, 1874-05-11
GODS LOVE FOR MAN.

sermon ny tho Rev. Fntlter Terry Of st. Vnf-
ftcfk's Church.
Tho Rov. Hir. Terry OF st. Patrlck'e Church,
yesterday preached tho following eloquent sor-
mon on Gods love for man, takiug bright yiew
OF our rotations with tho HoaYonly rathor,
His text wna:
Twill comfort you, saith the Lord, os ono whom ts
mother colnforteth. IsaiaA, Gs-13
How wildly this comfort comos before us.
WHO over forgeta the calm Of It's soothings7 Its
FIRST gentle broatt Of fontluesa s bti[l fresh upon
tho mirror Of cur memory. and the touchihgs OF
its Tenderness still bring the same ro!lef. I
doom 1t but 1uat to tile human hoart to say that
1t never becomes wholly Indifferent to love or
proof against callings for sympathy and MD
and this is chiefly due to tho impressions Of tho
tnothor'e caro-. Lffo may como, with it's atrifos
And itb atrugEles; bnttloa with tho world, It's
intriguos, its empty hopoa and cruel disnpnoint-
naonts, may mako tho heart cold and repoling;
but it alwaya remains calm wlaoro the mothers
lipe kissed 1t with comforting aSmpathy ; It for
ever Is loft on TINT particular spot that touched
tho mothers heart when sho pressed II away
from tho world, and hid it from caro in her
bosom. Orimo may doprave as 1t viii, and sin
may dlshguro and harden but there in one fen-
tHro Of tho human llenrt TINT always keepB it's
freshness and its beauty ono spot that sin eau
not touch, and crime cannot reach, and TINT is
Of tue mother.
Anxiety and trial may DO road on tho brow, in
many liuo and n wrinkle, but tho brow Is for
ever aoft and smooth whuro the motliors hand
touched It of old when lifea first caro- was upon
It. All down through tho struggles of life tho
human hoart goes, waftod by its storms. CHILLED
by itH winter blaatB tossed on tho angry waYeH,
anu dashed on tho shore; yet always calm whore
tile mother broatho1, warm whore sho pressed
it, soothod where she kissed it; nurscd to ropono
n Int 1Et nj,
loss infant cry. We mover forget thls nrBt conf
fort and life has no other like that. II CONES to
us early md ate IN our toiliugB it comes iu our
sLamter Of case. Fortune Ia woak III replacing
II, and other friendships aro but ita reflections.
nevec ceasa to bless tho beautifu1 heart that,
after long life Of famo and slcceBa, and sur-
rounded by friandahip and comfort, yot left them
tho while, and retired to that dear old grayo aud,
STOPPING down, said In tile stiffness
VIC miss theo Mother when young health hns f1c
Aud we sink in tue languor OF pain:
Where, where a tho nrlu thai onco powed our head
Aud tho ear that anco hoard us complain
ror tue i2anl i9nd and an M tho true arc stu ours
ut "oso caro- can an 6o @ soong ts a. yo1s7
There iE a iow aweotnoss, tllon, IN roliglou;
new joy in itH promtBinEa; new Bmle on tn
ever gentlo vlsags; new soothing in ita always
healing acconts; d new tendornos5 In all Gods
tenatr love, whom Ha comes to tho poor. wound
I'D heart with the love OF q mother, and lftingit
up with her care, folds 1t away with hor fonlness
IT will comfort you "a ono whom his mother
comfortoth." Thcro is an unapeakablo beauty in
thia image, magic power, appealing, as it docs,
to the must sacred inRtiucts Of our boaomB Ono
might almost wish that having given ns that one
image Ct God, the Scriptures Lad boon silent
evoruore, and left Him to His childron culy as d
tosing mother; that having once given us that
Hingla iiash of insight into Gods relations with
tho world, Revelation had forever ctoaodand givon
tB none but that. However,, having once given
it, We caro- not what Of chasti6umont; or anger,
or Of wrath tho Scriptures else may speak; all is
coloEed by this central light, all lB qualified by
this central fact, that the love of God Is tho love
of mother. And truly wa8 it said, that
Tl.or0 Ia mono
In MI thia cold and hollow world. no fount
Of deep, strong, deathesa love, save that within
It Is one of tue necessary demands Of our
earthly state and limited knowledge that, il
We bo approached with messages from auother
sphere and order Of iteas Bnch messages nii1st
come Ill tho Earb we are accustomed to, clothed
in tho leas which VIC have, and which only
are intclligiblo to It's. 1t we're vain to address
us after fashion Of thought and order Of
knowledgo wholly beyond our sphere. and not
Hence, it seoTna evident that, it Revelation
would come to US with messages from beyond,
1t must come In human form, md must present
such messages in our h'imau language, aud dc-
cordlng to our modes Of thought. They must
bo presented to us in familiar imagcH, taken
from our human llfe, which arc best calcu-
lated to giyo us some idoa Of the truths to be
conveyed. II wo should suppose student Of
science, learned in Its highest Developments
to he suddenly placed on an ialand Of tho
Of civilization No matter how perfectly ho
might, speak thor language. he would fail
signally OF conveying to them ideas presuppos-
ing tie sciepos Of mathematics. Any small
nnd faint, imperfect glimmor he might
succeed in giving then1 Of civilized life or Of
knowledge ~ We possess it, could be cupvevtd
life, He must take up or point out familiar ~
homes, and SAY, TIT IL like this." wi is Ike Ike
that; +" - It Is thts,", or 1T is that"
humility iu affirming TINT In regard to Heaven
aud Of God wo are in The position Of the South
Ben Islanders. ANY Thought, nny notion of what
Heaven Ia or Of whit God ia, IN ns far from the
leachngs OF our intellect ns aro tho profound
savage. In onr caso 1t Ia moro than this. For
in view Of our presont existence and modes Of
thought, t is utterly impossible to hayo any nc
ot1rate notion OF Gods nature or Of Heaven. 1t
not only not revealed, but illat they arc iIot re-
voalable III our present state. Old~timo scholar
ship. that WAS 30 fond OF doaling With those
4uesslons, or eoatlng away from practical llfo
np nto those regions Of speculation On tho IN
knowledge in our present aphoro; and even
after death, it was maintained such
knowledge oamo only by supernatural
medium called tho light ef glory"
Even as regards this explanation or exaesHion,
flight OF glory" 1t may be added that il 1t con-
yoya definite notion to any onoH mind, the for
tunate thinker desoryes tho congratulations Of
Ills friends.
Plhcea away OF on this llttlo planet islaul OF
the universe, wo have oloae rotations With q
higher state Of things beyond The great soas,
and Of which NO could know nothing till Royola-
tion 1ilte tho student. oalne to or slloros. Then
1t set about instruoting us III our own rude, i'm,
perfect spirit as to what our rolations with that
case It brought ont obJeets mud inlagen from cur
duly life. aud sald: "rAe Kingdom ia liko unto
this" The worry idsa Of " Kingdom" md tho
name halong sololy to u.s. so also do "reign,"
and "Klpug,". and "soyoreguty," IN order,
however, to glvo us Bot,e gllhlnlor OF tho atato
OF things beyond, Revelation waB pleuaea for oltr
snke to use thoae words and images, which aloue
were familiar mid iutelllglble 70 us. Fur no
other roason IL tho Great Unttnknblo Botng
van n n1tf1 patn,. In la IL Kinrh