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ijs*-" '* . ,1 0 1 s ' PULPIT. I A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY THE REV. D. H. OVERTON. \ Subject: God's Obligation to Man. Brooklyn, N. Y.?The Rev. Daniel H. Overton, pastor of Greene AveA nuc Reformed Church, preached Sunday night in the Bushwick Avenue Reformed Church at the union services with His own congregation. The subject was, "God's Obligation Man." The text was from II. ' ':mothy, i: 9: "Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, n^t according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Jesus Christ bt ore times eternal, but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ." Mr. Overton said: There is the law of God and there Is the gospel of God. Often have I Bpoken of the law of God, now I would speak of the gospel of law. The law of Goc may be defined as uat which ?xpvs -d man's obliga* tion to God, and the gospel of God as that which expresses God's obligation to man. The Old Testament and the New T.rtament unite in this, that they give not only the law of God, but the gospel of God. It is this fact that makes the Hebrew religion and the Christian religion different from all the other religions of the world. Many other religions give directly or indirectly the law of * God, but nor- of them gives the gospel of God ?- thus defined as the obligation of God to man. The go*.s " of the heathen nations round a_out the Hebrew nation were of suca a nature that they must oe appeared and pleased ty worship and sacrifice on thp part of man or they would torment and crush man. The lav of the gods must be obeyed, but only that man might escape the punishment of the gods, and not from any particular love of man for the gods. It is strange how this heathen conception of the gods has crept into the thought of so many about the a-*? 1*>?. Ua f aa 4 r? irue ctau iiviug uuu. uc, iw, the thought of many, is a God that must be appeased and pleased ' by worship and sacrifice or He f will punish and torment and crush men. Men must obey the laws ^ of God or perish by them. This is, of course, true as far as it goes. "Tue soul that sinneth, it shall die." Men nannot sin with impunity. Man is : responsible to God, and under obli? gaticns to Hinuto keep His law and do HiswilL Wemustneverforget this, nor get far away from this in our thought of God. But we must not stop with ' this thought. If we do we will have only a partial view of God?we will have only a heathen god. . And if we have only r. partial God or a heathen god, then ?e shall Lave xmly a partial or a heathen religion. .If fear is our only motive in religion .or worship, then our religion and worship w^ll be for the purpose of escaping the wrath of an angry God, and it will-find expression in. our attempts to appease and please an angry God by propitiations and atonements, and sacrifices, and servile obedience to His laws. We * must rise above fear, and even above the thoughts of future rewards; to love, and to the thought of loving, - loyal service, and present rewards v;in doing something to hasten the coming of God's kingdom upon the' earth. We must rise above tne obligation of man to God, as expressed by law, and think of the obligation of God to man as expressed by -love and the gospel of love. We must think of the gospel cf God well as of th' law of God. This will not belittle our respect fcr the law of God, nor in any way lower our sense of obligation to Him. Daniel Webster, when asked what > was th- greatest '.bought that ever entered his mind, replied, you remember, that it was the thought of man's responsibility to God. That certainly is a great thought, and yet the one I bring you to-day is greater. God's obligation to man is, I believe, . the greatest thought that can enter the mind of mer. This thought of God's obligation to man is newfcr than the thought of man's obligation to God. It may be new to many of you who are L:re to-day. There are some, I expect, who will den. that God is under any obligation to msn whatsoever, and some of you may be among that number, but I believe that the thought Is true, even if it is new, and that is i why I proclaim it to you to-day. God's obligation to man is the great gospel of God to man. The gospel is good new?, and what bc.ter news is there in all the world for man than this?that God, the God of infinite love and Fatherhood, is under ob4 ligations to him? Let us see if this is a fact, and if we find it so, let tnat fact rest in our minds and bless our lives evermore. First, look at our human relationships for proof of the fact. Children have obligations to their parents, but parents have obligations to their : children also. My boys are under . obligations to me, but I am under < obligations to my boys rlso. Why? Because I am their father, with a father's heart and a father's interest. I cannot leave