The New York Herald Newspaper, June 10, 1872, Page 5

RELIGIOUS. Sunday Solemnities and Sabbath Sermons to Saints and Sinners. DR. POTTER ON TYPICAL EXCUSES ‘Children’s Sunday at Chapin’s Church—A Floral Festival. v——_——e W Discourse on the Gospel Narrative of Peter and the Lame Man by Dr. Storrs. “BEECHER AND A PERSONAL CHRIST. Br. Brann on Christian Charity and the Observance Thereof. God’s Gifts and Man’s Duties Described by the Rev. Rufus Clarke. Dr. MeGlynn’s Advice to People Who Are Over- 5 burdened with Knowledge. What God Gives and What Men Should Give in Return—Sermon by Rev. Dr. Rufas W. Clark, of Albany. ‘The pulpit of the New England Congregational ‘ehurch, corner of Madison avenue and Forty-seventh street, was yesterday morning occupied by Rev. Dr. Rufus W, Clark, of Albany. His aubject was ‘God's Gifts and. Man’s Duties,” and the text upon which ‘ft was based, Matthew x., 8—“Freely ye have re- ‘ceived, freety give.” Man has never, he began, created anything. God created man and presented him, 80 to speak, to himseif. Man, in short, is in- debted to God for everything, indebted not for ma- terial possession only, but for the scenery, trea- sures, fruits and flowers of the earth, mountains ‘and valleys, music for the ear, light, air, intellect. All those gifts were the result of the ATTRIBUTE OF DIVINE LOVE. Whatever we can draw happiness from comes to we asgifts. We cannot purchase them. All are free gifts of God. We cannot take an inventory of our property, All the gold and stiver of the earth cannot buy them. All the ships of the earth cannot @arry them. We arc heirs of God. Onastarry Right we look on worlds, our inheritance. After dwelling at length on this branch of his disconrse “Re proceeded to show the great gift of salvation. ‘Money may purchase houses and lands, but it can- Mot buy salvation. Some trusted in their money, It wasa vain trust, Again, some who cannot boast, of great wealth rely for salvation upon their rks. The reliance upon these was just as Sige ‘wo ‘tile. He unfolded at length the meaning of the Brot Christ, the purpose of His mission and how falfilled this mission. Christ brought, he urged, A SYSTEM OF TRUTH from heaven to earth. This celestial, divine system of Ohrist can only come to us as a gift. He présents ‘san atonement for our sins. The pronenyans or a tains the whole work of Christ on earth. yt that cannot be touched by et . Weigh diamonds, gold of form-and all that men value against the eon and it ee but an atom of dust. — tor nem this by further iMlustrations he alluded to t! cial - Christ gave to his disci- 8 les, and how these were still ours. The next ic ‘was man’s duty as a giver, in view of the of which he the reeipient, and por- jrayed the difference between the miser and the benevolent man. There is a back tide to be- mevolence. What may seem a sacrifice turns out for the Sad ord Christianity enforces the same ie benevolence. rist said to his lea, ‘Leave all, follow me.’? Under Chris- tlanity virtue leads to THE HIGHEST GOOD, has not an attribute that docs not express love. His benevolence flows through every ohannel. One of His aims is to get His principles embodied in us—to impress into us the same irit of benevolence. It was the duty of to give as freely as they had received. they would give spiritual gifts they must possess: Christ carries with it the ts, Follow! idea of partaking of His fulness. We are not to follow feebly after Him, picking up the crumbs that fall from His table and keeping out of the way of temptation, and thereby indulge ina feeble hope efeaivation. Paul struck THE KEY NOTE on his first conversion. His firat inguir: was, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?’ ave himself and hts talents and his energies, and the worldly honors of which he might have been the Yecipient, his soul, his will, his life, all to Christ. There were fifty thousand pulpits in which the power. of Paul’s example and precepts were felt to-day. His power was Jelt over the whole earth. In conclusion he enforced the duty of oharity devolving upon all. 1 should be free patios hed according to the gifts given them. liver Cromwell had twelve silver statues of the @posties melted and put into coln. He did not be- eve in still aposties, so he enjoined all to be active and stirring with benevolence. GRACE OHUROH, Typical Excuses for Rejecting Salva- tion—Scrmon by Rev. Dr. Potter. ©onspicuous on Broadway, and the only religious house of worship on that thoroughfare between Fulton and Sixty-eighth streets, stands Grace Epis- copal church. It begins already to feel the effects of fashion’s demands in the falling off of numbers, so that yesterday it was not much more than half filled. Many of its membership have thus early gone to the country. The service began at eleven o'clock, and as it was the sacramental occasion there was not much delay in getting through with Morning prayers. The Gospel of the day which was Tread is a part of St. Luke’s, 14th chapter, from the 16th to the 24th verses, inclusive. It is the parable of the great supper or feast unto which numbers of peopte were invited, but each one had an excuse, and the host, rather than have his feast unat- tended, sent his servants out into the highways end hedges to compel THE UNINVITED MULTITUDES to come in. From this parable Dr. Potter dis- coursed, likening the sacramental feast which they were about to commemorate to this Gospel feast, and to it he invited all who desired to stay. But evidently the same, or kindred excuses, keep the invited away trom the Lord’s table to-day as kept them away 1,800 years ago, if we may judge by oo comparative few who remained to commune. In searcl for the precious metals, the Doctor said, the surface indications very often may be slight and imperfect, but as the miner digs down the vein it yws richer and purer, Semetimes, too, the vein iy be lost. By one of those explosions of nature may have reed up from its natural bed, and we must dig through an unproductive rock to find on the other side a continuation of the gold ro GFacoting in richness that which we ven ao is it with the Gospel. We come to 1 find the deeper we dig the richer its golden veins become. Or ‘like the mummies dug up from the ancient weyards of the East, when the wrappings are ken off, the spices with which the bodies are em- bdalmed poe: found to have lost none of their per- fume, it is with Parable. We come to it and strip it of its w: Bs menting to mn ig8 and inquire what is its Ten who made ex- cuses are typical classes, They had perhaps, like mt #0 many men in our own day, qualifiedly accepted ‘the in he supper. ‘one had bought of ground and he must needs go and see it. fe meted ph ge toad ‘now and was quite satis- RELIGION WAS NOT SO NECRRS) to him now as it was when he had not those worldly astons. So he thought. Another was bargain- ing, but had not yet completed his ase. He ‘was trading for five yoke of oxen, it was neces- sary for him to prove fiom, and therefore he must The third a pleasure seeker. He had married & wife and was Pare in the festivities of his new relationship. In