Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-02-25
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. SPENCER S. ROCHE.
Theme: Andrew, the Middle Man.

Brooklyn, N. Y.-The Rev. Spence
S. Roche, rector of st. Marks Church.
Adelphi street, had for his subject
Sunday morning, Andrew, the Mid
die Man." His text was from John
1:41, HE indeth 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 IN the extreme right, His fig
ure glowing with celestial light. To-
ward the centre, where the bright
ness fades. stands a nan clasping the
right hand Of the Christ. To the left
all is dim, but you make out the form
of a 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
q great ~discoverer. First he finds the
Christ; then he finds the man In the
dark.
I 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 Lam 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 its tribute to. the
only begotten Son Of God! It is like
those gold mines OF which we read,
that are full of nuggets; like those
pearl fisheries where every shell con-
tains a fortune; like those Persian
rose gardens. whence the perfume ex-
hales everywhere. Behold the Lamb
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. ,Chrfst'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 It away.
Think what you please Of the doc.
trine Of the Atonement, but look al
the Cross. I know full we'll that in
me, an offender, sin works suffering;
in the cross / see that to the spotless
Son 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 ou1
the way Of the peiiect life, in that HI
touches our poor endeavors with res
direction power, purges away my
stains and leads me into the freedom
OF a child OF God. But the CRANE
thing taught by Jesus Is that III eacl
heart sin must be abolished. must 5,
taken away. 4
But let Vi come to. Andrew. Wh
was he? He. was son to Jonas. anf
appears In the narrative as the com
papion Of John, who was the sonso
Zebedee. These men were fishers
with some, possessions in the form o
nets and boats They were associate,
as partners and had servants am
dwelt on the north shore Of the LAX,
of Galilee. Andrew would not aupea,
to have been a very brilliant man. no
much Of a talker.s There was ON,
glorious thing about him-he ha,
found Christ. But the main though
is this disciples typal character.
What desire to say above all othe
things Is, my Christian brother. tha
Andrew is yourself. Two spiritua
facts ought to stand out In your con
seriousness. The @le is that you hav
found the Christ. God is more to 70,
~ the blind force that rules th,