The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-02-27

REV, DIR. MOSES y. H0GE IN THE SECOND
pnrspyrrprax CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA.


my nm vosre n rsoGE IN THE SECOND
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH or PHILADELPHIA.
The Philadelphia Press OF Monday
says: The Rev. DIR. Moses II; Hoge, OF
Richmond, Va, preached l,s' nignt In the
Second Presbyterian church NJ twenty
first and Walnut streets. 70 tne graduating
classes of the jefferson Meaicai College and
the medical department OF tne University
OF Pennsylvania. lie speaks without notes,
and In the course Of his sermon last night,
to which he gave the title, "some Certain
ties with Regard to CHRIST and Chris
tianity," he said:
] cannot better express my appreciation
OF the calling which so large proportion
OF my audience has chosen thah 10 say that
OF ali other walks in life 1t apprOXimates
most nearly that which Is sacred and
divine: that Il is q calling fuller Of Illus
trations than any other Of the great offices
of religion itself in the striking analogies
IL presents between the maladies OF the
body and of the soul; that Heaven has put
honor upon the calling OF the physician by
making nature herself his ally, subordina-
ting all departments alike to his use.
filling air. earth, and sea with remedial
agents evidently designed to enable him to
contend successfully with the ills to which
flesh is the melancholy heir, and that above
all was this crown placed on this calling
when the Divine Healer became incarnate
and walked through the world, leaving all
His paths luminous with life and health
and joy. He was the tree whose leaves are
for the healing Of the nations. and when
we learn that His blood cleanses from the
guilt OF sin. and that His spirit destroys
the dominion OF sin, then may we address
our Great Physician with the most loving
confidence as we say:
ABE IF sin the double cure,
save me from Its guilt and power"
Now, with regard to the certainties Of
Christianity, OF which / Will speak, / trust
that the day will never come when these
truths win be unwelcome to the medical
profession In this city, so many OF whom
have become distinguished not only for
scientific attainments but for sincere and
unaffected piety. Some OF them still live
others have gone to
-"loln the choir invisible
Ofthose immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence
and who have thus made "the life to come
more glorious for us who follow"
While accept the Bible in its totality as
the word Of God, with an assured belief
i'm its inspiration, come to speak to you
OF some OF the facts outside OF Revelation,
which give confirmation, emphasis, and
immediate practical and personal interest
to the truths within that Revelation.
wish to show how secular history and lite
nature, how classic and pagan writers, how
infidel scofers in ancient and modern
times, how venerable tradition and recent
discovery, how the admitted beliefs OF men
who make no profession of the Christian
faith, how The consensus OF great thinkers
and the common sense OF plain, unlettered
men, all unite to confirm, to elucidate, and
enforce the truths OF Revelation.
| do this 10 counteract the popular in-
preston that Christianity is a religion Of
abstract dogmas, difficult to define and
hard 10 comprehend. The theories which
men invent and the creeds they formulate
may be true or false, but, whether true or
false. the underlying facts remain and are
not changed by all the speculatiOns which
either faith or unbelief may frame. You
may build upon the living rock an edifice
of granite or a Montreal ice palace. but
the stability OF the one and the fragil-
itv of the other does not affect the rock be-
meath. So there are certainties with regard
TO q mans spiritual character and condi-
ton which would remain certainties for
ever were there no creeds, no church, no
Bible. II is important to remember this,
because the impression Is as common rs il
is erroneous that Christianity is something
which owes its origin to the Bible, whereas
the facts which are cardinal TO Christianity
had TO exist before the Scriptures were
written.
Letme enumerate some Of the certalnties
OF religion which are independent Of Reve-
ation. We do not have to go to the Bible
to ascertain that man is sinner. IL Is
certain that sin has reflex action awaken
ing the sense of guilt in the soul and ex-
citing q foreboding OF retribution. Christ
is matter OF history, for beside the testi-
mony OF the Evangelists there is that OF
Tactus and Phiny. Of CELSIUS, Lucian, and
Julian. Christ held his own place in chro-
nOlogy and history, as really as did POntius
PLATE. who condemned him, or Tiberius
Caesar, in whose reign he was crucitied.
1t is Il certainty that no character
was ever subjected TO such scrutiny
rs that of Christ. and that no cha.
racter was ever regarded with such adj
miration. Just in proportiont to the intensity
of that scrutiny, and that no character
ever was the theme. of such eulogy from
men who differed about everything else.
No character, it is certain, Is such model
for young men. No one ever lived who
so impressed himself upon the political
history. the art, the literature, the social
| life OF the world. 1t is certain. too, that
society must have religion, and that the
Christian religion has the best capacity OF
becoming the religion Of the world. SO,
then, il is deserving OF the attention OF
every rational man. Christianity makes
life worth living, and crowns the nObIest
life with an Immortality Of happiness and
OF Joy.
Gentlemen Of the graduating classes. my
best WISHES are with you for your future
| career. | trust that it may be worthy o.
the profession your have chosen-venera
BILE for its antiquity, adorned by genius il
every age, and so ballowed by the benefi
cent services OF its sons as TO command thu
admiration and gratitude OF mankind.