The New York Herald Newspaper, April 20, 1874, Page 4

4 f from the context a vivid picture of the earnest CHRIST AND THE CHURCH. | anxiety of the publican Zacchieus to behold Jesus in his passage through Jericho. THIRTY-3EVENTH STREET MeTHODIST CHUKCH.— Christianity and Its Progress Por- ty." hev. wimam Meredith gave some valuable les. | \tray 0 | sons in the true spirit of religion, He, first of all, : ed by the Preachers. | believed that Christ’s people must be honest and speak the truth, He could not believe in a man | there to boast of bis religion. To be truly religious they must take care of their families, of their hon- esty, of their morals, of their business. DR. ADAMS’ FAREWELL. “Beecher’s Denunciation of Ec- | ox Sterer Cavrew.—tn this church, near | Bushwick avenue, Brooklyn, Rev. G. H. Anderson, clesiastical Machinery. its new pastor, opened his commission yesterday morning by discoursing from II, Corinthians, x., 4. — His subject was, “The Weapons the Christian Fights Wita,” Aman became a Christian aiter a severe FROTHINGHAM AND HABIT. struggie, and to contunue a faituial Curistian | soldier subjected one to incessant conflict with sin, error and Satan, Prayer, faith and truth were the . weapons with which great spiritual victories The Dedication of the Churem | yoiii ie achieve. of the Holy Trinity. | BRoapway Meraopisr HrisvoraL CHURCH, —_—— | BROOKLYN.—There was a large congregation at Kev. J. Parker, the newly appointed pastor of tue Broadway Methodist Episcopa!l church, Kosci- the Warren street Methodist Episcopal church, | ¥8kO street, near Broadway, yesterday morning, Brooklyn, preached to a guod congregation yester- | to hear the newly appointed pastor, Rev. Robert day morning. | P. Christopher. The reverend speaker took for his my | text the gospel for the day, and delivered a torci- The Rev. F, ©. Hil! preached an interesting ser- | hie qiscourse, in which he arged his hearers to mon to a large congregation yesterday morning at the Johnson street Methodist Episcopal chureh, corner of Jay and Jolnson streets, Brooklyn. York Srneer Meruoprisr ErtscoraL Caurca.— PLYMovra Baptist CHURCH.—A moderate num- There was a numerous congregation at the York | yer were in attendance at the morning service Street Methodist Episcopat church, Brooklyn, at yesterday. Previous to the sermon the pastor, the “torner of York and Gold streets, yesterday Rey, », Henry Miller, in announcing that shortly morning, (0 listen to @ sermon by the pastor, Rev. wonid ve given the first public entertainment of + er jean the Church Social Union, at which the California Hanson PLACE Meruopisr Episcoran Caurcu.— | singers would assist, urged on the members to An effective sermon was Gelivered before a fuir- show # hearty interest in the undertaking and co- sized congregation by the pastor, Rev. Emory J. operate towards its success, The sermoo, in Haynes, at the principal service yesterday. The | elucidation of the idea that fear is the perfection s, “The principle of fasts and total ab- | of an opposite emotion to that of love, was devel- stinence. nd treated of the cause whichis now | oped from the words in 1. Johu, v., 1s—“There 1s struggling for supremacy in battling with the evil | no Jear in love.” influences which beset mankind. The discourse | was attentively listened to throughout. | | and keep His commandments tn ali things, that they may enjoy eternal nappiness. AVENUE LEXINGTON Mrraopist EPISCOPAL ner of Fifty-second street, Rev. Dr. J. B. Wakely, the pastor, took his text from Isatah, lit, 7— “How beauti{ul upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace.” ple with the very grandest tidings, which ought to Tur FREE TABBRNACLE.—The pulpitof the Meth- odist Hpiscopal charch Free Tabernacle, in Thirty- jourth street, Was occupied yesterday by the Rey. lL. H. King, D. D., who preached tor the first time to this congregation, to which he has recently been transferred. The mutual duties of Christian oblt- * gatious, in the intercourse of individuals one with | another, was the theme of his discourse. | Suout'with joy. Mankind was lost, bat the tidings »-sshsiricalling | were fraught with the hopes of salvation. The Turetiz;t STREET MeTHOpistT EPrscoras | choir in this church is to be especially commended. Cuvrcu.—The Rev. Mr. Bishop, who has just veen sont t fi transferred to the above named church, addressed | TABERNACLE Barrist Ouvecu.—This church, his new congregation yesterday for the first time, | Stamdiug on the corner of Hicks and Rapelyea The text was taken irom Philippians, ii., 5—‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ | Jesus.” The lesson inculcated was the duties and obligations of Christian believers. aiter having been closed for the past few weeks for renovatiou. It has been cleaned and very tasteiully painted, both inside and out. The front | pipes of the organ have also been very beautilully First METHopisT Episcopal Cuurca.—The Rev. | illuminated. All praise for this complete transfor- | John Gregg filled the pulpit yesterday at morning mation ts due to the ladies of the congregation, service in the First Methodist church, West who began a subscription for the purpose of fur- ‘Thirty-seventh street. He took histext from the _ niahing the new church, but, that not having been 103d Psalm, in these words:—“Bless the Lord, 0 built, concluded to beautify the old one, my soul; snd all that is within me bless His holy | aR | name.” The preacber strongly exhorted his hear- | CHURCH OF THE PavList Faruers.—The Church ers to persevere in the steadfast practice of | 0! the Paulist Fathers, corner Filty-ninth street | Christian piety. | and Ninth avenue, was well filed yesterday morn- ing by a devout and attentive congregation. Rev. Father stone sang mass. The brilliantly lighted altar, the costly robes of the officiating priest, the | black and white garments o1 the choir, and the seariet gowns of the acolytes combined to forma most attractive scene. Rev. Father Searies preached trom the text, “Poliow me,” saying that it was a mistake tor laymen to think priests had an easy course to Heaver mapped out for them. | Although they were ever near the sacraments ana the means of grace, they would be held the more in strict accountability. He asked for the prayers of the congregation for the iathers, as they ae- pended much upon them jor strength irom on high. Thessalonians, v., 12 and 13, beginning—“We be- | WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BROOK- seech you, brethren, to know tuine which labor | LyN.—Yesterday this simple and tasteiul church was among you,” &c. The preacher sought to convey | wel attended by the ordinary congregation, and, a Moral by showing in strong lights the reciprocal | alter the usual services and the reading of numer- duties of pastor and people. | ous notices, the pastor, Rev. Clement 6. French, "age | preached a very eloquent sermon irom the text, EwarexnTH STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL | «Take heed that ye derpise not one of these little | Cavnou.—Rev. M. S, Terry preached yesterday | ones; for 1 say unto you, That in heaven their morning in the Eighteenth street church, and | angeis do always behoid the face of mv Facner taking for bis text the twentieth chapter of St. | whicn is in heavew. For the Son of man 1s come to Matthew, the parable of the nousehvlder hiring | save that which was lost."