The New York Herald Newspaper, December 23, 1878, Page 2

2 ~ CHRISTUS THOUGHTS, The Joyous Festival Anticipated from the Pulpits. “GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN.” The Cradle and the Child That Lay In It. CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES. WAS THE LIFE OF CHRIST A FAILURE?—SERMON BY REV. GEORGE H, HEPWORTH. At first sight, and to the casual observer, Christ's life was a broken-hearted failure, said Mr. Hepworth in his sermon yesterday morning. The text he selected from Matthew, ii., 9—*And, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.”’ It was not our privilege, continued the preacher, to be among that small number of magii who came from the East to do homage unto the world’s Saviour, or | to lay at His feet their offerings of frankincense and myrrh, but we may be of that large number of aumble and joyful souls who are travelling toward she east, that they may lay at His feet the better offer- ings of their hearts. Christ's life was a circle whose rentre was in Bethlehem of Judea, but whose influence encloses the cycles of eternity. Upon the site where He was born the mother of Constantine, Helena, built a memorial church. It is not for us to express our gratitude in that way, but we ean sit at the fect of the Master and mark such acts of wis- dom that we shall be able to build a character which shall outlast the granite church in Bethlehem, which shall be fresh and still young when that building is crumbled into dust. It is very natural as this season of the year recurs to ask ourselves the old question, What was the seeret of Christ's power? It was a life that had apparently accomplished nothing except His own failure and d He was successful in nothing except in bringing upon Himself the ungenerous criticism of many and the undying hatred of some. He did not discourage the ordinary pursuits of men, al- though he cared nothing for them Himself. He uttered no word against the acquisition of wealth, though He pointed the finger of scorn at those who over- estimated its power. He always reminds me of one who goes over an immense workshop fille with cunning tools and with men using them to muke something for themselves. Each one is busy with bis own tools, his own materials and his own’ plans. The door opens and a stranger enters; he knows the use of everything there; he has 4 more marvellous skill than any workman there, and yet with a quiet tread he goes from bench to bench, from man to man, and tells cach one the secret of ning than he has ever dreamed of before, use the tools to 4 better advantage and make thing of greater value of the material that lies ther He does nothing tor himself all the time except to reap the aukind criticism of those who think it best to let well enough alonep aad to go on with their poor wretched work When they might be doing something grander, nobler and more worthy of themselves. NO INFLUENCE ON GREAT MINDS, Jesus scems also to have had no influence w! ever with the greatest lived; with those who ce those who held high political office, those who were eminent in social circles. They never heard His voice except as an echo, and that echo some one’s hearsa they were never affected by His larger wisdom, by His penctrating foresight, by His protounder insight. Isuppose that St. Paul, when he preached on Mars Hill wo the philosophers of Athens, had a more eul- tured and more thoughttul audience than ever fell to the lot of Jesus. Paul easily addressed the thought of the world, Jesus did not. I think Christ had very little imfluence in any direction while He lived. People were surprised at Him when they heard Him, perhaps their surprise became traustigured into ‘admiration, aud few were found at His feet. These were mostly the destitute. I do not under- stand that Jesus to any great extent atfected the pub- lic opinion of Jerusalem. He went with His whip of smail cords and drove the money changers out of the ‘Temple, but perbaps they returned the next day. We have no record to the contrary. He did not de- » abuse of power by those who held offi for the better any single custom or Usage of the Temple service. At first sight this life of (Christ was a very remarkable failure, aud at his death His grave was heaped high with the curses of an enraged and maddened world. St. Paul tells us, however, that the way of life lies through death, and let us use it as an ilustration. The seed that lies im the palm of your haud has divine possibilities in it, but it appears not yet ripe for development. Bury itand it grows. It is the paradox of the universe proclaimed by Christ and illustrated by Him; the enigma of philosophy aud the despair of the times, earch for lite in tue grave! If you plant the seed in the black soil the bua dies and must unfold, and up through the sod comes a tender shoot; the sun teach it « new lid ry day, and rain drops fall in spa and it grows stronger until at last 1c stands a tr which every branch and every point of endurance is Jaden with a rich, ripe and Museious fruit. Itis only after Christ's disappearance that He appears; it is only when He becomes invisible that the world sees Him. What the secret of do you ask ? Let me try to answer it. 1 His power lies iu that which the world knew noth- about when he was here. uamely—that moral stronger than physical forc hat is the wonderful thought of the New Testament; that is the corner stone of the citadel. When Christ came He put this new thought into men’s minds, and during tue last eightecn centuries we have been adopting it little by little. Christ's power lay partly in what He said, but allow me to say that Christ's power lay mostly in what He was. He not only spoke the truth but He lived it. He said to the whole world, 4 will be with you alway, MASONIC TEMPLE. THE CMADLE AND THE CHILD THAT LAY IN SEKMON BY MR, 0, B, FROTHINGHAM, uembers of the Independent Association were Present in goodly numbers at Masonic Templ listen to Mr. O. B. Frothingham's discourse on cradle and the child that was laid in it.”* to The He said that the return of the Christmas season brings the preacher to talk of the subject of the eradie and the Christ. The celebration, he continued, was not in favor of Jesus, for Jesus was only a man; ch was the idea worshipped sun was born in Judea at h; He had brothers, Gisters and relatives of different degrees, Christ bad His origin in human ideas; He was a creature of the mind, an emanation of thought; not an individ- ual, but @ theological postulate. us lived but Little more than thirty years, and only the last three or four of His life in public. malefactor at the Tyburn of His nation. Jesus was but Christ has existed for nearly two He was execut das a thousand years, and is likely to exist in the abstract for a much longer period. Half s hundred the theory was that each child born into the world Was as the beginning of a now creation, but now the people think that » child is born to take up and con- tinue the thread of The public mind is beginning to doubt that a child could be born without having transmitted to it im th constitution th onditions of mental or bodily h ceding generations. App prepared for it in pre ng this standard to meas ure the qualities of Jewus it will be found that they were Him by His descent from the house of David. erations before the time of Christ the a following a most extraordinary faith a coming political Redeouer who should brush away the power of the Syrians and of Kome; who should rebuild their temples