20 
THE ETERNAL CROSS. 
Subject of Sermon by Rev. C. S. 
Pond of Beverly Farms, at Man- 
chester Baptist Church, Last 
Sunday. 
Rey. Clarence Strong Pond of the 
Beverly Farms’ Baptist church 
preached last Sunday morning at 
the Baptist church, Manchester, in 
exchange with the pastor, Rev. T. 
L. Frost. His subject was ‘‘The 
Eternal Message of the Cross,’’ and 
he took for his text the words: 
““Who for the joy set before him en- 
dureth His cross and despising the 
shame.’’ His message was in part as 
follows: 
‘““The message of God is eternal 
for He is eternal. God is always in 
His world. His work is constant 
and not intermittent. He did not 
step into Chaos and out of Order 
4000 years ago, creating a world and 
then stepping out to let it run its 
own way. He remains in the world 
constantly guiding and controlling. 
The Christian believes that the 
world forces are all in the hands 
of a wise, loving God. The problem 
of life is not to find God. God does 
not need to be found. We need 
rather to let him find us, and have 
His way in our thinking, doing and 
believing. To meet a spirit, spirit- 
ual capacity is needed. We are 
spirits. Unfortunately we see 
through a ‘glass darkly.’ We are 
spirits in bodies. There is spiritual 
sight to respond to spiritual light. 
As in the world about us, there is 
light for seeing, sound for hearing, 
water for drinking, food for the eat- 
ing, seed for the ground and ground 
for the seed, a divine law of corre- 
spondence or complements, soisthere 
an answer to the soul of men of a 
way to know the Father. Well may 
we ask, 1f God wishes us to know 
Tim, why does he not provide the 
way? He has, and that way is 
through Jesus. We know Christ 
and may enter into His experience. 
Jesus saith, ‘He that knoweth me 
knoweth the Father,’ ‘I and my 
\ather are one,’ ‘I am the way.’ 
God does wish us to know Him 
and Tlis will. Christ is His answer 
to the soul’s need. 
““Jesus makes it plain that we 
may know the Father. His know- 
iedge is of life and experience rath- 
er than mere word breaking. His 
call, while it satisfies the mind, 
(‘what the mind rejects the heart 
Soon ceases to adore’), is for the 
heart. ‘I am the water of life;’ ‘I 
am the bread of life.’ Drink and 
your soul thirst is satisfied. Eat and 
your soul lives. The doctrine of 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
God is learned in the school of life 
rather than in the closet of the phil- 
osopher. He that will know God 
must do God’s will. That good will, 
eternal and full of value to this life 
is forever revealed in Christ. He 
calls all into the life of good will. 
‘‘The call to experience is eternal 
not temporal. We speak of Christ’s 
ministry of three years. The vital 
message of Jesus was to show God. 
God has ever been speaking to the 
world. In Lis own son only do we 
find the life of mar fully finding the 
hfe of God. Did not Jesus himself 
tell of the vineyard owner who sent 
the servant and finally the son to 
claim the harvest. Jesus succeeded 
fully in what the prophets revealed 
partially. Jesus shows us the face of 
the God of merey, love and wisdom. 
““The eternal ministry of God did 
not end with Jesus, but the holy 
spirit remains to do the Master’s 
work among men. When it became 
expedient for Him to go away then 
ministered the spirit of God, Him- 
self, always and eternally to con- 
vict of sin, of righteousness and 
judgment. God has eternally stood 
at the door of man’s heart knock- 
ing for admission. He leaves His 
spirit to call men up from the life 
of the animal to the life of a spirit- 
ual being. The voice of conscience, 
of experience in life, in punishment 
of sin, reward of righteousness, the 
guiding hand of reason, the admoni- 
tion of friends, the power of prayer 
and the ministry of comfort are but 
some of the many means used by 
God through the message of Christ 
to call men up into the life of a 
spirit. This call to a spiritual ex- 
perience is eternal as He is eternal. 
“The ministry of Jesus is an 
eternal ministry. Only truth can 
abide eternally. He said ‘I am the 
truth.’ Only truth and God abide 
eternally. The life and ministry of 
Jesus stand the test of time. Truth 
knoweth no limits. No true message 
of God abides for the moment. 
Truth is not limited to time 
or space. Of Christ’s death it is 
said, ‘This thing was not hid in the 
corner.’ Golgotha is the message 
in time of a truth that is eternal. It 
is this that makes Jesus’ death re- 
veal the saviourhood of God’s na- 
ture. He is not the martyr, but 
Christ the saviour. The eternal 
message of the eross is God recon- 
ciling men to Himself. He is al- 
ways reconciled to men. He is ever 
ready to hear the call of the purest 
saint or the vilest sinner. The mes- 
sage of the cross is eternal. 
‘““The eross reveals four. eternal 
truths concerning God and his re- 
lations with men. God despises sin 
and sin is dreadful and erratic. The 
Christ on the cross is an eternal 
condemnation of the shamelessness 
and erratic injustice of sin. The 
Christ was deliberately chosen in 
preference to the sinful Barrabar 
for the cross. Innocence is hung on 
a ‘tree.’ Second, the cross reveals 
for all time the helpfulness of God. 
If sin is shameless and erratic we 
find God’s helping hand through all 
time but in Jesus it is supreme. His 
whole life was a living condemna- 
tion of sin. Third, the eternal suf- 
fering nature of God is revealed. 
God is a sufferer because of evil. It 
is one of power and will be of ulti- 
mate value. His will will prevail. 
Did not the prodigal’s father suf- 
fer of soul as his son went wayward ? 
God is a righteous God and the suf- 
fering Christ reveals his righteous 
suffering because of the sin in the 
world. It is suffering unto hope but 
not unto despair. Fourth, the eternal 
message of the cross is the eternal 
will of God to forgive. They eruci- 
fied innocence. Innocenee said, 
‘Father forgive them they know not 
what they do.’ It is the forgiving 
mind of God. The message of the 
cross eternal, ‘If I be lifted up, 
shall draw all men unto me,’ is still 
true. He that heareth the call to 
experience alone can understand its 
deep loving heart message of God to 
the soul. The cross teaches men 
God’s will to forgive.’’ 
_ Have your Legal and Probate No- 
tices appear in The Breeze. 
TOILET SPECIALTIES 
MISS L. M. COLE will be 
in Manchester each WED- 
NESDAY from 9 A. M. to 
6 P. M., prepared to do 
CHIROPODY, 
MANICURING, SHAMPOOING, 
HAIRDRESSING 
and to give 
Scalp Treatment and Facial Massage 
Anyone wishing to make appoint- 
ments may do so by ealling ~ 
at or telephoning 
Mrs. E. P. Stanley’s, 
Summer St. - - Manchester. 
Telephone 151-4. 
Miss GLADYS TRULL. 
Of Pride's Crossing 
Announces to the people of Manchester that she 
is prepared to give lessons on the 
Piano and Pipe-Organ — 
and that her services may be secured 
as accompanist. 