—Mait., xviiL, 10, 11, laborers for his vineyard. The moral of tne rever- | as Jesus Christ in the days 0! old taught his end gentleman's discourse was that we should do disciples to be humble and harmless, so the pastor good for its own sake alone, without regara to any | impressed upon his flock the necessity of their benefits or profits that might be expected to ac- + being kind and considerate toward their fellow St, Lexe’s Metaopist EpiscoraL CHURCH, The congregation of tnis church itstened yesterday to a discourse irom the Rey. J. F. McClelland, The text chosen was from the first chapter of St. Paul's epistie to the Colossians and the third verse—"We give thanks to God and tne Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.’ The pastor inculcated the usevulness of prayer and supplica- tions to the throne of divine grace TweNtTy-rocrTs STREET METHODIST ErrscoraL CuurcH.--Tie new pastor of this church, the Rev. ‘Thomas Lodge, preached yesterday his first ser- mon to his new flock. The teat was chosen from crue trom it. | men. Despise not the young man or young Forty-rnirp STREET CHURCH.—A large congre- , Woman tottering on the brink, who may come to gation attended yesterday the morning service, You S’kimg counsel and the way to lead which was conducted by their new pastor, Rey. @ Christian life. We are to have # fmendly and brotheriy feeling for our tellow Christians, without any regard to their worldly standing, tor we are all breturen in the sight of God. Neither | are we to estimate our iellow Christians for tal- ents or their excellence of character. The pastor said these thoughts were sometimes expressed | best in poetry, and read a beautiful description of eee | the double effect of talents from vollock’s “Course FLeRT STREET METHODIST Episcorau Carrcs, | of Time.” The possession of great gifts may be Broowiyn,—The Rey. W.C. Steci, who has just | good in the one case, while in the other they may been appointed pastor of the Fleet street Metho- be useless, if they are without end and aim, dist Episcopal church, preached au effective ser- | The greater the gifts sanctified to God the greater mon to a large congregation at that church yester- | the man may be. Look upon the heart, and not day morning. ‘he reverend genticman, who will | npon the outward appearance, as doth God. We douvtiess become as popular with his new charge ought not to regard men in reiation to their weak- as was his predecessor, was formerly pastor of the | ness. Some men are born oaks, some willows and Beekman Hill Methodist Episcopal church, New some vines. It was a popular belief in those days York, | that every one had an attendant angel, Firry-cHinp STREET BaPTisT CHURCH.—The pastor | pes oot papper our al eae ofthis church, Rev. Willlam H. Pendleton, occupiea | #2 4ngelic ministration. You and] affect to de- te pulpit at the morning service yesterday. The 4 2 attendance was not very numerous. The subject , 880M 1s that one shoula esteem every otuer bet- vi the discourse was “Justification by Faith,” | %T ‘lan Limself. founded on the text, Romans, v. 1-2—“Therefore, | CCLESLAS' AL being justified by iaith, we have grace with God | EC TIC through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we oo have access by faith into this grace wherein we | @iand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” | Yesterday morning, as usual. Beiore Mr. Beecher's arrival, Mr. T. G. Sherman, the clerk of the soci- | ety, gave notice that this evening achurch meet- | ing would be held in the lecture room for the pur- | pose of considering the subject of a six months’ W. H. Mickie, who has been appointed in succes- sion to Rey. L. H. King. An appropriate sermon to the commencement of his officiate on the ne- cessjty and good of labor and unitedness of effort was evolved by the preacher from the words in the latter part of Nehemiah, iv., 6—“For the people had a mind to work.” WEAENESS. BeexMaN Wilt, MeTnopist CHURCH.—At this church, which is in Fiftieth street, between First and Second avenues, Kev. W the newly appointed pastor, pre: mon, It was favorably received, and the congre- gation scemed to be well pleased with their new | with the recent vote oi the socicty. After Mr. Beecher had read the notices for the week he minister. He took his text from St. John, ti., 16, | alluded to the clerk’s action in the following and gave an earnest and warm colored exposition | terms:—It has been announced, I under of the pressing, irresistible “imporvunity of God's | stand, that @ meeting will be heid for | love.” ‘Tue whole Gospel scheme, based on God's importunate love. he said, was | the consideration of @ vacation for the pastor. & he church, I shall take take the oppor. Saxos Street Meruopist Ertscora, Cuvrcu.— raborseis ia There was an attentive as emblage gathe “t you can do as you please, If you have been in- the Sands street Methodist Episcopal church, yitag here to vote me six months’ vacation I ad- near Fulton street, yesterday jorenoon. The piety vise yon to stay at home, and not attend, because of the people was not altogether unmingled, per- would be “love's labor lost.” I appreciate, cer- haps, with curiosity, growing out of a desire to could di tainly, as ch as sire me to, ail listen to their newiy appointed pastor, Rev. etnly, Se eee a re George Taylor, The reverend gentleman preached a torcinie sermon on Christian duty, which evi- aently left a iavorable impression upon his tearers. affection—they are profoandiy dear to me; but sometimes affection is not wise, and certainly, in such a case as this, I take it that fama better Stmrson Meruopist Eriscorar Cavrca.—“Let Jee than you are of what ts best for you and for us build up the wall of Jerusalem that webeno Me Now, f think it is best for you to more a reproach,” formed the text, from Nehe. KeeP On going to church and hear good miab, it, 17, selected by the Rev. WwW. R, Preaching until tt is hot weather; and it isa great Davis, of the Stimpson Methodist Episcopal church, “#4! betier ior me to stay here and do my duty iu Clermont avenue, for nis discourse yesterday morning. His subject was “The Relations of Pastor and People.” The congregation was not as large as formerly and some attribute it to the fact of the selling of the pews and the dismissal of the choir, i don’t need any vacation, 1 have a good strong body, thank God, and I take care of it. . 1 see to it While 1am holding up the laws of morality to you that Ido not trausgress the moral law of health. cabeadinndcial i make it @ OCnristian duty to sleep at the right Sr. Jomy’s Caurcn.—Kev. J. M. King, from Sara- | time and enough, and to be wide awake and to toga, has been appointed to the pastorate of this | work at the rigit time, believing that work, in a church in succession to Rev. A. D. Vail, and will | healthy body, is the healthiest thing thata man assame charge next Sunday, There was a fair | cando. And so, althougn tie care and trust of number in attendance in the morning yesterday. | Such a responsibility as is commited to me and Rev. G. C. Osra occupied the pulpit, and, using as | you 1% @ very serious ove, and I work his text the words in Luke—xix., 10—“For the Son | courageously and bhopefnily, yet | am not as of Man is come to seek and to save that which was | much wasted by the same amount of work as many lost,” delivered an eloquent discourse on the uni- | men would be who work on @ diferent principle, versal mission of mercy towards all classes inour | and who bave less given thom in the matter of Lord's vind vo Garth, im ilustration drawing | Lealwa and strenmt 1 don't uoed this ix monvua’ At this church, No. 222 East Thirty-seventh street, | | who neglected his iamily, and then went to church | turn their thoughts and desires to God, to see Him | CuuRcH.