and raise them to their former ir and glory, Jesus entered into this hope; it La shining flame in His beso: It came to Him ne course of Hix life th: wi to be the Redeemer, the Lord's elected and anointed. It entered into Hit mind that Christ was more than man; He was the Son of David —Prinee, Ruler—having power to work miracies, clothed with supernatural authority eeide who should go into and who should stay ont of the kingdom of heaven. ST. PAUL'S INFLUENCE ON CHRIWTIANTITY Jesus died on the cross; His hopes were thwarted, and He, individually, was not the Christ. But there ook up the ides of Jesus sinks more of supernatul it wth the Christ. The child of the cradle in Bethlehem is now no longer the Son of David. He is unpolluted, out of the order of human kind, more than ortai, a being who could float in the air, an incarnation of @ divine idea. This was the ideal of Paul. It was reserved for the Western Empire of Kome to set Christ crowned and sceptred on the thrones of the world. That Empire, which reminds us of all things great in the world, was in those days ded to be k and wicked. Not so, however, were the provinces or the working people. At the I the State was th En ror Angnatas Corer, & ma who owed his title to no virtue. He saw that oue of the wealthiost of the provinces showed a disposition to lift up Christ and place Him at his side, the peer of Cesar, Christ was made King, President, Emperor | the world, deciding what «h law and yel—was it possible that He could maintain purity, achildhood, aud compass these ambition aims’ Yot this is the lesson that will be tanght on Christmas Day. If history is true it tells how Christ became King and Emperot WHAT CHRIST GAVE TO THE WROLD. Christ gave to tins Western World three qualities The first was a veror became the Pope was simply Casar under a different was ab empire—not a taith, but that are adverse to the le. priestly spirit, A Homan 3 Christ; the name. Christianity & government. The Pope, as its head, selected a | priestly aristocracy to support him, and under all | its grades were the surging, subject masses. Thus | Christ was made King, Euperor, Pope, Despot. The | Pope of Rome was dismissed by Luther, but 100 | popes took his place; every Protestant minister | came a pope. In the second place the Christian Em- pire assumed # dogmatism ; Christ became a dictator of ideas and of faith One of these ideas was that uniformity must prevail in all things, and the orthodox and heterodox be laid down for the world’s acceptance. From councils presided over by the Emperor of the Church emanated eticts to be be- not because they were reasonable or just, but because they were emanations of the Church, | In place of orthodox Christianity Unitarianism presents itself heralding three yreat primitive doc- | trines. The first is the fatherh ot God; second, the dignity of man, and third, the brotherhood of man. "Lhe speaker went on to eloquently elucidate | the grand depths and Lumanitarian meaning of these | principles, saying that they were # new manifesta | tion of the child in the manger, hardly born, yet old enough to travel through the different States “ke a | | spirit of lite and light. It is as an angel of peace, with the message, “Glory to God in the highest, and on | earth, peace and good will among inen. | FIFTH AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH. GOD WAS MANIFESTED IN CHBIST—-SERMON BY REY. DR. ARMITAGE. As no religious services will be held in the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church on Christmas Day Dr. Armi- | tage preached, as usual, his Christmas sermon yester” | day morning on the subject of God as manifested in | Christ, taking his text from I. Timothy, iii., 16—"God | was manifested in the flesh. Macaulay has most | eloquently said logicians may reason about abstrac- | tions, but the great mass of mankind can never feel I an interest in them. They must have images. The | strong tendency of the multitude in all ages and na- | tious to idolatry can be explained on no other prin- ciple, This idea expressed by the historian is but | another way of treating the thought which the great | apostle lays before the Colossians when he ci Christ the image of the invisible God, This Church | | was most familiar with hosts of gods and goddesses, and had been gathered from men who had worshipped | images all their lives. God had forbidden | man to make any “graven image’ for him- self, because nothing which he could make could bear resemblance to God. But while God pro. hibited such an object of adoration He condescended | to reveal all His own attributes and nature in an in- nation, so that the otherwise invisible God should cause all His own fulness in a human breast and dis- play all His glory in the form and features of His Son’ ‘These ideal lineaments were to rest upon what seemed | an ordinary face, assuming no vapid and senseless beauty, and yet were to be the essence of virtue ideal- ized, the visible inspiration of divine thought, human- | ity transfigured into all the light and life of God's likeness. ‘The image of God which man would carve would embody passions and prejudices taken from his own nature, and would insult God by its odious blasphemy in distorting His character; but the j image which He has given in His Son is the express | likeness of His own person, Thus He condescends to | our weaknesses and cuts off all latitude to that blight- | ing polytheism which violates Hix unity. Jesus is His image, not in the sense in which bear His likeness, for the question here is one of visibility and invisibility, Paul's thought is that in Christ we have a full compensation for our inability to gaze | upon the invisible God. No man has seen God at uny time. The Only Begotten, who 1s in the bosom of the Father, has revealed Him. This masterly thought of the apostle throws light upon our text. ‘This work manifested is fraught with weighty import. We are too apt to lock upon the incarnation 4s a mere shrouding of God's glory, while, in tact, it was His | great method ot revealing Himself by substituting His visible Son for His own invisible presen GOD MAKES HIMSELF KNOWN TO Ma’ Christ, then, is Jehovah embodied. To manifest is to make clear what is obscure. So Christ makes the knowledye of God possible. Man's ideal of God was one of pertect spotiessness, but he had never seen a being without sin and guile. Christ's face was the | transparent mirror into which, when man looked, he saw God with mortal eye as the image of the invisible | God; the breast of Christ became the shrine of the | divine presence. Jesus said, “The Father dwelleth in me,” and His great apostle adds, “In him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” When we claim that God is brought to view im Christ, the thought is far reaching, for it opens to us His very heart for inspection, and the first thing that we discover there is His humility. Here isa new feature discovered in God by the incarnation of Christ. Heathen mythology knew nothing of humil- ity as an attribute in a deity. Everything like it was despised in inan as craven andcowardly. There- fore a man of humility was mean and contemptible, aud what the devotee disallowed in himself he could not tolerate in his God; consequently the full — of condescending could not enter the mind of man as ennobling the character of God till the Tether. Gare to “it full expression in His Son, who in his character as well as his words, “I am meek and lowly in heart.” ‘Thus in the incarnation