The New York Herald Newspaper, February 9, 1874, Page 8

once revealed, cannot lose their ness. And when that spirit of Christian holiness, strive, once reaches a | and modifica The Admonitions and Consolations of the Preachers Yesterday. POWERS ON EVOLUTION Bishop Cummins’ Description of Corporate Relizion and Individual Salvation, Beecher and the Sisters ot Charity. Sermons by Father White, Francis G. Peabody, Father Kane, Dr, McGlynn, G. H, Hepworth, Talmage, Dr. Wild and Father Garesche. BEFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Discourse by Bishop Cummins, at Stet way Hall—Corporate Religion Versus | Individuali Salvation. Bishop Cummins, yesterday morning, preached to a moderate-sized audience in Steinway Hail from Luke, Xvil., 30, 31, in which Christ, in answer to the demand o! the Pharisees, when the kingdom ofGoa should come, answered, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the | kingdom of God is within you." In opening bis | s ga discourse the bishop remarked that the prayer in | Fite, even the tenderest mind can be attracted ‘which we are taught to say, “Thy kingdom come,” was the first prayer Jesus taught His disciples, | a \ wi i aad obedience to God's laws, helps to drive in those | Dails still farther, to lacerate ‘apd that prayer has spread throughout Christen- dom ; but how few are there who understand what | they ask when they say, “THY KINGDOM COME!” “The kingdom of God cometh without observa. n,”’ cells the Whole story. Brethren, the king- | dom of God is within you. It has its seat and | throne within the human soul, and the Jews did | mot understand it when they believed the Messiah | ‘Was to restore their nation to its pristine grandeur | by erecting an earthly kingdom. Had He pro- Jelaimed himself prince of Israel and set up an | earthly kingdom the people would have flocked to His standard; but sach was not his ambition. | He prociaimea ‘A PAR DIFFERENT KINGDOM— | the kingdom of heaven—and the only crown He ever bowed His head to was the crown of thorns, and not the diadem of Judea. When He answer for which we all oe = in his eyom, Lee thy servant die in men soul was @ de Sermon by the Re’ encircle the hea | mass—w! finales “Dona Nobis,” were given with a precision, spirit | NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1874.-WITH SUPPLEMENT. rhe the hy ni Sater St cates eo here religie a ant agiad a ‘This is to-day the ‘The truths of Christ, pe of the peoples. with joy in his soul | 8ST, FRANCIS XAVIER'S CHURCH, . Pather White, 5. J.— The Parable of the Sewer and the Seed. Rev. Father White, 8. J., formerly of Virginia, preached, at the Gospel of the high mass yesterday, | at the little church of the Jesuits in Sixteenth | street, His subject was the parable of the sower nestness. He spoke of the importance of the du- ties of parents towards their children and likened the virgin mind of the child to the ground on which the seed of grace falls. well cultivated, and the tiller is the parent, it is sure to bring forth good fruit a hundredfold. The mind of the child is entirely influenced by the parents, and to them is to be accredited the re- sponsibility of the future bend of the youthful mind for good or evil, of the child who was once brought before tne | pagan governor and was ordered to offer incense | to the divine Cwsar and the tutelary gods of Rome. ‘The child refused, giving a3 reason of his choice human race at length advanced so as to be broken of death before worldly preferment He instanced the example THE LESSONS TAUGHT HIM BY HIS MOTHER, ‘The fear of a cruel death could not remove from his tender mind the maternal instructions that had taken such firm hold there. appears before the judgment to give an account of his stewardship an trusted to him, bow consoling will be the words when addressed to the truly Christian father or | mother, “Well done, thou good and faithful ser- vant; enter into the kingdom of heaven.” When the parent care of those little ones en- He ve @ beautiful illustration of the mauner in towards the service of God. Take the cluld betore icture of the crucifixion and explain the cause those cruel nails were driven into the hands THE HEART WHICH BLEEDS FOR MAN and to press down still closer the cruel thorns that The mind ts never too young to be incined tow: good or evil. ‘The choir, under the direction of Dr. William Berge, the organist, sung the “Kyrie” and “Gloria” of André’s mags and the ‘Credo,"’ “‘Sanc- vus” and ‘Agnus Dei” of Haydn’s immortal third mass, “Imperial.” Miss Teresa Werneke, soprano; Miss Mary Werneke, alto; Signor Tamaro. tenor, and Signor Bacelll, aud were assisted by Mrs. Berge, and Messrs. Kleps and Stanton, with a well se- lected chorus. The wonderful eauon—one of the most nious and effective members in ap ica commences the “Credo” and whic extends to the “Et Incarnatus,” and the brilliant “Et vitam venturi seculi, amen,” and and effect that spoke Volumes for the high training Pilate, ‘Lama x! but kingdom is bot of this wortd he suet Via the kingdom ot Crist of the chor. Bers js 8 spi ingdom that has no }, NO arme Solaiers to sustain it. ‘The kingdom of Christ is 1 GHURCH OF THE MESSIAH. the soul, heart, mind and the conscience; it is a Kingdom o! by peace and love; its anthority ts | spiritual, its law is spiritual, and there ta but ONK DOOR OF ENTRANCE to this kingdom—to be born of love. The speaker referred to corporate religion and corporate salva- tion by the formation of churches into corpora- | tions, each member of which is supposed to be | converted when he becomes a member thereof. | ‘This he styled corporate religio! na the work of proselytizing by such churches as Corporate sal- | vation. He did not believe in the doctrine that ‘whatever is in the Charch is in Christ. IT IS PERSONAL SALVATION, Rot corporate salvation, man wants. The Jesuits carried little botties of water in their sleeves, and, baptizing the heathen children secretly, believe hey were saved. That 18 corporate Christ ity. ie Spoke of the influence of the priesthood in Ei Tope to-cay that had made Franoe the most de- — of nations, and itis the priests who are ringing Don Carlos back into 5; ‘The | CORPORATE CHRISTIANITY isa curse, while individual Christianity is what | man requires to work great reforms. We must reform each heart. Christianity has the al Of Man for its temple. We may make erful eb bas that is out coupon we { & pow ar i is omy ate ve- gion. We must change the individual heart to build up Christ’s kingdom. The kingdom of God comes quietly on the heart of man, in each sou), setting up the beart of God within us. It will come as Solomon’s temple came up st Mount Moriah. It will come in silence, each individual ou! being saved, and, all united, will form that kingdom which cometh without observation, We ‘Want individual conversions, It I thought that the Reformed Episcopal Church, with a bishop or ‘two and @ liturgy, 18 all that is mecessar) I would pee “LET IT PERISH.” If it be not instrumental in converting individual souls let it perish, We must get out of this idea of | corporate religion. We must be born again. | | | ‘e Want a revival of religion everywhere; @ re- vival among the clergy; a revival among the laity; then a conversion of individuals. Let there bea — revival of religion beginning tn the Church, then | Christ's professed people can go on converting souls to Cbrist, ALL SOULS' CHURCH. Francis G. Pea- The Rev. Mr. Peabody preached in All Souls’ @hurch yesterday morning from the text in St. John’s Gospel iv., 36—“Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are white already to harvest.” These momentous words, pronounced by the lips of Christ, had they been announced in our genera* tion, with the knowledge of truth and aspirations of salvation, possessed by modern Christians, | ‘Would have been listened to and anderstood, The Mission and circumstances of Christ, which were | to preach salvation and finish Mis Father's work, ‘would, in our days, have found a ready echo in the hearts now prepared, but which, in the lifetime | of Christ, did not know the vast mesn- img of the words contained in today’s | text. The circumstances of his times he | had probably considered well. He had | i all likelihood tried to reach the ear of Greece or Rome, those great centres of ancient civilization, | power and prestige. He had meditated how to , weach that grand old Greece, which, though con- | selected as his theme yesterday morning, “Evolution the Law of Life’—This Age the Infancy of the World—Sermon by the Rev. Henry Powers. The Rev. Henry Powers, pastor of the Church of the Messiah, Thirty-fourth street and Park avenue, “Evolu- tion the Law of Life," his text being I. Jonn, ili., 2, in part—“It doth not yet appear what we shall be’’—and the reason 1s, Mr. Power said, it cannot yet appear in the nature of things, for the time is not yet, the condigoms are not adequate, the de- velopment has not progressed far enough for this manifestation to be made, since man does not come suddenly to the maturity of his powers, as Minerva sprang, full-orbed and in panoply com- plete, from the brow of Jove. In common with ail tne works of God man ts | came, the author of our religion, the founder of subject to the lew of evolution—t. e., his lile is a progressive one; “first that which is natural, then that which 1s spiritual;’’ ‘frst the blade, then the | watched over the development of the modern ear, then the full cern in the gar.’ “We all,” says formed the first quarts’, | Mme, Schultz wer of fruitful | Darwin, Mr. Herbert | nally, and of a and the seed—Luke, vii, 4, 15—as contained in | 18 accordance wi the Gospel for Sexagesima Sunday, It was a most eloquent sermon, the preacher possessing a good, material sense, primitive Melodious voice and the rare faculty of clothing | his thoughts in graceful, elegant language, united | workings of this same law of to terse, logical reasoning and impassioned ear- | first hunters, They spent their time in capturing When the soil is | #2d from town life and country life was begotten feet, and how every sin, every act of dis- | their disposal. | | | the apostle, ‘“beholding, as in a mirror, the glory | of the Lord, are changed from glory to glory, as by | the Spirit of the Lord.” The words are wondronsly | Christianity, which is still developin; applicable to the whole history of man; for, in the world, a3 in @ Splendid mirror, of images, suggesting an eternal beauty and power from which they dow. But when we con- @ider our own life we find that even ourselves are “guch stuff as dreams are made on,” changing from moment to moment of admiration or terror, Joy or fear, inthe wayes of the same light that makes the mirrored scene. That which shines without shines within us also. The knowledge, feeling, desire and self-control into which we grow come to us inwardly by the power of the game endless life that shows itself in the VISION OF CREATION. Of course it does not follow that God is nature and natare is God, for itis with something more than poetic insight that Mr. Tennyson asks— bb —e He—thougn He be not that which He And again— If we could see and hear this vision were it not He? And again, in his contemplation of a flower in the crannied wall— If T could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, Tsnould know what God and man is. That is, God is the one in the many; the falness in each thing, Making it “a part and proportion of one wondrous whole.” And so, no doubt, if we should know the all of the universe. Yet God ts. not that which s¢ems or is seen—viz., division, diglinctness and individual life. ‘There are rela- tions and forms of thought which serve to mani- fest God. ‘They are not God, for in the totality of thi these vanish away. law of ile in everything we mean not God but the method of God's mantiestation; we mean the im- pression which is produced on the observing mind within 4 limited area by the phenomenal in vagueness and ends in definiteness and order, and such an infinite variety of forms as alone can be accounted for by the assumption o/ a traascend- ent whole from which they spring. Evolution is a quered by Rome, had, by her arts, sciences and philosophy, in the end remained the conqueror. | Then, again, how would His mission strike His own | people of Judea? He had little, indeed, to expect | from them but persecation and contumely. Every { incident experienced after He began to preach taught Him how little might be expected from the | what 1s homogeneous, or what is the same kind, to what Is heterogeneous or of a different kind. 1t 18 complexity coming out of simplicity, hetero- geneity coming irom what is homogeneous. Here 18 an acorn—a simpie seed. [cut it open and find it very much alike throughout. I plant it im the earth, and presently a change takes place. The seed puts forth a germ, There has been a dii- When, there‘ore, we speak of evolution as the | we see a procession | aspects of ueavenly truth; Christianity, which | | could know the “all’’of the simplest fower we | | of their history they were ee into contact | tame when those nations had reached the highest ustnat he was who ilved in a u he was 8 naked ST companions. And ood life.’ Undoubt process—if than the highest a must time when in him the beavenly was ret wedded en & to the earthly, and he &@ hew creation, made in the image of his God, The remember, has to deal with man simply 28'3° bas MORAL AND SPIRITUAL BRIN and, therefore. as such, tts record of him is snb- stantially correct ; for we read therein of a human nature, such as we know it must have been origi- ion in Knowledge and virtue the only pian that was admis- sible in the elrenmstances, Viz., that through the struggle for existence, n'a spiritual as well as & man was enabled to survive and thrive, b: In primitive human society also we can trace the Men were and slaying animals for food and clothing. Then they learned the arts 01 agriculture, Next peuple athered themselves together 1m towns, and we ear of “fenced cities,” a8 well a8 “folds for sheep,”” commerce, “Zebulon dwelt at the haven of the sea, aud was @ haven of ships; as early as in the twenty-seventh chapter of Genesis we read of the “Mid:aniti merchantmen who passed by.” And so life grows more and more complex until we get the organi- zation of families into tribes, and tribes into States and nations, all having separated and spread, apparently ‘rom one Centre, and developed step by step under the operation of this divine LAW OF PROGRESS, Pause now and take a 100k at the grand pano- rama of the world’s bistory so far. Behold the up into distinct nations, 8nd consider what is the