—At this chureh, Lexington avenue, cor- | The minister, he said, came to the peo- | thrul their hearts and cause them to cry out and | streets, South Brooklyn, was reopened yesierday | | Christ Christ | ‘There is an attend- | Spise those for whom Jesus Clrist died. The grea: | Plymouth church, Brooklyn, was densely crowded | | leave of absence for the pastor, in accordance | Although J am not accustomed to overrule any ac- | tunity here to make @ remark on this subject; then | your public and silent tokens of confidence and | than to go scooting of to foreign countries when | vacation; at any rave, I don’t need it now. When ido I'lt take it, Until Ido you have got to “take | it every Sunday. So, then, you may anticipate | regular preaching through the month of May, aud probably through the month of June, when I prob- ably shall seek recreation among the mountains | After that I'shall hope to return to you early in | the autumn, ready to take up the work again and 0 on with it to the end, THE SERMON. | | The robust preacher then chose for his text the | Afth chapter of Galauans, the twenty-second | to the twenty-sith verses inclusive—“But | the fruit of the spirit is love, Joy, | peace, long sutiering, gentieness, g00d- ness, faith, Meekness, temperance; against such there is nulaw, And they that are Clirist’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Wwe live in the spirit let us also walk im the spirit. Let us not be desirous of y; lory, provers one another, envying one another.’’ ‘om this passage I mean to ask and to answer the question | unis morning, Why it is that Christianity bas made so little progress in vhis world? It isa question worthy of our consideration. to get rid of my summer infiction of hay fever. | pufllng | that be blows and blows untal it is deed, religion there?’ “For I derter- min he, “to know nothing amon, Bera Sa source of , morsl power, excep Christ and Him crucified.” I come to disclose to AUR Boral phenomena. God manifests Himself in the person of His Son, and takes upon Himself the burden of our guiit;' is willing vo suffer that He may bring, mén up to the power of such a dis- closure; and by asimple relying on the natural | relations: between such things and the human moral tastes. That was the secret of my power when I came among you, T00 MUCH THEOLOGY. Thirdly, the progress of Christianity has been de- | layed, or prevented, because it has made it kvowl- ge, and not charity. Paul says, ‘Knowledge pufl- | eth up, but charity edifeth.”” harity, of course, | he means that divine central spirit of iove which | #8 Mother and nurse of every other good quality in the soul, The eXact antithesis does not exist in Our translation, because “puffing up” calls atten- tion to the process rat! to the re- sult. But if you have ever noticed a boy up a bladder you will know that start this new ed,” said 1d now it is some use to him as a foowball; bus it has not grown—it is puffed up and big, but What was the power that Jesus Himself manifested—what was the secret? He was & dew, the most abhorred gation of antiquity. He never separated Himself from the manners | and customs of His people. He worshipped iu their synagogue and in their tempie just as they did. He never wrote @ line nor a word of theology or philosophy, He never was ordained and never | took upon Himself any official relation to mankind | any more than to His own people, There is not & | single thing in all His speeches, as recorded by | | His disciples, that looks like organizing men. | There canbe nothing that has its origin in the con- | ceptions of men possibly su absurd asthe contrast | | between the teaching of Christ, in respect to the | Christian life, and the enormous and Baleious or- | nism of Christian churches, which profess to have jevived their authority and their forms trom Jim. | ‘The question is one of profound importance. What_ is the secret of the ee of this personage, Who | appeared so many hu ears age, WOO Was not aman of the State, who did not organize & body or a sect, hor wrote anything—what was Ills power? It was the simple | Beep of a higher type | ol manhood than any that haa been known in the | | world beiore, 1t carries with it aiso, by intereuce, the deduction that there is more power in the simple disclosure of a divine life than in any other source whatsoever, It was the maniiestation | of a meeknews, @ gentieness, a sympathy, @ patience, a self-denial, a truthiuiness, a lovableness and a lovingness, with such strength and naturalness ag lifts His personal | character above all” that ever lived on wwe lace of the earth; and the simple exmibition in His life and | teachings, as they were recorded by others—tue simple exhibition of the character of tiie Lord Jesus Christ—has been the secret of His moral | | power in the world from that day to this—a new | type and a higher type of possible manhoot | HUMANITY THE INTERPRETER OF GOD'S NATURE, That is notail. From that higher concepuon ot | manhood, symmetrized and disclosed in Him, 18 derived and derivable alt bhiguer conceptions ot God’s character since the only reveta- | dion that brings down to us any true Knowledge of God is one’s higher personal experience, and outside of possible human experience there 13 no knowing God in His moral attributes and disposition; and whatever, there- fore, exalts any single member of the human race | above the altitude it had occupied before makes a | Jeas through which new revelations of divinity | come tous. Aud where the highest qualities that | beiong to human nature are exalted in this way, | | and wuere they are comoined in symmetry anu | | harmony, there comes to us a mighwer reve.ation | of truth, the inner nature of God. MORAL EXCELLENCE THE SOURCE OF POWER. | And these two sources of power stand together in tne Lord Jesus Carist, It was the goodness of God maniested in Jesus Carist, in His personal | churacter and lle, that constituted or raised up that moral influence which has existed and does exist in subjects of revelation, which has been stronger than the sword, more power/ul | than the allurements of pleasure, which has exe | alted the race and 1s stiliexulting it. And it all ues in that outwork—the personal attributes of the | Lord Jesus Christ, Where, aay. of Curistianity im the world? It is the real force | 1s in the living | force of those men who have exhibited this view | | of Christ's liie and who are living as He lived. | The force of Caristianity 18 notin the cathedrais, the temples, the synagogues, the churches, or in any organization or denomuation, but it lies in the simple, the individual exceilence and power of | those who are Christ’s; individuals who have | the same essential traits and qualities as existed | in their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. And if | there be any power in Christianity worth preserv- ing in