Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-07-02

ION OF power Is Il religion that can teIflly othel
thcoogians do not understand 1t and weep over SO
tragic AN end To 50 gentle life and miss all the
meaning of the death And 50 christ Is, as AZ l's',
misunderstood and rejected by many, herause lhe'
do moi feel the power of that life and that death
But 10 those who truly know Christ anu inc llulh
as 1t is in Him, God hath gwen power-the power,
nrst, which comes from Conviction. True religion
Is not mere sentiment, mood OF me Ililcs, i
leapng up Of the Heart when one oehods RAIN
bow IN the sky. a pensIve feeling wneh one hedIs
the winds sigh sees the leaves ldl the Religion
OF the swallow and the lamb. II Is deep contic-
ton of his whole soul, 10 which all his faculties
bring their share, and IN which lhey AL haIIlp-
niously and joyfully consent. rev oil us KNOW
the power there Is III conviction, because lew Oh
us have convictions OF our own. one can begin Inc
Christian life and go little way IN Il ., i ,,,r 'is
the convictions OF Others OF mother, OF iaiheI u
pastor of caiechlsll, OF church hui ne caihot ~
far he cannot be man of power, until ne reaches
convictions of his own. They NAV coincide win
the convictions OF millions who have gone before
MIN they must 10 50 in the main but they are nus
own the result of processes that have gone on IN
his own being the conclusions 10 when ever! tie-
Ineut in his nature holds itself pledged The might
rest force in this world is such 4 conviction one,
man thinks and thinks until ne becomes cnhN lhce'i
fhaf there Is a continent somewhere 10 Tue Mt-i
another that great wrong ought 10 he rlShlcu anu
If moi hy others then 10y HIM Z; ami So rohN iclI"i
IN a solitary mind changes The course oi human
history Especially when Il man gets n religious
conviction. let other men beware, Tor s"Hfihils
Will surely come 10 pass. The son oil poor hllhti
becomes convinced OF great religious rum which
the church had for ages ol'scured ;" 'ohN hrti 81
II that he dared tell the Emperor aud the council
that he must believe AMI preach II, anu cnuh hot
otherwise Col help him, and that conNlriiol
made the successor OF the Gregorles AMI the lhhu-
cents of those 10 whom kings hal cried IN VAN
Tor mercy and before whom barefoot Emperor Ill
th,. snow had humblcd the oftiesi head IN Europe.
give up the faircst half of his parimohy never l"
he recovered. Compare the man who has a reIi2-
ious conviction with the man who has religious
doubt Here is a man who thinks he has discover
ed some doubts about Christianity that are eini-
nently fine. Does he for their sake make a martyr
of himself? or does he enrich himself by selling
10 intuIppucips" Here is another VINO mas
exhausted the resources of subtle t,alllc lntei-
reci in explaining away the grandest AMI most pro-
found of all human lives into "a sweet Gale;il
VISION" which iniide Paris, eager for new sens'i-
ton buys by the thousand, while he luNurlates on
the proceeds in 4 charming rural villa But lei one
come under the power of religious conviction.
and II drives Peter the Hermit Us by phrenzy all
over Europe To preach the crusade- gives Abe
lard a Voice SO full of energy that he calls young
men 10y thousands TO his University; sends John
Howard and Elizabeth Fry 10 relieve the suffering
In prisons and Chalmers and Guthrie 10 teach the
poor and the lost in the Sums OF great cities
and impels Brainerd and Carey, Mofiat and liv-
lngsion amid savages AMI pariahs. that they may
carry 10 degraded and dying races the refivlng
and saving power OF the Gospel Oi The grace oil
God.
The Christian has also the power that comes from
Faith. lie has faith IN his convictions and Is Will
ing to stake all their truth. But he has also faith
in his faith. lie believes in God: he believes IN
Jesus Christ: he believes that God through Christ
has wrought great things and put great possibilities
within his reach and he believes IN his belief He
trusts II. He embarks upon II INTO great enter
prises full of unknown perlls. He cannot see lar
forward into the unrevealed, but ne does NOT.
like the tmd Greek mariner, merely skirt the
shore and creep from point 10 point, and from
island 10 island, from one sensuous anu material
fact another, doubling of everything beyond the
present horizon. lie launches boldly out upon
the promises of God, believing that new continents
of truth and new climates OF the divine love await
him beyond the farthest ken OF his intellect.
