Morning journal and courier., 1883-07-16
Rev. Charles w. Park.

notwithstanding the fact that council of Congregational ministers had refused to set- tie him over that church on account of, as alleged, his heterodox views in regard to cer- tain dogmas of the church, especially those relating to infant baptism and the future re- wards and punishments. Probably few were drawn to the church from the circun- stances attending the action of the church council, while the majority were the usual worshippers or church attendants. Those who expected to hear a doctrinal sermon must have gone away disappointed, as only 8 straightforward gospel sermon, such as one might have heard in many of the city churches, was delivered. The discourse, however, was an able one, delivered without notes, and the speaker held the attention of the audience from the be- ginning to the close. MT. Park is an earnest and attractive speaker, and should he not be engaged by this church as temporary sup ply" will no doubt be called to some other equally important field of labor.
 The preacher selected as the basis of his remarks yesterday morning the words found in Romans, 1st chapter, 10th verse, ''For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." In his opening remarks the speaker said Six centuries before the birth of Christ there was living in the northern part of Hindostan 8 prince, Gautama Buddha by name, who was born in one of the Oriental king doms of that country. Reared in wealth aud luxury; he was kept apart from the outside world and it's surroundings. Dur ing one of his rides through the country he saw a starving beggar by the roadside and inquired of his coachmsn what it meant. He was informed by his servant that it was a representation of the common lot of man. On another occasion he met 8 funeral pro- cession and having never seen dead body before he inquired of his charioteer what it meant and was informed that through trial and human woe all men must reach the same lot. Soon after the prince went into exile and gave himself up to the smelioration ot the woes of his people and be- came one of the greatest reformers of the age. Every philosophy and every observer of whatever character or position in life has mourned over the great war of death Woe, sorrow and misery are every where. There is cause for all of this. Woe, sorrow and misery do not spring out of noth ing; it is because iniquity, unholy desire and sin bring 1t upon men. The two great twin facts of human life are the facts of sin and the sorrow sin has caused. It is an omni present fact and fact that we cannot get rid of; it is a fact that rises when the sun rises above the horizon. Is there any but the one mind that is conscious of the untold sin of yours and mine, but that one mind which is over all and knows all things? They tell us how secret detectives who are sent after some criminal dog his footsteps with skill, sit beside him when he eats, follow ,,Io fO 1oIo o116 HI1oI upon him. So with sin it follows us from place to place and Is Wepk over by sage and saint, and acknowledged by every honest man that he is sinner. That is the condi ton of human life that Christ died to ale viate.
 They tell us how the great bridge was built over East river. One wire at time, slowly, constantly, until we see four mighty cables containing hundreds and thousands of wires. So day by day sin is strung upon your souls, day by day, until you are held a slave to it's bondage. Sin is described in the Bible as a leprosy, and those who have lived in Oriental countries know what a dreadful disease this is. So with sin; it permeates every part of the body and turns the soul into mass of corruption. Then again sin is compared to death. The sinful man is like one dead and as 8 man who is unable to raise himself from the corruption by which he iS surrounded. Here come the philosophers and doctors and take hold of this disease and they are no better than be- fore. But here comes the gospel of Jesus Christ and does that which no other physician, no other philosopher has ever been able to accomplish. If Abra- ham Lincoln had signed the enamel patton proclamation under any other circumstances It would not have been worth the paper it was written. upon, but it was backed up by the power of a mighty people: Here comes the leper and the single touch of the divine hand cleanses him. Here is the dead man and the divine power speaks and Lazarus comes forth What we want in our moral death and Ieprosy is power; and if we have that power which in some respects is but dogmas and creeds 1t would never bring souls to life. The gospel says it is the power of God unto salvation. The word says thou shalt call his name Jesus because he shall save the people from their sins. The object and nature of the gospel as represent ed to us is that Christ came into the world to free us from all this bondage of sin. We go to the observatory and look through the telescope and see stars coming out of the depths of space and blazing before us in all their glory and still beyond and beyond un- told worlds continue to blaze on our sur prised vision and we say there is the power of God. We come down to sublunary things and we see nations fighting, quarrelling, and we ask, is there any order in this world? One after another of the older kingdoms have and we ask is it not all chaos? But we look further and we see that God makes the wrath of man to praise him; here is the power that causes all things to work out the power of his sovereign will. That pow CT that contracts the power of earth is eter- nal, omnipotent and comes into the hearts of sinful men to lead them in the paths of holi- ness and enable them to march forth victo- riously over sin and death into that liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free. Come sinner to that gospel, to that Christ who is able to save you succeeds is because it saves us from our sins. Jesus Christ is the center of the source of power, and it is this power through God that saves from sin. If we have tried it here is the promise, 'It is the power of God unto salvation unto every one that believeth."
 A NEW HAVEN LAYNIAN's vIEws-THE SUNS ED-
 IToRIAL COMMENTS.
 A prominent Congregational Iayman writes as follows:
 If the Rev. Mr. Park. who lately was not installed over the Howard avenue church in this city, holds views rendering him unfit to preach in an orthodox Congregational church, do not the nine minority members of the council who, in it's final action, voted for him, sanction his views And therefore are they not, if ministers, equally unfit to preach in orthodox Congregational churches; or, if laymen, are they not liable to church discipline?
 The New York Sun: in an editorial article, has the following:
 On Wednesday afternoon the Howard ave nue Congregational church was filled with people eager to witness the installation of the Rev. Mir. Park, the new pastor. But the did not come of as announced. The congregation were dismissed; after they had waited patiently for two hours, with the explanation that an ecclesiastical council had rejected Mir. Park for grave heresy.
 It seems that while the people were wait ing MT. Park was undergoing 8 severe theo logical examination before 8 council of twenty-nine ministers. It was, of course, expected that he would not come up to the standard as to infant baptism, but that eccen- tricity would probably have been pardoned. His heresy, however, proved to be radical on many points. He was found to be thOologi- cally rotten according to all the Puritan standards. The most accommodating coun- oil could not pass him without stultfying it. self, even at this time, when it is so hard to find thoroughly orthodox ministers.
 In the first place, MT. Park confessed that he did not regard infant baptism as Chris | tian baptism at all. It was merely ceremo- ny of consecration and he would perform it ]