the world, it is the unorganized, ever living jorce of human nature, sanctified, inspired and lifted up by the power o: God, The real lorce, his- | torically, has been the same. If you look back along the line of ecclesiastical history you wilt see that church organizations have exerted a | great power in the world, but I do not think | you Will find that they have exerted a power | jor good rather than tor barm. If you 100k | into the great diferent representative bodies of Christendom, the great councils of the Church, back to the very eariiest period, you shall find that | organized Christianity has been the poorest guide. | if there has been no other power in the worid than that which has been exerted by organized | churches, religion would have sunk long ago. It | has not been the Church that has preserved reli- gion; it has been religion that has preserved the Church, 1t has not been the priesthood that has | pieserved the morality of tae laity; it has been the uuiple Caristian lives of obscure persons in the jaity that nave saved toe priesthood. As in the power lies not in any dis- i play of organization or systematic presenta. | ton of docirine, but the power of a boly nature, so the Jorce im historical Christianity 1s the de- | velopment of his sweet qualities im so many individual persons and not in their organization; for churches have been like caves. You go iutu those Vast caves where every one 1s quiet, as peo- ple want them to be in churci, where tue tempera- ture never varies much frum forty (which you don’t Want in the church to-day) and where every- thing 18 formal, a8 peopie Want them to be in | church. From the roof there hangs down the quiet stalactite, growing downward; below you see the | stalagmite growing upwards from the bottom, but | atl coid and precise in the darkness of the cave. Thea comes one Inan with a torcu who waiks through, and all that is in tas cave becomes briiliant an beautitul—in what ¥ In itself? No; in the light of | one mau’s candle or vworch, Here are ehurches | with their archbish ps and cardinals and different | orders o1 priesthood and with tueir holy men and | Salnis—great cavernous bodies tilicd with men all | bard and white and cold like the limestone stalac- | | tites. Now and then some holy woman casts @ holy lignt over all, and whatever 1s true and beau- | titul is made so in the single lignt of some individ- | Ual Whose lile is an exponent o1 the ioving dispo- | sition of Christ. 4 CHALLENGE TO CHURCH AUTHORITY. Why has Vnristianity made so little progress in the world? For if you look over the condition of | Alrica, 01 Asia, 01 the continents of North and | Souch America, and some parts ol Kurope, you will | see that although much has been done compared with what was to be done very littie ig as yet ac- | complished, Weil, first they that have stood for Christianity in this world have assumed authority over men, in God's nane attempting ib | religion what was attempted in politics— namely, to govern men wivhout their consent. ow ircedom, we have learned, is the lie of tue state; that despotism, however | banay it may be, makes poor men; it may make easy government, but makes poor citizens. | | Liberty however inauy struggies it may have, or | | however, Inany storms it may brave, in the long | run makes stronger citizens ana more resources | | Ol strengto in toe ptate. Liverty is just ag essen- tiaiin the Church a8 in the State; and no man | ordained to preach has any authority over any- | body, and the Church that usurps autnority in the | name ot God is just as monstrous and just as de- | testable as aay government on the earth. be If religion 1s to be anything it 18 to Spontaueous, and no Churcn should go jorth and hold up its tenets as tne light for other men’s cousctences—saying, ‘believe | tals and in this way or be damued!’” It should be | @ very grave offence when an individual man in re- spect to his own afiairs says, “you be damned,” | but let an officer of the Cuurch put on the great rove Ol his office, a split cap on his head and a long stat in bis band, and let him say, “you | damned.” and it 1s claimed he has doné no wrong. | i don’t think “you be damned” is any better irom @ churchinan’s lips thab irom the lips of any other man; it is vulgar, at any rate, and an official ‘‘be damned” is a great deal worse than a personal one. | You cannot develop the fruits of the spirit by | coercive influences. The fruit of ‘‘the Spirit 18 | love, joy, peace, long suilering, gentieness, good- | | Mess, Iaith, meckuess, temperance.” Go out now | with cannon and sword to iny side hill, for I have | @ great deal of grass there that seems reluctant to | come up. ‘turn the fire company into that patch of | | ground to force the grass to grow by squirting Water at it; send che military to tire at 1t; magis- trates, With warrants in their hands, to bring the grass up. Can they make it grow? No; it has got to grow O1 itself, All you caa do is tu make the tem- perature a little better—inat comes with the revolv- | Ing suu—and to nourish it aud care for it. No man | can go with whar and, driving it under the root Of a tree, say “Grow, or peris! or toa bush and | say, “Blossoin, or be b:ighted." And ifyou cannot do | it With these physical attributes or elements how | much less can you do it with those qualities of the soul that spring forth at will. Can you go to another and say, “Love me,” snd make that im- perious and expect obedience? No more than you can, While being iovely, avoid | being loved. Can you say, “Be joyful,” when | men are bent down with sorrow? Can you say to | | the troubled, “Have peace?” There was a voice that | couid say to the storms, ‘“Iiush!’ and they obeyed; | | but has man that power? And can he successtully say to anguish, to bereavement and remorse, Peace, be stili!’? These “fruits of the Spirit? | are (0 pe sent jorth into the world, and can you | develop them by arrogance of conscience ? No. | There wast be spontaneity or there will be noth- | | ing, and all that arrogance of authority over men | ig an assumption not derivable irom God's Word, | | and in all its experience constantly showing itself | to be of the earth, earthy. MALIGN POWER IN CHURCH ORGANIZATION. ‘The introduction, secondly, o! the malign ele- | ment by which it has been attempted to spread | Christianity has been @ capital offence, and the to be large. But only thing that builds , the other vloats; and Paul's ‘ation is that knowledge, pure and simple, tends to produce amoung men an immense infiation | sacrifices to obtain his favor, and no one knew | it is witht, ag a pin will demonstrate, Now, Paul says knowledge bdiow @ man up, makes him look big, and he seems to himeelf and sense of importance; but that charity, the es sential spirit of Christ, is the thing that bulids men, that augments, enlarges and strengthens them and tends to iit them upwards, But con- sider what theology has attempted to do, To un- jold the whole of the divine nature. It ts not ible to-day to un‘old the Divine nature in a scientific and systematic way; vur knowledge of God is simply experience. CHRISTIAN SALVATION. Sormon by Rev. George H. Hepworth. Mr. Hepworth’s Church of the Disciples was filed yesterday morning by an appreciative audi- ence, the larger portion of which were ladies, Mr. Hepworth took for his text Acts, xili, 262—“To you is the word of this salvation sent.’