there was cggras” r Sigpened to God; but, on the Sa noses was a con ception that be should le of the life of His creatures and come to know them perfectly, not only in thought, but in their expression, so that the new doctrine should become a divine humanity, by which He transferred His throne from man's head to his heart. When the magiisaw the young child they sumply beheld the divine Shekinah as a jewel in @ human casket. The song, “Glory to God in the Highest,” is but the ancient chant to the angel-Je- hovah repeated, and the utterance, ‘Peace upon “is but the articulate Jehovah, God of Eden, promise had flowed down through the ages like a river, bearing on its bosom the ark of the cov- enant. PLYMOUTH CHURCH. THE KINGDOM OF GOD—SERMON BY REY. HENRY WARD BEECHER, “From that time many of his disciples went back and waiked no more with him,” said Mr. Beecher, at Plymouth Church, yesterday morning, quoting from John vi., 66. What was that time ? asked the preacher. It was evidently the result of disappointment among those who had believed in the coming of the Lord. ‘They looked for a temporal kingdom. It was the re- sult of the more perfect unfolding of the genius and spirit of religion as He came to teach it. It was the unfolding of the spiritual kingdom that stood in the way of ecclesiastical formation. They were disap- pointed and walked no more with Him. “It is the spirit that quickereth,” continued the preacher, reading from the text: “the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that Ispeak unto you they are *pirit and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. * * * Therefore «aid I unto you, that no | man can come unto me except it were given | unto him of my father.” It was this | declaration that discouraged and offended many of them, They had expected a temporal | ptinee, and were offended that He did not come with | outward show. The kingdom of heaven is not without; it is not of the world; it is within. It is dark and is not seen. Like the leaven that was put | in the cakes of meal it works silently and is known | by its works. The kingdom of heaven exists in men's | consciousness and dispositions. The whole scope of | Christ's teachings and the teachings of His apostles | have uniformly been that the kingdom of heaven | exists in men’s consciousness and dispositions. | ‘The universal want of men was and is to | have something to see and handle, Something tan- | mible was desired, and after the years of the ponder- | ous #ystems of science and superstition the people | were disappointed, When men flocked and saw | Christ not a king nor att a kingdom; not establishing beliet of a yen | better—and th | they were haracter, but trying to make m tis the foundation of happines«— offended and turned away. He | made @ new man by elevation, reconstruction and inspiration. They, the discontented ones, did not want Christ around Jerusalem because He did rut with worldly magnificence. They did | give something for nothing; they must valent. preached and tanght a les- and they therefore abandoned him as a not go al | not wan hav | visionary THE INFLUENCE OF CHURCH YSTEMS. The same things are taking place to-day. Religion exists in many instances more by ite institutions and | systems than by its spiritual kingdom. Many of these men are prouder of their toole than of their yrain or fruit. There are the great sects, | The Koman, like a huge enowball rolling over in | nviat snow and growing bigger at each roll, with or *, ants and parade; the Greek with the | or ngs and the other sects in their turn. Mr. Beecher did not dispute the usefulness of externa organization, but thought that there was more em- phasis put upon it than was right. All these external parades and organizations are merely auxiliary; they are in themselves nothing, except as they produce something els ey are not necessary in | any sense to the kingdom of God. That is within each | man, and when on mnot be taken from him. | Christ and his ay ok the reorganization | | of character. I w man, Who had within | himself the kingdox vl. ‘That was Caristianity. It t* not Christianity to-day, for when religion is talked of men think of churches, Bibles, doctrin and matters of that sort and do not think that it is an | inward s*piritual grac What does Christ say in » Sermon on the Mount? It ix the poor in spirit whe «hall inherit the kingdom of heaven. rvetonsness are a portion of the that men possess in Christ recreated th bad faculti satitudes about Sunday, ¢ or beliefs. It is disposition, The kingdom As at present the external has been full of revolutions and disturbances, but sternal has never Leen disputed or brought in bof the animal faecu with ale, is weet doetrin of God is within NEW YORK HERALD, | circumference and boundary of iny idea of the Chri | charitable to their fellows, and to-day the very world | men. MONDAY, controversy, Theconseiences of the id have bee troubled and the libraries of the world made bulky with external questions of the senses. THE GKEAT TRUTH UNQUESTIONED. Nover hag there ben a controversy about the true Gospel. There has ne been a debate ax to whether humility was right or wrong; love hus never been questioned until very recently, when some men un- dertake to say that it is a weakness. It is the central power of the New Testament, it unites together fam- ilies, gives succor for the weal, help for the needy and advances the human race. Now, the animal interests the foundation of nations and governments, but the time will come when governments will be organ- ized by the higher thoughts. “IE have,” said Mr, Beecher, “pained a good many good men because I have set aside doctrines. I it. I stand, and have stood, upon the only int, the Spirit of Christ within you, That is the aim, dritt tian re Any doctrine that ‘contlicts with that, or is at variance with it, I have resisted and contested. have reiused — steadfastly to accept anything else than Christ, Churches are not the kirgdom of God, Neither are doctrines, but the living experience of living men, The exter- nal and sensuous views are and will be susceptible of changes continually, but not the inward life, ‘The historic element of the Bible may be changed, but the truth can never die and no one ean take it out of its pages. CHICKERING HALL, CHRISTMASTIDE THOUGHTS—SERMON BY MEV. SAMUEL COLCORD. Chickering Hall was well filled yesterday afternoon to listen to the Rev. Samuel Colcord preach on “Christmastide Thoughts.” The text was taken from Matthew, ii, 2-"Saying, Where is be that is born King of the Jews? for wo have secn his star in the east and are come to wor- ship him.” This is an inquiry, said the preacher, that has been made by truth seeking men of all nations and at all times. They have looked to the east to seek the truth and the light. They have all been like the shepherds who followed the star and finally came to the stable in Bethlehem, in Judea, to find ina manger the new born King of the Jews. It is a pregnant thought that the new born King first saw lightina stable, “because there was no room for him in the inns at Bethlehem.” ‘The rich men who had come to Bethlehem found room at the inns; the well-to-do Jews also found place in the comfortable caravansaries; but for the poor Mary and her husband there was no room, so the Saviour of mankind was born in a stable dedicated to the com- fort of beasts of burden. Iu this, the most eloquent ineident in the life of Jesus Christ, we find a deep significance. He came to the world and it knew Him not; in fuct, it seemed as though He had come where there was no room for Him, Dear friends, we learn from the story of the nativity that Jesus Christ came on earth for the common people. His mission was to the lowly and the depressed. Had He come for the proud and rich His father would have ordained a different place for Him to be born in. But it was not to so, for His mission was to the poor and common people. In His later life he was uccused of entertaining sinners, which shows us that betore He came these people were ostracized and considered unfit to asso- ciate with. Besides preaching His gospel of merey to the fallen, Jesus had to instruct those who considered themselves righteous, that they might know that He came to lift up the degraded and cleanse sinners. For Him none were too low; He withheld not his healing touch from the leper; He bade the Magdalen hope; He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and downtrodden humanity first saw a ray of hope through His divine ministries. The DECEMBER 23, 1878.