In nothing does the hest modern character show
its superiority over the best Pagan character than
IN the bodness and power that comes from faith.
l.raa nell pff
Its most popular sect OF philosophers doubted
whether there Is any such thing as absolute truth
apart from our conceptions OF II. The Greeh
lacked. therefore, thai which DR.. Arnold used TO
insist the essential basis OF character. moral
earnestness. The Roman was serious enough but
was enslaved 10y the authority OF the mere practl-
cal judgment Both were incapable Of faith !:
hence both were open 10 superstitious fear cowed
before realities which they could not think their
way through: brave but not courageous, Tor
courage Is born Of faith For feats Of arms. for
enterprises distant and perllous they had daring
enough. If some bird or beast or meteor or noise
did not create panic among them, for In the
presence OF all things invisible they had the spirit
Of fear and not Of power. But the modern mind
having received through the life and death and
resurrection OF Jesus Christ a view OF the invis-
bile world which removes all its terror aud peoples
IL with grandest possibilities, feels the power of the
world 10 come III al. the branches and hbres OF ITS
life not only in It's religious aspirations and activ-
ties but its intellectual opinions. Its political
and social systems, MS materai arts anu enter
prise The great system of credit. Individual
corporate and national. on which three-fourths
of the enterprise OF the world Is dependent al once
an evidence and an outgrowth OF the principle oi
faith which has its origin in the religion OF CHRIST
And TO 20 from the lowest to the highest eNempl-
ncation Of faith. compare the lyrics OIL Inc Greek
tragedy in Which death and the hereafter are aud-
ed TO- with the songs OF u Christian hynln-hook !;
those, sad, queruou5,. dSplrltlng, thess cheerful
hopeful, eXuiant. How could II be but that that
black uncertainty should throw 4 shallow over life
under which courage should fall and enterprise
should lose its plth and moment How can II be
but that the glory that Is yet 10 be revealed 10 the
Christian should emboden him TO great endeavors
here while he is waiting for greater things be-
yond1
The Christian his furthermore the power that
comes from Love. There IL no fear. says another
strong Apostle, pre-em.nenty strong IN love, as
PAIL was in conviction and faith, .'theTe Is no Tear
in love; perfect love casteth out Tear ne lfhl
fearefh IS not made perfect in love" The man
who IS full OF the love OF God IS hold, strong,
valiant man. As IN a lower sphere the love OF
wife and children. OF home and country, enlarges
mans nature and gives him worth and potency In
the State. So In the highest sphere the love oil
Cod as manifested In Christ and he love OF all
those Tor whom Christ died, !mparts TO the true
Christian character. breadth, magnaninity, energy.
And II is the special and distinguishing feature oi
Christianity that IL elevates, dgniies, and EN-
phaslses beyond all other qualities this one qnaty
Of love. powerful writer OF our time seeking an
exprassscu ihai should be energetic enough 70 sci
form such love IS Christ would inspire II ms ioi-
lowers calls il an enthrsiasu.. IN enthusiasm Tor
Christ an enthusiasm for humanity, by Which he
means love raised - the height oi pIssich- for
as a man in a passion Is Eiolentarlly strong D.
yatheripg into 4 sudden az, the vital energy oil
weeks aud months 10 come so the Christian. not
borrows from himself but receives from an IN
eXhsustible divine source Inc energy which eAailn
and makes Representatives, easy 10 him. whence
came the energy that sGstSiIec the prosecuted
saints OF all ages. poor WesA SSign s,e ~,
greater devotion that has sent other weak wo,
men" INFO novels when the poor lay dying, ana
int, CAMPS feculent with disease and hospitals
reesing with pestence: Al the very height and
towering GI Creek civilization IN me time OF
Pericles, "A p.ague iel hpcn The cry OF Athehs.
Then came a trial OF manhood ilGre searching
than auy contest at PlaGa or Saainls ami creek
yalur q1aled before II, Il craven and dlshonorei
thing. Ii he'd from IN? couch OF the SICK IL ulu
not Know how 10 die III dang whai II could Tor the
suffering were thai little or nuLh, liul lef even
the nearest and dearest 10 die, as The Historian
SAYS unattended and solitary, ike sheep; Vow
turn forward the page of history and read what
Christian heroism did when the pcstilence des-
olard Alexandria and Carthage and Aniioch aiter
Chrisf's spirit hadheen for Two centuries worn
ing IN the Kinds Of f;er. The Bishops we are
told, called together their Cocks, reminded them OF
ChrlsrS prrcrpis To love one another, 4nd i, 1--we
their clecs and minister to the sick for christ :
sake and that hii-pGyertn appeal prevailed
christian and Pagan friend and prosecutor. they
tended alike dying often IN the service but Had 10
serve by their death. And 50 all through Inc
Christian ages Christian character has always been
attended 10y Christian herosin, IN man anu III wo-
man. Let the ancient CIVILIZATIONS or any OF the
mont Christian humanIties bring forward their best
examples OF hefoic d;.rigg, end we Will shame them
INTO silence by the unOsienlailDs snG ..niriilpet
ell act of some ''poor weak woinan or some Rumble
Moravian missionary, who did II IN the simplicity
Of their hearts and for the love Of Christ and VINO
at the Judgment day Will wonder and blush when
they Try ic remember what they have done, AMI
when The, did IL, thai nuch arclalls greet lhclr
entrance into heaven.
