The New York herald., 1870-03-28
CHURCH OF THE DIVINE PATERNITY.

Eat0er oil SAINTS ana Slunorss''
Owing to the miserable state OF the weather there
was not very large congregation present at the
morning service OF this church yesterday, and the
strangers who took advantage OF the circumstance
to get good seats were out in considerable force.
The sermon was delivered by the Rev. DR.. Chaplin.
who TOOK for hts text the words OF the Lords
Prayer:-'Uur Father which art In Heaven.n There
was no sentence III the Testament, he said, which
was 30 familiar to Christian ears as these words.
They were repeated in every family day after day,
and little children spoke them long before they
able to read the Bible. Their significance to our
hearts was immeasuraby great In the first
place they directed our attention to the object or
all other prayer: they were so simple that the unedu
Gated, the utterly ignorant could conceive OF the In
finite fact-God. Few as they were they embraced the
name, the existence and the dwelling place or God
The name OF that most endearing OF names-Father,
OUR FATHER.
What differences OF opinion mad prevailed In past
ages concerning the idea OF GOD And in view OF the
vagares OF religious belief In olden times 1t must
have been an extraordinary power TO have called God
"our Father In heaven.n The words certainly con-
veyed after all but an imperfecs conception of GOD,
for in no way can finite being comprehend the In
nDlte. We could never comprehend God In His
quantity but we could comprehend Him In quality.
We may discern what He is by the words, for all
sstent with them Nothing in the revelations could
be found contradictory to them. 1t might be urged
by as an objection that they wers not intended
to apply to q special class; that they were
addressed to the disciples above who heard them,
and not to the multitude at large. In reply he
serted that they were addressed TO all men, to sinners
well as to saints FOR the words 'forgive our
trespasses showed plainly enough that sinners
were not excluded. There was no limit to these
words at all, nothing whatever which would 60 to
show that they had any special relation instead OF
universal one The conception OF God derived from
the words was very fundamental, and the objection
urged was the radical ground OF difference between
Christians as to what Gods relation is TO man.
EVERY WORD OF THE GOSPEL
should be interpreted according the scope Of the
whole Bible, and these words OF the Lords Prayer
were no exception TO the rule The Scriptures were
full OF terms which entirely agreed with calling God
"Our Father" For instance, He Is said to be "our
God and Father OF All.' Cod is said to be
love. No attempt coua be made to define
the essence OF God IN Its intrinsic law
but what was clear Was that Cod is love, and
we know that He so loved the world that He gave HIS
only begotten Son for the salvation OF man. Not
that we loved Him, but He loved US. We were sin.
ners and He loved just as devotedly as He did the
saints In this doctrine OF the divine power Is the
whole power OF the Gospel. II the doctrine Of God
being our father were taken away the Gospel would
have no peculiar power. Its teachings were Ger.
tainly grand, but without this one doctrine 1t would
be worthless.
GOD LOVED ALL MEN
In the face OF Sin. He the father OF the snner
as well as Of the saint. How could 1t be otnerwse2
Could He changer He Is or is not always his father
II when the sinner became saint God became mis-
father, then man makes God his father. On the
other hand, when man came to the knowledge OF
God he claims he realizes what has always existed.
He does not make 1t, but realizes IT. for God is the
same and cannot be made different by any act OF man.
There wide distinction between the recognition
OF q fact ana the existence OF q fact. The good
Christian realized that God was HIS father by his
spiritual communion with Him, which was not mere
words on the lips; but the sinner, though he did not
realize the fact OF God being his rather, believed He
was. To realize that God was our father we should
Him to be rather the fact exists all the 40
man could individually call God ms father nor could
any party or sect or class ofCnrstans consider Him
as exclusively their father. There was no limit to
His fathernooo. 1t was wider than the earth-deep
as Gods own heart and love. 1t was limited TO no
man. no party no sect, no Class whatever. The
words
OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN
also implied the personal existence OF God. II i'm
plieo that we sprang from something. What was
tnat something's Was the term mere bltndf The
word art echoes the declaration made In the Old
Testament In the word OF God ~ am.n The reverend
gentleman then dilated at some length on the vari-
Gus evidences which make the existence OF God an
undeniabe fact and referred the wonderful order
with which the planets moved in their spheres
as the order which pre- -emineltly proclaimed Gods
existence-the existence OF an
ALL-POWERFUL MIND
which regulated everything, and argued that every
discovery OF science instead OF taking away from
Gods glory or power by dispeng long held super
sttions, only added to His greatness and our know
ledge OF His divin existence by showing with what
order all things, great and small, were regulated by
an all-powerfu-nor simply . sympathetic living
spirit The invocation in the prayer designated the
DWELLING PLACE OF GOD
as heaven. IL made God apparently localized
being. some people imagined there was great
abyss between man and Him. We were led along in
life BY symbols through what we discern the essen
tial TACT and 20 1t was In regard to heaven. 1t ID
not fixed region, but we couldn't Ok 1t anywhere.
We know that those who had died and gone before
US
DRIFTED OUT SOMEWHERE
to place within Gods being. God was everywhere,
and wherever He was there was heaven. The de-
parted would be recognized in the great hereafter
by their friends although the furrows and scars and
malformatons OF this life would be elIaced. Heaven
might be place aboundnR with crystal fountains
and everything that was beautiful aud attractive
but If the spirit was corrupted and stained with stu
It would IN that heaven be in hell, and the spirit
pure and unsullied would be in heaven In he'll al
that place was generally understood. Heaven and
|