The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-11-10


son 10 him that is weary Isaiah so: 4.
This is the third time" said Paul
to tho Corinthians, Il am coming to
you with this message Of mercy from,
our Lord and Master The fact Is
this is one Of those texts that we
could preach on every Sunday for the
rest ~ the year,
Or. stuart Robinson told me ne
had commenced at Genesis ana
b preached clear through the Bihle
twice, and that in going over it, chap
ter by chapter. the second time there
was somewhat OF a new revelation in
every text and chapter. as ne stucled
it more and more. SO II Is especially
with these blessed words OF grace
which fell from His lips, who knew
90 well how TO speak word In sea-
son 10 him that was weary. When
John was about to close his Gospel
he said. And there are also many
other things which Jesus did, the
which II they should be written every
enc I suppose that even the world
iiseif could not contain the books that
should be written
And what would be said II all the
words that Jesus spake were written
down and printed What volume
upon volume We would have. and
what wonderful library that would
make. We are amazed at the VOL
umes that came from such prolit1c
pens as those of Calvin, Luther and
others. But these were largely COM
pilations of sermons that were preach
ed 10 their own people. In time
when such books were rare. it was
remarkable that they could write
and print so much. But after all
I-aA Esc long
ago, and such books are seldom read
these days
But such must have been the won
derful words OF our Lord Jesus that
everything lie ever spoke was OF vast
importance. and worthy of being
handed down through all the ages.
We all know how the words OF wise
men are treasured and held up as
something worthy OF universal ad-
mirauon. The units of sydney Smith,
and the 1!ittering coupiets of Shake
speare are held up TO the gaze of all
who love the English language
. Bat .hare was a .1s,ass, Who as a,~pnh-
lie man, was known among His fell
iowmen for less than three years. The
life of tho Man as we have II record
ed, when printed and bound, can be
put in The vest pocket and bought Tor
a dime The whole 81 could DE.
bound In Il tract and Is not as large
as many an essay. But what book :
What a Man it tells about And what
wondrous words of grace He spake!
The Gospel by Matthew" The
Gospel by Mark The Gospel by
Luke" '"rhe Gospel by John"-~take
any of them, or all together, and we
have the birth, life, miracles. woros'
suferings, death. resurrection OF
Man compressed into the shortest
space, who was worthy OF the pen OF
the Holy Ghost. Never IN all the
ages was there such man, and the
little we have Of His life and words
bau given a theme for more books
and more writings Of every sort than
all other ives That were ever frrd
on earth pat together.
/ have myself two large volumes
be DR. John Brown. of Edinburgh,
en the sayings and discourses or our
Lord. And vet these men and all with
them do not claim TO exhaust the SUD"
1cct, and no doubt would say with
Newton: ~ am but as a schoolboy
who has picked up - few pebbles
upon the beach, while the great ocean
OF truth still lies before me- AND
I'm reading these books we are obilg-
cd to feel az old Or. Alexander did
when he uttered the following com
ment on a sermon by student In the
words. He can't beat Moses.
That IL just about the way reei'
The fact is, these evangelists spoke
ss moved by the Holy GhoN, and
what they selected In the way o,
words and deeds were the warp and
woof Of that wondrous story more
beautiful than a poets dream. and
more blessed In its results than al
other records Of human history.
In Jesus sermon on the Mount He
had This class Of people in His mind
That sermon was preached to smali
audience, hut lie knew 1t would ne
reported around the world. lie Knew
that ali the readers or the B'pie 'hat
ever lived would read that sermon
and So He was preaching that day
10 an audience larger than could nave
gathered on every foot OF ground IN
Palestine And so we are 10 Iook
upon His words, not as conhned 10
these faithful and favored few. but
ma words Of Prime Minister that
are read around the world.
These words In the Sermon on the
Mount we are to look upon as typlca4
~ what we are to pray for and what
Wind of an answer we are to expect.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit Tor
theirs is the kingdom OF heaven
blessed are they that mourn for they
shall be comforted." etc.
There are men who ask these dues~
lions, and He had been cutting AT the
root Of the matter and twining THESE
questions into such a channel that
thev were giving answers that would
answer tho questions and bring JOY te
the hearts OF the weary AMI heavy
laden.
Comforted with this fact which
every lnan rleh, os poar, knows 10 bn
fact. the question comes up. how
arr =, make a living for myself aud
family? All is that the question. the
whole Of it, Merely living, sup
port, enough to support us?
l have read the Bible through
many times and It seems to me thar
this is about all that God promises
for this world Elijah was to have
his food brought TO him. and he conlo
drink water from the brook. The
widows meal barrel and her OH
cruise were not to get empty. but the
Lori never promised that she should
sell miraculous meal and oil and get
rich, while her poor neighbors were
starving. But she did have enough
for herself. and for the man Of God
while he was serving the Lord. There
Is Just where people. and good peo-
pie. make mistakes in the critical con-
trast between Lazarus in rags ANA
wretchednesa. and the rich man IN
purple and fine linen VIII, f,rtd