The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-05-11
LYRIC HALL.


Rev. o. b. FrOthing ham ON the Religion
.aM 41 OF the Heart.
Lyric Hall was thronged with large and atten-
tive congregation yesterday morning. Mr.. Fr0th-
ingham delivered very original aud eloquent
sermon, taking for his text Romans, K, 10-"For
with the heart man Delieveth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth Confession is made unto saliva
tion.n The word heart in the old Testament,
word OF frequent use, has many meanings In gen.
eral 1t expresses the interior Of man. and the ex-
preston with the heart man believeth means that
all sincere faith Is interior. Belief is not OF the
lips The ONCE OF the lips IL to express belief,
but in the usage OF our language the heart has
many specific meanings. We say the head thinks,
the conscience Judges the soul adores, the heart
feeis not that the intelligence and conscience and
soul and heart are different faculties oil the mind,
but simply that they are different movements OF q
rational being 1t is the function or the heart to
feel The religion oil the heart has no fear its
justice no terror Thought Is not critical or mega
tive, but appreciative Such man is Character
tied by feeling OF good viii towards all people, q
tenderness for the wretcned, desire to help the
crushed. This element OF feeling is exceedingly
large and strong in human nature. Without feel
ing there is no religion. no enthusiasm. Without
feeling there is no patriotism, no herolsm.
no conservation. no appreciation OF great
characters. Take intelligence out OF the
word and you take light that
can never be replaced. Take away conscience
and there is no reform, no reconstruction Of
human society, no noble conflict with sin and
sorrow and pain; but take feeling, and what be-
comes OF the world2 There Is no love, no attrac-
ton, no sympathy, no children, no amenities or
scarcely anything. NOW the element OF feeling
being 30 large, being now in greater proportion
tnun the manifestation OF any other fact aud in
tue future to be equally large, has its voice IN
saying
WHAT RELIGION SHALL BE-
1t has not always had Its voice. We can trace its
power to within LOO years. A little more tnan q
century ago The voice o. the nelrt was not listened
to. The theory OF religion was that by It's very
nature 1t was super natural; that the admins
traitors OF religion were dIvineiy ordained and set
other institutions, but were provldentiai lnstitu-
lions, piaate and sustained BY the instant grace
OF the Holy Spirit 30 that without THIS super
natural support and feeling there would be no
religion. What was the consequence That the
heart was never consulted as to VIII 4 religion
should or MS 10 what the character OF the insIl-
tutlons should be. The heart was pronounced de-
ceitIul ana desperately wicked; IL was ignored,
thrust aside aud crushed. Now within the last
loo years this heart with its disposition Tor SYM
pathy and love, comes and vindica,es itself and
says, 81 nave something to say in thlsn The heart
taxes up tue old Bible and reads With eyes Of It's
own. Ii Is
sMITrEN WITH HORROR
at the wholesale determination Of the CanAanltes
by the lsraetes. 1t reads the quaint story OF the
patriarch Abraham taking his son up the mountain
to offer as sacrifice to God, in obedience to whatS
dream, vision, q fancy, passing within. As
lovely things. reads the delicious pa ables OF the
Good samaritan and The Prodigal son and
beautiful things In the lie OF Jesus. But then
II reads sucn things AS this-tne descending OF q
troop OF lemons into innocent swine that tile Son
Of Man cursed a fly tree because 1t mad not figs be-
lore Its time; wnoie chapter oil fierce denuucia-
tlon VI the PhariSees, whom history declares to
nave been no worse than some Of their contempo-
larles. Tue heart reads these things with horror,
and says Jesus cyud never have done these things
or II lie ola 1T must have been IN moment when
de was under tue influence OF some
UNGovERNABLE IMPULSE
and was not Himself; and when the heart reads the
description OF the last judgment, when the Son OF
Man gathers the good and the bad before Him and
schus she former 10 everlasting bliss and the latter
to everlasting damnatiou, the heart protests and
trained and cultivated the more urgent 1t is
Inefe are whole systems OF religion which
anront tue heart. Take the Old system; one
wnicn thank heaven, Is almost dead; q system Of
religion which prevailed IN this country till two or
three generations ago, and which fingers now in
spots Just as IN some spots the winter snow lies
waiting of the cum TO come to melt II into dew
THIS system we are at liberty now to Judge py the
heart with perfect freedom Here was system
that started with this assumption, that the world
through and through, was totally depraved, hope
lessly bad and wicked, without the power OF ever
DONG saving thing. All the past ages crowded
back on the present man and crushed him down.
second, That perfectly good and pure Being sent
HIS only son, perfectly spotless to the world and
put Him thr0ugha
PROCESS OF AGONY,
put the poison cup to Ills lips. Hung him on cross
ana visited upon Ills devoted head all the agony
anu sorrow OF all men that had ever been
an Infinite SIN upon the head OF perfectly spot
less creature. Inc next point, that by virtue Of
TINS all those wretcnes are aosolved, evil become
good through the suffering OF tnat lamD-nke soul.