them to perish until all my fatherly resources are exhausted for their good. So God, : by becoming the Fattier of the nu- ! man family, has placed Himself un- ' tier obligation to the \*hole human ; family. The very meaning of the : word religion implies this. Religion, ; true religion, is that which binds a : man to God in right relationship. < Which is it that binds a man closest : to God? Is it man's obligation to God, or is it God's obligation to man? < I believe it is the latter. Close as the < law may bind man to God, love binds : him yet closer. Now, all true human relation- : ships involve obligations on both i sides, and from both parties to the relationship. God has always acknowledged His obligation to 1 man, even if man has not always acknowledged his obligation to God. What is a covenant but- an obligation on the part of two or more people? God has made many coyenants <' with individuals and with His chosen people. He made covenants with Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, i Mobe~, Elijah, Elisha, David and ' with many other? that we might mention. He made covenants with the nation of Israel and or J"dah again and again. These covenants implied the obligation of God to man, as well as man's obligation to God, else they would not have been covenants, but simply laws. These covenants are the gospel of the Old Testament and of the Hebrew religion. This gospel of God's obligation to man unites the Old and New Testaments as one book and as the book of one true religion, and the revelation of one great gospel, the gospel of God as a covenant making and a covenant keeping God, loving man and doing all that infinite love can do for man's salvation. Says Dr. Abbott: "The Old Testament is the gospel of the obligation of God to man in the bud; the New Testament is the gospel of God's obligation to man in the flower." There ir no doubt, I think, about the fact of God's obligation to man. It is really the central fact of the Old and New Testament alike. It is the very gospel of God in His great book t ^ ati/1 "J f nnl V XU C* JL1UU1 UCgiUUlii^ lv/ ^.lAlA, AX u v interpret that book aright! But before we boast of that gospel, or pride ourselves that God is under obligations to us, let us seek to know the ground or that obligation. Let us know that we have not put God under an;- obligation to us by anything we have done. "Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace," Paul says in the text. It is therefore God's own purpose and active love, for grace is love in action, that has put God under obligation to man. "God so loved"?and there it all began?this gospel of God's obligation to man. God so loved that He voluntarily and out of His great love, and for no other reason, placed Himself under obligation to the whole wdrld of humanity, so that whosoever in that world would believe in that love, and would let God fulfil His obligation toward him, should not perish, but be saved. This is John iii: 16, in the light of our text and in the words of our theme. This is the gospel that Jesus Christ came to proclaim and to live. He came to tell every man that God so loves him that He is willing to place Himselz under obligations to him. It was for this reason that God gave us His greatest gift?the gift of Himself in Jesus Christ?as much of Himself and even more than man would or could comprehend and believe in. It is because He is the great loving universal Father : lr.t He has placed Himself under obligation to every child of His, to every man and voma- in all the world. Be this our boast then: not that we have put God under any obligation to us by anything that we have done, but that God out of His infinfte love for us and according to His own loving ;-.nd eternal purpose has placed Himself under obligations to us. This purpose was given us in Jesus Christ, "before times eternal," Paul says. That is, it was born in God's eternal. Father-Heart before time came to be reckoned or counted. God ever a Father must ever have had a Son, else He would not have been ever a Father, and in that love for that eternal Son we see God's purpose for all His sons in all the world. And this purpose has now been manifested to the world and to us by the appearing of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. That is, Christ came to show God's, the Father's, eternal purpose to the world. He came to tell the world that He has been willing to place Himself under obligation to every one in all the world. This is the gcspel that Christ came to proclaim. This is the gospel that shines forth in all that He said or did. And now we are ready to see what this obligation of God to us and His eternal purpose, has led Him to do for us, or the result of His obligation to man. What is the issue of thi3 gospel of God's obligation? What has it led God to do for us? It has led and it will lead God to do everything