The New York herald., 1872-11-11
FOURTH UNIvERsALIsT CHURCH.


DIR. Chaplin ON Unsclhsh Goodness-In-
viting the Poor and the Halt TO tho
Feast.
The usual fashionable congregation attended at
Dr. Chapin's church, on Forty nth street and Filth
avenue, yesterday morning, and listened to most
eloquent sermon on the subject Of
UNsELFIsH GOODNESS.
DR.. Chaplin chose for mis- text Luke xiv, 1a-"But
when thou makest feast call the poor, the
manned, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be
blessed, for they cannot recompense thee but thou
shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the
just.n Jesus on the occasion OF the utterance OF
these words was eating bread on the Sabbath day
at the house Of Pharisee and 1t is an apt illus
tration Of His using
THE THINGS CLOSE AT HAND
to enforce lesson The feast He has here made an
occasion for lessons to the Pharisees to the people
at large and to His host The lesson Is the great
lesson OF unselfsh goodness. We must fully under
stand the scope Of these words :-"Call the poor,
the manned, the lame, the blind" They cannot be
interpreted to prohibit the ordinary interchange Of
social life. the festive gatherings Of friends about
the table, The Scripture In this sense must not be
taken literally. But there is no virtue In
THESE SOCIAL INTERCHANGEs
Of friendship. They weigh nothing as Christian
virtues. There is no call for self-denial in them
nor room for unsel1sh goodness. They follow
merely the easy current Of reciprocity and are as
natural elements OF life as eating and sleeping.
But as tests OF Christian discipline and character
they must be excluded, as without that spirit OF
comprehensive love which embraces all the inter-
ests Of humanity. The great principle involved in
the present teaching Of Christ is charity. The
spirit in which the feast is given is to be mainly re-
garded. life Of unseldsh goodness, II not accom-
THE REQUISITE SPIRIT OF CHARITY,
avaieth nothing For, says the Apostle Paul,
Though bestow oil my goods to feed the poor,
not charity it pronteth me nothing" The spirit in
which the feast Is given fs therefore commended,
and thus the power OF giving feasts to the poor s
humblest, II he have but the requisite charity may
make his life Q continuous feast for the poor.
THE UNIVERSAL QUESTION
OF life Is, "In what consists the good Of lfes" A
man must be careless and thOughtless indeed who
spring ows ali the good we have Of this
life, the great industries, the grand structures the
wonderful inventions, the philanthropst's work.
counters in the game OF life from which Is to be ex
tracted some practicable good. All things how
LIE NOT to TO amy He
make it So others may MAKE 1t for him, but 1t Is
not the grand intention the sublime end Of crea-
denSome.
THE GOODS OF THE WORLD
are vacating neettng. They are seized by fire,
as we have just heard, and that which we thought
as strong ana substantial almost as heaven itself
becomes
passions often fool him till some qualm Of con-
science disenchants him or the senses themselves,
In vlndication Of their violated laws destroy the
illusion. Man may have developed from the ami
NAL, he may be q bl0ssOming OF the animal
creation, but by his inner consciousness, his intel
ectual rpening, his mental development, he is not
wholly an animal. The insect in its intricate
palace OF shell or bulb the CATTLE In the pas
ture, are all alike enfolded under Gods fostering
care, and all alike are given the joys of existence
that may be comprised within an entirely animal
existence. But to comprehend man compressng
SOURCES OF ENJOYMENT
within his animal nature Is q difficult matter.
something even OF the drunkard-the sot, the
auTes wien s e
vinces us that there is something better than the
mere animal even In him. No man, degrading his
mental to his sensual nature, can live out the
meaning OF his life.
But add to this
THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE
the love OF truth, and we have even deeper sup.
plies Of good. The knowledge that has discovered
new worlds in science, in botany, In chemstry-the
appreciate the mystery and glory OF q violet or a
rose, or by rare induction, can bridge the star
Of which such minds are capable A sensual life
is thoroughly selfish. Whatever IT may do although
It may rebound to public benefit, is done only
0 : a sARcoPHAaus OF EeorrsS.
But il is a notable fact that the enjOyments of
life mostly increased by imparting them. The
painter ihe sculptor, the writer, when the glory
OF new vision or q new idea has entered their
minds, hasten by picture or statue or book to i'm
part the pleasure to their fellows, and who Will
say the pleasure is not enhanced by the sharing Of
II 7 The man OF intense culture and refinement,
who stands aoof from his fellows, an aesthetic ap.
preciator Of the beautiful,
A CRITIC OF DEF0RMITY,
but who imparts no share Of his intelligent impress
sions to his fellow men, takes no part In the needs
Of his country or his neghbOrs, is like grand noun
tain tops about which the sunbeams CLINT In gor-
geous magnincence, while he himself is Icy and cold
from his top to his granite heart. That man who
compacently believes that while he and a favored
yn IN Hnyn fall ha ata nf I'D
ticuar religion will be saved and the great OF
human creatures about may be swept by the bosom
OF destruction into lakes OF everlasting fire, and
thanks God that he is saved may have religion, but
he has not goodness, and Christianity is essentially
the religion Of unselfsh goodness.