—TRIPLE SHEET, there must come a falling away, great tribulations, wars and pestilences, moral looseness, indifference aud @ general spread of vice and immorality | before the coming of Christ. Some men, the Doctor said, bave undertaken to save the foolish as well as the wise virgins, but Christ will say to them, I never knew If there is to be a millennium be- fore Christ's coming, how, the Doctor asked, can that coming be a suare to all then that are upon the earth, Christ himself everywhere declared that He will come, but nowhere speaks of the millennium. Dr, Kuapp’s third proposition was that God's word positively declares that the coming of Christ will precede the millennium. Matthew, xxiv., 20, 30; Rev- elation, xix., 1-16; xxi., 1-4, were cited and read in proof of this. There is not a word about the millen- nium in those because Christ will bring that with Him. There can be no millennium until the | devil is bound and the enemies of the Church are | destroyed, and the Man of Galilee is to be the man to whom the eyes of the world will look. He is to march forth from the swaddling clothes of his humiliation and assume all wer in heaven and in earth. Here rests the Christian faith and hope. ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S CHURCH. KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS--SERMON BY REV. FATHER DEALY, At St. Francis Xavier's Church Rey. Father Dealy, 5. J., preached, taking his text from the gospel of the day—Luke, iii. The preacher said:—At this pe- riod of the year the Church celebrates the coming of our blessed Lord and exhorts the faithful to fervent and deep meditation on the great mystery commemo- rated and the duties it imposes. “By man sin came into the world,” says the Apostle Paul. But man was helpless to redeem himselt or his offspring from the penalty entailed—disease, suffering and death in this world and eternal darkness in the next. As an improvident parent involves his unborn progeny in the miseries he brings alike on them and him, so when Adam fell from his high estate and thereby forfeited the divine inheritance promised, no act save the interposition of Divinity itself could re- open the yates of Eden to fallen humanity. Christ ne, “the way, the truth and the life,” could atone to the Deity offended, and the magnitude of the sucri- fice, the wondrous condescension which prompted Him to assume our poor, fallen nature with all its ills, its woes and most galling privations, should awaken in us a sentiment of love and gratitude ax boundless as the love of that Being whose coming redeemed us from the depths of per- dition. At season of the year we are called on more especially to contemplate Jesus in the lowly at- titude of the child, full of love and affection and all : tenderness. In that light He appeals particu- larly to the softer sentiments of our nature and calls to us in accents of tenderness to come to Him and share’ in the joys of the redemption. But we must not forget that there ix another aspect in which He will one day be presented to our gaze, and that is in that of the ge as well as the Redeemer. He exacts from us a return for the benefits conferred, The injunction, “Keep my is an inexorable one, and only who obey it can be of the elect. In His own person. He set us theexample. His humility, His obedience, His assiduity in His devotions at the Temple, His love and pity for His enemies, His unfaltering trust in the ‘ather and resignation to the Divine will in His last agony—all conspire to make a perfect pattern for our imitatiqg. In closely following the Divine model alone rests our hope of profiting by or artaking of the fruits of the redemption. t this thought be ever present to us, even in the joyous seasons of religion, in prosperity and adver- sity, and inthe end we shall be partakers of that eternal happiness promised to all who hold fast by divine truth, and ever keep before their eyes the outcome of His teaching has been the clevation of the human race. Men have been made more is dotted here and there, over its whole surface, with churches and institutions for the amelioration of suffering and the reformation of the misguided. Have you made Jesus King over your hearts? Does He reign in glory in your souls, and do you feel_the benign influence of holy presence? Have you opened your minds to the tender influences He inspires? Have your hands been extended in charity to the needy ? Has any one been made hap- pier or better through your influence ? Have you wiven to any one a brighter glimpse of this and ‘the life to come? Lastly, and covering all questions, have you yourself benefited by the noble example He set mankind, ard have you honestly endeavored by copying it to be better men and women? Think these questions over at this time, enter into the simple, yet indispensable condition of salvation, “Keep my commandments.” CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR. THE SAVIOUR'S LOVE—SERMON BY REY. PULLMAN, The services at the Church of Our Saviour (Univer- MR. salist), morning and evening, were com- memorative of the peculiar religious char- acter of the occasion. The Rev. James M. Pull- man, pastor, officiated at both services. The forenoon sermon was essentially a Christmas ser- mon, and that of the evening portrayed the beauty of aSaviour’s love. The text of the latter was from St. John, xiii, 34—“A new commandment I give spirit of the season and you will be elevated aud en- nobled. FREE TABERNACLE, M. E. CHURCH. CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS—SERMON BY REV. WILI- IAM N. SEARLES, “That star in the east stands transfixed over the spot, and the chorus of the angelic legion is hushed as they hear the feeble cry of an infant who em- bodies the proinised redemption of mankind,” said Rey. William N, Searles yesterday, during his dis- course on “Christmas Thoughts” in the Free Taber- nacle Methodist Episcopal Church on Thirty-fourth street. The speaker had chosen his text from Isaiah, xl, 3—‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” This, he set forth, does not imply in the least that on the part of God the way of the Lord's coming and triumph is not already prepared. ‘The address simply contemplates the heavenly part, the preparation of human hearts, when, as described in the succeeding verse, “Every valley shall be ex- alted and every mountain and hill shall be made low,” when human pride and human ambition, now in the ascendancy, shall be