In view.oi this attempted r"riraidre 81 the true
Christian spirit, US II spirit Of power II becomes us
10 say. though II he super,dOus 10 say Il. that Tor
most Of us II Is IN large part All uhtehllZei meal
Not wholly SO. Not IN VAN has tins vital and vital
iZlng energy been working III the general Christian
IN nd nr pIub tpnu
Christianity ii"h IN individual heroes, bui the az
gregate ayalls'ae LEciyy OF thristendon Is noth-
ing less than vast, ami is s.eriiy increasing Bnt
the pertinency of this theme al ,is tle lies In the
need Of reasserting the claims OF the strong .1n.
and womanly virtues 10 II foremost place III me
Christian conception OF character. The response
which Mr. Thomas Ilughes's tract on the ''Manli-
ness Of fhrls" mas awakened IN spite OF the slight
shock 0ccasDncd by lts il,ie, reveals Il conviction
in The Christian mind ih.t the purd vas Geeded and
timely. We are To-day, to some extent. u inc
SAME condition as Paul WAS. Inasniach rs there
are inslnuatinns To the contrary we TOO assert Win
some warmth. God has not gwen us the spirit oil
fear but of power IL - charged upon the Chrlstl-
nity of the day that II Is afflicted with Intellectual
tiIHillty that II shrlnks from an encounter WIN
science in The ulcB field what Is worse, mat II
leayes the .ieid % science part fits own domain
to be preOccGplcd by lis enemies, Aha! IN DEFAULT OF
Being able to defend and jusili. us creeus y 4esois
10 the shift OF dccryIng vfreds ana mus warning
philosophy well as science on from ITS DOMAIN
IT, on the other side, II Is charged upon thrstahlt
that II has lost something OF ITS old-tlme moral
ubre and hurilhond that II breaches soft and sue
cuent LlsieI = isuspel OF morbid ana degenerate
love, Thai has p,aie iur resentment and ndlgha-
ton and the holiness that LannI, look upon SIN, we
may rebut the charges Is Vel u 80 ~! on .ne
score Of facts. but may moi IN the .e+sl uektee
challenge the standard To which our Christianity Is
brought. Let US learn from our enemies, II we
have learned elsewhere. thai humorous. hirili-
less ni4lyept christianity L. not the Christianity
of Christ. The surit which Cod has gwen Us is Tue
spirit uf power; II We have gone AMI taken 70 "uI
selves any ncaIcr spirit, that spirit y np' OF 'o.'
II a Young man thinks 10 make his religious llie
blaligless, hut his secular life strenuous; IL ne
thinks 10 put nlD his Religion all ms sacred musings
and his rnr Sunday feelings. hui mo ms business
all his warmth al purpose amt chvfay ~ arlloh Iel
HIM know thai he does not intend Ia lie religious VI
ali after the Christian idctu i religion 10 be de-
voice after the pagan sort. Is 10 uiteT about srt
and images and sacred groves, 10 breathe Inc ittli
odOrs uf decuyiEg relics, TO shrivei up ones Vitality
IN caves an. on pillars. To he deNOut after a
Christian sort Is 10 he strenuous IN PRAYER AMI
then strenuous Il. the action which Ia pifi
fulnlls your prayer, II need be- MT stopping IL
pray. pay you Iun, 10 be Ike those angels that
excel la Strength. that do his commandments. list
ening with uputhJd tares 10 catch The irsi word oil
His voice and then speeding O,er liuI ana ocean
without rest. Listen not 10 the voices whluL say
ut good Ia hc here on the mountain top OF con
temptation and ecstHcy let US make ihbcrnacles and
abide In ta.s scrrn" spiritual arr such wlst mol
what they say. II Ia No. good Tor you. not good inl
others, that You llsir there. B,Hn below, IN INT
world Of reality. there are hard hui Le.t-sdfi
dulles 20 I'D, evil spirits To h" cast out