National Republican., 1883-05-14
THE MISSION OF THE cuURcu

THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH.
REV. ALEX. KENT's FIRST SERMON IN THE
NEW UNIvERsALIsr CHURCH.
The Murray Universalist church organiza-
tion opened their new church edifco yestor-
day morning, Rev. Alex. Kent, the pastor,
Rev. A. b. Grosh, and Rev. w. w. Currey oc-
cupying the pulpit.
The building is unique in design, and was
greatly admired by the crowd which filled it
TO such an extent that the reception room had
to be thrown open TO accommodate them.
After an impressive prayer by Rev. A. B.
Grosh, Mr.. Kent preached an able discourse
from the following text: "To this end was
born, and for this cause came j into the
world, that should bear witness unto the
truth" John xviii, 81. He said: The mis-
sion of Christ is the mission of His church (;
1t should havo no lower; IL can have no
higher If there bo any one here disposed to
inquire why this church has been built can
give no better answer than that contained in
the text. IL has no night to be, save as it
exists in loyalty to this end. BY these things
hope the people of this city will have the
grace to judge
1t may be said that there arc many varieties
of truth. Unto which of these does your
church propose TO bear witness2 Is IL to
champion the truth of science or philosophy,
or is it to bear witness to the verities OF re-
ness is with the latter. But science and phil
osophy arc the ready servants and most
patent allies of this truth, as we understand
IL. We are as sure that the facts of science
and the conclusions of a sound philosophy
are in harmony with the principles of true
religion, as we are sure that there is harmony
between music and mathematics, between
chemistry and geology. Truth is one
wherever found. If there be any verities
in the universe that are properly covered
by the term religion, we may rest assured
that they are supported by every other truth
in the universe. That there are such verties
is matter of universal experience. If it be
objected that this statement Is too sweeping,
/ reply there never has been found q people
without such experience. individuals are to
bo found who, by their own statements, arc
blind to facts that are plain to others. My in
ability to enjoy delightful perfume gives
me no right to deny its existence; that mu-
sic means nothing to me is no evidence that
there is no truth in it. That the term reli-
gion covers something in fact, we all know ;
and our knowledge is as absolute in the realm
of the moral and spiritual as in that of the
intellectual and physical We know that purely
there are moral laws as certainly as we know
that there are physical laws. We know that
kindness is right, and that cruelty is wrong
as certainly as we know that flint is hard and
that lead is heavy. From these facts
of the moral consciousness we de-
pies touching the government of this
universe, and the duty of man so absolute
aud as certain as the best attested truth in
any branch of science. .a.5a9-.
Christ never attempted to prove, as far as
we have any record, the existence of God He
never argued that there was such thing
rs right distinguished from wrong. He
knew men beiieued in God, and he desired that
they should know Him and love Him. His
life was manifestation of the Bdivine
spirit into which He desired to see all men
grow. And so while He was tho brightness
of his Fathers glory, and the express image
of His person, He was also the way, the truth,
and the life. And the business of the church
is TO do what Christ sought to do-to mako
men acquainted with God, to bring them to
love righteousness.
For the purpose of clearness let us see
first, why should tho church devote itself to
the work of bearing witness to the truth I;
and, second, how should it bear this witness.
To bear witness to the truth is its chief func-
tion. The church that is not Christ-liSe in
its aims is not Christian. But, second there
is q deeper reason. 1t is indicated in tho
first clause of our text, "To this end was
born, and for this cause came / into the
world" To bear witness to the truth was the
highest service to the race that the highest
son of God could render. This is the bottom
reason why the church should devote itself
with all its energy to this work of bearing
witness to the truth. Truth is tho root of
goodness. Nothing worthy can grow from
any other seed, and Christian truth is the
root of Christian goodness. There is no
Christian character that is not fed at its roots
by Christian truth. ..'
There is nothing worthy in any lower de.
partment Of thought or achievement that is
not nodded by truth. If u man undertakes
to construct an organ without knowledge of
the truths that enter into organ building,
what sort of work will he make of it? He
may possibly work successfully in ignorance
of these truths If under the direction of one
who knows them; but even then his success
will depend upon his conformity to their re-
quirements; he cannot ignore one of them
and make II worthy instrument. SO a man
may build up something Of Christian charac-
ter in Ignorance of the principles which lie
at the root of it. 1t makes no difference what
the organ builder believes about theology or
evolution, so long as his belief does not dis
turb the balance of his mind or unsteady his
hand. 1t is only the truth which
enters into the construction of the organ.
So with the building up of Christian man
hood, What man believes on q great va
riety of subjects is IL matter Of little or no
Importance. IL matters little whether he
believes in the primacy of Peter, or whether
he be Presbyterian, Episcopalian, or Con-
gregationalist in matters Of church govern
ment; whether he believes in this or that
mode of baptism. These are all external,
and have no connection with character. But
IL makes all the difference in the world, dear
friends, in character building what one be-
lieves about God A mans conception of
God ought to be his conception of goodness,
and goodness is that toward which all effort
is directed in the building Of character. Put
anything unworthy in your cor paeption of
God, aud you lower your standard of good
ness. Error in the one is in the very nature
of the case error in the other. Think of
God as a being who governs this uni
verse with an eye single 10 His own glory,
who is more concerned abont tho
majesty and dignity of His law than He is
about the welfare of His subjects, and you
have Il conception of goodness that is an en-
bodiment of selhshness and tyrrany. Add to
this thought of God the conviction that He
will abandon to endless wretchedness millions
of souls which He has brought into being,
and you have conception Of goodness (if
you may call it such) that Is positively tlend-
ish is IL not clear that such conception of
God is hostile to goodness, unfavOrable to the
growth of Christian charity. We are TO be
perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect
and the conception of goodness which we at
tribute TO Him Is that conception which we
should forever hold up for ourselves, and to-
ward which We should constantly strive TO at
tain. We are to be followers of God as dear
children, and therefore we must be very
careful not to put any thing in our concep-
tion of the character of God which we cannot
follow Is il not evident that those who cher
ish such thoughts of goodness in God must
themselves grow into the samo selfish, cruel,