? These words were addressed to the people of Antioch by St. Paul, and the reverend gentleman commenced his discourse by describing the situation and mixed population of that city and the wonder and aston- | | | ishment which the hearers of that disciple must have felt at hearing such @ new religion preached to them. The religion of Christ was very different from any they had heard of before, and yet the people of that city and Athens were accustomed to witness the ceremonies of its votaries in the various tem- ples. A principal portion of the population was composed of merchants—a generous body of men— and it appeared that religious toleration was ex- | tended to all and that Antioch was cosmopolitan | in its character, rendered so by its extensive com- merce, In this respect it resembled our own city of New York. St. Paul told the people of Antioch what seemed to them a strange | story. He brought to them the precepts of Mount Sinai and of the Sermon on the Mount; he preached to them a religion which was ancient and new—he had come to preach their salvation. The god recognized by the ancient pagans was avery. different one from that revealed by St. Paul. The lormer was @ god guided by caprices and whims, to whom it was considered necessary to offer what he might doonthe morrow. The god of the old pagan world was like a spoiled child; he was guided solely by nis own pleasures and required to be propitiated; he was considered to own the | world, not to have any love or compassion for it. | It was very little better with the Hebrews in their appreciation of the great Jehovah. These nations | of antiquity feared God, but did not dare to trust in Him wi would do just as he pleased. St. | Paul said in effect, “{ have come to tell | you of a different being, to give you altogether a new conception of the Deity.’’ He came to tell them of a God who was the same to-day and yes- terday—o‘ a Being not ruled by caprice, who aid nothing of His own pleasure, but was guided by eternal justice; who made us promises upon cer- tain conditions, which, if we obeyed, He kept, and | whose desire was that they should be saved from their sins. We did not appreciate the sweetness | and the aroma o! St. Paul’s sermon to these peo- | le, becauge we had heard the story so often and om our childhood. When St. aul stated his ideas of God he laid the foundation of a human | religion—a religion of common sense—and which | appealed to every heart. From that moment our | reugion was built upon granite, and it could not be shaken. *SALVATION, God's Word was the same at present as 1t was | then, but God demanded the personal co-cperation of man to work out nis salvation; He would not do it all Himseif; there was His promise on the one hand and the conditions on the other; if we kept the conditions God would keep His promise, The question may be asked “What need 1s there of salvation?” ‘Cannot | go on,” aman may say, and lead @ quiet life and do my best and feel cer- tain that 1 shall come out all right at last? Why | should [ join a church, tor instance?” Or, “I have paid my pew rent; is not that enough?” No, tt is notenough. The Christian religion is a personal matter. God's relationship was not with any crowd of persons, bat with each individual that made up the sale He saved by the unit. God was a@ different God to one man trom | that whicn he was to another. He was the God f individuals who had each his trials and troubles. God’s grace might not come to us presently—to-day or to-morrow, or this month or this year; but the conditions being performed on our part it would come. THE NECESSITY UF PRAYER, We could plead with God and beseecu and reason | with Him; we could hold communion with Him; we could tell Him what we wanted done. God would hear our prayers and acswer them, and | dissipate our doubts and cause them to vanish | into thin alr. Were they conscious of salvation ? He (Mr. Hepworth) was all the time. Did we not need salvation? Were they ready to stand before | God? He was not; he wanted something he had | not got. They might ask him why?’ He would reply that when he read that book (the Old Testa- | ment) he was frightened; tt was there written that | ifhe did not obey the 1aw he should die; and yethe | had periodically brokep one of the Ten Command- ments, and it was the same as to tne New Testa- ment. When he looked into his own soul he saw the necessity for salvation. God had sent His own Son into the world for the salvation of mankind. But man must work with God to obtain it, He assisted man in sectring his salvation, but man must seek God to procure it. Christ was our per- sonal friend, and we could not obtain salvation without his aid. THE NATURE OF SALVATION, Mr. Hepworth concluded his discourse by ex- pisining what he considered real religion to be. ‘irst, he said, religion ts a personal thing; God de- sires, through Christ, to save you. He can save you and will save you if you cd-operate with Him nd keep your heart aright and trust—biindly | trust—in Him. Secondly, Christ is the symbol of everything beautitul in live, and of every hope and aspiration. ¢ services were concluded with singing and prayer. THE LAW OF HABIT. Sermon by the Rev. 0. B. Frothingham. The Rev. 0, B. Frothingnam delivered an inter- eating discourse yesterday morning at Lyric Hall, | on the “Law of Habit,” before an audience, which, | perhaps, in consequence of the fineness of the | ‘weather, was scarcely 80 numerous as usual, took for his text the eleventh veri nounced what we may call the fidelity, the doom of habit. The word “habit” is by some said to be de, rived from the Latin word ‘“haveo” (to have), and describes the interior Dosses- | sions that make ® man—that have the man, perhaps, more certainly than the man can be said to bave them. Others, however, say Uhat it comes from “habdtio” (to dwell), and de- scribes the state of impressions or influences or thoughts in which the man dwells—in which he is locked up, perhaps, as in @ cell, and winch he makes his home, his fortress. Mr. Frothingham then quoted a passage from Ruskin’s ‘Modern Painters," in which that author describes with ad- mirable eloquence the slowness with which the | peaks and pinnacles of mountain scenery have been fashioned, and compares this process to the formation of the habits which make up individual character, The speaker then said the Hudson River flowed from time immemorial from its source, and has poured through the meadows, ploughing tts deep and steady way toward the eternal sea, and first hamlets and then towns and then beautifal cities have grown along its banks, and centres of trade been slowly formed there, and stately vessels now go up and down its broad surface; and yet, if we go back in imagination to the time when the vapors from which its beginnings have been formed were slowly gathering in the | Mountain tops, and conceive of some sportive cniid, playing with a chip, amusing itseli by turn- reason Why so little progress has veen made, in Paul's reminiscences of hia labors among the | Corinthians he gives u4 some account of himself, He must have said, “Here am I, a wandering Je going to the most dissolute and elegant city of Greece, a city devoted to pieasure, full of sopaists, rhetoricians philosophers, genteel and elegant (men of sgignee aad Liveravure, Sow, how alailt ing afew trickling drops from the channel in | which they seemed disposed to flow, and saying, | “Little brooklet, not toward the south, but tow- ard the north shall be your course,” what would | have become of the beautiful town and rich city, | where belore charity Was but a spurt of jet here aud the Vast trade, | aud Viere upon u sluBOlg ONjeCt Of Mity. Rolerying (and the blooming meadow, | than the dark side, because, uniess the good were He | day, and traced the rise and progress of the Pres- of the | byterian churcn to tuis day in this city. Not more twentieth chapter of the Apocalypse—‘‘Let him | than twelve or fiiteen members of this church were that is unjust be unjust still; let him that be filthy | members at the beginning. One happy couple who be filthy still,” &c. He said that these words an- | joined the church forty years ago were then pres- | Hawiev, | | | tories, and compared our material pi | the flesh. NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1874.