The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-11-28
ADVENT SUNDAY:
AT old ST. PAUL'S
Rev. R. M. Brown breaches
Strong Sermon.
REV. J. S. RoMOSER HERE
Noted Divine Talks at Ger
man M. +. Church.
Rev. George Il. Barnard Tells OF the
Way to Lead ~ Christian Iifc-W.
G. n. U. Mceting--Sunday Services
Are Well Attended Despite Rain.


Are Well Attended Despite Rain.
At st. Pauls church Sunday morn
ing. Rev. Richard Mcclellan Brown
delivered an excellent sermon. II was
Advent Sunday. The rector took his
subject from Matthew lis, "And the
poor have the gospel preached to
them"
He said in part:
This is the end of the authorita-
tiv list of credentials of Christian
ity. People asked questions in those
days as they do now, ana found 1t
hard to believe in the Christian re-
ligion. Even Jesus Himself did not
satisfy, did not convince, all those
who heard him. One would think
that people who had been taught by
John the Baptist, and who had actu-
ally looked into the face and heard
the voice of Jesus of Nazareth, would
find faith easy and natural not to
say inevitable. How could they help
believing? But even John himself
had fallen into doubt Art thou He,
etc. he sent to ask. And the mes-
sengers are sent back; GO and tell
John
Jesus was so different from all
mems idea of Christ, that 1t is no
wonder IL some doubted. They had
speculated about His coming as we
speculate today about His second
coming. They had all sorts of vague
and mistaken notions about Him.
They thought that the advent Of Mes
siah would be like the triumphal en-
try of a king. only a thousand-fold
more gorgeous and dramatic. He
would appear enthroned amid the
splendid clouds Of sunrise. hero
more of heaven than OF earth, a su-
preme, magnificent archangel. They
had looked for one with such counte-
nance as the sun shlneth In his
strength, with hair white as snow and
eyes like a flame of fire, and a voice
deep and thunderous as the sound of
many waters, holding the stars in
his right hand. He would come, they
thought, in glorious majesty, as st.
John saw Him in the revelation.
"And when He came, looking like
any other man. only half so well dress
ed as many, not rich, not politically
influential, not acquainted with kings
palaces. walking about the streets and
talking to the commonest people in
the simple language such as they
could understand, Il is not strange
that people wondered and asked ques-
tions, and doubted.
Men and women were as blind In
those days as they are now. The Lord
Jesus comes and stands beside us, and
we are looking so hard into the clouds
that we do not see Him. And He
speaks to us, but we are so busy de-
batting about Him that we do not
listen. We do not recognize Him;
He Is not one of our acquaintance.
We are as dull-sighted as the old
scribes. For here today, In these
streets, Jesus of Nazareth passeth by
est. Johns disciples came with
their question. And there was Jesus,
revealing Himself by His mlnistra-
tions to the needy. And He gave
them answer, whereof the text Is the
last sentence. They wanted to be
assured that Jesus is the Christ, and
He asked them to observe what he
was doing.
"'Ye shall know them by their
fruits If we are Christians we will
be like Jesus Christ If we speak as
He never spoke, If we act as He never
acted, we are none of His. The Chris
tion church Is Christian not by rea-
son of it's origin, and not in proper
tion to the orthodoxy of it's creed; but
only as 1t has the same purpose which
hrio Oh a..
ing questions of men as He answered
them. What are you doing, you
Christians, that we may see II you
deserve the name? Religion, as Jesus
taught 1t was not ritual, nor an or
ganization, nor a philosophy, but a
life, and life crowded with fraternal
deeds. The church of Jesus Christ is
In the world to carry on that work
which he was doing when Johns dis
ciples came to question him. We are
to concern ourselves with all the
needs of men.
"a church which is silent. unrespon-
sive, unsympathetic. selfish and un-
helpful in the presence OF distress;
a church which is not occupied with
feeding the hungry, clothing the
naked, ministering to the sick and
sorrowful-it matters not how many
services are held in its sanctuary, nor
how many litanies are said, nor how
many prayers are prayed-that
church lacks the credentials The
one chief sign by which the religion
Of Jesus Christ Is known is absent.
Such a church does not deserve the
name of Christian. 1t is a sham. God
looks out over the world, parting men
to the right and left, and He puts
that church on the left.
1--WE preach the gospel to the
poor We think at once of pulpits
and sermons, but these are the least
parts OF It, What is the gospel? n