significance of this fact. Here are Egypt and In- dia and China ana Persia and Chaidea and Greece aud Rome and Judea, not to mention others, What do these pames stand jor im the history of the world? In part, the answer ig that Egypt is the embodied conce} tion of material force. By those mighty pyramids which we still see rising from the desert sands she speaks to us from the past and says that to her people was given the power of re- aliging apd of elaborating this vast conception of physical force more than to any other. Even to this day we wonder at the masses of masonry which they erected and speculate as to the sort of me- chunicai appliances Which they must have had at India is the source of thought and the seat of in- tellectual speculation, There is not a proDlem in modern metaphysical philosophy which was not there studied, and many of the atest and best things of the world have come m that patient study. China is the home of the regulating faculty, and of all that can be done by rule and precedent her People can inform us, To Persia belongs the perception of those mighty and contending forces, and evil, which divide between the sovereignty oF this life, and by times both fascinate and beWwilder the hearts of men. Chaldea was the Dirthplace of astronomy and the land In which astrology was studied, so iong as it Was a useful science, in Pheenicia Qwelt the spirit of commerce and enterprise, and certainly WE OF AMERICA should look back with reverence and gratitude to those who first taught men to feelat home upon the sea and to make commercial intercourse the great work of & powerful State. ‘Then a little later comes Greece, the home of the arts and the source of intellect ruling matter. To her people was given that intense perception of the joveliness of the human frame and of ail the gsthetic capacities in man. Hence they nave given the sight of heanty, in her greatest periec- ion unto the whole wor! In Rome we discover the world’s legislators, and to this day the Justinian code lies at the basis ofa rere large part of its best jurisprudence. And all this while there have been a smail and despised people who have been keeping alive the consciousness of the spiritual in the midst of the visible world’s business aud joys and sorrows, The gift of the moral law anda Logg esto? development Of the spiritual sense is the which the Jews have bestowed upon mankind, In the course with all the great nations of antiquity at the very point of their civilization, and they gave to them all something of their own religious development, taking something in turn, but never losing their individuality. It waa from this people that Jesus Christianity, which was, so to spe; the concen. trated essence of all that was most highly spiritual in the world at tiat time; Christianity, which has nations of Europe aud America; Obristianity, whicn, in the last 2,000 years, has been most mighty, and bas planted itself with the tread of ALL ONWARD CIVILIZATION ; itself at this moment and which is kept back only by the un- Willingness 01 its votaries to accept the newest shaii convert the whole world, uniess the suicidal determination of its votaries to forbid the iree spirit of inquiry shall prevent it from incarnating itself in all the modern torms of thought. ‘Thus is it that we are the heirs of all the ages; in our complex civilization, in our superior 6k! of maintaining the health of the and regu- jJating the social happiness of man; of stamping out disease and discover.ng the laws of mind; of raising the forces ofjnature and lightening the bur- dens of life. We are the living witnesses that the Jaw of progress has been going on, and has been creating many developments of the most simple things, until ail things seem to be tending towards a more grand and complex unity, and it doth not be appear what we shall be. As, thereiore, we ook lorward into futurity, we can see & time—can ‘we not ‘—wben men Will look back to this age and call it the INFANCY OF THE WORLD} for the arcana of nature have stil to be dis- covered; the supremacy of love and justice has Still to be estabushed, and the palm’ branch of universal peace has still to blossom and bear fruit, that it may give its leaves for the healing of the nations, « One step more in this rapid survey, and that is the progress that has been and shall yet be made in the development of the human soul. When we speak of the progress which the material universe has made, or society in its various forms, we are talking of unconscious progress. But man 1s, or May be, conscious of the progress he is making. His eyes how are opened, as once they were not, to behold the evil and the good, and he may know | whether he is getting more strength and wisdom and goodness from age to age. Besides, he may ily himself with that power—not nimself—which makes righteousness, or he may forbear to do 80, and thus he may foster or om ed his own career, Now, is there any doubt which of these courses, on the whole, the men of all past generations have succession of ail things and events, whicn begins | | progression from the simple to the complex; from | children of Israel, to whom He had come. He came | ferentiation or action of reparation at work, so | to the earth under circumstances adverse to His | je mission from the very commencement. Now the time when the world might be thought worthy of our great Master, for the thoughts, in- © elipations and aspirations of modern nations are favor of Christianity. Greece, Rome and Judea jad been merely the ground wherein to sow the seeds of Christianity. The lapse of time nad brought about fruition from the truths whicn He taught. The physical power of Kome, the phil- osophy of Greece and the theology of Judea, all Were destined TO CBMENT THB FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIANITY. In His own day the peasant of Nazareth knew what is now Es by the fulness of ages to be true, that is that che world was waiting, yearniag, for Him. His life was not the result of piilosopny. HIS MISSION WAS FROM HEAVEN, and had to wait for the pai of centuries to make itself known and felt in the world. It was given to Christ to tell the world those tidings Which ages had in vatn yearned jor, The bearer of heavenly tidings, may fis words find place in our | hearts, and the nations bow down to Him. This is _ an irreligious age, or rather au age in which re- | gion is hegieeted, The pulpit has lost its ir in many respecis, if we ate to consider | that the acorn is seen not as a homogeneous mass but @ heterogeneous growth instead. fhe seed continues co grow until it 1s evolved into the stem of the tree, the Sap and bark, and branches and leaves; and just 80 long as this process goes on if ig advancing from the simple to the complex state of being. Now, what I undertake to say 1s that this law of evolution RULES THE UNIVERSE of God; that it has been, is now, and ever shall be the method of His wise and veneficent action in and through it all; that not by spasmodic effort | ence of individual ce ye ask us, “Where Is at widely separated periods of time does God cre- | ate and then desert his creatures, but by the steady potency of His indwelling power ne forms and makes complete the objects of His love, and links them all together, from the lowest to the highest, 1D one grand chain of manifested lite. And the proof of this assertion is the facts of the crea- tion as they are known to us in the realms of both mind and matter. Take, first, the knowledge we have of the planetary spheres—the stars aod worlds and suns that rollin the blue yault above, Mr. Powers sees the “nebular hypothesis,’? 