The New York herald., 1869-05-17
RELIGIOUS SERVICES N BROOKLYN.
PLYMOUTH CHURCH.

Rev. Henry Ward Be0cber Churches.
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher preached yesterday to
congregation as large and as interested and atten
tive as is usually attracted to Plymouth church
each successive Sabbath at morning and evening
services. After the preliminary devotional services
the reverend gentleman proceeded with his sermon,
taking for his text Mathew " 6-"Blessed are
they who do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be hlled."
These were the words OF Christ himself, who
delighted to instruct his disciples through parallels
They are intended to convey the assurance that
all that seek Christ shall find him; that the ongings
OF their hearts shall be gratied and that they shall
be filed with righteousness The Christian Churches
teach this doctrine and the impression that church
makes ON the moral consciousness Of the commu-
nifty is fair test OF Its vitality and power. Every
church IL bound to make an impression for good
on the minds OF the average OF those attending
its ministrati0n drawing distinction between the
would not be right TO determine good effected by
q church or to overlook the impression made by
church on the average number attending II, Dy tne
improper act OF individual or the acts OF two or
three individuals, more than that one should say
that because five six disreputabe persons out OF
four or five hundred sOjOurnlng at the 81. Nicholas
or Metropolitan Hotel, were 10 be rest
dents OF these hotels, that consequently
they must be immoral and bad places
TO i've Isolated instances Of depravity were not
the criterlons by which TO judge OF the morals OF
whole community. But church must be judged
by the impression IL leaves the moral conscious
ness and better natures OF the community attending
II. That impression is not easily traceaole at al
times. iJ might be llkened to a man using seal
and making the same impression day after day.
There IL the impress OF the seal, but you
cannot distinguish It clearly whether II III ~ ,,a
impress is there. Many churches are known as ex-
ceent places Of resort Sundays, for there are to
be the best dressed people, the most prosperous
peope-people representing religious mutual insur-
ance companies. And people say OF these, these men
live in brown stone houses and worship in brown
church. it be true to itself must leave an impress
sion Cor good on tue average number OF It's c3mmani
make apparent TO ali men, me true CHRISTIAN must
command popular opinion, that Is, the prerogatlve
of power The Christian is bound so TO live that
men OF another church will say 1t Is pity that such
good man and active Christian does not belong to
our church. Christ does not care Tor sects OF Cnrls
tlans. Christ Is IKE sportsman going into the Held
in quest of game lie has pockets IN IN every
Of his IS Ss m MS Ss
vest big pockets and little pockets. All
the sects or protesting Christians are pockes IN the
garments of Jesus Christ and 1t does not matter TO
the members OF any particular sect whether they go
to heaven in an outside pocket or an inside pocket.
in big pocket little pocket so long as they got
| there at all. The Christian man was bound to let
| his Christianity be seen and known OF his feil0w
men. No man ghteti candle and pnteLn u nnder
| AS without oxygen you cannot make name,
80 every portion OF the divine grace one really pos
sesses will make itself felt FAR and near. lie (Mr.
| Beecher) had no overweeninu attachment to the
church as q physical organization. He was rather
|
lie believed in the usefulness Of the Churches but ne
did not believe that any church on earth, rom the
first to the last was ordained OF God. The churches
! take the same stand In a community as schools, 81
| far as they tended to promote morality In man
Churches are useful just as governments are useful
God did not make governments, but he made mai
to be governed. So as every government Is goo'
enough TO answer the purposes or government, Sc
every church is good enough to answer the purpose
Of church. All churches are In some respect
apOstOlical, but as to any one or them having de
scended from the Apostles that was deiusion-no
one OF them so descended. 1t was supreme imper
| thence to say that any one church presented IN
| form and IIneaments OF ST. Peter or St Paul. NJ
| such thing. It might as well be said that they CAV,
| us the patterns Of the louses we were To build ant
| live ill., rs to say they gave us the pat
| tern OF church in which we were Il
| worship. Baptism is baptism whether administered
by pope, cardinal, bishop, priest minister or lay
man; and so the sacrament OF the Last Supper Is al
| much holy ordinance when administered by th,
| father of a family to his children or by man to him
SELF as II the same was administered by priest o.
| minister. Men were no doubt better through church
| fellowship and ali men should stand UP and openly
| ayow themselves Christians and as belonging t
some Christian church The Christian man shoui'
bear witness to his Christianity and to his faith II
the redeemIng grace and love of the LORD Jesu
| Christ