—TRIPLE SHEET. ana tne stat metro} in which we live? Nay, even the fortanes of the whole one would have been alt and would have “lowed in other channels, as the river took another course at the beck of a little child. We talk of nature’s laws as if they were certain eternal forces, originating in the of the Supreme, and started 1 h the predestined track millions of years ago—iiving creatures, living beings- when they are simply Dature’s habits. eg simply os way that nature has @ way that it has of strock into, because it was the easiest and the most conventent. the path of the least friction; but having struck into it, on and on tt goes century after century. What, after all, is our Planet but a ball of habits? Our whole worid roils on and revolves around the sun, because it has grown used to di it. The probability is that there is no law which has not thus been formed. Even the mechanica! laws, which seem the most in- ee Aero id, the law EA cores porn aps, sil} ways of goin; t things have Tatton into, a way og going which has become @ highway and a track across the infinite ex- inse. Mr. Frothingham illustrated this doctrine y alluding to the gradual process by which species are formed in the animal kingdom. and by the slowness with which the human senses are edu- cated to strength and precision. He continued :— And habit hus influence even our minds, Our minds are made up of iterated and reiterated attempts at thinking. Every con- ception involves conceptions endless; every Coes tae ee endless. Accumulated Fences, guesses, compari- sons, all go’ together ‘and become "welded and compact, until at last we have the individual mind. And what is education but the formation of men- tal habits? What is training but the excluding of bad habits and the forming of good ones? roel shall we not press the analogy further? Is not the human heart subject to the same law of habitt_ Do we love inevitably?. Are we true a8 @ matter of course? 1s fidelity a virtue which is planted in us and will stay in us whether we desire it or not? Not so. We know that it is only by constant exer- cise, by perpetual practice, by melting affections, impulses, throbs of feeling together, so that they become constant to one thing, that what we call the truth of the heart comes to be recog- nt There no head, no love, no constancy, except as these fine habits of feeling, these pure and sweet dispositions are cultivated aud kept up and followed on until the grand end is attained. And at last we come to this thing we call conscienco—the moral sense. Is it a delinite entity which is put in us and which will discharge its work under suitable conditions? No, it ts the resuit of infinitesimally smali and endlessly practised habitudes which have become at last 80 Wonted, so familiar to us that we follow | them as we breathe, or, at least, without thinking. Nay, character, the inmost thing of all—character, which is the person, the man, tie woman, wuich stands like the everlasting hills and never changes; honesty, which bolds on in its course unflinching!ly, which pays its way without a single question; purity, which takes no stain in an evil world— hese things which compose what we call the per- son, how are they formed? They are the result of endless practisings, ‘This, in a word, is the law of habit. You see how vast its sweep is. You see how minute its operations are. People speak of habits asi they were like outer garments that could be thrown off at will, and some oi them are. But often, when they get to be habits, they are gar- ments which cannot be thrown off without ex- posing the person to serious danger, and oftener still they are garments that cling so closely to the skin that they cannot be torn off without tearing nd again, they may be garments which are the integuments of the man himself, which are the man’s outward frame and present- ment, and which cannot be taken away at all without pate the person. As we look in this way at the law of habit it has a very dark aspect; it seems @ law of doom and of degradation. We always find ourselves thinking of habits in an evil and suspicious way. It is almost always bad habits that we think of, We speak of the neces- sity of resisting habits, correcting habits, of avoid- ing habits, of outgrowing habits, and we speak ot men as the victims and the slaves and creatures of habit, always employing some term that is contradictory to the nobieness of the law. And there is undoubtedly a dark and fey, side of the law of habit, But it has a right side as well, and the brightest side is the most prominent. For what would become of us if it Were notso? There are people who say that the world makes no progress; that mankind does not improve from generation to generation; that things do not in any esseutial respect get better. ‘Those people may say that the law of habit ts the | law of death, and that the only side of habit that is presented to us is the gloomy side; but tf weare | making any progress, 1f we do get better and more enlightened, more self-restraincd, then we must believe that the brigot side is more prominent | stronger than the evil, how could we go forward ? Thereiore the law of habit is the law of progress. Hapit obliges men to progress, obliges them to ad- | vance, and we see facts which conilrm this con- tinuaily. Ido not say that it is as easy to form ood habits as it to form bad ones, | fhe taste for @ good dinner is more | universal than the taste ior good books. The love for delicate wines 1a more common, more instic- tive, than the love of delicate and refined peopie. | The groaser tastes are rudimentary tastes, and it is barder to ge up hill than down hill. But, then, | it is not true that the law of habit 1s simply the law ol retrogression. It 1s the law of progress. DE, ADAMS’ PAREWELL, Reminiscences of a Forty Years’ P: torate—A Hopefal Future. ‘The Presbyterian church at the corner of Twen- ty-fourth street and Madison avenue was filled to overflowing yesterday, on the occasion of tne retirement from the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Adams, in the fortieth year of his charge. Dr. Adams chose for his text tne second verse of the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy :—“‘And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his command- ments or no.” Alter referring to the authors of | and the periods at which the books of Deuteron- omy and Timothy were written, Dr. Adams quoted the words of Moses to the tribes on the day when | he became 120 years of age, which he pro- | nounced to be the coronation of all litera- ture:—“I am now ready to be offered; the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought | g good fight. Ihave finished my course; I nave | kept the faith. Thence/orth there is laid up for me | acrown of righteousness which the Lord, the | Righteous Judge, shall give me in that day; not only me, but unto all men who love his command- ments.’ The journey of the Hebrew tribes in the wilderness may well be considered as typical of | human life. The distance by the most direct road | to Canaan was not great, it might have been | traversed in a few days; but the design of God was | by peculiar processes tq lead them to deliverance through a period of forty years. “My hearers,” said he, “will understand the associations which have led to the selection of my text on this occa- sion. This is the last time I will ever preach in the official capacity of your pastor. 0 how many thoughts crowd upon me, of the life work which ends to-day! THE REVIEW OF HIS LABORS. “It is not necessary to repeat the reasons as- signed to those who had aright to know them. In reviewing these years since I was installed, a pal- lid, delicate, trembling youth, a3 pastor in this city, I may be pardoned if I make some references that may seem personal.’’ Dr. Adams then re- ferred to the 13th of November, 1835, the date of his entrance upon the duties which ended yester- ent with thelr children and their children’s chil- dren, still active members, All the pastors with Whom he had been associated, Parker, Phillips, Potts, Alexander, Ludiow, Knox, Hawks, McLean, Roland, Brownley, Mathews, Banks, Bernan, Wainwrigut, Coombs, McUlay, Somers, Lott, Armstrong, White, the two Belmouts, the -two Masons, McMurray, Hunt, Lyon and Wright = and several others were all gone, and then the Voctor said :— “Verily, | feel as one Who has come out Oi .battie, whose Comrades nave iallen on his right hand and on his left; one who survives the loss of many parishioners finds himself not unscathed but | covered with scars aud bruised with many wounds. | The way in which one {s carried aioug through trials revea's the great law and philosophy of ute. | ‘yhey come to us one by one, not allat once; that would be an avalanche that would crush us, We meet them singly day by day, and the aggregate if it came upon us at once would be insupportable. Brooding over the past is weakness—our duty 18 with the present and for the future. My one wish this day is to cheer and encourage all, be Atlin f those who have the greater pari of life in prospec! to greater and more faithful hopetulness in the bright kingdom of our Lord. The changes which have occurred all lead us to expect greater changes in ume to come. The original number of those Who constituted this church in 1853 was 142, ‘There have since been added 2,142; adding to this the number admitted during my pastorate in Broome street, the total consists of over 3,000. This incluaes those who have been admitted to our communion and our mission bethel, with its two departments, English and German,” THE MATERIAL PROGRESS OF THR COUNTRY. Dr. Adams then fenced oe Cad aE ‘ f Vestern States ° try, illustrated by the rogreks with the growth of the true spirit of religion—charity— which had been just as rapid all over the world. Forty years ago Croton Water wis Uunanown, and ople depended upon divers pumps and ther brackish water, Now the sweet, pure Croton is in every house in uniimitea | quantities. So with charity. Organized benevolence is now a characteristic of the Clrstian religion, | seventh’ verse—“Grace, ———r to our political history, Dr. Adams saa we had but recently reached @ true sense of national in- dependence; ms father, who died vus elev years ago, was born before the Revolutionary War, ‘THE FUTURE OF AMERICA, “We are destined to perform some conspicuous part in the great drama of human history,” said the Doctor. *siniultaneously science has made great strides. I myself listened to a iecture by & most distinguished scientist from the Old World, who gave w pubiic demonstration of the inpos- sibility of the voyage of a steamship across the Western Ocean! Christianity has preserved its own amid all these great changes in the world, The proportion enlightened, earnest Christians to the growing population of the country was never so large as now. Forty Feo ago the condition of affairs, both in State and Church, was one of bitter controver The storm then brew- ing had rent asunder the Presbyterian Church, and stlil later threatened the life of the nation, It was alilicult at that time to express one’s self, even im the pulpit, without being classified as belonging to Or that schooi of tueoiogy or politics, and meeting with disapprobation accordingly, more or Jess violent according to localities. lowing the utmost personal liberty in theology and politics, there was yet one cause for the disruption of the Presbyterian Chureh woich must at tuis distance of time be recognized by every honest mind. That Cause was slavery. The storm burst. The country has been saved aud the Chureh reunited, and this land 1s now readjusting ttself for a brigat.juture. No man*forty years ago would have ventured a prediction of the iuture of the slavery questior 30 rapia has been the change that but a few da; ago one of the downtrodden race delivered to an audience of his color a eulogy upon Vharies Sumner." THE NATIONAL HONOR AND THE DEBT, Dr. Adams then alluded to the national honor im the payment of tue debt, Thirty-eight years ago Congress divided among the States $1,000,000 of surplus revenue, How much good might a little of that sum have accomplished in the material devel- Opment of this country and the beautifying of the national domain and the education of all classes! The national character 1s now passing through the severest test, Referring to the progress of Ohris- Uanity as shown by general philanthropy, Dr. Adams sald Christianity was not the dormant thing it 13 sometimes representeit to be. It is no loner io the tomb, it 18 no longer monastic; it is vital. Many are struck with the zreat changes going on, but they do not acknowledge the agency of Ohristianity, Christianity does not fiee ny science; she is the queen of science. She does not flee irom philosophy ; she ts the higiest of all philos- ophy. Keferring again to the feature of tne oc- casion, the speaker said the scroll was written and folded; it was too late to amend, to add to or to eliminate: from. It remained to ve read by them ail at the tribunal of Jesus Christ, During these remarks the speaker and the con- gregation were frequently moved to tears, Dr. Adams will be succeeded by Dr. Hitchcock, ana will oniy occasionally preach in the church, DEDICATION OF HOLY TRINITY OHURGH. Dedicatory Services—Description of the Church—Sermon by Dr. Tyng, Jr. The services at the Church of the Holy Trinity, corner of Madison avenue and Forty-second street, yesterday forenoon, were exceedingly impressive. Dr. Tyng, Jr., officiated. This church is a new edi- fice. It will be remembered that about two years ago the congregation of the Holy Trinity wor- shipped on the same