80 called, which Js now the accepted theory of the ose of the universe, because it explains the facts so far as they are known. But if this theory be true, then in the very beginning of things we ler its po- tency now as compared with what it has dome in | find this law of progress by evolution, the simplest | the nearly 2,000 years that have passed Christ's advent in the world, Every man of the People of Germany is a so\dier, bound to respect | @nd honor his Emperor. In that vast Empire we have a modern Greece, influencing the spirit of the age by its civilization, philosophy and art. So should we all be in the Kingdom of Christ, soldiers | id followers of the Lmmortal army which he es: | tavlishes, England, too, is great nation, and e ercises vast emotional influence in the world, J | Or whatever we may choose to call it, and thing becoming complex, untti from one immeuse flery mist we get the variety of many worlds, Look now at this world we live on, and take the Pictured panorama of its genesis, which is found | at the commencement of our Bible. Leaving out all minor details, what is it for substance that we there read? First, that there was a time when the earth was ‘without form and void,’ was a great mass of homogeneous pulp or photopiasm, very Scientific thought and successful march in the pur- | mach tn the state, in fact, In which sclence tells us | suit of Chrisuian truth and light, render hi a Bent among the nations who serve arene THE GOOD MASTER OF BETHLEHEM. If Jesus stood among us to-aay He would, py the heaveniy, luminous, electric ight of tls mission, Influence the worid and move it as in His own day: The world is restiess, waiting for something. Nothing has now a axed foundation among us, ‘The nations are in transition stave, Tue German ople are unsatisfied with a great Empire. They ‘ant @ glorious kingdom that cannot be corrupted the intrigues of wily politicians, In Engiand, the people are dissatisfied and reatiess. so joms Of the earth sigh for a great o ir celestial nature, They sigh king- without end. That oniy can satisly the burrying world of to-day. Notuing can give them a | period of time. latest authorities cell us that the world has certainly peen at some remote Then we read that “the Spirit of jod moved upon the face of the waters,” MOTION 13 THE BEGINNING of all progress, the science of all development. Next we learn that light and beat appear in con- nection with fertility and vegetation, and differentiation of life; and we at last come to know that heat and light are only modes of motion. And so the account goes on, tracing the Progress of the world’s development through Whe organization of lasses = and Cas and species among fishes, reptiles, birds and beasts, until the calmination is found in man, and age op age bas elapsed before the process is Drought so far, But what waa man when he first @nd our | day, and the interior of the sacred edifice during | | attentively to the teachings of Christ as preached | @ppeared upon tois planet? Movern scence tells | by His ministers on early, Preaching was the pursued? Is not the : AVERAGE MAN OF TO-DAY & stronger man than be was in Adam’s time, or Noah’s time, or David’s, or Jesus Christ's? 3s not the standard of morality pow higher than it ever was betore? Do not we sit together here in heavenly places in respect to all that is of real and | lasting benefit to the human soul? And with such proois of progress behind us, with such expres. sions Of the blessedness of an unfolding life, with | & constantly increasing capacity for development as actual development takes piace within us, with Wishes unsatisfied and work undone and evils yet to be overcome, is there, can there be, any doubt of our personal immortality? Is tuere, can there be, any doubt as to the og or the desire on this point of Him who holds us? Will He ever tet us go? Can any pluck us out of His hands? Some would point us to the countless millions who have gone down to the dust; to the tribes of savages, who seem never to have been the subjects of any progress at all; to “the back Waters of civilization” at the present time, and even to the thousands of promising and gifted | men who have been cut off in the tower of their days, and then, citing the analogies of the mate- rial worid, in which there seems to Le no persist- the proof that man will live forever 'a conscious and separate existence?’ It is enough to reply, perhaps, to all this, “Where is the proof that he will not do so?’ It is not im nature, it is not in history, it is not to be found ia the accumulated wisdom of the world. At most, the evidence of the whole univers», outside of human consciousness, ts negative on this point, And then it is to be said that, in exact proportion as the human soul has advanced in wisdom and virtue, 1T3 CONVICTION OF IMMORTALITY J1A8 INCREASED, | Jesus knew that He would live forever, and to all | those whose lives are bid with Christ in God death is abolished. They know they cannot die. In mo- ‘ments of darkness or pain or misiortune—tin time when the burdens of life press them down; in se: sons when the future looks cheerless before them- the sons and daughters of sorrow wish sometimet that they might die and leave no sign; but it is not themselves, it is the evils they are uncer that say this. When the good influences come back again—when there are health and some degree of development in body and mind and heart; when thus it 1s possible for them once more to take a reasonable view of God and life and the cnd for Which it was given—the soul no longer sighs tor death, but rises into glad communion with ita God, | 8T, PATRIOK’S CATHEDRAL The Teachings of Christ=Sermon by the Rev. Father Kane, The catiedral was thronged to the doors yester- the ceremonies presented a very imposing appear ance. The Rev. Father Salter oMiciated at last mass, and at the conclusion of the first gospel the Rey. Father Kane ascended the pulpit and | preached an impressive sermon, taking his text from the eighth cnapter of St. Luke, which recites the parable of the sower. The reverend gentie- man, after explaining the words set forth, pro- ceeded to dilate upon the importance of listening | souls for their tempora! successes. The mere: | to heaven.” medium by which His doctrine was made Known 0 men, and it was by FREQUENT BXHORTATION that mankind appreciated the necessity of know- img aud understanding the divine truths as ex- pounded by those whose lives were devoted to that task, Alter pointing out the folly of listening to the Word of God with indifference, which arose from a want of the proper disposition, he observed that man must love God in order to attend to His teachings. There were those, he said, who ima- gined a repetition of the sacred truths unneces- sary—that because they had heard them a few times they did not care to hear them again. It was said, indeed, that the same thing was repeated in and again. That was no reason why it should not be listened to with respect and atten- Se onee it because the