the Jewish polity aman ‘Was excused from military duty for one year after zine, Hence this man makes no apology; he does not beg to be excused as the others did, bu ways simply, ‘‘I have married a wife and therefore cannot come.” ‘Who were they then who came to the snpper? ‘They who were compelled. Compelied by intense licitade and entreaty; compelled by a feeling of F for the bread of life and a thirst for the ving waters. They who had wandered into a country and had fed w swine nm the husks which the ld eat; they who had failed to be satisied be! or wore them anc for to come wi us Lele peer nay tS coun’ or wander away from ither’s house, and are The are hi and hat nang. y, F thirsty an net thiat Has bot been sa a Ei bread and the water oft eely ‘at ; see! After the offerto1 losing prayer those desired stayed aud is ey et Lal 8T, PATRIOK’S OATHEDRAL. Sermon on the Mercy of Ged by Rev. morning was filled with a large and devout congre- gation, Mass was celebrated by Father Lynch, a newly ordained prieat from the diocese of Troy. The music, which consisted of a mass by G. Dietsch, No, 12, in B flat; the Vent Oreator, by Mereadante, sung before the sermon; the Andante, by Butheste, for the organ, played by G, Schmitz, were all ren- dered with the delicacy of finish and brilllancy of execution for which the organist and the quartet—Madame Ohome, soprano; Mrs. Unger, alto; H. Schmitz, tenor, and Mr. Unius, bass—are famous. An announcement was made thad on next Sunday the gervices would consist of a lemn high jas and a ger ho} ficcioatey the sodualoe a oats? tion in the archdiocese for the benefit of the The sermon was preached by the Rev. Father Kearney, from the perabie of the lost sheep, in the Afteenth chapter of St. Luke, the gospel of the day. Father Kearney sald:—Our Lord took occasion to rebuke the Pharisees for their complainings and Him because He associat sinners. We mth i the with, the Im ners. Wanting to impress them n ° ‘kK, te rehearsed to them pk portance of His arable of the of God. the be through Hol; mn of Hie inatay atin goodness, fre . Di e beginning we in hear the begs! 1 axe Eternal tn Pople Teich oMectetot ag rophets and patr! reecution ani Surering He vis eontin: rally + nally upon us to come to Him. Christ appointed the Church for this purpose to be his mouthpiece and exhorter ; His priesta to be ambessadors in His nanie, by the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments. In all these acts the voice of God speaks; day after day this call is given from the altar, and by sudden deaths, by A hid lence and y famine God keeps Himself bet iis people. Whel we come into @ church and see the altar and the cross we are reminded of the sufferings of Jesus; but the priest standing upon the ‘altar and Cui & up His very y is a sign that He is Abe + to be reconciled us. In spite of all our denials and impenitence He refuses to be driven away from us, He still calls and holdg out His hands of mercy. But when His voice ig listened to mark His delight. There is joy among the angels in heaven that @ sinner ‘has been brought back to the Bite soy with the! Mother of God that her intercessions have been heard; ey among the saints, joy in the Ohurch, joy in the familly ‘of the penitent one, and joy with the peni- tent himself, when the priest pronounces the words that suit Him. Father Kearney concluded with an earnest exhortation to all who felj, the weight of their sins to come to the altar and Wek the inter- cession of the Mother of God that they might be pardoned and forgiven, SEVENTH STREET METHODIST OHUROH. The Work of the Spirit on Heart of the Believer—Discourse by Rev. John Parker. Yesterday the pastor of the above church, Rev. John Parker, preached a discourse on the work of the Spirit on the heart of the bellever, taking for his text Romans vili., 9:—‘Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” The minister said it was very necessary to understand the words of the text. They show the magnificent ARRANGEMENT THAT GOD HAS MADE for the believer in search of mercy. In the previous chapter the apostle describes the Jew who found no peace in his sinful condition, but in this chapter he personates the condition of the Jew as converted. Before he was an unhappy sinner, now he has found peace in Jesus Christ. It shows that when the converted man is delivered from his sins all gait and remorse vanish, and he knows that he delivered from the reigning power of sin and has the Holy Spirit which associates itself with the life of every believer. He shows the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit within him. Brethren, you are nothing without the Holy Ghost; unless you are SEALRD BY THE HOLY SPIRIT you are not God’s—the seal broken, you cease to be God's. If any man have not the Spirit he ts not of God. It ts the one work of the Holy Ghost to guide us in the love of the Messiah and point us to the cross—to magnify Christ, to be the sealer of Christ, to make you a holy nature, a sanctified priesthood. He who is in the Holy Spirit je.a child of God, and the Spirit bears witness to the adoption of the Gospel by the believer. No man can mistake the voice of the Holy Spirit, which does not bear wit- ness of power or Picnaaend but of your adop- tion. It is not of but relative changes. You were an enemy, ‘A REBEL TO THE COMMONWEALTH of Israel, but you are now a child of God. This Spirit cannot be given by intermediate help; it cannot be given bya bishop, priest or pope at the confes- sional, God Ke directly to His children. It is not left to priestly testimony nor sacramental rites. There are men who risk thelr salvation upon testi- mony that is not good. Aman mpekeg ie, own con- science, and God gives him His Holy Spirit. There can be no Holy Spirit where there ig no joy. You have aright to be happy; it is ivan duty to be happy, and the Christian rel mn should be a com- guide to the believer, and infinite in- telligence inspires love in the child of God. There should be music in our voi gladness in our hearts and sunshine on our brows; aud God always brings ga Joy to those who truly believe Him, and = ave the testimony of your and a bap- ism of comfort. If you have the Spirit you are led by the Spirit, and are a child of God; you do not desire to live after the The unconverted man is a slave to the flesh; in some form every one isa slave to tle flesh. There is a tire and COLLAR UPON THE NBCK OF THR SINNER, and he can get no relief until the Holy Ghost is ob- tained. If you are a child of God you will be led into all truth. The Romanists clalm that where the Church fs there is the Holy ye mg Protestants and the Bible say that where the Holy Ghost is there is the Church. God will give His children the Holy Ghost. ‘He shall guide you unto all-truth” is the promise made by the Scriptures. If you have the Holy Spirit ‘aon have an earnest for more boun- ties to come from God; it is an earnest of your future inheritance. The comforts we have are pledges from God of the joys to come. OHUROH OF THE MESSIAH. Complete Spirituality of God—Worship of Christ as God a Gross Fanaticism— Trinitarinism ‘All Humbug—Unitarian- ism Truc BeliefSermon by Dr. Bel- lows. The Church of the Messiah, corner of Park avenue and Thirty-fourth street, was yesterday morning unusually well filled. This was probably owing to the regular congregation being swelled by that of All Souls’ Church, as the pastor of the latter, Rev. Dr. Bellows, occupied the pulpit. The reverend gentleman announced. as his text Romans 1., 20, 2%—For the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being an- derstood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; s0 that they are without excuse who changed the truth of God into @ lle, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.” Let ns, he commenced, begin our meditations with thoughts of Him from whom our souls descended, in whom we move and have our being. How are we to worship Him, whom we have never seen, Whom we never can see by our senses—a Being without beginning or end, a Being without centre or circumference. Can we know Him who {s unknown, worship Him who needs no worship? Let us not take the poetical description mist for tf the Beripeures of God’s Fates lsnaid aoe ag GROUND OF Fi out God?” he be When Job asked, “Canst thou meant to reprove its assumption. He wished the aa ehh, sat malted powers, THe te'no oo man with greatly ©: 3 ter. He ts sud ever must bea great unknown. We cannot know God to gg yg gps Him as much as He desires, St. Paul aleo rebukes this idea that there is measure for the goodness and greatness of God. The reverend gentleman now tiribntes of dod)he sald, are known by the spirit Tributes in ua, The picture of His Christ commands us to worship in the spirit, Jesus never found PRAOTIOAL DIPFIOULTY Ho was Jewish A 4n worshipping Him, But in this re only folowing the jons of t! iy fo Seek ; He be not far from anything. indeed the whole Bible rests on the assumption *>et God ia both known agd unknown. Because aes NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, He.is infinite is He entirely unknown? Is the ocean unknown because we cannot sound it we cannot take in at once all its size an form? or ia own soul a because it is boundless? 1s so well known as God. Be- hind all the gods of FANCY, ), TERROR, He has lived the originator of all inferior deity. His omnipresence, His om: lence have been sung im alt He was 31 ee ed nee yeara before Christ. The mind cannot ive at & certain Bee aes of culture without wor- secretly, God as He 1s in all His. ic truth. No carnal representation to Knee! before is needed nor wanted. He wants not the ‘the.body. He was the adoration prostration of Of the soul. As Moses when he converted the peo- ple from the mined 9 of Clomid deities eet fou sam. no imageon, day God spoke OU. low little truth in the an . MODERN HRRFSY that God ia unknown and unknowable. What is therein God's wastes Meg hide Him? Is it got the ido! image that Him? you take a Visible form to your soul? Nay, are not His omni- Bho aneumpto wr ry perfection of suisituality? “Put ol ‘a in ake His only Son and you Danish Him openers the trent ot glorl why Is 8 r the and glorious sun. it that God is a it that wee cannot know Him t ve ‘@ God im the flesh: if you can. What are we but 7 ? Do we not know more ‘of our [ceri reg bonod tarred ay bpp things ? After amp) as ting is ol liscourse he proceeded to state that doa is not a fond, par- tial father, an effeminate mother; He is the just father to all; He is the law as well as love, How can there'be a trinity? Both science and taae a ke combat it. Ifhas become a fanaticism. Not till the spirituality of God established will the fee religion of Jesus be re-established. Is ‘@ time to give up Unit and change the Worship of God into a lie ? PORT WASHINGTON (&, 0.) CHURCH. Sermon by Rev. H. A. Braun, D. D.— Christian Charity and How Much De- pends on Its Observance. Dr. Braun’s new church, at Fort Washington, was well attended yesterday. The music was rendered remarkably well by a volunteer amateur choir, especially the “Qui Tollis,” by Miss Walsh, and a hynin by Miss Waller. Dr. Brann preached the ser- ‘| mon, It was founded upon the text in the Gospel for the day, St. Luke xv., beginning with the first and ending with the seventh verse. The reverend Clergyman said :— In today’s Gospel, dearly beloved brethren, our Lord gives usione of the many instances of His in- scratable mercy. He aaid that He did not come on earth to save the just, but to lift the load from the hearta of sinners, to raise the debased and strengthen the just. In all parts of the Gospel we find that Christ condemns the Pharisee; now he calia them “whited sepulchres” and again as a “brood of vipers.” They accused our Lord and Saviour of being a Sabbath breaker, for He healed the sick on the Sabbath. On all occasions they found fault wittf the doings of Christ, because he broke the letter of the law and atill fulfilied the apirit. Now, who were these Pharisees? They were a race of chronic grumblers who most religiously held to the letter of the Mosaic law, forgetting that the let- ter of the law kills and that the spirit gives life. They were just what our Lord called them— “whited sepuichres”—fair on the outside and ap- parently devout people; but within coer are all corruption, conspiracy and immorality. Thetr coun- tenances aye no: indication of the conspiracy and corruption which they covered; but the omnipres- ent God, who reads the innermost thoughts of men, Was not to be deceived, He saw through their shallow masks, rebuked them, and in so doing He seems lose control—so_ to speak—of his calm, charitable, benignant self, and bursts into an in nt eloquence at the hypocricy of these “whited.sepulchres.”. You all know the story of the publican and the: sinner. poy went into the church to ny The sinner asked for mercy and pardon, while the Rublican sought to justify himself ‘and thanked God that he was not as the sinner. We are told that the sinner went to his house more justified than the publican, who forgot that “to judge men is God’s province,” for “judgment is mine,” saith the Lord, Even if the publican were ‘without sin there was, according to the Gospel of to-day, “more joy over that one sinner doing pen- ance than over ninety and nine just persons, who used no penance.” The Church which was instituted by Christ to perpetuate this doctrine retains that same spirit of charity which 80 characterized our Lord. 16 forgives sins so far as in her power; she follows a man from his cradle to his grave, and administers to him all the con- solation in her power, which means more than the world is capable of giving. This spirit of the Church of it should be the model for all good Christians. They should strive to forgive and over- look the defects in their neighbors, for what one among us, when we examine our consciences, can Stand up and say that we are not like our neighbors, that we are not sinners? If we say we are not sin- ners we are liars and the truth i6 not in us. The tendency among men is to see only the faults of their neighbors, and not their own. This leads them into sins against pane such as detraction, calumny and