The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1909-02-18
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV, SPENCER S. ROCHE.
Theme: Andrew, the Middle Man.

Auelpnl street, nau lOT MS SuDJec
Sunday morning. Andrew, the Mid
die Man" His text was from Johr
1:41, "He findeth first his owl
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 9
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 clasDing 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
csE 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 flnds the man in the
dark.
/ shall regard this medating 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
Christs but his right hand is out.
stretched. 1t is of that mighty right
arm that | am to speak. Surely no
subject can be more timely for Sun.
Gay in this beautiful season of Epi.
phary when we ought to think of the
manifestation OF Christ to all peoples
CT the earth.
How rich is this first chapter of
Johns gospel in its tribute to the
only begotten Son of GJt! 1t is like
these gold aines CT which we read,
that are full of nugg IT'S; like those
pearl fisheries where every shell con-
tains fortune; like those Persian
rose gardens, VIII the perfume ex-
hales everywhere. "Behold the Lamb
of God that teketh 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.
TIE Lemt u God taketh away the
sins of the world. st. John has moth.
Ing to say about the origin of sin,
nothing 70 say about why God leaves
the loathsome fact with US. Christ's
purpose, Els opening, His abiding,
His ultimate purpose is to take sin
away. According to Jesus, nan has
no use for sin. Sir is hinirance, dis
turbance, clog, poison. 1t was not
Gcd that sent sin; Gods relation to
sin is sender of One to take it 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 sootless
Son of God evil brings suffering too.
Let us accept the cross as a revela-
tion of Love, of Love Eternal and
Infinite making sacrifice, dying like
the lamO On the Jewish altar, to free
the souls that had ensiaved them
selves to pride and shame. He who
hangs on yCEGer cross, in that He has
suffered, in that He has marked out
the way of the perfect life, in that He
touches our poor eadeavors with res
direction pcwer, rurges away my
STALKS and leads me into the freedom
of q child of God. But 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
panion of John, who was the son 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 Lake
CT Galilee. Andrew would not appear
to have been very brilliant man, not
much CT talker. There was cne
glorious thing about him-he had
found Christ. But the main thought
is this disciples typal character.
WHAT desire to say above all other
things is, my Christian brother, that
Andrew Is yourself. Two spiritual
facts ought &c stand cut in your con.
seriousness. 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
with us ald has been not
ccly ather but Brother. So you can
say, Il know Him whom / have be-
lleved. Ard the next fact is, that II
the hnainS has been rsal, II has filled
YOU with gladness. You may not care
to speak of that blessed train of cir.
that made you a child OF
God, even as this Andrew has told
the world rothing Of that rapturous
conference when with John ne spent
the matters that lay deepest in their
souls-there are supreme religio ls
experiences about which the reve.ent
heart may not love to speak. But
one thing Is certain, IL Christ has
brought the good tidings into your
heart, you will desire to tell II
abroad. A real conversion opens q
new world. 1t rolls from the con.
science load OF guilt; it Gains the
rawlings of remorse; it excites the
purest affections; 1t cleansss the life;
1t washes out all stains 1t overcomes
all difficulties; 1t anrihilates selfish.
ness; 1t crushes passion. 1t develops
new faculties; 1t clothes the soul with
new powers; 1t awakens new forces,
even force which achieves imposi.
bilities, because 1t feels with st. Paul
that In Christ we can do all things.
1t gives new theories of life and new
powers for success; it works such a
transformation in heart and in life. in
inward thought and in outward ac.
tion, 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 I
dark, the man at q distance. Simon
is a mystery. The very word sug-
gests the pathos of his life. Simon |
means the listening one. Think OF /
the Christless soul of in the night, /.
conscious of his perplexities and |
doubts, and listening for any voice |
that can give consolation. There is /