laid low, a grand highway made and the way of the Lord thoroughly prepared. Nothing thet is important should be entered on without care and preparation. Just as the heart of a true Christian should exert itself to prepure for a Sabbath Day so are we to prepare for Christ's com- ing, Ohrist’s victory in our hearts. It is presumptu- ous to rush boastfully and thoughtlessly into any grand work. The disciples prepared for the day of Penticost with yard aud burning thought, ‘until at leugth Peter, by preparation, had reached a boldness never known to him before and never known in the experience of any other Christian. We may learn this lesson from Christ's ‘coming into the world, that the religion we profess is not the mere spawn of an expl philosophy, but a great fact in the existence of the world, and one that is inseparable from its history’ and destiny. Every incident in the world’s history, every epoch in the ages of mankind, has its relation to this important event, If Jesus had not condescended to assume our nature in this very shape one brief and terrible sen- tence would have summed up the whole history ot Adam's race. This would be “the wages of sin is death,” and on the portals of the tomb might have been engraved the awful words, “Who enters this place leaves hope behind.” But thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift in that He sent His Son for our redemption—and the song of the angels for evermore is, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward If we analyzo our hearts we will find that there is nothing we need so much as a personal visit from the Saviour, to the end that He may reign in our hearts. If He dwells within me my nature ix corrected and Iam made holy, but if I expel Him from my heart 1 am mean, sinful and cor- rupt. Lf our hearts had more of Christ dwelling in them we would be better men and women and a bet- ter Church. Some of you are in rs 4to-day as you think of the loved ones now and who were with you at the last mas festival. ,But remember that where they are all His, heppiness and tears are never known. Receive Jesus oday, He is the great consvler of bruised and afflicted hearts, and besides has prepared for you | werown of glory to wear for evermore. The church was tastefully decorated with festoons of evergreens, some of which were suspended from the apex of the roof. The chancel and pulpit were also rated with emblems appropriate to the joy- ful Christmas season. LAIGHT STREET BAPTIST CHURCH. THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST MUST PRECEDE THE MILLENNIUM—SERMON BY REV, Dh, KNAPP. The millennium and the second coming of Christ was, said the reverend Doctor, the subject he had come to consider, and what relation those two events bear to each other—which is first and which second, The belief in the second advent is general among Christians, but they divide as to the time when Christ shall come to reign with His people. Dr. Kuapp's inquiry was based on the texts, Acts i. 11; Isaiah xi., After briefly outlining the birth and life and death of Christ, which he declared to be the profoundest fact in the history of the universe, he weked, Could such a God undertake anything that would prove a failure? And yet the outlook of the world to-day would seem to indicate failure. The enemy lived and tri- umphed while the Son of God died. And the era of humiliation is not yet past. The people to-day, as well as cighteen hundred years ago, cry “Away with him! Away with bim!’" hile the mass of Chris- tians are against the premillennarian view Dr. Knapp said he did not know asingle missionary or evan- gelist of any denomination or earnest worker in the vineyard of the Lord who is not # premillennarian, There is that in the doctrine that invites the believer | to work while the day lasts, because the night cometh when no man can work, pp discussed his subject under three heads, eriptures teach that the millennium will precede the second coming of Christ? This he found to be answered in the negative. The mil- Jennium will the earth triumph of Christ and His Gospel, When it comes Christ will be exalted among the nations and religion will be in the aseend- ant, so that no man will have need to say to his brother man, “Know the Lord, for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the deep.” His second proposition was, Do eriptures teach the order of either the advent or the millennium ? ‘This be found answered in the affirmative, and quoted Il. Thessalonians, ii. 1 ‘Timothy, iv., 1,2; UL. Timothy, ii iif., 24; Matthew, xxv., 1-10; Matthew, xxiv., 21, 22, a-39, and Luke, xviii., 821,35. These passages were to prove that in the progress of the Christian Church De. Ki 1-6; Th. 'Reter, | unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you."* Whatever sceptics and theologists may say about the character of Jesus, said the preacner, one thing rises clear, unmistakable and perfect—He loved His fellow man, The passion of hate was likened unto a nest of growling wolf cubs in the heart of man, Genuine love cannot be turned to hate. To charge the Saviour with entertaining a fecling of hate toward mankind was to charge Him with ehangeableness and fickleness. The genuine love He entertained for mankind cannot be turned to hate. His character is full of love to menkind. Neither the word “charity” nor the word “benevolence” can define it, ‘The preacher described the nature of the new command- ment and the quality of the love meant. ions should be ruled by love, not force. The Church of Christ organized love as a central principle for the government of mankind, and the new commandment introduced a new motive of action among men. The — of the Redeemer’s love was asserted to be the love He bore for the lowest among His followers. He did not hesitate to come down to the common affairs of life. In His last hour He recognized common earthly ties. It is great mistake to keep our love until great occasions shall call for its demonstration. Our whole lives are made up of infinitesimal portions, and the sentiment of genuine love is shown in little things as well as large ones. The treachery of Judas was portrayed, but the love of the Redeemer for His disciples and His fellow men flowed on serenely in the same full, swect and gentle stream. It was a love that carried Him through the cross, through death and through the grave. The way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him. There may be some mistakes in carrying out this sentiment; but confidence reposed in one another, through spirit of love, seldom fails of producing’ the happiest results. The great heart of the Creator is full of love, and Jesus, as His messenger, brings it unto all mankind. Walking in the ht of that love, man cannot go far wrong. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Well nigh upon the eve of the day which gave mankind @ Redeemer, it is roper that we should give profound consideration to the thoughts which that sublime event inspires. MADISON AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH. THE WORD MADE FLESH—SERKMON BY REV. DR. 3. ¥. ELDER. Rev. Dr. J. F. Elder preached a Christmas discourse on the subject, “The Word Made Flesh,” at the Madison Avenue Baptist Church. He founded his re- marks on the words of John in the first chapter of his gospel, and especially on those of the fourteenth verse:—“‘And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” He first discussed the meaning of the term “the word” as used by John, and showed that there was a tendency among Hebrew writers of his age to personify abstract things and make some of them stand for the personality of God. Cases are to be found where wisdom is spoken of as oper- ating actively in the same manner as God. The preacher argued that the statement im the Gospel undoubtedly means that God became flesh, even though John is the only writer who substitutes the term “the word” for the active personality of God, ‘This is, the preacher said, the chief authority for the belief in the in- carnation, A like analysis of the word “flesh” overthrows the theory of the Opollinarian heresy, that Christ's body was @ mere shell, to which His divinity came and in which it dwelt. John’s lan- ghoge in this place is open to doubt, as the verb he Uses means ‘“tabernacied;” but we know that in the Bible the term ‘flesh’ constantly stands for human nature. We also find in the annals of Christ’s life every reason to believe that He truly assumed hutuanity, with all its qualities and respon- sibilities, He says Himself, “Now is my soul exceed- ing sorrowful, even unto de : Why did God become man? There are many ree #ons for thix action and first among them may be mentioned the necessity which He felt for a com- plete revelation of Himself to man. In the creation, inthe aspects of nature, in the miracles f the Old Testament, He always revealed His powers and His deity. But His highest manifestation, that of holiness and love, had to be made through the in- carnation, Furthermore, He had to taste death tor every one, Born of a fallible lineage, Christ, as man, inherited fallibility, and though He never sinned in fact He completely identified Himself with the human race in its susceptibility to pain and penalties, Sharing the nature both of God and man, He became the con- necting link between on which is wanting from all The sinner is far from reconciles and re- unites them. to us the ex- ample of what we ad owill 1 For, progressing through many ages, in the know. ledye Nod contemplation of Him, we will approach nearer to God's nm when He called us into being, that we should be in His own image and like- ness. CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST—-SERMON BY REV, 3. D, WILSON, Last evening the pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church, Rey, J.D. Wilson, celebrated the approach- ing festivities of Christmas by a discourse on “The Birth of Christ.” He took for his text Luke, if, 12— “And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger’’—graphically pictured the scene when the shepherds, watching their flocks by night, were di- rected to the mangor of the Christ child, and stated that heaven is always closer to us than we imagine. other — religions. God; but — Chris! | He will call upon you in your busy hours, said the | Suddenly when they had no thoughts of heaven the | glory of the Lord was shown about them, and the | | angel of the Lord gave them the message, ‘Behold Lbri ye glad tidings of great joy.” This message, the minister aid, was not tended for the shepherds alone, It was a message for the inhabitants of Chris- | tendom, aud now, when we are approaching the one | day of the year when all men stop trom the perplexi- | ties and toil of their life, and looking Bethlehem- | Ward fix their eyes on Christ, they should let their | hearts go out’ in love also, for the blessed | Jesus. If never before any man had thought of | Christ he should do so now. All Christ ty. therefore, should begin with the birth in the manger. The tree of Calvary never opened for the healing of nations unless the roots of that tree ran back to manger in Bethlehem. Christ coming in the form or a little child is a Cy A lesson in favor of filial | love, As a little child He was subject to His father and mother, and thus He teaches us that there can be no Christianity without filial obedience and Jove. His coming thus had hallo and now with each new child born family a rivulet of new virtues into the hearts of pee. Christ came in the form of a little child to show that His kingdom is a spiritual king- dom, and to teach us that lowliness of birth is 20 barrier to the unfolding of a useful life. All His surroundings were lowly, yet He grew in favor with God and man in'a pixed neighborhood, and thus the hidden life of Jesus was made manifest. His lowly birth also showed us the condescending love of God, ‘This world was wicked and per- ishing in its sins, when Christ came down through darkness and through suffering and want that you, my friends, might be lifted to a throne. Is not this love sufficient to make your hearts respond with love? A star shines in the firmament and @ voico sounds out of the darkness:— “Go ye and lohnge Pay tro Will ye not come to the manger and pour gifts at the feet of the Holy Child. What a sweetness comes back through 1400 years, as we take our place by the divine mother, look into the face of that child and know that He came for us. WICKED ASSOCIATES. DR. TALMAGE’S CONCLUDING DISCOURSE ON THE DARK SIDE OF CITY LIFE—XOUNG MEN RUINED BY BAD COMPANIONSHIP. A man of sanguine temperament must have occu- pation or die, said Dr. Talmage in his discourse at the Brooklyn Tabernacle yesterday morning. A yonng man said to @ wealthy Quaker, ‘How did you make your riches?’ “By dealing in an article in which thou mayst deal if thou wilt.” Although the pteacher did not explicitly explain what this article was it must have been wisdom, for the whole object of his discourse was to prove that “a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”"—Proverbs, xiii, 20. A young man never goes into places of dissipation alone; he always takes some one with him to ruin. Ten or twenty or thirty souls, ten or twenty or thirty households are involved in every man’s destruction. Nearly every man who dies on the scaffold confesses, “Bad com- pany did the work for me.” We may be compelled in the course of business to come into contact with bad men, but he who voluntarily associates with dis- solute people must go to destruction. “A thousand dollars reward,” cried the preacher, ‘‘for one instance where the associate of bad men escapes complete ruin.” QUICKSANDS OF BUSINESS, ‘The influence of associates in business next claimed | Dr. Talmage’s attention. When a young man enters one of the large New York comercial houses ax a clerk the bad young men at once gather round him, while the ood young men keep aloof until they are | introdus and even then until they know he is worthy of their friendship. The bad young man offers to take him to places of dissipation, but | always on the implied condition that he is to pay the expenses, for when settlement is to be made for the champagne the bad young man is apt to remember that he has forgotten his own pocketbook. Among the companions to be avoided the sceptic | and the idler were given the greatest prominence. | In this part of his discourse the preacher described the deathbed of a youngsceptic. In his last moments he calls upon Gor at obtains for ans’ “You said there is no God.” A mocket in Dr. Talmage’s vast congregation here gaye audible expression to his mockery, Whereupon the speaker said, “This is not the first time I have been interrupted, and I will call the gentleman by name if he again interrupts me in this service.” There wax no further interruption, and the preacher seized the moment for one of his dramatic outbursts, “You have only three seconds more to live,” Death says to the dying sceptic. Each at followed was a paragraph. word