slander and the like. A certain woman once went to Christ to ask his for- giveness; she had fallen through weakne: bat ‘Was now sincerely repentant, and briny tears were trickling down her sunken cheeks, The Pharisees wanted Christ to condemn her; but He, readin, their hearts, saw that it was to accuse Him o! being unmerciful that they wished Him to condemn her, And Christ sald unto them :—"Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Now, when we are inclined to talk about our neighbors, let us look into ourselves and see if we are without ain, and if we are, why then we may throw the stone; but, as I said betore, we are liars if we say we are without sin. Man’s eonscience may be likened unto two bodies of water—one the honest man’s conscience, may be likened into a clear, run- ning stream, which flows along on its pebbl bottom; now and then atrout or a small eel may be seen swimming in it, but tne priest who is the Jer, catches the fish, which is the figure of sin, takes itout. Another man’s conaclence—who may be called the Pharisee—may be likened into a filthy, stagnant Vs in whose fetid re filthy, slimy, crawling things can be found; they burrow into the filth and slime, which is the effect of their being. The first man’ is the flonest-hearted man, who commits a sin and repents of it; the last ia the | one who is continually committing sin, and who | always professes to be an es age Christian, and who yet is the whited sepulchre filled with dead men’s bones. §T, STEPHEN'S CHUROH. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. McGlynn—The Parable of the Shepherd and the Lost Bheep—Advice to People who Think They Know Too Much—The Shepherd Jesus. At St. Stephen’s Church, Twenty-eighth street, the services yesterday were, as usual, on the grand- estscale, Atall the masses the church was crowded, but notably so at the high mass—worshippers from all parts of the city having come to this the most aristocratic Catholic congregation in the city, some no doubt to pray, some to hear the splendid singing, and not a few perhaps to admire the brilliant scene as it appears during the service. The music at the mass was excellent, though if there were more of a change of programme in the short pieces constant hearers might be better Pleased and more of a devotional effect created. The soprano yesterday was Mise Fay, who took the place of Miss Emma Howson, who was unable to attend, owing to her efforts of the previous week ih English opera. Madame Bowler, the contralto, sang with her accustomed grace and artistic excel- lence. Colletti and Bernhard were about up to their average. High mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father McCready. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. McGlymm, who took his text from the Gospel of the day, which was taken from the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, ‘The Gospel narrates the parable of the shepherd and his lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the chapter ends with the story of the prodigal son. There could scarcely have been a subject in which the eloquent preacher would feel more at home in elaborating tnan that suggested in the Gospel of the day, and rarely does pulpit orator more effectually fiiustrate t e beanties of the Saviour’s teaching than did Dr. McGlynn yesterday. His statement of the m ‘of the parables was in {tself a most eloquent description of the time in which the scribes and ‘were the learned and the potent, while the ppblican and the sinner were outcasts, and were believed to be consigned alto- Seiher to the devil. It was true that the scribes and harisees went to hear the Master, but tney went there to grumble and not to whereas the x sinner, with humble faith, ap- | proached the Saviour God, and with the true spirit of penance acknowledged his sin and sought for \eTcy. fhe preacher said that it ought to seem e the hearing of a familiar psalm, often sung, to peep hin agus and again teaching she. the truth from the same stand points, inculcating the Savior’s teaching from His own words, and wi is those in sin to apygoesh, nearer to God that they might be saved. It would seem as if it wore throw- the seed upon and from rocks Which no fruit could come, But it was not #0; th seed of truth was never cast ‘tose Tocompliatea, learn it ly a certain to touch the heart’ of some oni some —— heart, who, struck God which the truth contained, bre a draw ey to Christ. he poor God gave His greatest graces; t! were His chosen friends’ ‘and ft was these He catie “blessed.” There was a terrible lesson in the day's ranfclont:aud'who, in is poswession Of tho Seems ures of this ldered the: fe for believe, rhaps the spirit of t_enter into was to tl cont mselves safe for Usuticieat; ‘they ‘were the rich and tearsed lent; they were the rich and learne of their lime, » and yet if was to the poor pablican and sinner that Jesus addressed | If, and to whom the invitation was extended vo Bevmed Beare 0 ey men were oy to think lect uy meanini parables he had read for thew tisy would better under- how much it cost the Saviour in His seek- ing for the souls of all men, and they would learn it the things of this world were not. the things which prepared for the next or gave assur- ance of ‘bi Iness."” ‘The .she| went in search of his lost sheep; he found it, but in extri- cating it from the entanglement which kept it away from the fold he got bruised himself, bruised even to death. The preacher continued to apply the parable to the passion of the Saviour in His suf- ferings for man, and concluded his discourse by ap- pealing for the imitation of Christ in our dally lives. FOURTH UNIVERSALIST CHUROH. Dr. E, H, Chapin preached in his chureh, on the corner of Fifth avenue and Forty-fifth street, yes- terday morning on the text—‘Neither sound of hammer nor of axe shall be heard in the building thereof’—I. Kings, vi., 7. The occasion waa the anniversary of the Sunday school connected with the church, and children of all ages were gathered about the pulpit and led the congregation in the singing. The pulpit itself was decked with flowers, in wreaths and crosses. Dr. Chapin said:—This is the children’s Sunday. It is a custom to devote the anniversary of our Sunday school to the little ones— & custom, commended by reason and sentiment, which will grow in favor. It is pleasant and significant to see these children about us. and hear the music of their young voices leading the songs of the congregation. It is upon a subject akin to them I shall speak, though not, I fear, with a simplicity adapted to their un- derstanding. The house referred to in the. text is Solomon's Temple. There was to be no sound of hammer or exe in the building of it. The Jaborers’ work, it would seem, was confined to the forest or the workshop, so that pillar upon pillar, story upon story and dome after dome of that gorgeous tem- ple rose and were shaped into beauty and sym- metry in ailence. There is something suggestive in the silent rising of this majestic temple. The idea is no useless analogy, It illustrates the universal silence that accompanies