The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-25
THE DIVINE ARD THE HUMAN.
Sermon Preached by Rev. w. G. Roberts, ID.
D., at the Second Presbyterian Church.

THE DIVINE AND THE HUMAN.
Sermon Preached by Rev. w. C. Roberts, ID.
D., at the Second Presbyterian Church.
Rev. W. c. Roberts, D. D., of Elizabeth, N
j., preached at the Second Presbyterian Church
yesterday, morning ana evening The theme of
his morning discourse was the 1.-THE Divine and
the Human in the Church." his text being from
Judges vii, 20. "And they cried, the sword of
the Lord and of Gideon He showed, first the
relation which church agencies and Appliances
bear to Gods will and power. e. That many of
those called of God to work in His church ex-
cuse themselves on the grounds of obscurity
incompetency. 70 That Notwithstanding Gods
gifts and graces, few only are doing effective
work in the church. a. That even faithful
Christians become easily discouraged in church
work (5.) That the triumphs of the church
are connected with the power as well as the
promises of God.
The sermon though lengthy, was exceedingly
interesting, the Doctors manner being fervent
and impressive. and his voice, though showing
as he began, the effects of cold became, as he
proceeded, strong and clear. The concluding
portion of his sermon was as follows: Nothing
is easier than to mistake the results of faithful
labor. The question of success is complicated
and difficult TO solve. The obscure workman be-
comes discouraged simply because he does not
live in the public gaze. He imagines that the
man who is so living is daily gathering his
golden sheaves or purple grapes. The world
often regards as failures what are successes in
the sight of God The heather who
admired the shining gifts Of Paul
concluded that his life was a failure
when they saw his bruised and lifeless body
dragged from the arena. But his missionary
tours and mastery epistles tell different story.
The enemies of the Reformation may have con-
cluded that the efforts of Huss failure
when they saw the cap painted with devils
placed on his brow and his dying body sinking
amid the flames. but history shows that those
efforts brought on the dawn of the civil and
religious liberty we now enjoy. The opposers
of foreign missions may have thought that the
life of John Williams failure, when he fell
a victim to the cruel inhabitants of the New
Hebrldes, but the present condition of the South
Sea islands rebukes the thought. Gideon was
promised that the little band would put TO flight
the hosts of INDIAN. But it did not seem to the
eye of sense they could WELD such power.
Timid ones beginning to fear that the
Christian church will day be put to confusion
by in6delity, political intrigues, heather aggres-
sions, Papal usurpation, scientific discoveries
ised to raise banner against them. He has
raised it again and again in the past, and he
will do it in the future. 1nfidelity began early
to hurl its shafts at the Christian church. and it
has continued. CELSIUS and Porphyry assaed
her with coarse wit, Voltaire with acute phi-
losophy, Hume with scholarship, Chesterfield
with plausible insinuations, Shattesbury with
sarcasm, and Bolingbroke with armed hostility
and yet the church lives
"Skeptics," Says an authority. 'well known in
,1of,
BILE for the ark of God-what has become of
them! Their books lie dusty and undisturbed
the top shelves of libraries. whilst there the
Bible stands with ali the scribblings wiped off
the page as though they had never been. OPP
ponents fire their small shot against the Rock of
Ages and the little pellets fall fiatteued and only
scale off a bit of the moss that has gathered
there"
A political confederacy of the most formidable
kind was established between James the Second
and Louis the Fourteenth to crush the powers
that formed the Reformation. Perhaps no
political intrigue met with more
overwhelming defeat. At one time Mohamme
danism threatened to supplant Christianity. Had
not Mohammedan aggression been arrested just
before the discovery of America, it Is more than
probable that the vast advantages which accrue
to Christianity from the of the printing press
the mariners compass and the application of
steam would be engines of power to propel the
car of Islam to crush the Christian church.
Papal usurpation will not be able to overthrow
the Protestant church. Tt had it's grand oppor-
tunity to do it under Philip of Spain. Vast
preparations were made to nip it
in the bud. Ministers, generals, admirals
men OF every rank We're enlisted
in the undertaking. The plot was skilfully laid
out ample resources were at command and
success for time seemed inevitable. The Mar
quis of Santa Croce, the ablest naval officer of
his day, was appointed to take charge of the
Armada. But as the preparation was COM
peted the admiral was Frustrated by fever
and the ce-admiral summoned to meet his
God. The fleet was delayed, and England af-
forded time to get ready. An inexperienced Of
ficer was put in command. The feet sailed,
but the sword of the Lord went be-
fore the Protestant band. Thunder and
lightning, winds and waves, like so
many angels of DEATH assailed the church's
enemies The destruction of their armament,
like that of the power of indian. was effected al
will never undermine the eternal principles of
the word of God She has not as yet discovered
in the tombs of Egypt, or among the ruins of
Assyria, in the chemical laboratory, or in the ex-
periments of the biologist fact or law sub
versive of single truth of Scripture Alleged
contradictions have been published, but suisse
quent investigations have shown them to be
be expected to continue for q time
Positive science is young. and, like
most youths, it has more daring than wisdom,
more rashness than calm judgment 1t often
accepts differences for facts and sets forth
hypothesis for established laws.
Religion, on the other hand, is as old as the
race, and can afford to deal gently with the
young man, science. She can afford to wait
until his blood is little cooler, his Judgment
little clearer, his heart little more imbued with
reverence for authority. When that day arrives
science and religion will blend as naturally as