News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-10-16
THE PLYMOUTH PULPIT.
MIR. Beecher's First Sermon After His
Summer Vacation.

Mr.. Beecher preached his first SER
mon in Plymouth Church on Sunday,
after ten weeks vacation. His text
was John, xv., IA, Is. He said in the
course of the sermon:-To my mind the
New Testament without John would be
very much like a golden candlestick
holding candle with the flame blown
out. 1t Is the very point of illumina-
ton.
There is popular impression of reli-
glon-which perhaps is necessary to the
stages of growth and development in
the human mind and consciousness
which might almost be said to be ma
| chine work; that by nature men are sin
full, that under certain influences they
wake up to the consciousness that they
have stroke of Joy which tells them
that they are savable now, and then they
go on living the best way they know how
and expect to get to heaven. This is an
| outside and mechanical view of the en-
trance of man into the Kingdom of
| Christ.
A Christian life is an unfolding.
The earliest, I suppose, of all reli-
gious impulses is that of fear; the fear
of punishment-not the fear of anger
ing the gods if they wouldn't touch
you; not the fear of doing wrong, but
the fear of doing wrong and getting
punished for it. 1t is a religion of self
ishness.
The second stage is the religion of
form. This is mixture of rules and
| symbols. 1t begins by conveying
spiritual ideas through material forms
and ends by extinguishing the spiritual
ideas and leaving in their place only the
forms.
All these ritualistic adaptations to the
weaknesses and wants of men are to be
regarded as stairs from lower story to
higher; but when man sits down on
| them-well, nothing can be more incon-
venient or undesirable than taking up
ones residence on the stairs.
The third stage is the religion of duty
far nobler, but very imperfect; good,
but not beautiful The rigid rsign of
conscience never will develop full orbed
man.
Conscience may make a man admira.
BILE, but it very seldom makes him
lovely.
Then comes the religion of intellect.
of systematic thought, religion which
the great truths. To be sound is GER
tainly an admirable thing, but where
the emphasis is put upon orthodox,
systematic correctness of belief, there
is left out almost the very soul of reli-
gion itself.
Then comes at last next to the high
est form of the development of religion
in human consciousness-the religion
of love.
The Christian religion begins with
and. I might almost say, ends with the
doctrine of love.
Is there anything higher than that
Yes, yes, a stage still higher. 1t is love
carried to such a degree as to produce
luminousness, moral intuition, until men
can see something outside of what they
are; until they come into some sort of
grand sympathy with things that are
not visible, and are exterior to them
selves.
The chamber of love is chamber
where the soul meets God and under
stands Him. This is the highest reach
of Christian experience.
The marvel of the times, as it will be
the wonder of eternity, and is now the
wonder of heaven, is that sublime, silent,
hidden sprouting of the soul by which
God, with supreme evolution, is carry
ing up organic matter into veg etable
life, and by vegetable life to the ruder
forms of animal life, and in the ruder
forms of animal life progress in the di-
rection of intelligence, and affection
and moral being, and in those that
have advanced to the higher forms of
human Christian consciousness, still the
process is going on-for ripen-
ing is notwithstanding at the ami
NAL, advancing to the rational, respon-
sible being, developing to the moral, in
tuitional state, blazing forth at length a
free spirit--made c0mpanionable with
God.