the workings of God's power. The flowers have grown up tn stlence, in silence unfolded the glory of color, and in silence unfolded their sweet perfume to the air. No genius or mechanism of earth can make @ flower; not all the widely diffused intelligence of the whole earth, if concentraced for the purpose, could devise a little lily, with its beanty, ita cofors and its fragrance. But these are made gradually, slowly and in silence, The great temple of nature, of which thege ti wey re the sweetest decorations, is made in silence. Silently seas have subsided and continents have emerged. Look at the procession of the seasons. A short month or two the land was bound in icy fetters, where now the grass is springing, the seed ts thrilling in the softened earth with its wonderful transformations, ‘‘Neithersound of hammer nor of axe shall be heard in the building thereof.” Were not this course of nature familiar to us every heart would thrill with its marvellous wonders. If we had never seen @ star in heaven with what rapt wonder would we gaze upon those bright constellations! It 1s familiarity that blunts our susceptibilities of the wonders of na- ture. It sees to be an idea among some Christian people that in whatever you concede to the revela- tions of nature you detract from the power apd gu- periority of God. 1t would be more consistent with our Christianity it we went sometimes beyond the Scripture and discerned the hand of God, not merely in miracles and startling events alone, but in His greatest work of nature. All thingsin na- ture are miracles, If God could speak to us in articulated language it would soon become familiar, and we would regard His voice with the inatten- tion with which we now regard nature, Language impedes our thoughts and misrepresents them. ‘The truest way in which God can address Himself to us is in the silent working of His power in na- tare. He does not speak; heacts. The mighty faith of eighteen hundred years ago reaches us to-day, after all that time of silent, steady progvess. It has had its accompaniments of tumuit, of persecution, but these were not the one of Christ's king- dom. It comes not with sound of trumpet or flash of flame. It marches on with only the silent power with which conviction gradually breaks through the soul of man. No sound of hammer or of axe is heard in the bullding of Christ’s kingdom. But, finally, as to these children. The temple of the body is built up in silence. Bone upon bone silently weaves itself into its place, the avenues of sense’ stretch themselves throughout the frame, the mind takes its regal seat, and the blood flows silently through its conduits. But the structure of the human character, of which the body ia only the casket or the sheath, Is a fairer temple still built as silently. Not for an unclean tenant has that bodily structure been built, To the children I would say, You would not burn @ fair dwelling; you would not destroy a pretty and ingenious toy, and do not debasé or ruin @ form 80 marvellously beautl- ful, so ingeniously intricate that angels look upon it with amazement, But be more careful ever of that inner structure. A lie is worse than poison; a wrong is worse than a wound, Upon the children rests the future of the Church and of the nation. Let us not forget it, even in the hubbub of a Presi- dential election, that the little Arabs of the street, where children seethe and simmer in corruption, will help make the future. In the children the tem- les of all the world are building—the only imper- shable temples—for in the child’s soul alone is tue sweet realization of that house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens. BROOKLYN CHURCHES. OHUROH OF THE PILGRIMS, The Narrative of the Bible—Peter and the Lame Man—Dr. Storrs’ Scrmon Yester. aay. Dr. Storrs preached yesterday morning on the narrative of the healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple, and the lesson to be drawn therefrom. In opening his discourse he commented upon the fact that very much ofthe Bible was given up to narrative—either general historic narrative or special narrative, in which striking and some- times commonplace events were re- corded, and slight but suggestive and vivid sketches of personal experience and character were presented. These narratives, which were in contrast in some respects in the matter of form and method with the psalms and the great Apostles, after all were wonderfully rich and charm- ing, because, giving such variety to the Scriptures, they were ali the more lovely in contrast with that which surrounded them. If these narratives had been taken out and only prophecies and psalms had remained the Bible would have lost one of its chiefest holds upon THE MIND OF THE WORLD. The place of these narratives was so important that it was often necessary for us to dwell upon them and illustrate some of these stories. So he would ask the attention of the congregation to that narrative in the third chapter of the Acts—the narrative of the healing of the lame man et the rate of the temple. Peter and John went into the emple at the honr of prayer—the ninth hour. There were three such hours among the Jews, and their ninth hour was the same as our three o'clock. At these three hours not only was prayer offered, but sacrifice and incense as well, They were stated hours of prayer for the Jewish people. It would be well if such stated hours of prayer were universal), distrinuted throughout the Christian world, for suc! reguiar processes of the ritual fe ve stability and sobriety to that life. ey went up at the ninth hour into the temple. Thus we were reminded that the Apostles at that time had not withdrawn from the ordinary temple ser- vices nor from the Jewish Church. 'y were like all reformers, ALL TRUB REFORMERS, desirous of remaining in the body to which they had been so long attached and from which they had re- ceived so many benefits, and, if bie, of refor ing and purifying it. That was their idea. It after wards took a miraculous vision Lo convince Peter that there was no propriety in his going out and constituting @ new church out of Jews and Gentiles together. “Peter and John went up together.” We were not, sald the preacher, to rely too much on that word “together,” because it might be that it could be quite as pertectly translated “went up at that time.” Yet, whether the word be retained as it is in our version or not, evidently they did go up in company, This was more remarkable because Peter had denied the Lord, and it showed that John did not remember the fall of Peter after he had been forgiven. Whenever a rson offended eae @ public law of morality we id that his fall was forgiven, but we did not 80 ‘for that we entered into @ companionship, forgiven and it was forgotten. A certain man, lame from his birth, whom al ple knew to be a crip- ple, daily asked alma at the gate of the temple of those who entered. So we were carried back, said Dr. 8 to the time when there were no how- pitals, fe would observe that THESE ASYLUMS AND HOSPITALS came in with Christianity. They were developed in that primitive