Delaware State journal and statesman., 1867-12-03
THANKSGIVING SERMON.
A THANKSGIVING SERMON, DELIVERED BY
REV. WILLARD I'll. HIHKLEY, IN NEW
JERUSALEM CHURCH, NOVEMBER 2S, 1857

JERUSALEM CHURCH, NOVEMBER 28, 1857
"And it shall come to pass In that day,
that the mountains shall drop down new
wine, and the hills shall flow with milk and
all tho rivers of Judah shall flow with
waters, and fountain shall come forth OF
the house of the Lord, and shall water the
4 valley of Shittim. n-Joel uI-18.
A day of Thanksgiving We observe one
day in the year in giving thanks for the
| benefits and mercies we have received at
the Lords hand during the remaining three
hundred and sixtY-four.
It may be well, 1t is we'll, / may say, to
observe one day out of so many in this spe-
cial way OF giving thanks But we are very
apt in this as in other outward obserYances,
to make the small service we render in this
way answer for the great service that is con-
atantly due. For every breath we breathe,
for every pulsaiion of our hearts, for every
true thought and every good affection, for
every new and beautiful truth we learn and
every measure of good we receive, for every
thing added to our store of natural or spiIi-
tual good things, we owe thanks to the
| great Giver. tEi sTElf .gt
Life is a constant stream of mercies, flow
ing from the Lord as the Fountain and the
| Source. 1t is not only for what we received
yesterday, Or the past week or month or
| year tuhb Oul tuduhS utb uut, Dul lOI BNGIy
| benefit and blessing, both natural and spiri-
tual, from the time of our birth to, the pre-
| sent hour. All these taken together have
made upon the sum OF our life and the mea-
sure of our happiness or our misery. The
past IS all in the present. The good which
we have received and appropriated has been
constantly increasing; if not in a ratio that
we can measure, at least SO that we can see
and feel that the good we received yesterday
| -. nto ta AIn 1fr
/ new enjoyment OF blessing we have to-day.
This law of increase is operative in all the
realms of thought and activity, where the
Lords goodness Is received; and 1t is mani,
tested on every plane of existence. The
promise given, "rhe Lord shall increase
| you, more and more, you and your children,
| Cps. Cxv-14) is constantly being fulfilled in
the increase of light, of knowledge, and of
power. t.
Ii we survey the history of human affairs
on the earth for the past year only, we sec
in all the changes that have taken place a
progress towards higher condition, If not
in all nations or among all people, at least
among those who are to be leaders and re-
| formers in the great work of the worlds
progress. Even in the decline and fall of
this or that government or kingdom, princi-
pality Or power, we see the preparation for
something better. 'H
And If we confne our observations to our
own country, we shall see the same law in
operation. With all our dissensions and
| troubles, with all the fluctuations in trade,
in the price of labor and in the value OF
| commodities, and with all the losses occas-
Toned thereby, VIC are still making progress.
There is an under current stronger than
that which appears on the surface of things,
which is bearing US onward and upward to
| q higher and q nObler destiny, This is the
stream OF the Divine Providence. Our
1 doings as nation are affecting all others,
and we are affected by the changes that are
going on in their affairs; more SO, indeed,
than we generally imagine. Our population
being composed of people from all quarters
OF the globe, many of whom have but re-
Gently adopted this country as their own and
have consequently deep interest remaining
for the land OF their birth, we are very SEN
sibly affected by the mutations in the affairs
OF the rest of the world. At the present
time we are so much occupied with the
many changes incident 10 the new condition
of things in our own land, that we are apt
to overlook the vast changes that are taking
place elsewhere, and we fail to comprehend
the grand idea that the whole world is linked
together; and as the laws of Divine Provi-
dence operate upon all alike, thus universally,
as well as particularly, that each nation is
interested in the affairs of all other nations,
and affected by the changes in their social,
moral and religious condition. So rapid,
indeed, are these changes, owing to the in
creased facilities for the transmission of in
telllgence, which have almost annihilated
time and space, and have caused men to
think and act much more quickly than for
merly, that we hardly have time to estimate
their importance or the bearing they have
upon human interests Before we can
fairly consider the means or causes which
are operating, we are brought at once to the
effects produced. We are startled at results
happening IN the present which we thought
the Lord in His Providence had reserved for
distant period in the future. The words
of the prophet are fulfilled 4" Behold, the
days come, saiththe Lord, that the plowman
shall overtake. the reaper and the treader oil
grapes him that soweth seed. ~ (Amos Ix-15. }
We see the operation of this law of pro-
gress not only in the affairs of nations OF
society at large, but in the narrower circle
of home and in our own individual lives.
Every one who examines his own affairs will
see that the Lord has been constantly afford.
ing him new opportunities for increasing bis
own happiness and promoting the happiness
OF others. He may also see, tits true, that
, he has not always availed himself Of these
, | opportunites, and so far as he has not done
so he has failed to realize the Lords mercy
If we place ourselves in the stream of the
Divine Providence, we cannot fail to realize
; that lis operations are all for our good; an(
even when we oppose it, or act against it
I we see that the evils that ensue are not s,
great as those we have feared. And all til,
apparent losses we sustain-the loss of home
{ of kindred, or of natural goods or riches
! are only permitted to teach us the true M
: ture OF happiness; to teach us that all mate
/ rial interests must be made subservient Il
+ eternal interests; that even the ties OF natura
affection are not SO strong as the ties o
5 spiritual affection, and that unless they ar
connected in some way with the love OF tn
/ Lord and the neighbor, they are broken an'
0 | die.
r But let US extend our view of this subjec
i a little further; OF rather, let us look littl
L higher and little deeper; let us look at thi
s subject of progress in its relation to religion
r or spiritual concerns. If we are interested
i. in the civil and social affairs of mankind, w
d must be more than doubly so in their rel
= gous affairs. Any one who has studied I'll
Y history of the church, or of the churches
Il for hundred years past, will see that the
G have all been undergoing changes; that til
Il people, If not the clergy or leaders, hav
Is been yielding TO some great influence thg
rt has caused them to look more to life than I
e mere doctrine, 10 consider religion as praC
,e tical thing not confined to the closet and Ill
v sanctuary, not consisting in mere forms an
v ceremonies of worship, but extending il
of influence to all the spheres and pursuits {
S, life, and consisting in lite of charity an
Y well doing. Where other principles hav
p been advocated, stagnation and spiritut
le death have ensued, instead of progress an
of life. So it must be; because the vital {
in essential principle of all religion is love {
Of charity, and where this has been disregarde
rs or has Waxed cold, the church has been d
ly prived OF life. All institutions or socletit
H. or churches that have exalted faith aboy