One— Two— Where? The question was repeated, and the thrilled audience quivered with its repetition. IDLENESS AND RUIN. ‘The evil mission of the idler was next considered, speaker, and ask you to ride to Coney Island 'or to the Central Park. He will name some wine which you must drink, and so lead you into evil. If you aaso- ciate with such men you Will soon become ashamed of your clothes and then begin to neglect your work. You will first lose your place and then your respecta- bility. Then the police will begin to look for you, and you will find a home on the Island. Such is al- ‘ays the tate of young men who have nothing to do, because they allowed wicked companions to take them from their business. Shake off the sceptic, cried the preacher; shake off the idler; look out for the mun who plays but never works. Sailing yachts and playing ball are delightful amusements, but they are destructive when they are the only occupation of life, ‘This sermon was the closing discourse on the dark side of city life, and, in conclusion, Dr. Talmage said that he has received assurances from every city in this country and from nak cities in Great Britain and Ireland, that God is blessing this series of sermons to the salvation of souls. le also an- nounced that in two weeks from ‘agrorkgr he will begin @ new serics, which he calis the “national series,” in which he will discuss the religious con- ditions and prospects of this country. The series will comprise his explorations in Washington, the political city; Boston, the city of culture; phia, the city of beauty and order; Chicago, the city of 1arvellous growth, and New York, the city of commercial supremacy. NO MIDNIGHT MASS. e Chancellor Flynn announced in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Newark yesterday that no midnight mass would be celebrated this year in any of the Catholic churches in New Jersey. This was in ac- cordance with instructions from the Bishop. CHURCH DEDICATION * Right Rev. Michael A. Corrigan, D.D., Bishan of Newark, dedicated the new Church of St. James the Less at Jamesburg yerterday. He celebrated high | mass and preached an appropriate sermon, The church is in charge of Rey, Father Kivilita, MANHATTAN COLLEGE. A large and fashionable audience of the Catholic laity and a number of, priests and visiting Brothers agsembled at Manhattan College yesterday. afternoon to attend the Christmas celebration of the De La Salle Literary Club (class of 79). The hall and stage were tastefully decorated with bunting and evergreens, and over a picture of the “Nativity of Christ” was draped the American flag. The class of ‘79, which is the largest yet brought to “the last year" in the institu- tion, acquitted itself with honor, and the range of subjects touched on by the speakers tells a tale of versatility. Mr. Edward R. Prendergast discussed our theory of government under the title “Our Republic,” and Mr. John K. Smith paid a glowing tribute to the nation as a people, in “The American People.” Messrs. Thomas C, Walsh and Francis E. Harrigan discussed “Hard Money.” “Success in Life” was the subject of Mr. W. R. Larkin; and Mr. Pierce J. Quinn spoke of the “Centralization of Power.” Messrs. L. . Flynn, W. J. Callan, B. P, White and A. A. Kearney wave selections in declamations, which were as highly appreciated as the original efforts of their classmates. the musical part of the programme was varied and interesting. : FOR THE It was announced at all the Catholic churches in Brooklyn yesterday that the collections taken up on Christmas Day would be for the benefit of the or- hans, There are four asylums in that city and the Me nand for assistance was never more pressing than at present. OAKUM WITH ME. {From the Pall Mall Gazette.) ‘The oakum picking question, which has become a bone of contention between casnal paupers and wo house authorities, seems to be taking a practical form. The casuals refuse to pick the oakum, and evidently labor tnder the impression that the law is on their side. The matter was brought under notice at the last meeting of the Mile-end Oldtown guardians, when the master of the workhouse informed the Board that ae pauper had been taken to the Thames Police Court for assaulting the labor master, who insisted upon the completion of the ordinary tusk of oakum picking. Thi« led to a xtruggle, in the course of which the labor master’s coat was torn. The magistrate, Mr. Lushington, however, held that there was no legal authority to compel the man to perform such 4 task, and that the resistance which he had offered was only in self-defence, He therefore ordered the accused to be discharged, The subject was referred to the House committee for consideration and report, and it is indeed one that is worthy of serious reflec: tion, If the magistrate's ruling is correct the casuals ;} are beyond a doubt masters of DRINKING DENOUNCED. MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF TEMPERANCE IN COOPER INSTITUTE HALL. Under the auspices of the National Temperance Im stitute a large meeting was held yesterday afternoon in the hall of Cooper Union, Mr. J. B. Gibbs presid: ing. After the singing of hymns, Professor Mitthaue! leading with his silver cornet, and the offering of & prayer by Rev. Henry Wood, Professor Leanhoduy, from. the Vienna Conservatory, gaye a perform- ance on the zither. Mr. Thomas Pittman wae then introduced. For many years, he said, he had been aclerk in a police court and had seen the worst phases of drunkenness, He had seen how wives were compelled tc suffer from the foolishness of their husbands; how women were reduced to the lowest degradation and how children were lost by the negligence of parents addicted to drink. It is a lamentable fact that no matter what sort of an Excise law is enacted people can still get all the whiskey they want. There is no real cure for intemperance except the gospel work now going on. the aid of the living Christ alone that man could be from the slavery of the wine cup. We should not in this work trouble ourselves with theological ques- tions nor enter upon religious disputes in connection with it. It is our duty to take up the fallen man and encourage him. The spirit of this truth should be spread abroad throughout the city. We are destined to be the mest sober nation on earth, At the conclusion of Mr. Pittman's remarks, the president announced that ason of Francis phy was in the hall, and invited the young gentleman to aseat upon the platform, Great applause followed the invitation, The son of the reformer heait but, at last rising, addressed the audience briefly. Rev. Daniel Tracey, of Vineland, N. J., waa next in- troduced. He said that he had had an experience of forty-six years in temperance work, and went on to refute the theories as to moderate drinking. He ad dong that im less than ten i eos. the word erage Would not be named in the pledge of any temperance organization. It was outrageous, he thought, to say that wine was the emblem of the blood of Christ, and it was wrong to have it on the communion table. It was no fitting use for that which “bites like s serpent and stings like an adder.”* The speaker offered to argue with any medical mag as to whether alcohol was either food or medicine, AMERICAN TEMPERANCE MISSION. The American Temperance Mission held a meeting in the afternoon at Gilmore's Garden. The atmos- phere was so chilly that overcoats and wraps had to be retained during the exercises, Rev. Mr. Kellard opened with prayer. After the reading of several announcements, one accounting for the Rev. Mr. 