The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-10-16
SUNDAY nEADiHe.

r... sUNDAh BHADIA0.
HARVEST HYMN. H.
God Of the swiftly rolling Year, 70 ..."
Thy boupties lie on every handt
How rich Thy varied gifts appear,
with oountis:s .SssTs: u golden ss. iiiH'''
hsjoyfui rsspers strev the plain. -.
Psnsils from every droopios bourb, stf
Fair 10 the suuliGhps rudy glow
The ripenipE fruits are bending nowi
From lavish Hand our blessings dow, 80
Sui .ssis lss ssassous .a sss ss; soS 'o'd
Spring sent i,s thrili Of dswnins lifo M
The earth swofs, with visor i re, -"' 'p''"
As TO new.created day.
Song allied the air, from every tree a7
Were waited strains Of melody. ..
Earth,s fruits matursd 'nsrth sun and
With . .a.6i i hear. =. , our IiP. .sP...
o lift to Hin each voice In praise ..r
Whose oountsousi love hath crowned our daysi
RsPHoBArIoN.-we give below an abstract
Of sermon preached on Sunday last by Rev.
DR.. Drlnkhouse, Of the Ninth street MsthodIst
Protestant churchi . Gina r.. 20
"Ephrsim is Joined to idolsi let him aions. ~
"aod hath not appointed rs to wlth, but
TO obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus
Christ" implies that God intends the Gospel
to be saving power TO every soul Of man.
This u his appointment" mot unto wrath,
forthis 10 always spoken Of a. somsthink "re.
served" God has, then, len the detefmina-
tion Of our future destiny with Us. Tho only
thing which death has 70 do With this deter
minatlon Is, It makes our choice unchaug-
able. The determination Itself We make
through every step Of life. Il u not the
work Of Q single day; nor are wo conscious
Of all the processes which conduco 10 the re-
sult- Nor need We suppose that God ever
lets Us sink beneath His caro- in all the appli-
ances BY which our freq agency may b In
must bo supposed, from many scriptural IL
Illustrations, that when, through our rebellion,
He can no longer use US for our good, He
will use us a. examples, &c. Tho design Of
the present discourse Ia TO uluatrnte these
thoughts by the example set forth In the
text. A simple division answers our pur-
poses. ~ r--t...- ...-.-.. ..
I. Tho sin OF Ephraim. "Ephraim is
Joined 10 idola." Literally, Ephralm stands
for the revolving ten tribes. Tho style Of
Hosea Is obscure, and his expressions often
dubious and perplexed. His prophetical In
vectives are launched sgainst Judah and
Ephraim alike. And tho burden Of the
prophecy Is, nrst, that God was going TO re-
venge upon the king Of Israel the sins he
had committed at Jexrael, where he usutped
the kingdom Of the ten tribes. Second, that
the Lord would treat his idolstrous snd sin
full people without mercy. Third, that he
would reject them and no longer look upon
them as his people, And history, 10 thiS In
stance, Is the handmade Of prophecy. They
arc known 10 this day "a tho q lostltribss Of
Israel" 3 q mo- y. .a#.'j r. rr.T..'
But the te1t has great moral, and It Is
with this We have 10 do. The sin u idolstry,
the moral Is death. Irrellgion b denial Of
the claims Of the Creator 10 the veneraron,
affection and service OF the creature. And
the sequence Of this truth L., that a. man
will adore, love aud serve, whom he donies
these to God, whose they arc by sovereign
right, they fI upon earthly thines, and tho sin
Of ldolatry Is thereby incurred. Refusing to
surrender his will to those attractive innu-
ences which would gravitats him nearer and
nearer the centre Of life and holiness resi-
dent In the Supreme, man becomes centre
unto himself, and goes sweeping In WIDEN
Ing orbit which multiplies the distance which
separates him from the Infinite Love, until at
sin and solnshness. Like Ephtsim1 ho is
"Joined to Idols" ,fIi1l1 or 90 -F.a
The underlying thought OF the member Of
the text now under confederation 10 the ro-
sponslbility OF man for the right use and
Improvement Of those faculties Of his splr-
itual nature which ally him TO the divine,
and so lift him above the Lowell Of q merely
animal existence, and by which no b made
capable Of knowing, loving aad serving God
as the special tokens OF his kinsLip With the
Diety; for next to being God Is the capacity
Of knowing him. The speaker elaborated
the thought OF the inevitable growth OF our
moral faculties, upward or downward. Can
It DO possible that man shall 90 mislnterpret
his god-glven faculties as 10 fix them upon
idols, Sc, get There ID an abruptness about
tho announcement OF the tert, like an In
spired parenthesis--a sudden interjsction Of
thought, as though the Almighty had thrown
q quick and searching glance Of his omnls-
cienco Into the quiet depths Of the sinners
heart and discovering his state he reveals
II and the prophet utters it--'SEphrsItn IL
Joined to IDOLS" Obi what o discovery
aud what stated The sin Is special 10 Ia
character, and received special punish
ment. TT
II. The Judgment pronounced, "Let him
there ia something to be Supplied. The
very position OF the text In the connecting
scriptures Is broken and isolated, II Is as
though the sacred watchers, the invisible
agents about US, had telegraphed the news
TO heaven "Ephraim Is Joined to idols.O
And then, after silence SO profound ns 10
render audible the very heart-thfob Of the
universe, the decree leaped forth as Lightning
from the thrones g Let him alone" Tho
Scriptures are null OF warnings; "ousnch
II Is q state realized In the experience and
made matter Of sorrowful confession OF
many. Moral processes are as inevitable as
physical ones. The moral nature receives
Its bias as the tree Its inclination, from the