impulse which associated the wor- ship of God with alme-giving. It was not quite certain, he continued, which gate this was— whether in the interior or whether it were the larger and more beautiful gate on the eastern side of the Pony looking down into the valley of fehosophat and ovér to the Mount of Olives. AS Peter and John as- cended from the yelles and entered the Temple, they came upon him and he asked aims of them. Not expectin g to receive more than a few pen- nies at most, he recejved that which made him an independent man for life. Peter, fastening his eyes upon him sald—Look on us,” and he gave them heed. Then Peter said—“Stiver and ave I none, but such as I have I give thee,” Ww com- mon the feeling, said Dr. Storrs, if we had not money to give to an object, that we had nothin to give, and on the ofher hand that if we money to give and gave ft, nothing further could be expected of us, re were things more valu- able money which Co en) who was in Sinong them courage in regard to the accomplish col lent of the work ott were GIVB MONEY if you have tt, but don’t feel that you have dis- charged your obligation and released yourself if you have given money. The preacher, resuming, said that Peter commanded the lame man to “rise up and walk.” This second command seemed abso- Nararetth ise ap and walks fecer took ai the right hand and lifted 1 Tt aeemed to be im up.” It seemed to be impossible, but he made the effort and the strength of God came to him, and for the first time im hie life Be wae ane 2 Se. nn he walked and C4 6 temple, walking, leaping an praising God. The miracle was compete The amazement among the people was commented on by Dr. Storrs, who, in connection with this narra- thee said that. there wag a story current in Rome ‘THR PRESENT PONTIFF, after he was declared infallible, and driving one day se one of the hills of that city, met or passed a poor, lame beggar, who had often asked before. e rw now held out his hand, and in a beseeching voice asked for alms. ‘The Pope suddenty sald to this man, “Rise up and walk;” and the man staggered up, but fell again. The command was repeated, when the man stag- Keres, up and fell again, and the Pope drove away. bod Mot igi a the miracle which he undertook Dr. Storra proceeded to speak of the lessons to be dzawn from the narrative of Peter and the lame man, and said that to every Christian it taught that he must be as Peter, Do not reform yourself in -— Le Li ea Ly ay and believe. on Was ned to with deep attention by the large congregation present. » - PLYMOUTH CHURCH, The First Fair Sunday of the Summer— Selections from “The Messiah” by the Solo Singers=Sermon on a Personal Christ. . Mr. Beecher preached yesterday morning to a congregation that was rather beyond the usual average, a8 far as numbers were concerned—a cir- cumstance, considering the sultriness of the wea- ther, that did not contribute to the comfort of the general audience, A few ladies succumbed to the heat, and were carried along the aisles, shoulder high, by several male protectors, to obtain a supply of newer and purer air in the lobbies, At the open- ing of the service Miss Sterling and Miss Lozier sang a number fromThe Messiah,’ the former singing the aria, ‘He shall feed His Nock like a shepherd,” and the latter the beautiful soprano solo of ‘Come unto Him all ye that labor.” Both were rendered very effectively, especially the latter, Miss Lozier singing with @ purity and clearness seldom surpassed by sopranos of @ more extended reputation. Mr. Beecher’s subject was a personal Christ. The text was selected from the first chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians, the last clause of the twen- ty-seventh verse—‘Christ in you the hope of glory.” A glance at the various aspects under which Christ and His work might be considered, all of which were alleged to be important, formed the opening of the discourse, None, however, were 80 satisfying; none of greater significance, and none so worthy of careful thought as the per- sonal relation of the individual to Christ. It was to that the preacher said he should ask the attention of his audience. The most PASSIONATE UTTERANCES of the Apostle Paul were made in connection with the personal history and relationship of the indl- | vidual to Christ, and the relation of the individual to time and to eternity. It was not wise to discard the theology that was ordered! from Christ's rela- tionship to. men. There were & few souls whose lives were so hid with Christ -that they were set with beaming face and childlike trustfulness and radiant trust in Christ, as though it were the life they lived, the breath they breathed, and no theology distutbed them. Their creed, for they had none, needed no formulating, but men taken col- lectively needed to have clear views as to the theo- I apd their relationship to Christ; for their theo- logical views largely affected their piety, and were dependant largely upon the product thereof. But to live the full, breathing, warm life of the Christian it was needful that we should have a romantic Christ, or a Christ of the imagination. The apostle, however, taught that there was something more than this; there was a life of Christ that might come into our Ilfe, be in sympathy with us, and become art of our lives, It was that conception of Christ iat exerted a living force in the expression, when he says, “Christ in you,’ “Our Christ,” “My Christ,” and each meant one personality to him. For the realization of this evperience Christ must be more to the believer than a ‘‘man of sorrows,” he must be Lord of all. For if Christ is to be the individual or strength that cannot fail he must have had a larger experience than humanity has had, Man must 100K up not to @ nature like his own alone for guid- ance, but toa nature that is beyond it. What is it that the vine does when it day by day straggles and strives to get up higher ; is it because it needs sup- port? It could obtain that on the ground; it is be- cause it is alms of IN LOVE WITH THE Liaur, Why is it that men’s souls aspirey It is not in- stinct; it is because there is something that stimu- lates the soul; something that fills it with an aspi- ration that is beyond itself; and is met by the rap- turous declaration of the Apostle, in the sixteenth verse—‘‘For by Him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in earth, visible and in- visible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or rincipalities or Powers, all things were created by Him and for Him.” Christ therefore 1s the Con troller of the ages, of the aqueous globe upon which the nations tread, and is the Creator of the invisible world, which wraps this as in a swaddling band. Then this Christ is a Christ who loves me. Man is full of germs, full of purposes, but not full of accom- plishments. Man has no desire to love Christ; there is nothing in man that should commend the love of Christ toward him; if, before Christ loves him, man has to wait until the desire of the man to love Christ is perfected there never will be any love. Why is it that @ mother loves that little thing