The New York herald., 1869-05-10
RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN BROOKLYN.
PLYMlUTH CHURCH.

Mama Relationship with the Natural Laws.
The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher preached very In
structive sermon yesterday morning to a congrega-
ton which not only filed the church inside in every
part but that stretched back TO the entrance DOORS
front and rear He took for his text the twenty fifth
verse of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of ST. Mat
/ say unto you, take no thought
for your life, what ye Shall eat or what ye shall
drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on
Is not the life more than meat ana the oouy 'nan
raiment2" .,, -
The Lords question was not put spiritually, but,
nevertheless it was eXquisitely spiritual. the
Master laid down in this twenty-ffth verse 'ake no
thought for your life; Is not the lie more than meat
and The body than ralment ~ inns prieny zen. argaeu,
rst from the intrinsic superiority OF the spirit or
SOUL that for the qualification OF material surrOund
ings man ought not to sacrifice the s0uls happiness
to any material good. The souls quiet and happl-
ness were of more value than the condition OF the
body and therefore, the higher happiness ought not
to be sacrificed please the material Senses More
over IL Is needless, lnasmuch as all men stand IN
such an order Of nature Is to be supplied IN all mate
rial things 6y eXeToa has OF ve or m
created beings. Man Is more valued In the sight OF
God than all other portions OF create creation d. Even
yiGed for by the great Creator himself. the
birds know how to build their nests; the flowers
do not. The birds provide for their materiai wants
ana needs; the MOWERS do not, and yet God heeds
one as much as the other-givrlng one WHY'S ana
pumage to enable them to provide for and
royalty robes other, providing for them by natu-
raj laws Therefore the natural course OF law Is
ample to provide abundanty for all created things:
The birds and flowers know how to get from natural
laws all their requirements; and was not man inucn
better than theyr Better, as being higher IN tne
companionshp and sympathy with Cod and, tnere-
fore. less likely 70 oe neglected by Him. But man
paws little heed those natural laws on which Prov
dence displays Hts great care and love for man.
Man. from neglectng to make himself conversant
with natural laws fails under the dread OF phan aSms
and lmagnngs OF things tnat have no existence. Man
therefore suffers more from things that have no ex-
lstence than from realities. The pain infllcted by
the execuoner is not half poignant the thought
that the axe may smite. bankruptcy IL not haiI SO
hard to bear when It comes as the thought OF dreaa
rabe IA tine apprehension OF sickness. Tne man OF
lively imagination and great eagerness, and with
hunting ground Of thought, with those
saith' "Present Ills are less than horrible I'M.
| aginings.r Man in this fails to trust TO natura
laws. Long before It rains tne thunder cSna tnrea.
tentous cloud, all full of mighty storm, ready to
burst upon the earth and man trembies WIN rear
and apprehension In q moment the cloud passes
away: all danger gone; not drop OF raninas Ialen
| TO The ground. But though the coui and the
threatened danger have passed away man 0rgets 10
| draw wisdom from this natural law. So things
that he thought existed and threatened him evil,
at M his sleep ws1 mem ne
| phere OF mind, but leaving no wisdom 10 direct
them in the Iuture. Man Is given 70 trouble ane
tendency; II you attempt to make them straight you
| break them. SO you may say OF great many peo-
miserable. mis- It Is the habit OF man to get unduly
eated in prosperity, and unduy depressed in adver-
Fears and anxleies destroy the possibility Of men
using either their reason or their moral seuse
PAIN and suffering and anxiety take from
special providence. "where Is now thy Godr saith
the scOfr "There God" saith the atheist II Is
confidence In his own power that gives man conii-
dence when he loses confidence he fails In all his
undertakings. II Is then he forgets the natural law
which provides for the birds and the flowers. which
are SO much less than he IN the scale Of creat he
forgets to put his trust In that God that rules the
universe and orders all things right. The reverend
preacher concluded with an eloquent appeal to his
hearers TO put their trust in God, while they ut the
| same time obeyed those natural and moral laws
| world,