New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-06-15
MIRACLES POSSIBLE AND NATURAL

MIRACLES POSSIBLE AND NATURAL.
The Rev. George b. Cksvr ID. D., at association HaH
The Rev. George B. Cheever, ID. d., preached
the concluding lecture OF his series The Evidences
of Christianity" last evening. at Association Hall, from
Col 49, II: "For BIZ Hin all things were created, &c.
True science shows us o whole universe OF invisible
realities and powers and shows that we must believe IN
what we and that we can know many things
only by believing first. False science reduces life to
museums, and our museums to Skeletons and excludes
the unseen soul spirit of life unreal The false sci.
ence is different from the true as package OF dried
hay from field Of fresh The believing spirit walks
aleld and rejoces the waving grass and grain, and
sings among the meadow flowers breathing fragrance
The skeP:c cuts his whole crop dries &c into hay puts It
for the cattle. And II the philosophy OF materialsm
truo the prophetic child that perseveringy holds
her creed, We seven," Is correlated converted,
conserved with no higher ministries purposes, reali
ties of existence than the mold OF the churchyard that
into grass or ae a e Q, se sr Ss aa
again. to be cut and eaten and converted And when
Lsys II run s shG va Of what has tue
and what shal, be agan, 10 tne ainerentia,
OF Natures Ioveiest flower of mind and person.
From the contemplation OF such miracle of credulity
ragged compound OF blindness and superstion we pass
again the great miracle Of light aud life, the Son Of
God incarnate. Himself the image 6. the invisible God,
EARTH visible and invisible the Author and Fnisher Of
faith the Light that lghteth every man that cometh
into the world. BY Him Heaven opened and the
angels of God ascending and descending on the Son Of
Man. the path made plain to His divine abode In Him
self as the WAY to IT, the Truth preparing for IT, and the
Life Eternal in it, BY HIM first enabled to perceive
and know nfne benevolence of God the Father IN
our own life aud immortality. giving thanks unto tho
Father who hath made US meet to be partakers the
inheritance Of saints In light who hath delivered us
from the power OF darkness, and hath trans
And here. from our position in that kingdom. and from
the miracle OF its disclosure to human reason we are
IN of i'm Goa
pes and his miracles part OF that character acknow
edged so to be- against athe contradictions and mys-
teries the riddles and difficulties assumed real
never yet disenangled, historic, scientific. chronology
CAL any otherwise. ever yet presented For the char
acter without the miracles is that OF imposOr and
the miracles without tho character are absolutely I'M
possible. The character not To be accounted for ex
and that gwen all the rest foil )ws But the supposed
contradictions can be accounted for In MANY ways
Mistakes of copysts. Of numerals OF marginal CLOSES
critical ignorance want OF knowledge ourselves to M
Keys out Of history keys interpretation many such
thugs may have created insouble preciptants vase
OF transparent elements But We have all the knOw
edge requisite of the character and plan OF Christ and
nothing wanting in that for absolute perfection and
consistency; nor would anything added that Is UNI
known either disturb neutrazs the divine reality,
or alter the grand features Of what written that
might believe In Hun. aud know Him He Is
Int would only confirm what already possess.
Rooted and grounded In love. miracles possible
aud natural spiritual or agricultural discipline and
often in Gods daily work with there Is "A combination
of the natural and the miraculous One day In fruit
harvest, the gardener In friends grounds showed me
the com Dnation of radicalism and grating. He had
grated a Rossier pear upon the root and stock OF
Guince tree. Then when that had grown year two
lie grated St. MichaePs pear the top OF the whole.
Now the last graft takes the perfection of all the pre-
cedng and powers and this year the whole st.
Mchaels top OF the full OF delicious pears
clusters thrifty Hamburg grapevine Ia OF grapes.
what is very this Is that both the Ross
ter branches aud the ST. Mchaes full of blossoms
equally full but the St Michaels part OF the tree bore
ali the fruit Now IL the pear had been grated merely
on pear stock and root the fruit would not have been
worth eating i would have we been aa, small rusty,
In this case bore all this excellence, ordered it all
Now apply all this Gods discipline with us and for
both parts OF the Book Of Divine Revelation The mod.
philosophy OF evolution makes miracles impossible
miracles and cas not only possible but probable and
inevitable Every miracle IL special supernatural in
evolved from any preceding form or correlation Of
forces According TO the system Of evolution is
wine as that God ever created man Ia his own image
No testimony can convince. Now we do not. In any
case believe the miracle on testimony merely, but on
for II; the moral conviction Is at the founda-
ton The very IDEA ga, Of s miracle requires
deed be impossible for sane mind to believe miracle
S IT, it, And why Goes
wish us to boevef What Is 1t TO him whether be-
eve or nct What would h be 10 us whether any or all
had written natural history Of insects or great poem
Thy righteousness may profit man like myself but
tell thee II is for our good because He desires to make
go6d and happy forgive and bless US In turning
gain and Certainly His witnesses have nothing gain
except the accomplishment OF His purposes OF love In
inanty disnterested because gain for Others yet
Infinitely Interested because God Is love- and Gods love
infinitely desires and enjoys the uakng Others good and
happy. ,,,,
SAVIOR aud to rest His word OF promise. and not on
any chain OF scientific reasoning facts ascerained by
the but His word of simple faith therefore Is
tSs nstorcs and scenio So OPEN to dpse R
moment have taken into our being. into
OF Gods truth or the reflection OF their dal
cling SUBMITS AS In clear lake the snow-covered Alps
ali the questioning of doubtful minds only as light
aeeces OF cloud Would be 10 clear day between our
from Christ in the Gospels is more convincing. more
overwhelming, more expulsiye OF the possibility OF de-
mountains would be to the sight reaching from earth TO
heaven. All the objections that have ever been evoked
Ss ae OF OF 81 NJ 10
powder for nothing. Take the Scriptures at every
disadvantage and theycan bear any amount OF blun.
derng, msnerpretation assumption OF false premses
obstinate holdings Of prejudice distortions, rackngs on
the Wheel and yet the demonstration of Christ these
unto salvation, shall be obscured or weakened
than the could DO dakened by scattering wal of
II shut up the very letter Of Genesis and
had no margin OF Interpretation, no allowance of time
but just week OF Elk days OF "a hours EACH II would
still De likely that all the fossils Of the rocks ali
the microscopic nfusora shells chalk and coral reefs
and mountains, were created just they are and in
one day. than that Christ was an impostOr The argu-
ment OF religious truth completed In Christ Ia more
conclusive, Irresistible demonstration, than any arou
Inent science possibly be- II Involves no
impossibity suppose the world created In one day
or FOSSILS created FOSSILS coal beds coal beds
But IL does involve impossibity TO suppose that
Christ mp0stOr because thai supposes God hun
self liar, and that supposes no God.
There God, unless he be God revealing himself:
no Creator unless he be God caring for che good of his
creatures, God protecting and blessing those whom
his power and wisdom brought into being II there be
q God Creator there must be a God, o Reveaer and
a revelation from him, and man must know IT. Buf
there Is no such revelation only In the Word of
God II that be not revelation from God, men have
none and never have had, and never have. II is
atcsted by all conceivable seals OF appeal and proof 10
human reason. revelation cannot be made To A
creature unless that which Is given Ia the
Word of God IL one.
Now 1t 10 ore impossible that Christ an impostor