The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-03-03
Sermon by
CHARLES II
RUSSELL,
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.


Cumberland, Md, Feb. 27.-Pastor
Russell of Brooklyn Tabernacle, New
York, preached twice here today In
our largest auditorium. He is well
known here and had fine audiences.
We report his discourse from the
above text as follows
Today this prophecy is fulfilled In
our midst! Notwithstanding the fact
that during the past century Bibles
have been printed and circulated
among the people by the million, and
Notwithstanding the fact that educa-
ton has become general so that rich
and poor, old and young, have the
ability to read Gods Word. neverthe-
less we are in the midst of the very
famine specified by the Prophet. 1t
seems almost incredible that we should
be furnishing now with Bibles in our
homes, when our sanity forefathers
did not famish, though education was
limited The secret lies in the fact
that increasing intelligence on every
hand has awakened our reasoning fac
ulties along religious lines. and the
result is the gnawing of hunger In our
hearts. Our hearts and our flesh cry
out for living and true Coda
God greater than ourselves-more just,
more powerful, more loving. Feeling
our own impotency, we more than
ever feel our need of the Friend above
all others with a love that sticketh
closer than a brothers.
Consequently we cannot find the
rest and refreshment and comfort
from the Scriptures which our fore
young men and the purest of heart In
the world are repealed by the religion
of the past as represented in the
creeds of all denominations. They
are hungry for the Truth. They are
thirsty for the refreshment which they
need. Intellectually many are look
| ing, wandering, from sea to sea de-
string the bread of life and the water
of life. Scanning the creeds of all de-
nominations they find them practically
alike as respects theories of eternal
reprobation and damnation for all ex-
cept the elect the saints. They are
faint for lack of spiritual food and
drink. They even look to the heather
and examine the Theosophy of India,
the Buddhism of Japan and the Confu-
cianism of China, seeking for some sat
isfying portion Of Truth. These are in
some respects like the prodigal son-far
from home They perceive the swim.
ish content with the husks of bust
ness, money, pleasure and politics, but
their spiritual longings cannot be sat
isfied with the husks which the swine
eat They are thought peculiar be-
csuse of their interest in spiritual
things. They are misunderstood by
their best earthly friends. They must
learn that in their wanderings aloni
the highways of science and world
religion they will never get satisfac-
ton. There is a famine in every de-
nomination, in every part of the world
No one thinks of looking to the Bible
for refreshment and strength. The
Higher Critics of all denominations
have branded it unreliable. The Pro
fessors in all the great Colleges are
reprobating the Bible and openly
laugh at the thought of finding there
either bread for the hungry or water
for the thirsty.
This is the very picture given in oul
context They shall wander from sea
to sea, from the North even to the
East; they shall run to and fro to seeb
the Word of the Lord and shall not
find it. In that day shall the fair vir
gins and the young men faint fol
thirst" Amos viii, u. 49,.
The Bread of Life and Water OF Life
These hungry hearts must learn thai
there is only the one satisfying portion
under the Sun-the living and true
God. and Jesus Christ whom he has
sent to be the Bread of Life for the
world, and the message of grace from
his lips to be the Water of Life. 1t il
ours to call the attention of this Truth
hungry class to the Great Teacher wht
declared. My flesh is food indeed an(
my blood is drink indeed; except Y,
eat the flesh of the Son of Man, an(
drink his blood, We have no life il
you" John vi, 80, 53). But scarcely
will the intelligent of our day hearkel
to these words, so prejudlced are thei
minds by the fallacies which beclou(
their understanding. They see not
; neither do they understand the good
} ness of God.
i Why is this? Why are these Bibles
, in millions of homes, Catholic an(
Protestant, neglected? Because thu
people know not that the bread of lif'
and the water of life which they seel
are hidden therein. Why is this? w,
answer that conditions were yer!
much the same in Israel at the tim'
, of our Lords First Advent. The ex
g PLANTATION he then gave is applicable
Y now. He said. I'VE do make void tn,
+ Law of God through your traditions
, 1.-The traditions Of the ancients' (Marl
vii, 13: ! Peter |, 49,. So now, thu
: traditions handed down from our fore
l fathers really make void, meaningless
ungracious, the message of Gods Wis
: dom and Love sent to us through tn
t Lord, the apostles and the prophets
Those who still hold tenaciously to tn
K creeds of the past are thorough.
o blinded now to the true teachings o
Gods Word. while. alas, the majorit.
of the independent thinkers. IN reject