The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-03-06
4 He PULPIT.
4 BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. J. II. JOWeTT M. A.
Theme: Every Mans Perfection I'm
Christ.


We preach, warning every man, and
teaching every man in all wisdom;
that We may present every man per-
feet in Christ Jesus. Col LES.
This is an amazing and inspiring
Ideal, and all the more wonderful that
| it springs from the lips OF an old man.
II il had come from a company of
young crusaders il would have been
perfectly natural as the war-cry of
young fellows just buckling on their
armor and setting ont 10 their earliest
conquest. The veteran toiler IS often
| disillusioned man, for the early
vision has proved a dissolving view
| the strenuous purpose has become
less tense, the gay apocalypse which
ttnged the horizon at dawn has faded
| out of the sky, and the earnestness
| which aimed at achievements far
ahead has cooled down to more imme-
date and accessible ends But here
is an old man OF quite another order
He has spent the strength of his DAYS
In cutting fine roads through rugged
and trackless wastes, and everywhere
has encountered persecution, resent
ment. and has often been treated as
the offscouring of the earth. His little
churches are infested with puerilities,
and even men for whom he has ira
vailed are turning out to be enemies
OF the Cross of Christ. Yet here at
the end OF the day, in the imperious
grip of Rome, is the old man, with
the same undaunted purpose, yearn-
Ing TO present every man perfect in
Christ. Here is an old age worth
coveting, an eyentide that is light!
Every man every man
every man" II is a threefold blow
In the face Of very popular heresy
The very reiteration OF the inclusive
term reveals TO us one of the foes the
apostle had TO face. There was the
colossian heresy, which sought to
make spiritual privileges the preroga-
tive of highly-favored aristocracy.
There was also the Jewish heresy,
fenced about by the same limitations.
Here again the privileges OF grace
were the perquisites OF class, and
not the blood bought rights Of race.
Side by side with that heresy place
the words of our text: Christ, whom
We preach, warning every man, and
teaching every man in all wisdom;
that we may present every man per-
feet in Christ Jesus" There is the
breadth Of the apostles glorious ideal
In the redemption OF men. Mark
also the height OF it-"perfect.
Surely in the first place the term sug-
gests the removal OF every mans de-
fects and faults. But perfection is
more. That is a negative ministry
and merely preparatory to a positive
ministry.
Perfection is more than the re-
moval of eXcresCences. When your
M &c hn l.
perfected. The perfection of every
man means the evolution of all the
powers in a mans life that are COM
mon in the life of the race. IL means
the awakening Of a mans primary
fundamental senses; the great mysti-
cal senses of sight and hearing, con-
cerning which there are many exhor-
tations in the Word of God. Il heard
a voice from Heaven" I'm the year
that King Uzziah died, saw the
Lord" 20 taste and see that the
Lord is good"-what wonderful
senses are exercised there,
Perfection means not only the
evolving of the common endowment
Of men, but the manifestation OF
every mans own peculiar significance
aud individual color, which is the
lamp OF the great Creators hand.
Every man perfect the fascinat-
ing wonder OF It!
How is this to be attained? BY
what means are men TO be perfected?
[ cannot tell YOU how happy I am
hat my function is to proclaim
Gospel and not TO fashion one. Ny
junction is that OF a herald, 20 raise
he trumpet TO my lips and blow TO
Uncertain sound. My task is made
,lear by the apostle who is so de-
:ailed I'm the exposition OF this truth.
He tells me the threefold ministry
oy means OF which this result, per-
tecting Of men, is TO be gained: G)
oy preaching Christ, 81 by educating
The conscience, l3D by the energies
IF sacrificial toll. How are We to
awaken the sleeper?
BY preaching Christ. Every mans
perfection is attained through the ex-
lltatiOn OF every mans Christ. II
ne set about getting the perfection OF
men without Christ we might as well
Try to make a garden without the
mn. There is no other who can
:each the sleeper and open his eyes
% see a new world.
The WAYS Of service and the wavs
u modern life are Uttered with the
:ear-stained confessions OF men who
have tried 10 secure the perfection
" their fellows without Christ. Leave |
)ut Christ, and what is there left for
Is? Culture and noble ideals will /
lot do. Sonorous words and Emer- |
sonian maXims will not wake the |
lead. You may as we'll string YOUR
lighted fairy-lamps across your gar
len, and expect the seeds in the earth |
% germinate, as expect TO awake dead |
souls BY reiterating Emersonian max !
ms and high ideals.
We cannot do without the Naza- I
enc. II is not enough to do Christian /
work merely, but in the doing Of IL /
ne have 20 present Christ and allow /
Him 10 work. Il, n be lifted up, /
will draw all men unto Ne. That is /
where the magnetism centres-not In |
ny work which resembles the Lord 3, /
)ut in the Lord Himself BY our /
'abor We can warm the surface. but |
Ee cannot warm through or kindle /
he fame that shall transfgure the /
heart. 10 Is beautiful 10 be used In /
- rrrrfgr ~ ,u~ Fof1pures -, -.