spot, in a very small church, and that it was fnaliy determined, “owing to the pressure on the pews,’ as one of the members had it, to enlarge the building. The process of eniarge- ment was begun about a year ago, and if any one now can recognize anything of the original church in the new structure he may be set down as & wonder of the age. The original church cost $59,000, and was first opened on Easter Sunday in the year 1855. Tne’new church isa perfect gem of Gothic architecture. The chancel is $2 feet wide, the octagonal chancel: receding 23 Jeet further back, This large place is covered over by an open timber roof of very novel but beautiful con- struction, 42 feet high at the eaves and 88 feet to the summit of the central gable. There are no obstructions whatever, except the slender col umns supporting the row of gallery on each side, and the interior will be capable of accommodating 1,800 people. The pulpit isin a better position (at | least so says an authority on pulpits) than in most Episcopal churches, being placed on one of the | foci of the ellipse, at some distanvte in front of the great chancel arch. On one side of the chan- cel is a large recess 45 feet wide and 20 feet deep for the purpose of accummodating the organ and choir. The seats are arranged admirably, every one being so situated ag to allow its occupant to distinctly see the preacher, “while the plan will | enable each one as distinctly to hear him.’? There are four front entrances on Madison avenue, besides two others on Forty-second street. A tower with two beliries (yet to be compieted), the upper one open for the use of the chimes, at ine southwest corner 0: the building, the main nave flanked with a subordinate tower at the southeast corner of the same, the apex and choir transept orm the main features 0. the new church. It covers about 154 feet in lengtu and 90 feet in width at the widest part, witn a heignt of 100 feet to the apex of the roof and gable walls. The main tower is 24 feet wide and 30 feet deep, and measures 190 feet to the top oi the steeple. ‘The exterior is constructed of pressed brick of various colors in mosaic decoration and o! sand- stone of three different tints, comprising the New Brunswick. the Ohio and a small spriakling of the Oswego stone. The cuurch, it is suid, when com- pletely finished, will have cost $350,000, THE SBKMON, The Rev. 5. M. el tea ad for his text chap- ter tour, Book of the Prophet Zachariah, part of the yeep) unto it.” We are at home agatn, said Mr. Tyng; but how changed ts tue homestead! During’ these years of absence | what desolation, what skill nave been at work! The iormer things have get away. Our pro- viding God hath made all things new. And vet there 1s an element of homelikeacss which binds the remembrance of tne old and the rejoicing within the new building of a common asso- ciation. 1: would be impossible to mistake this ag the great room of any other family than ours. There is @ strangeness avout it, but we are not Strangers in it. We realize our great privilege and property, though few Jamillar facts greet our sight, Is it not with usas with chidren who for @ time sre sent away from home, while cunning hands refashion the fatner’s house? A true home sickness is theirs, and the hour of return and sur- prise 1s an epoch in their. childhood which no after success can outshine. How had their eyes shone with delight, how was their ears filled with the laughter of gladness, and what new joys do their appreciation and mirth bring to him who, through toll and outlay of wealth, has wrought the change. Banishment is over; the time appointed of the Father has come. The great Father welcomes with His outstretched, everlasting arm; the san- shine of His accepting simile fills the house with brightness. Were ever children merrier than we to- day’ Our eyes wander from coiling to floor, from window tu carpet, from face to face, with new ex- periences of mutual delight. Our hearts overflow with gratitude and devotion to Him who hath begotten us again and aliowed us to hope for a home jar better than even our present privileges and possession. His wisdom hath inspired, His love has directed, His providence has accouplished this earthly house made with hands, which, io the pureness 0{ the worship and unweariedness of ita work, is hencelortt to be unto us tue figure of the truth. Glory be to God, who buildeth ali things and hath reformed our home. But our first sur- prise must gtve place toa more minute examination Of detail and testimony of truth, We husb our songs to hear one tell in the great Father's name of love and care which are to be through years to come, and synonymous through years to come of this house and home, ‘The historic narrative in connection with the text ‘was summarily described by Mr. Tyng, and then he proceeded to make the fol lowing SPIRITUAL APPLICATION. Every church is built as & memorial of that tab- ernacle, a temple which found its completeness in a Redeemer’s body and accomplished work on earth. And we but echo the oid time reirain when we set up our resting place jin and cry unto the Goa of the ark covenant. Let us use this onr text as a salutation to these stones, for so the prophet introduced it. “fhe headstone shall be brought Jorth wyth shout- ings, saying grace, grace unto it,”” The destruction by the Bapylonians lett devastation, Even tra- dition forgot the site of the holy place. Vast mountains of rubbisn were removed beiore the old foundations were rebuilt, Zerubbabel sought the top of tue resting place, which Solomon had established for his temple of old. The very like- ness in material things of this fact is @ part of our history. It was through the excavation, the ob- straction of débris, of a former building that we search for the foundation of the new. But beyond the material jact 1s the analogy in our own ex- perience, through doubt, through fear, through uncertainty, through prophecies that were tor- bidding, through the forebodings of friends, as well ag those who were of the contrary part; for we dug deep for the foundation on whicb atructure Tests. We have found old foundation, the foundation that is laid, None other can ever be luid tora Curis- tian Church. It 18 this which underlies all our church comfort and life, even as beneath the material structure is the broad 1oundation stone silent to-day; yet everything that shall oe accomplished in this place, or through the words spoken in this place, mast contess the sta bility upon which the whole enterprise 1s founded, Upon this old foundation, then, we stand and cry, “Grace, grace unto it.” We pass from the ontside to the inner privilege? of our home. It is a house for the — Its pur- pose is the preaching of the Gospel, and grace and peace in the Gospel, through Jewus Curist. ‘This if the one specialty for which it has been arri i to which it is now set apart. ‘ihe sign and Ul symbol and tie ancient dispensation, like the par able, are second ae plain words of itte; and tne edifice 18 only the shell or which the truth preached here 1s the Kernel. Souls are here to be invited te the Lord Jesus Christ, Wo be instructed in the wordt ot the Gospel; to be consoled by the promises which are unspeakavly precious; Yo be strength | ened througa manitestations of grace througt | Christ. ‘This a8 ae Secret of theAusidg of (ld hog edilive,