sermons were not spiced e SENSATIONS OF THE DAY, or full of granaiioquence, that they should not be heard hmong 8 ‘There was no sensationalism in the — ‘ne Saviour told the parable in plain terms. He recited simple stories to His disciples, that they might comprehend the great truths necessary for salvation; and s0 did the aposties preach in simple words. Ss. Paul, for instance, Went right to the point at once. ‘There was no pe- roration or exordium, or anything of that sort. All was plainness and simplicity. Now, men could not hear the teachings of Curist too often. Were they not repeated men wou.d soon forget them. Familiarity with the Word of God was necessary, and the oftener it was preached the better. Man could not be told too irequently of the enormity of sin or of the great sacrifice made by the Son of God jor the benefit of the human race. Sometimes THE VERY SIMPLEST WORDS Went straigit to the heart. But tnere were cer- tain conairrens necessary for a proper apprecia- tion 01 tuo divine trath. In the first place It should be listened to with respect, because it was the Word of God. ‘The second condition was that of attention, Unfortunately there were many who, instead of Paying strict attention to the teachings of Christ, were all the time thinking of their business affairs, even while the Word of God Was betug spoken. They came to worship as a matter of form, and patd no heed to what was said, their minds being occupied with the cares or pleasures of the worl ‘1here was STILL ANOTHER CONDITION requisite for a just appreciation ot the teachings of Christ, and that was that alter hearing them we should reflect upon them. We should medi- tate upon them at length, and thereb; Teap benefit irom them. Some contended thai they had not time to meditate; but, taking into account how much time they spent in consideri the atfairs of this world, it was evident they di Dot mean to think on aught else. The reverend ntleman concluded by reminding the congrega- jon of the necessity and importance of the condi- tons mentioned and o{ the everlasting biessings which would flow trom their strict observance. The musical arrangements were, #8 usual, excel- lent. At the offertory ‘“O Salutaris,” for male voices, without accompaniment, by Professor Gus- tavus Schmitz. was sung with fine e: 81, STEPHEN'S CHURCH. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. MeGlynn—The Hearing ef the Word—How the Seed Fatis to Bring Forth Frait. ‘The near approach of the Lenten season 1s al- ready beginning to be felt in religious circles, and while there may be many a shrug of the laic’s shoulder at the penitential exercises which the Church imposes on her faithful children for several weeks before Easter, still it must be a consolation to the pastors to see the congregations buckling on the religious armor and crowding the churches in the preparation for the approaching season. At St, Stephen’s church yesterday morning s most eneouraging sight, in this view of the matter, pre- sented itself, and at the Vespers in the afternoon not @ seat was vacant, the music, however, being always a deserved attraction at this service, THE MUSIC. There was no “Gloria” sung yesterday. The “Cre- do” was Rossi’s, in D mimor. The ‘‘Sanctus” was by Danforth, the organist of the church, the leading fea- ture being a duet, which was sung by Miss Munier and Mme, Bredelll. At the Vespers Donizetti's music was given, but shortly before the benedic- tion an “Ave Kegina,”’ by Daniorth, was admirably sung by the soprano, The “Tantum Ergo,” sung tmn- meaiately vefore the benediction, was Merca- dante’s. THE SERMON. The high mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father McCready. After the first Gospel the Rey. Dr. Mac- Glynn preached from the Gospel of the ay—Loke vill, 4-16. The parapdie in is interpreted by the Saviour hat the seed mentioned he word of God:—“They by the wayside are they that hear; then the devil cometh and taketh the word out of their heart, lest, be- lieving, they should be saved. Nuw they apon the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no roots, for they believe for a While and in time of temptation they fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they who have beard, and, going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of | this life, and yield no fruit.» But that on the good und are they who, in @ good and very jeart, hearing the word, keep it and bring forth | fruit with patience.” With this explanation before ‘us We shall do well to medivate on the parable de- voutly and to think seriously on its application to ourselves. Of the Jour portions of seed mentioned in the Gospel we see that only one was productive ; the rest perished without bringing forth iruit. They by the wayside beard, but they ree to the devil and lost the word out of heir heart. This is the case with those who come beiore the altars of our churches and hear the Word of God preached and go out into the world again only to yield to the old temptations and cen- tinue ina life of sin, Another part of the seea again Jeli upon a rock, and as soon as it sprung u| it died away, because it had no moisture. Ant here we can behold that class of persons whg | bearken to the word that is preached to them an in whose souls there is a promise of good to come, for they joytully resolve upon amendment; yet | scarce has the seed begun to bud in their hearts | when they fall away again and sin. Toe seed also | fell among thorns and was choked. How many are | there to whom this warning Of the Saviour but too truly applies! Tne cares of life and the pleas the world become 80 engroas- | lpg that people abandon the care of eee | of God calis upon them, and the Word ts preached to them from the very voice of the Saviour calling in ‘His Gospel for a hearing; but, though the stake at | igsue is an eternal welfare, Wl these deluded people resuse to persevere, yielding to the snares of the enemy at the very first summons from | former cares and pleasures, This wretched con- | ition of beart is alarming, for God cannot always | be sending forth tnvitations, The time is sure to | come when the soul must pass away, and it is | then found—but too late—that the cares of the world become too completely master for subjec: tion. We cannot conquer the habits of our lives at the hour of death, But snother part of the seed | feei upon good ground and yielded fruit a hun- | drediold. Where the seed falls here it grows into | beautiful tructification, spreading itself upward | until at last it bo ga in a perfect state. ose | who hear the Word of wod and let it sink ay {nto their hearts find that it elevates their aspira- tions, hour by hour, toGod. And the result is that the word so purities them from indifferences about | heir svuls’ sRivation and from inordinate love of the world and its temptations and pleasures that the heart becomes sensible of its cardinal obliga- tions, and a truly good life is lived on to the end, | Jt is, therefore, o1 the most grave importance to | each of us that when we hear the lessons taught by the Gospel we pay heed to their meaning and thelr inculcations. ‘The salvation of our souls | is of far vaster importance to us than the mere passing gratification oi our bodies. The way to | secure eternal safely is to garner the seed which 18 sown in our