she calls her babe? Look at it; it is but A LITTLE MASS OF RED FLESH. If the mother, in her love for it, presses it to her bosom, it has so little consciousness that it knows but little of the loving presence. love? It is because of the richness of her own soul; it is ponred out upon the child, and it is thas teaching the child to love it. 18 @ God who loves out of the royal influence of His own nature. We are saved by grace. We are loved, not for what we are but for what we shall be. The bet- ter you make God the better it is forme. In this respect the Christian 1s like the Wall street men— they offer no objection to the eness of the sur- lus when the dividends ar be distributed. ‘hen “Christ in me” means & support in all bur- dens, all trials, all cares, all sorrows. It ditfuses it- self over everywhere and to every one. When it is summer it Is not only you who know it; the spider ows it; the sparrow knows It; the leaves know he rs knows It; the budding blossoms know al it creation knows it. said that “if in this life only we have hope, then we are of all men _ the most miserable.” There is aside of morality which has ita value even in this world, and there may be something to be sald in that regard. But if this world is the only world then men have an aspira- tion to the highest; if this is all then I insist upon having good commons. But tell me thatIam in the bosom of Omnipotence—that my limited know- ledge is to have a boundless extension, and that the burden of the senses is to be no longer a bur- den, I cannot afford to live otherwise than to the desire to have the letters of my life emblazoned in the blessed book of life, and thus the development of the Christian’s life becomes a development of God's glory. An earnest, tender and practical applica- tion closed # sermon that was somewhat shorter than usual. 8T, MARY, STAR OF THE SEA. The Joy in Heaven Over « Sinner Doing Penance—Sermon by the Rev. Felix o” lahan. At the Church of St. Mary Star of the Sea, Court street, near Laqueer, South Brvokiyn, of which Rey. Eugene Cassidy is pastor, the sacrifice of the mass, at the principal service, was offered by Rev, Father Mevarthy, and an excellent sermon was delivered by Rev. Felix O'Callahan, The latter gentleman took for his text the Gospel of the day— Luke xyv., 3to 10, The Gospel that he read tod all Christians that there was “more joy in Heaven over one sinner doing penance than ninety-nine just men.’ This teaches the great mercy of God to sinners, It tells us of the boundiess love of Him who thus rejoices over the con- version of the sinner. We know, then, that sin alone can estrange us from Him. The angels in heaven feel no anxiety concerning the just man, because they know that he is walking in the road which leads to the heritage of eternal glory pre- pared for the reception of all good men. But for the man who strays from the fold of the faithful shep- herd the deepest solicitation is excited in the heavenly hosts, who tremble for fear of his 1038. How great, then, must be the loss of the impenitent man, who despaira of the mercy of his Creator, and Who dies ina state of mortal sin! Suct 4 soul can never see the face of God but to hear that DREAD IMMORTAL SENTENCE which awaits the impenitent sinner—Depart from , me ye accursed into the Names of bhbear arg. fire; ” the fate of the sinner TROY Foe eet hoe. let us take warning and turn to God while time {s our own, that happiness may be our Jot in eternity. We not only see the merctes of Him to sinners in the Gospel, but also n every side in the wicked world in which we nuove. It is incumbent upon us, however, to bestir Why then this | king after this mercy if we wouid find it. We can experience no remorse uniess we do so. Yes, the holy angels ‘which God has ap- pointed to watch over us rejoice sincerely upon tha return of the stray sheep to the fold of Jeans Christ. In order that we may understand this mercy, which will convince ua of the. folly of a life of sin, and in what trae conversion to God consists, it is ouscives In | Mecessary to make comparisons between time and eternity. TIMR AND ETERNITY, The speaker then proceeded to ask—It come of eternity what is the comparison ?. What signifies the 6,000 yeara of time that have elapsed to the millions and millions of thousand of years of eternity that are to come? If we suppose &@manto live for 100 years—which is certainly an extraordi- nary long fe, vouchsafed to few—what is th: tenure of existence when compared with the time that has elapsed sinc the creation of time ? What if aman Were to have lived ever since the beginning of tera =e yy ed _ hee time had @1 al forded; had avatied himself of every: tification found therein—what would {t ‘avall im if he were to die and lose his immortal sont ¥ How, then, can mankind be so indifferent to the joys which are eternal at the present time? How can he forget the great object for which he was created? In see! lone the things of this world, with no higher object at heart, he forfeits that. reward which is eternal, But is a life of really prefera- ble to one of virtue? Is not the life of THE VIRTUOUS MAN THE HAPPIEST ? Whero is the happiness of the sinner found? Does it not often draw down the curse of God on thig earth, and is not the worm of conscience ever ghaving in his breast ? Consider, then, the life of the just and virtuous man by the peace of mind which he enjoys and his example to his neighbors, Then, who would, with such @ contrast, exchangé the place of the virtuous man for that of the sinner? Who is certain of a single moment of life? Are we not Itkely to be called before God to render an ac- count of our stewardship at any moment? know that God wills not the death of a sinner, that he be converted and live; but we MUST NOT RESUME UPON HIS LOVE and mercy too long delaying our penitence, In or- der to be saved He has said we must keey His com- mandments; that 1s, we must avoid sin aé the Greatest of all evils, and do good. He does not ex- vect that all men shall be perfect, but He does re- quire us all to keep His commandments, The judg. ments of God only fall upon those who persevere in. rejecting His mercies and divine grace—upon the impenitent ginner. He died for us upon: the hard wood of Calvary’s cross, and if we seek after Him He will have the same compassion upon the sinner that He had for the papev thief, and for Mary Magdalen, the scandal of Jerusalem. Heaven is open for all of us if we but keep His command- ments, renounce sin, avoid occasions thereof, and receive the sacraments provided for our spiritual welfare by the Church. The yoke of our Divine Master ts sweet to those who bear it, « 8T. JOHN’S METHODIST OHUROH, The Christian’s Wealth—Sermon by Revi Dr. Chapman. Yesterday morning Rey. J. A. M. Chapman, D. D., the pastor of the St. John’s Methodist Episcopal church, Bedford avenue, preached from I. Corinthie ans, ilf., 2I—"For all things are yours.” In his opening remarks the speaker said that 18 was the practice of the shrewdest and safest mer- chants to take an account of stock that they may ascertain their real and relative