The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-11-26
THE BROKEN SPIRIT.
A Sermon Delivered In the Church OF
the Holy Trinity, by the Rev. Phillips
RroOIxa.

A Sermon Delivered In the Church of
the Holy Trinity, by the Rev. Phillips
Brooks.
The Church of the "Holy Trinity" Nineteenth
and Walnut streets, was crowded to repletion
yesterday morning to listen to the Rev.
Phillips Brooks, its rector who has lately re-
turned from Europe and Palestine. He selected
for his text the 18th verse of the 6lst Psalm:
''The sacrifices of the Lord are broken spirit;
a broken and q contrite heart o Lord thou
wilt not despise." The speaker commenced his
sermon with the supposition that the congrega-
ton which tEronged his church come there,
not from vanity, or ennu, or fashion, but had
come from an anxiety to learn how to be saved.
He would speak to them OF their souls, and seek
to apply the text as guide for their action.
The "sacrihces" clearly mean the offerings to
are "broken spirit" What then is a broken
spirit? The spirit is the lle, the vitality the
ruling motion OF existence. If we look around
nature, we clearly see that things reach maturity
by gradual process OF Development The egg
becomes robin or an eagle, fully plumed and
perfect in all its parts. The seed become tree,
with its branch reaching to the sky, perfect
type of its class. All this is accomplished by
gradual process of development.
But the seed will not grow into a tree or the
egg INTO bird, unless the seed be perfect one,
and the egg a perfect egg. So 1t Is with tae
development of man. The germ of the spirit IS
a defective one. 1t cannot, by a natural course
of growth, become per ect soul. 1t IS neces-
sary that it be broken, that the time OF growth
be changed, the evil be made good, the unruly
spirit be broken. How is this done? Sometimes
by sorrow. The word "broken" does not neces-
sarily imply that griet be the means. The tender
tree may be bent IN the proper directions with
out the violence of breaking the plant.
II may be that the effective prayers of the
parents, as they present their child at the bap-
tismal font, can then secure the change which
will make the ch'ld lead a holy life. The
agency is the same, whether 1t be brought
about with scars and rents in the nature Of
the hardened sinner, or with the smiling inno-
cence of the babe. Behind all our theology
rests the grand doctrine that the Lord Will not
afdict His children without a cause. The whole
aim OF Christi anity is to make man happy in
this life, and happy in the lite 10 come. Some
times the rod is necessary; with Others the
heart can be melted by showerng favors and
making the man so happy that he
must come to God to tell Him how
blessed this life is. When one fails,
the other's resistance to the spirit Is broken by
harshDess for the sake of breaking IT, The Of
fering therefore, most acceptable to the Lord Is
spirit changed from its original dIectlon-a
spirit Tegenerated, q spirit broken. All who
come with such will not be despised. The
speaker made an earnest appeal to his hearers
to seek safety; and to all who asked him what
was necessary, he would say In the words OF bis
text the only requisite is changed life
broken spirit. All such He will in no wise cast
out Turn ye,. turn ye; why VIII ye 0'e'
house Of Israelr