The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1909-02-19
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. SPENCER S. ROCHE.
Theme: Andrew, the Middle Man.

sunday morning, AQQT0W, Tie NiU'
die Man." His text was from John
1:41, "He findeth first his own
brother Simon, and saith unto him,
We have found the Messiah" Mr..
Roche said:
Here is mention of three men. 1t
is as though you were looking at a
picture in which Jesus of Nazareth
stands on the extreme right, His fig
ure glowing with celestial light. To-
ward the centre, where the bright
ness fades, stands man clasping the
right hand of the Christ. To the left
all is dim, but you make out the form
of third man who cannot see Christ,
car only darkly behold the middle
man. This mysterious person Is
Simon. The man in the middle Is
Andrew, whom the text represents as
a great discoverer. First he finds the
Christ; then he finds the man Iii the
dark 49,
1 shall regard this mediating char
acter as personating all later genera
lions of believers. Study Andrew, in
his experience and privilege and re-
sponsibility. His left hand is in
Christ's, but his right hand is out
stretched. 1t is of that mighty right
arm that l am to speak. Surely no
subject can be more timely for a Sun
day in this beautiful season of Epi-
phany when we ought to think of the
manifestation of Christ to all peoples
of the earth.
How rich is this first chapter of
Johns gospel In it's tribute to the
only begotten Son of Coo! 1t Is like
those gold mines CT which we read,
that are full of nugg cts; like those
pearl fisheries where every she'll con-
tains a fortune; like those Persian
rose gardens. whence the perfume ex-
hales everywhere. "Rehold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of
the world" In all the Bible there is
no sentence which in itself Is SO full
of meaning and which in relation to
the gospel is so absolutely accurate
as this description.
The Lamb Of God taketh away the
sins of the world. St. John has moth
ing to say about the origin Of SIN,
nothing to say about why God leaves
the loathsome fact with US. Christ g
purpose, His opening, His abiding.
His ultimate purpose is to take sin
away. According to Jesus, man has
no use for sin. Sin is hindrance, dis
turbance, clog, poison. 1t was not
God that sent sin; Gods relation to
sin is sender of One to take 1t away.
Think what you please of the doc
trine of the Atonement, but look at
the cross. I know full we'll that in
me, an offender, sin works suffering;
in the cross see that to the spot1ess
Son of God evil brings suffering too
Let us accept the cross as revela-
ton of Love, of Love Eternal and
Infinite making sacrifice, dying like
the lamo on the Jewish altar, to free
the souls that had enslaved them
selves to pride and shame. He who
hangs on yCnder cross, in that He has
suffered, in that He has marked out
the way of the perfect life, in that He
touches our poor e1deavors with res
direction power, rurges away my
stalls and leads me into the freedom
of a child of God. Eut the grand
thing taught by Jesus is that in each
heart sin must be abolished, must be
taken away.
But Let us come to Andrew. Who
was he? He was son to Jonas, and
appears in the narrative as the COM
patton of John, who was the SOIL Of
Zebedee. These men were fishers,
with some possessions in the form of
nets and boats. They were associated
as partners and had servants aid
dwelt on the north shore of the LAX
OF Galilee. Andrew would not appear
to have been a very brilliant man, not
much Ct talker. There was enc
glorious thing about him-he had
found Christ. But the mail thought
is this disciples typal character.
What desire to say above all other
things is, my Christia1 brother, that
Andrew is yourself. Two spiritual
facts ought to stand out in your ON
sciousn ess. The one is that you have
found the Christ God is more to you
than the blind force that rules the
universe. God in Christ has come
into cur worldly conditions and has
sympathized with US and has been not
criy ather but Brother. So you can
say, Il know Him whom I have be-
isved." Ard the next fact is, that if
the finding has been raal, it has filled
YOU with gladness. You may not care
to speak of that blessed train of cir
cumstances that made you a child OF
God, even as this Andrew has, told
the world rothing of that rapturous
conference when with John he spent
the night with Jesus and talked OF
the matters that lay deepest in their
souls-there are supreme religio is
experiences about which the reverent
heart may not love to speak. But
one thing is certain, if Christ has
brought the good tidings into your
heart, You will desire to tell it
abroad. A real conversion opens a
new world. 1t rolls from. the con.
science load of guilt; it Gains the
rawlings of remorse; it excites the
purest affections; it cleanses the life;
it washes out all stains; it overcomes
all difficulties; IL anuihilates selfish.
ness; it brushes passion. 1t develops
new faculties; it clothes the soul with
new powers; it awakens new forces
even a force which achieves imposi.
bilities, because it feels with st. Paul
that in Christ we can do all things
1t gives new theories of life and new
powers for success; it worksasuch a
transformation in heart and in life, in
inward thought and in outward &C.
ton, that we truly speak of the same
individual as new creature All
this comes about because you know
Christ.
But we are forgetting Simon. Who
is he? Simon is just any one who is
not in Christ. He is the man in the
dark, the man at a distance. Simon
is mystery. The very word sug-
gests the pathos of his life. Simon
means the listening one. Think of
the Christless soul off in the night,
conscious of his perplexities and
doubts, and listening for any voice
that can give consolation. There is
this terrible thing about every Simon
he is far from Christ. But there is
also this encouraging thing-some
brother man stands near. Each of us
knows at least enc soul listening with
the ear of an imprisoned spirit, for
some voice to speak peace.
:. Simon may be your brother, or
your husband, or your partner, or
your fellow clerk. or your most init
mate friend, or your classmate. If
you have any great JOY you must tell
Simon. Simon is so near you, so dear
to you, such a large part of your life.
If you read a good book. you lend It
to him; if you see a good play, you
tell him about it; if you get new
light on any subject, you talk it over
with him. Joseph finds happiness
and honor in Egypt, but the moment
l. he n