condition, so as to lay plans for larger successes in the future or to remedy the evils of the past. It waa also well for the Christian to occasionally review the resources that were at his command and the uses God de- signs them to subserve in their gift. The high- est claim recognized by society to the ownership of goods was that of legal title, and yet that did not Involve an independent, absolute and eternal possession of the goods to which it laid claim, Absolute ownership inheres alone in God, The earth—the silver and the gold and the cattle upon a thousand hills—is God's, and even the fruits of human industry were indi- rectly the gift of God. Man is simply a steward, holding in his possession for a brief period some goods of the Great Proprietor. A legal title to goods cannot convey the ability with the right to use. There may be the objective nominal posses- sion without the subjective real appropriation. Dr. Chapman filustrated this point by referring toa visit he recently made to the mansion of a very wealtl man; whose grounds were tastefully laid ont, where fountains were flinging up their pearly drops to flash and sparkle in the face of the sun, and where flowers from almost every chime made the air redolent with perfume. Although that man had spent thousands of dollars in beautifying his residence he never gazed upon its beauties, for his eyeballs were sightleas; while to the poor gardener, who did not possess a dollar and could not lay claim to the smallest flower which he flung away, the surroundings were a per- fect paradise. Who did not see that that poor gar- dener possessed all that profusion of beauty in a far higher sense than did the man who had simply a legal title to it? A man who suddenly became rich might adorn his parlor with works of masters, breathing almost living beauty and eloquent in | i} | | was that thin every stroke of the brush, but, having no trained eye and no cultivated intellect,’ he was unable to detect and appreciate their beauties; while it might be that the servant girl who took care cf his parlor, possessed of a soul to drink inspiration from everything beautiful in nature or art, went in wrapt admiration over them every day. To the one they were merely gilt, canvass, paints and varnish ; to the other they spoke in silent and match- less eloquence, breathing an inspiration taat thrilled, educated and ennobled the whole being. The inference from those illustrations was that he who made the Anes by which he was sur- rounded subserve the highest end of their creation pomoaned them in the truest sense, whether he had a legal title to them or not. It wasin this sense that the Christian possessed all things, be- cause he and he alone made all things by which he is surrounded subserve the highest end of their creation—viz., to reveal God. He looked at us through the works of His hands, and came near to us in all the forms of nature. Creation is a kind of mirror in which He reflects His attributes. The Psalmist had attained a high state of moral and spiritual reeption when he discovered that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firma- ment shows His hanaywork. He who does not see God in all the works of His hands, their highert splendor intensifled by the reflection of His glory, falls to see them in the highest aspect of their greatness, grandeur and significance. When men see God in material things and hold fellowship with Him through them they possessed them. In this sense the world is the Christian's, and there is no man 80 thoroughly in sympe hy with nature as the assured child of nature's G This universe is bus the embodied thought of God; it is the vesture of the Infinite One, made resplendent by the out- beamings of His glory. All visible things are but shadows flung out upon our vision of invisible things, and he who made nature a pathway, up which he marched to God, made her answer the highest and grandest end of which she waw capable. The next thought evolved by the preacher in this world are worthless im themselves, being only valutbte in thetr representa- tive character. Gold tn itself was as worthle: as the dust upon which we tread, yet It representes valuable things, such ag food, raiment and shelter. A barrel of four represented so much satisfaction' to hunger and so much physical strength and vigor. Who most pin 3 possessed @ barrel of flour, the strong and healthy man, who could convert every. ounce of it into bone and muscle, or the miserable bs apne” who could not digest a a. spoonful ?, The grand design of all things in relation to the Christlan was to develop moral character. gave money not simply to meet man’s Payton ne- cessities, but to transmute it Into moral character, He called men into occupations not to develop busi- ness talents 80 much as to afford an opportunity to cultivate Christian graces, the merchandise of which was better than silver. Man 1s in this world for the pi of obtaining moral health, and_ he who got ont of the world all that it Was designed to give possessed it in the hi and truest wenae. The prosperities and the ilis of life were all de< Love to work together for good to them that loved od. Ita Effects as Reported by the Police Yes< terday—The Pistol, Knife and Brogan. , The cycle of crime which swept over Brooklyn at an early hour yesterday morning, and which wad engendered in the too free indulgence in the bad whiskey sold over the bar, is summed up by the po- lice accounts as subjoined, About midnight on Saturs day John Wall, proprietor of a liquor store, corne! of Concord street and Hudson avenue, Was cathoed in putting up his shutters when five yor rowdie: unter the iufuence of Mtorintestine rye entere the store, and impertinently demanded “the besa in the house.” Wall angry refused to wait uponb the fellows, and ordered them to leave, He was, thereupon, knocked down and kicked by the rut flans, who then ran out. He closed his ‘store, but! the rowdles commenced to throw stones at the win- dows, Wall procured a pistol and fired se shots at the gang. The latter ran off. Unvorti nately, Mr. Henry Jeffers and his son William, Heschel happene uy “ tne egeh received a hall in od ankle, The officer on duty in the vi thent came upon the scene and took Wall into iy? The injured man and his son were removed to the Ly | ital, where the balls were extracted, lugh MoOarron and John McGroty, uncle an nephew, residing at é 288 Water sti , quarrel ir @ drin! tion at an en! day morning. ae drewea ‘knife and Seamed! his sister's son times with the weapon, wound- him in the face and hand. The Second precinct police took McCarron into custody, t ‘The Vice President of the “Hod Carriers’ Wife Beat ing Associ: f? Fi aw more Hed Hook day ba than he © co convenlen: carry. pom fs ving at is Dene, Van Brunt street, he beat his wife Mary in a bra manner, knocking her cown and ing her with his heavily-broganned feet until she was insensible. Her case was considered as extremely critical yes. terday. The rufian is iocked up in the Turd 44D Drecinct station house, 8 COMI~ pare all that is passed of time with all that is to .