. You re
member Thomas. Jesus said to hlI
after he had been so obstinate, "BC
cause thou hast seen Me thou hast bC
lleyed: blessed are they that have no
seen and yet have believed" We ma
believe If we will. on the undoubte
testimony of the ages, that Jesus afte
death was on this earth. He ha
passed through the craven gate O
death and had consummated for ma
the glory of the resurrection, and too
our nature through into heaven an
o.. na1 fhs ..NF FI.I