hearts, so that no obstructions shall be | suffered to interfere with the growth of God's | grace as it comes to us trom an humbie following | of the Saviour’s teaching. OHUROH OF THE DISCIPLES, The Road to Heaven Always Open—Ser- mon by Rev. George H. Hepworth. The Rev. George H. Hepworth preached yester- day morning to an immense congregation at the Church of the Disciples, Forty-ffth street and | Madison avenue. His theme was:—‘The Road to Heaven Always Open.” He took nis text from | the book of Genesis, xxvill., 12—“And benota a | ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached | Ho was always struck, be began, with the beauty of the seenery of Palestine when | he read of the grand characters that had shed thetr gracious lustre over it. When Jacob in his ragged travela had ascended the mountain tops he came to wildernesses of stinted grass, He saw the immense plain stretching away to the Medt- terranean, and further yet the Levant, like a sleeping giant, and the river Jordan, which was to become the baptismal font of the whole world. It emptied itaelf just beneath his feet, When the shadows of the night began to fail he prepared for | himself @ couch fit only for a shepherd. When the | dews began to gather he laid bis head upon a stone. He had a dream, in which God infused into bis heart A POWER UNDREAMT OF BEFORE and quite uvfatbomable. Whonever he contem- plated this episode he was taught that there wis a road to heaven even for the criminal, the wicked, the doubtful and the unbelieving. Jacob had been driven away by a father’s hand, Retributive jus- tice sent him out into a howling wilderness to take the chances of robbery and, perhaps, assassina- tion; God appeared to him, and he (the speaker) | ment—we cannot measure it by eye or ear. Is ‘was always glad when God appeared to the down. cast and tne wicked. God was great mdeed tf out of men’s sensual passions and sins He could make altars .of prayer, There were three classes of men—those who joined congregations, those who were honest and faithful in their hearts, and those who stood committed neither by 4 public nor & secret avowal to God’s religion, with no purpose, with no helm, no sails—drift lozs, simply living for the day, and making no preparations for the storm. He would plead with those who were only committed” their own hearts to God to come to the temple of the Lord and join that mighty organization at the head of which stood Jesus Christ, He would plead with the other two classes, too, to devote themselves to Christ. The spirit of the Lord sometimes visited all these classes. What appeared to them in their dreams were gly premonitions and sdvice. He had no doubt that miracles were performed in this nineteenth century. Every man had found in the record o! his life something supernatural which he could explain only by THE WONDROUS POWER OF THE LORD, God spoke in tatherly and very solicitous tones to the indifferent and the vicious, and many & oad man had been saved from a commission Of his last and worst crime by the sudden remembrance of a good mother, of @ loving wife, o! a long lost child. God was more wita the sinuer than with the saint, aud felt greater anxiety to save one wicked man than to direct a dozen good ones. Christianity was hopefulness from beginning to end; there was no compiete darkness, and the stars always sione through to convince men that there was a better, brighter world beyond. There was a road to heaven through riches al and yet they held Within themselves @ thousand subtle temptations, There was many a man who would go straight to beaven if he were only poor, and who would go serait to hell i! he were rich, People lived under the illusion that the rich men of the world were almost in heaven, and he wondered at Christ's severity. How sharp it was, cutting a8 with & knife] Christ sald tt _ must be hard jor a rich man to go to heaven, and He had spoken exactly the truth, Suppose on acold winter night they were struggling, half clad, to reach their homes. They could only see the pene of light at the window, and bow they lo) to cross that threshold! They Still trudged on. But suppose an inn were to open its doors to them and afford them shelter and Warmth and food? There were pictures on the walls; there was @ good bed to lie on. WHAT MORE CAN A MAN WANT? They might say to themselves :—-‘Let good enough alone.” They Might have looked out la the freen- ing darkness and said how grad they Were not to be compelled to go out, And yet there came the word:—“Kemember you are here for an hour only.” It seemed to him (the preacher) the hard- est thing to look up to the grandeur of the word of Jerusalem when one had all the riches of lite, or the good that riches could do. With a comee- crated heart, how good a man could be if he were only worth millions, He wondered that so many rich men could leave vast bequests if during their lifetime they could have p lod the gratitude of the World like Ossa on Pelion, If he saw @ man in whose will there was a@ legacy of $50,000.or $100,000 for an orphan asylum he said to him:— “Do it now; give the money now; go out and see these poor children rescued from cold and hunger.” If he were worth @ million he would - take the most terrible re- venge on his enemies, and his very worst joe hie would set up in business; by which he would wring his soul until large drops of gratitude came out of itand he became sorry for every word he had said against him (the preacher). There was also @ road to Heaven through surrows and aimic- tions. A man’s road was like a balioon, always straggiing to ascend into a higher and purer at- mosphere. Life was the bailast, and money and successes were parts of the burden. A new sor row came, and IT WAS MERELY AN ANGEL lifting @ stone out of the basket. At last there came @ great sorrow which lifted all the ballast out of the basket and made the balloon rise at last, At last! It seemed to him that they were all some- times out on the ocean in little skiff. God’s stern word came, “Overboard!” and they all went down to the bottom, rising up again into the boat, where they found pearis of rare value. ‘Their sorrows were these pearls. On, brothers! let them trust to Jesus and make Him their Saviour and their friend! BROOKLYN CHURCHES. PLYMOUTH CHURCH Faith and Reason—Mr. Beecher's Ide: of Tot Depravity and Natural De- velopment, Plymouth’s pastor was evidently in the best of spirirs yesterday mornmg, and unfolded to his hearers his ideas of faith, grace, regeneration and development with tne fuil measure of his peculiar, popular eloquence, abounding with homely tllus- | trations understood by all, while the current of his mighty thought carried his hearers into the most | abstruse of subjects, made luminous by the fervor of his spirit. Prior to the sermon, in reading his weekly notices, he made a most telling appeal for a Brooklyn charity, in behalf of which Wendell Phillips will lecture in the Academy on Thurs, day night. He said the lecturer was one whose charms interested and pieased all hearers, even though they might not believe him, and douvly so when you believe him. But the special was because it was for the funds of the Hicks Street sree Hospital, a Roman Catholic charity, under charge of the Sisters of C-arity. He took the more care to urge his bearers to take up their cross by lstening to Wendell Phillips, to aida benevolent work, because it was in the hands of others than his own sect—‘or charity cannot be made sectarian, Mr, Beecher chose for his text II. Corinthians, v., 1—“For we walk by faith, not by sight.’ To walk is to live. We live, in Paul's view, by faith, not by sight. What is faith? No other term is so much used in the Church which 1s not better understood. The general idea 1s that it is the an- | suthesis of sense—recetving as true, without un- derstanding; a divine inspiration, whereby, by | God’s help, We apprehend truth beyond or con- trary to reason. The defnition varies in the different Churches to suit their varying beliefs, There is no better definition, however, than that it is “the evidence of things not seen,” of things not yisible—invisible; the evidence of these things not reported by the senses, | does msn show tne development At first a hel suction. A fly at birth ode k apirféaaitty. “ie nov suis mt +. Is not this development? And when man, vbr the law of his nature, comes into the spiritual condition he is a child of God, Reason, acting in the unseen on a loftier plane than the things of the cenenns faith. Religious faith doea not require us to believe unseen things contrary to reagon—to open our mouths and swallow what- ever a Church may say. If we are told that in eat- ing ELOne and drinking water we swallow the FLESH AND BLOOD OF AN ACTUA! the Saviour, who lived centuries a; pov flesh and blood bave been eaten and ‘drack in alt parts of the world ever since, this all onr reason rejects, Faith is the employment of reason alo! the line of analogy tn the Dope sphere of min not incontrariety to reason. There 1s no antithesis between faith and reason. If one should ask us to believe, a8 & mathematical fact, that three are one and one is three, we answer at once, No, In a mathematical sense that is im. possible. Yet, in the animal world, we have sim. ple animal life, without nerves or organs; then vertebrated animals; then again human complex creation. There 1# iofinite variety be- tween the animal which when cut in two becomeg two creatures, taking on heads and tails, bp to mad, an animal, yet having a social nature and an intellectual life. It is not impossible to carry this jaea further, and imagine the possibility of a union of individualities in a higher reaim. To be- lieve what 1s not according to its proper evidence ig not faith, Truths of sense and spirit may differ, but they do not contradict. Science, which tickles the ribs of nature or explores her secrets with the microscope, does not disprove the truths of reve- lation, FAITH 18 NOT MYSTERIOUS, but normal and natural, Nature ordains that we should develop, and all progress is toward faith, We develop by the proper use of the faculties God has given us. Ignorance chains us to the things of sense. A boy takes my wacch, touches this spring and that wheel, It rung wild or declares it totally depraved, art in iis proper pissy, repuiauing {etl “ic rane art in its proper place, re; yy the ean outy Parring 2 second We aay, “It is a new watch.” So @ rough boy is made a new and refined man by the power of love. Years aft he tells bis grandchildren the change wro' him by the iH he worshipped, She made new man. His bongs and liunbs were not changed, et he was a new creature by the power of love, is it not possible to understand the regeneratton of a man by the power of Divine love, as shown in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ~a life renewed and puri. fied by the sentiment 0/ love? Faith tells us of that superior reaim where we already have father, mother, brother, Ifeelthe truth of that coming home. ‘The crash of cates aucoten is lost ia the heaventy harmonies. rthly wretchedness sinks into the background of the celestial sphere, We are borne on the wings of Faith to our angel home. We have seen Him who is invisible. How blessed, then, is this life! So at last shall ye stand in Zion and see God. SEVENTH AVENUE METHODIST OHAPEL. Dr. W1ld on Spiritual Service. The littie Methodist chapel cn Seventh avenue, Brooklyn, was crowded yesterday morning to hear their popular pastor expound the sanctions of Divine law. His sermon was founded upon Mark xiv., 8—"She hath done what she could;” and he proceeded to show how the life and sayings of Jesus harmonized, and how perfectly and even grandly one sustained the other. Tne great charm of His teachings was the agreement between His doctrines and practice. So perfect was this agree. ment that He could invite the multitude, who aid not credit His word, to believe Him for His works’ sake Suppose, on this principle, satd Dr. Wild, a writ~ ten record of the faith of one man from each de- nomination should be placed in the possession of & stranger for the purpose of finding the holy through their works, how many would he find in this city? Send him to our preachers’ eee No. 805 Broadway to-morrow to make his seleo* tion, and [ don’t believe his choice would be the pretended sanctified ones by any means. Consist ency is a jewel, and the Church of to-day is shorn ofher strength and her usefulness and credit im- paired for want of this very virtue. After reciting the story of the alabaster box of ointment, the woman’s contribution and grati- tude, he remarked that the Gospel was designed to equalize all conditions of society, both publia and private. Human labor should be bene- fited by it. It would not take much if all were working for that purpose. Let men give up unlawful pursuits and choose honorable avoca- tous instead, there would be an equitabie division of labor and the poor sustained thereby. it ts generally those who have the least Christianity that expect the most of their fellow men, and no man can follow the teachings of Christ without Raving enewies, A man, thercfore, is wise who Understands the world sufficiently to take fault finding as 4 natural infliction. Dr. Wild, in closing, barely touched upon the sabject of women as teachers of the Gospel, and, while he admitted that | bee might do some good in that vocation, he wag | | | That which ts the | crown and glory 0! human life—refinement—is in- | visiole, Al! mental qualities—honor, virtue, cuar- acter—all are Dot subject to the inspection o/ our bodily faculties. Aman owns thousands of a | of land or holds miitions of property. We say he is rich. But if he is rich in goodness, in gentieness, in charity, you don’t see it. Has he strength to lift heavy weighta, you can measure his power. But when he has tbo moral strength of Washington at Valley Forge. strength to face privation, danger and discoura; rich im treasure, we can see that; but if be has the rich artistic cultivation of Raphael, or the in- teliectual wealth of Plato, YOU CANNOT SBE HIS RICHES, We think oltencst and most of those things | which we can neither seo nor bear, taste, smell or touch; of love, friendsiip. If one asks you to show him what you think of, you answer, cannot; it is not @ subject of optical observation. He might oe Af Tcannot see it tt does not exist. Does he thereby prove to you tie non-existence of your thought ? e senses Jo not recognize or report those things of which we tnink most, yet they none the less jorm a large part of our lives, Paul con- stantly recognizes this inner, this unseen portion of humanity. He