The New York herald., 1874-12-07
God Speaking to Men by the Voice
of the Preachers.
BAL MS WISH
"Let Me Die the Death o1
the Righteous"
Necessity to Prepare for "a Sud
den Cau.
What UniversaIists Believe and What They
Dsny-Final Salvation.
how TO PAY CHURCH DEBTS

HOW TO PAY CHURCH DEBTS
CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES
Sermon by the Rev. DR.. HePworth-
sa M ssBalaam's WISH"
The raw. DIR. Hepworth preached the sermon
yesterd ~ forenoon in his church, corner OF Aad
eon avenue and Forty-fourth street. He took for
,is text the tenth verse OF the twentythtfd chap.
tar OF Numbers-"Let me die the death or the
righteous, and let my last end be like hts" Ba-
ham, ne said, was one OF the most remarkable
characters which appeared In the sacred drama.
He was an excellent pagan; but he found HIM
sen unable 60 cope with the living God. He
made use OF chicanery and the ways OF nccro-
NANCY in order to accomplish hts ends. but when
ne came In contact with the genuine manifesto
tion Of she spirit and power Of Jehovah he found
himself not only helpless but was candid enough
20 acknowledge the fact. His home was on the
Euphratea where ne practised his profession,
where he could, at thef0yai bidding accomplish
she wishes OF hts master; but when ne was asked
20 curse the Israeites his lips were stilled, his
heart Was munned, his voice was gone; and when,
finally, he regaincd speech he was forced 10 ex-
claim, with o kind of despair. "How can curse
whom God doth bless ?" when the King took this
prophet OF the Eupnrates on the mountain top,
whence he could look down on this immense con-
Sregation, his sstontshment found vent In the
words Of the text-"Let me die the death OF the
righteous, and let my last end be nke his.n This
end was indeed, the crnacteric OF everything In
Nfe, the supreme boon OF every mans career, the
issue OF all human effort oil all faith, and as we
murmur and echo that wish, II there was anything
shat we ought to envy It was that unwavering
Iaith. frm in its foundation, unchanReable in It's
character which some men have. What would
We NOT give II we could stand
FACE TO FACE WITH THE INEVITABLE FUTTRK
with the color unchanged in our checks, and voice
unfaltering-if sure we could enter the valley OF
shadows ana say with David. "He Is my rod and
stan, the Lord on whom lean, and they are my
comfort and security" n we could feel as uncon-
cerned as the child who takes its nurses hand and
trusts solely TO her In the rough placcs-if we
could feel all this. then, indeed. the money and
gold OF California the gems OF GolcOnda would
not deprive Us OF that faith and leave rs in the
poverty and fear OF doubt. There was nothing,
She reverend gentleman went on to say, that was
quite SO sure In life as the end OF 1t. The cradle
was no more piece OF household property than
she title deed TO that little plot OF ground with
which there we're connected some unpleasant as
.ociations. II was curious that we should when
march under the SHADOW, and that before
twenty years or 80 ares told In their varied
must quietly. without any noise or public dts
crop ss soe so 81 sSa s9e % as M
tom. When We thought Of this we ack no wledged
the tacs az We ~ should. II We did we would not be
- careless as we are nor tnink as little OF re-
mad to settle upon US All. All things had TO de
10 be transformed into something better. Every
20 70 back into its original elements and then be
Incorporated into other elements. Even the ami
maIcuIe We saw under the microscope lived its
years would be to us, and then died. The planets,
Which we're begun 80 long ago snnt geology
long shat mathematics itself rrembles when 1t
attempts to compute the number ol years yet left
for tnem-all shall lade away, be botted out from
the neaven4 the greatest looslng itself frm among
the brightest lights, even as man or woman or
child drops from among the living and is lost sight
OF iorever. Planet. anmai, man. all creation we're
all the time undergoing process of transforma-
the grub in the dirt, we would os transformed
into the butterfly that nuttcrs in the light " no
mad no: heard be @ Of the story OF the aichenist who
nAsUFAcrCRE THE sLIxIR OF LIFE,
decay human you'd ID bs and
life prolonged But while he was bent over MS
sraeDs ds sncss of ss winter zen over his
:.EureEsH death stole 10 shroagh the ~.
covered. I lt was was 50 '' hard Of sowing snat
= Lie was curious episode. and Se InouaSt
shat its best simlle was the stage. We come from
resen tatiOn. PROBABLY we naa no words 70 Ut
ter, but simply to walk across the stage or per-
and az ,Uns Il
acted the parts Of KING or NOBLE and then quietly
sns stage Assn s xss IKE the mxrs
tory bTd, which TOOK tts 1iRht beyond me north
sTn "a nO1on nSn rnsrs s : aid Its Eggs a sad brought
takes wing and dies from State to state ana
nnany drops down tue borizon OF the south. Lie
a M vi arpA ofirynau
the rapidity OF the night OF a bird, SO we Gazed
IN bewildermen! at the way in which our days,
BIRDS wings, bear US su further iIofn the
cradle Of our Own home. II death was a despot
living We were very much IKE men Q chess
board. The wealthy might be likened to the King,
king mad a better chance than the pawn but we
could say tnat 1t had privileges OF movement
the queen, the bishop and the pawn all occupy
respective POSITIONS on the board. When the
ne swept them into the box Il made no difierence
Which WAS on top or which under all were throws
next We ali attained 10 'ns NE Certain 9r pes .ss
sarIn lions certain Prer0gatave: but death knew nc
me e s a "a sns
same voice ne summoned king ana peasant to
their long account. There were certain Kinds OF
death, and he considered II blessing OF Provi.
denee that
THE CLOUD OF uScoxscioCsxsss
II sucp were not the ease what tragedies would
be enaeSedi In the full possession OF our facul-
ties we were TO march steadily to death, we're
compelled 10 LOOK into the siGhriess orbs OF the
King OF Terr0rs, take his clammy hand tn ours
and 20 In the oath IN which he walks, u would be
terrible. In such case most men who lead an
ordinary life would look upon IL with mex.
pressiole terror. But Goa In HIS mercy lets tne
clouds down ana We see not these terrorn The
reverend gents man then spoke OF the dff1erent
Kinds OF death. The death OF the d0uDter was .
terrible one. II was to reacn the emo aud not to
xnow what the next step would Drlng-to reach In
tne aatk inc edge Of the prec'pice and not to
KNOW whether another step would plunge US into
notnngness or be only q foot or SO down to path
VA. wouid lead upward into the light. Our business
Was not 70 nave DOUBT, but to find out how TO
1aiAs sne patnwais TO take. There was the crimt-
mai ueAth, q ueath OF horror for It was TO know
that We were summoned to q bar where no laMrer |