The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1909-02-26
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. SPENCER S. ROCHE.
Theme: Andrew. the Middle Man.

Sunday morning, Andrew, the Mid
die Man" His text was from John
1:4l. 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. II
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 a 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,
can 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 in the
dark.
l shall regard this mediating char
| acter as personating all later genera
tions 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 I am 10 speak. Surely no
subject can be more timely for a Sun
day in this beautiful season OF Epi-
phany when we ought 10 think OF the
manifestation OF Christ TO all peoples
of the earth.
How rich is this first chapter Of
Johns gospel in its tribute TO the
| only begotten Son of God! lt is like
these gold mines of which we read
hns f,,1 -
pearl fisheries where every shell con-
tains a fortune; like those Persian
rose gardens, whence the perfume ex-
bales everywhere. Behold 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 10 say about the origin Of sin,
nothing 20 say about why God leaves
the loathsOme fact with us. Christ's
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 a sender of One to take il away.
Think what you please of the doc
trine of the Atonement, but look at
the cross. / know full we'll that in
me, an offender, sin works suffering;
in the cross / see that to the spotless
Sen of God evil brings suffering too.
Let us accept the cross as a revela-
ton of Love, of Love Eternal and
Infinite making sacrifice, dying like
| the lamb on the Jewish altar, to free
The souls that had enslaved them
selves TO pride and shame. He who
| hangs on yonder cross, in that He has
| suffered. in that He has marked out
the way of the perfect life, in that He
| touches our poor endeavors with res
direction power, purges away my
stains and leads me into the freedom
Cf a child OF God. Eut the grand
thing taught by Jesus is that I'm each
| heart sin must be abolished, must be
taken away.
But let us come 20 Andrew. Who
was he2 He was son TO Jonas, and
appears in the narrative as the com
panion OF John, who was the son Of
Zebedee These men were fishers,
with some possessions I'm the form Of
nets and boats They were associated
as partners and had servants and
Gwelt on the north shore of the Lake
Cf Galilee. Andrew would not appear
to have been a very brilliant man, not
much of a talker There was one
glorious thing about him-he had
found Christ But the main thought
is this disciples typal character.
What | desire 10 say above all other
things is, my Christian brother, that
Andrew is yourself. Two spiritual
facts ought To stand out in your con-
sciOusness. 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 our worldly conditions and has
sympathized with us and has been not
only ather bur Brother. SO YOU can
say, 81 know Him whom J have be-
lieyed. And the next fact is, that If
the finding has been real, it has filled
YOU with gladness. You NAV not care
10 speak of that blessed train Of cir
cumstauces that made YOU a child Of
God, even as this Andrew has told
the WORLD nothing 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 religious
experiences about which the reverent
heart may not love 10 speak. But
one thing is certain. IL Christ has
brought the good tidiugs into your
heart. YOU will desire 10 tell r.
abroad 4 real conversion opens a
new world II rolls from the con-
science load OF guilt; it calms the
rawlings of remOrse; IL eXcites the
purest affections; 10 cleanses the life;
il washes out all stains, IL oyercomes
all difficulties. il annihilates selfish
ness il crushes passion. II develops
new faculti s; il clothes the soul with
new powers, il awakens new forces.
even force which achieves imposi-
bilities, because IL feels with St. Paul
that in Christ we can do all things
n gives new theories OF life and new
powers for success; il works such a
Transformation in heart and in life. I'm
4. a.. 4 n