vewails the infirmities of the flesn, which war inst the inner nature. Faith is that state of mind which recognizes these invisible re- alities. This realization will vary according to the kind of truth presented. There is faith in the mind dealing with intellectual propositions. Nobody was present at the creation to testy to ug of it, (hough some men act as though they would havé us credit them with it. It is easy for the imagination or faith to convince us of the tact ofcreation, Abel, by faith, believed in oe ae faith, through fear, Noah prepared for the flood. So others enumerated by the apostle exercised their faith in relation to diferent classes of truths, Faith may be interpreted by hope, fear, ambition, avarice; by many qualities and emotions, It a8 large as humanity, as wide as the circling un verse. Corinth was the most corrupt, pleasure- loving chy of axveos, Its art was second only to Athens. oasness. Music, all forms of glaring beauty and sensuousness Were worshipped thore. Her priest- esses Wero no better than they should be. Men educated in Corinth were instructed in all which could minister to sensuous enjoyment, all that ap- theso ae by which men live, but by those things Which their senses do not report.” Through the thunders of Corinth’s busiest hours there came, if they would note it, truth of divine revela- tion; above the clash of her music the whisperings Of an inner truth; amid the sound of the lute and | all delights of revelry the echoes of a higher life. You enjoy all these sensuous chu sine reey earthy. ings with heads WE THX THINGS OF GoD, In the language of modern philosophy, faith con- cerns the things which are above the inedium line of the brain, above tho range of reason. This principle of faith, though of divine origin, is part of our human nature. Savages live by sense aloue; they are satisfied vy present enjoyment, As they think of and provide for to-morrow—that thing hever seen—and (ar more distant repetitions of to- morrow, reaching to seasona and years, they rise by ee into civilization. Rennement os away jatter—smooths, softens, carries us sway from mere animalism toward spiritualis! the antl thesis to corporosity, going Over higher, So (aith ig DOt entirely a direct divine gift. IT 13 THE NATURE OF HUMANITY TO RISE. ‘This ts Paul’s philosophy, not mine. Nor i# not my fault if it accords with the modern idea of develop: ment, There was more Darwinism in Paul than there isin Derwin. Had Darwin had the spostie’s acquaintance he would have eoted him a8 & teacher of hia theory, while Paul would have co mended Darwin to’ pursue his thought to source and become a faithful Christian. How ‘he bsiges were sacred to voluptu. | i | | | | i | peals to the senses, Paul said to them, “It is not | | of the opinion that men and women would work to interest Mr. Beecher took in the present leciure | better advantage in occupying their proper places and not endeavoring to seek positions they were not intended to Mill, TALMAGE AT THE ACADEMY, A Question of the Present—-What Shall ‘We Do witn Christ !—Monsters of In< gratitude=Prhe Greatest Surprise of Eternity. The days of the Tabernacle people's occupation of the Academy are drawing toa close. On Sun- day, the 22d inst,, the new Tabernacle, which hag been erected on the site of the former edifice, wilk be formally dedicated to the service of God, and the dedication will be the great rcligious event of that day in Brooklyn, Clergymen of all the Protestant denominations in the city, it is an- nounced, will participate in the exercises. Mr. Talmage announced yesterday that ou Monday, the 23d, there would bea great organ concert at the new church, and the people would not only have a chance to see and hear an instrument not surpassed by any of its kind on this Continent but would also have an opportunity to materially agaist the church. “What we want now,’ added the pastor, “is not so much your kind wishes as your PRACTICAL ASSISTANCE.) The sermon yesterday morning was upon the question :—“What Shall We Do with Jesus?” sug- gested by the inquiry of Pilate after the release of Barabbas, just previous to the crucifixion. The congregation in the Academy was large, as usual, In commencing, Mr. Talmage remarked that there were two or three things we might do with | Him. In the Grst place, said he, you may let Him stand without a word of recognition; but I don’t think your sense of common courtesy will allow that, Ho comes walking ou such a long journeyr you will certainly hand Him a chair on which to sit, He is 80 weary you cannot let Him stand without seme recognition, Your common hamanity and sympathy and common sense of prop. iety will not allow you to let Him stand without reco; tion, Another thing you can do with Him is, that you can thrast Him back from your heart and tell Hitm to stand aside, If you don’t like His society os bid Him away. Aye, If He will not go, you TAKE HIM BY THE THROAT and tell Him you do not want His interference, It He will not [dks that way then you can stam) (She foot, as you would ata dog, and cry “Begone |’ ‘et I know you will not treat Jesus that way. Why, Pilate could not do that—you could not. There is another thing you can do with Him. You can look on Him merely ag an optician to cure blind eycs, an aurist, a good friend, a helpfal pours @ cheerful passenger on shipboard; bat wi amount to nothing. You can jook upon Hum as & God, and be abashed while He rouses the storm or blasts a fg tree or heaves a rovk down the moun. tain side. That will no more save your soul than the admiration you bave for Jobn Milton or Oliver Cromwell, The best and only sate thing you can do with Him is to take Him into your hearts. Take Christ into your confidence. If you cannos trust Him who cad you trust? J do not offer you a dry theological techuicaitty. I simply ask you to coma and put both feet on the Rock of Ages. Take hold of Christ’s hands and draw Him to your soul with perfect abandonmont, and hurl yourselves Into the deep sea of His mercy. He coms aud eays, “ Will save you.” It you do not think He 1s A HYPOCRITE AND A LIAR ‘whon be says that, believe Him and Bay, * Jesus, I believe. Here is my soul. Wash tt it; doit now.” Aye, it is done. You put more t in everybody and everything than you do in Feeee ehonen fe stands tols morning offering wutversal pardon to all who Want it. All things for noting. ‘This is the wnolc Gospel as 1 under- stand it, that if you believe Christ died to save you you are ey » When? Now, About It than that there is a G Again, ladvise you that one of the beat things you oan do with Christ is to take Him into your love. Now, there are two things fiat make ua love any one—inherent attractiveness and then what he does in the way of Kindness to us. Obrist is im botn those positions, Inherent attractivencea, fairer than the chilaren of men. The iustre of tne morning in His eye. The glow of the setting sun in eek, Myrrh and trankiocense in the breath lip. In @ heaven of holy beings the best; in a heaven of great hearts the tenderest and most sympathetic. Why, sculpture has never yot been able to chisel His form, nor painting to present the fush of His cheek, nor music to strike Bia charms, and THE GREATEST SURPRISE OF ETERNITY ‘Will be at the first moment when we rash into His CONTINUED ON NINTH PAGE, No more doubt