that infinite love can do or that we will let Kim do tor our salvation. The first pari of the text gives this answer: "Who saved us, and called U3 with a holy calling." He has called us to salvation and to holiness through faith in Kim, as -the loving Father, and in His Son, as the revealer and example of the Father's love and character. Thte is the covenant that God waits and wants to make with every one of us. It is not His will that any should perish, but that all should receive the light of life, and live the life that is abundant and eternal. It was God's obligation to us, born of His love for us, tnat led Him to send Christ to suffer and die for us, in order that He might become our Saviour and lead us to salvation and to holiness. It was this that led God to do the very best that He out of His infinite power and love could do for us and for all of His children of the earth. Ah, yes, we may be sure of this?God has kept, and Gcd will ever keep, His part of the covenant that He has made with us and for us. He has fulfilled and He ever will fulfil, His full obligation to us. This is the gospel of the Old and Mew Testament that I proclaim to you to-day. Thi- is the gospel of Jesus Christ?the gospel of God's obligation to man born of God's great love for man. The Sinfulness of Sin. Unhappily that "secularization of morals," which the late Herbert Spencer proclaimed to be imperatively necessary, has already made some progress. The tendency to minimize sin?by characterizing it, not as a I personal crime against Gcd, but ! rather as "indiscretion," a "disease," or as the inevitable result of "heredity" in irresponsible persons?is developing in quarters where there ought to be clearer and more accurate views of life. There can be no successful sin." It may be hidden from man, and only from man, but in the divine order its inevitable result is death (Rom. 6:23), and no preacher can be true to his Master who fails to declare that immutable truth.?London Christian. ' How to Understand. Obey Jesus with cordial loyalty and you will understand Jesus. Not by studying Him,, but by doing His will, .shall you learn how divine He is. Obedience completes itself in understanding.?Phillips Brooks. * WOMEN'S NEGLECT i SUFFERINGTHESURE PENALTY { Health Thus Lost Is Restored by Lydia C E. PJakham's Vegetable Compound. How many women do you know who ' are perfectly well and strong? "We hear every day the same story over and 1 over again. " I do not feel well; I am ( so tired all the time !n More than likely yon speak the same words yourself, and no doubt you feel t far from well. The cause may be easily j traced to some derangement of the female organs which manifests itself in 1 depression of spirits, reluctance to go anywhere or do anything, backache, ] bearing-down pains, flatulency, nerv- 4 ousness, sleeplessness, or other female weakness. These symptoms are but warnings that there is danger ahead, and unless ] heeded a life of suffering or a serious ] operation is the inevitable result. The never-failing remedy for all these symptoms is Lydia E. Pinkham's Veg- ( etable Compound. < Miss Kate McDonald of Woodbridge, . N. J., writes: Dear Mrs. Pinkham: " Restored health has meant so much to me that I cannot help from telling about it for the sake of other suffering women. " For a long time I suffered untold *agony with a female trouble and irregularities, which made me a physical wreck, and no one thought I would recover, but Lvdia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound nas entirely cured me, and made me well and strcng, and I feel it my duty to tell other differing women what a splendid medicine it is." For twenty-five years Mrs. Pinkham, daughter-in-law of Lydia E. Pinkham, has under her direction, and since her decease, been advising sick women free of charge. Her advice is free and always helpful. Address, Lynn, Mass. HOLD UPf and consider i (s~j - = pommel irjsdslickeh \ i ? 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Impartial Visitor?Well, I don't tnow, of course, but from what I lave observed of him since I have reen here, if he gets his deserts he vill lead the line in the lock-step parade twice a day to and from the shops.?Somerville Journal. . 5TTS, St. Vitus'Dance:Nervous Diseases pernanently cured by Dr. Kline's Great Nerve Restorer. *2 trial bottle and treatise free. 5r. H. R. Kline, Ld.,931 Arch St., Phila., Pa. THE MIGHT OF PIE. "I heard of a fellow the other day cr >>/-> -toll from an on en window where tie was sitting eating pie, and was instantly killed." "I don't doubt it. I've often been knocked out by pie myself."?Baltimore American. r It is unwise to use tea-leaves for laying the dust when sweeping a light-colored carpet, unless they have been previously rinsed in water; otherwise the carpet may 'be badly stained. 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