The New York herald., 1878-12-01
TEMPLE AHAWATH CHEsED.
CREED AND DEED-sERMoN BY REV. d
HUEBSCH

CREED AND DEED-sERMoN BY REV. DIR.
HUEBscH
The Rev. DR.. Huebsch preached yesterday in the
Temple Ahawath Chesed, Lexington avenue taking
his text from Proverbs ill., lS:"A tree of life is she
tthe divine aw) to those that lay hold her; and
every that firmly graspeth her will be made
happy"
The simile said the Doctor tree of life" used to
designate and to characterize the divine law is taken
from the narrative of the creation What the tree of
life in the Garden of Eden. that the divine law
Is for mankind It bears the fruit that mparts true
existence to man. and the same as the Garden Of
Eden though created by the Lord in perfect beauty
needed the efforts Of Adam till it and to keep it,
so the law Of God perfect it is. it needs mans
spiritual efforts in order to fulfil the end for
which it intended. The question is. What drec-
ton must mans effort take in order to make the
Divine prescriptions efficient?
DUALITY SCRIPTURE.
The whole contents of the sacred books may be
properly divided into two great constituent parts
the one makes us acquainted with the Creator and
His attributes; the other regulates human life by
commandments and prohibitions. Speculative minds
were always more inclined to plunge into deep con-
temptation about the Of the Divine Being.
while practical men made the practical part Of Gods
law the preponderant subject Of their study This
duality is clearly perceptble in the vast amount of
literature to which the Holy Scriptures have given
rise but in the consciousness of our people the two
parts have never been separated clear knowledge
Of God and pure human life were always regarded
and effect: the one has to precede and the
other must necessarily follow Is it creed or deed
that brings salvation? Such question
asked within the boundaries Of the Jewish religion
CREED
The fundamental principles of our creed in the
they transmitted to us show clearly the close
and indissoluble connection between creed and deed
These fundamental commandments were written on
two tablets stone. Thew ARRANGED n
have the Ave commandments representing creed on
the tablet and the other Ave. representing deed
the other tablet. and each two opposite command
ments completed each other. At the head Of the one
II am the Lord thy God" and opposite, Thou shalt
must respect His image in his fellow man. The
ond Thou shalt have no other gods and opposite.
Thou shalt not violate the sanctity OF matrimony
One who keeps faith to the one God whom he
has recognized. and does not deviate from
Him. will also keep the vow Of fidelity to the mate
and companion of his life; and. indeed the people
lapsed into idolatry represented by the pro-
phets spouse that broke her faith The third.
mot to utter the of the Lord q falsehood
and opposite. "Thou shalt not steal True and
just is the Lord and he who confesses him in truth
must avoid any action that shuns the light and seeks
eonceslment. tAThe fourth, Remember the Sabbath
Day to keep it holy, and opposite. THOU shalt not
bear false witness against thy neighbor" devoted
down on our, part that the Lord is the
creator Of the universe. whom we
nness we as %prgh hoss
that made in the same image with The fifth,
Honor thy father and thy mother has its place
among the commandments referring to God; for
cordng to the Divine will the child shall regard its
parents the vicegerents Of God. and the love and
honor due to them must bear the sacred stamp Of
worshipful devotion. Opposite to this command
ment read Thou shalt not covet," which il the
complement Of the foregoing. child brought up by
good parents. well educated In the principles Of
virtue and honesty and guarding the parental teach
ings the great treasure Of life. will harbor
nourish inclinatons aud propensities which will
grow with the growing man into covetousness and
envy-the promoters OF so many evils.
CREED THE ROOT. OUR DEEDS THE BRANCHES
We see, then. creed and deed inseparaby
nected with each other. and II you ask in what
la ton they stand to each other say creed is the
root and deeds the branches. There is not
much in q root that does not produce stem and
branches faith without deed is useless and frutess
Those, however, that advocate deeds and nothing
but deeds, deeming faith as quite unnecessary to .
pure human life. remind me OF the man who
saw sweet fruits growing a beautiful tree;
took q stem and he gathered branches and
whole fabric in the ground and he waited for
fruit but the branches were not the natural out
growth OF the STEM and the stem lacked the nourish
ing roots and the branches blossoms and fruits
never appeared. Now to the spiritual plantation
confded to your care in the proper way. Let pure
and enlightened faith be the root. and watch
fully that from 1t may spring forth strong stem
with wide ramihcatons OF good and noble deeds.
you are sure to grasp firmly the "tree OF LIFE that
bears sweet fruit for here and hereafter.