'Talmage’s absence, the Rev. Mr. R. 8. MacArthur was introduced. A certain prominent Judge had in- formed him, the speaker said, that the cowardice and inefficiency of the officials entrusted with the ex- ecution of the Excise law prevent its thorough en- forcement. He urged his hearers to exert their power socially in banishing wine from their tables and entertainments, thus effectually aiding the ex- tirpation of the vice of drunkenness. ev. Justin D. Fulton, of Brooklyn, then ad- dressed the meeting. He selected as his text Romans, xv., 1—“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves,”” He said this was peculiarly applicable to the temper- ance cause. As Christians we must look after the erring brother and save him if we can. The Church is lacking in duty if it fails to take up the Gospel temperance movement. Mr. Fulton closed by relating the story of » man who had been rendered so despondent by drink as to contemplate suicide. He said:—‘If God does not help me before two o'clock to-day, I will throw my- self into the river,” He entered one of Franc Murphy's meetings and was saved by the influences there brought to bear. Other examples were cited by the speaker, who was followed by Rev. Mr. Remington and Professor Pursell, YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. Aseries of meetings in support of the temperance movement commenced last night in the Park Thea- tre, Broadway, under the auspices of the Young Men’s Christian Association, The little theatre was crowded to its utmost capacity, and the stage was occupied by numerous singers who gave some of Moody and Sankey’s hymns and religious songs, the audience joining in heartily. Mr. wyer conducted the Gospel service, and Mr. L. R. Thatcher led the singing. Several addresses, illustrative of the nature and character of the move- ment, were delivered. These weekly reunions of the foes of drink are to take place every Sunday evening throughout the winter. ROMANISM | AMERICA, REY. C. W. MILLEN DISCOURSES ON THE SPREAD OF CATHOLICITY AND CONSEQUENT DANGER TO AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. ‘A large congregation assembled at the DeKalb Ave- nue Methodist Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, last evening to listen to a lecture on “The Aim of Romanists and the Remedy of Protestants in Tais Conutry.” by the pastor, the Rey. C. W. Millen. After giving the origin of the Romanists and e:plaine ing the meaning of the word, he said:—The aim of the Church of Rome 1s supremacy every where and alway: If any one doubts this let him look back over the bloody track of her history and he shall find abund- ant confirmation. Rome is especially desirous of becoming dominant in the United States and to this end all her forces are marshalled and all her efforts directed. In the Old World her power is broken, The Rome of to-day is not like the Rome of 1,300, when Pope Boniface entered the city on horseback with two kings holding his bridle. Italy rejects papal supremacy. France is indifferent. The defection of Spain is rapid. Austria has established its publio schools under the control of the State anc given re ligioux sects a legal equality. Throughout Europe the ola cry of “heresy” and the dogma of infallibil- ity have both lost their power. A learned and influential Catholic priest paid to the Rev. Mr. Clinequy, ‘We don't care a straw for Rome when we have New York in our hands. We are just now taking possession of the Cited States and of Great Britain, ‘Che man is very blind who does not see that these two mighty nations will belong to the Church of Rome before long. Look at our innumer- able nunneries aud — jid colleges towering on io every hill, You not ignore that they are filled with the daughters and sons of the most iufiuential Protestant families of this republic. Mr. Beecher afew Sundays since, un- asked, gave notice of a Catholic fair in this city’ and urged his people to attend and thus show that they were not mere blind haters. I do not thank Mr, Beecher for publicly insinuating that that is the character of Protestants in this city and elsewhere, If blindness has happened to usin past it is because we are blind lovers and not blind haters, PROTESTANT PUPILS AND CATHOLIC TEACHERS, Roman Catholics, with but few exceptions, will not educate their children in our public schools, but in their own parochial schools, and yet my children sit every day under the tuition of Roman Catholic teachers, and are under the supervision and discipline of a Roman Catholic principal. Why are Catholics represented on our School Board when they are known to be utterly opposed to our system of publio education? We sce them put forth interests and efforts to bring foreign Catholics to our shores, The rapid increase of Catholics among us is largely due to the constant influx of Catholic in the Old World, Ireland alone having contributed no less than 2,000,000 from 1830 to 1870. Look at the movement in another direction—viz., in the matter of educa- tion. Ata meeting of the Catholic Central Union, in New Yor cityk, @ priest from Buffalo took the ground that the State must establish and support Catholic schools, A resolution stating that the present system of public schools is a curse to our country and a floodgate of atheism was reported to the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union of St. Louis a few years ago. Now what are some of the existing facts? What do we find? We find a large num- ber of Cathe teachers in our publio schools teaching the children of Protestants, We find many Catholics on our school boards, who are utterly opposed to our school system. We find the children of Catholics educated as sub- jects of the Pope of Rome and not as American citie zens. We find Catholics filling many of our pnblio offices, Let Rome become dominant in this country, and then farewell to our open Bible and free schools, Let Rome become supreme, and then the spirit that kindled the fires at Smithfield and butchered the Waldenses will be rampant and our children will be denied the privilege of worshiping God according to our form of belief. To prevent such « triumph keep the Bible in the public schools. It is not the American doctrine to teach sectarianism, but it is the genius of our pubhe school system to teach morals and strengthen the pupil in the religions element, Thus men see that the public schools which Martyn Luther advocated were to teach private and public morals, in mind that the purposo of the public «chools ix not to make proficient scholars, but worthy citizens. If a inan is destitute of principle the mote he kuows the more capable he is of mischief,” Mr. Miller ctoaed his lecture by the reading of few statistics and letters from different priests to Horace Greeley and other prominent mem of New York city. GIVE MULDOON A CHANCE Thiebaud Bauer, the yreat wrestler, has for some time frequently expressed a desire to match himself against William Muldoon, the handsome and modest police officer, of the First precinct. Officer Muldoon hax a record which Mr. Bauer i anxious to “knock into a cocked hat.” The latter bas become furiously defiant. He says that he will wrestle with Officer Muldoon for #500, the best two falls out of three, Grmco-Roman style, at the shortest porsible notice, The handsome police offte cer said last evening that he is anxious to accept the chall ng but cannot do so tnless the Commiasion- ers of Police will give him permission,