Morning journal and courier., 1888-08-06
THE wAYs oF nEsvrry
A Crowded ConGregaSien Welcomes . Former Passor-Sermon by Rev. MT. HOuRhr0u of Smr1nr6a1h MI

A Crowded Congregation Welcomes . Former PastOr-Sermon by Rev. MT. HOughtOn of Springfield, HI.
 Despite the hot weather large congrega-
 tion assembled at the Church of the Messiah I on Orange street yesterday to listen to ser
 mon by their former pastor, Rev. M. H.
 Houghton, now of Springfield, Illinois. Al ter expressing his pleasure at once more ad-
 dressing his friends after an absence of three
 years, and speaking to them of the light of Gods love, the minister choose for his ser
 mons subject, ''The Ways of Destiny" His text was from Psalms I, 23-24: The Lord is my shepherd, etc.
 l His sermon in substance was: We must
 rise to go onward forever with the sun, and this is destiny. We are the hearts of this
 universe, related to it in every way, and we should accept this world, here long before we l arrived, in conscious good faith God does I not mock us- He has ushered us into be- | ing of mighty end. Let us, then, try to con- 1 sider some of the sublime laws by which ou1 | great creater is working out the plan of oul | end and existence.
 | There are two ways of looking at the sutj- ! ject. One is direct light, the other a re. \ feeted light. It has been supposed to be be- lieved that the great destiny of humanity cau be determined by close inspection of the 1 scriptures. There is no destiny outside oi | the independence that we feel growing out I of the the Old and New Testaments. The conclusion that humanity must be separated has been well nigh universal-that one part ! shall sit on the right hand and the other on | the left hand of God. am one of those who believe that every church in Christen- | dom is accomplishing great deal of good. \ yhok before, yet the gleanings and conclusions of other years will not altogether answer the | inquiring thought of the man of to-day. h. stead of pursuing the old order we must con | clude that the revelation should be adapted ! to the condition of life as that life flows out ! through the consciousness of our own race. The minister will declare that revelation is a thing bound to go on despite the changes of of heart and state. It is the universal law that man shall Aleep, eat, walk and breathe ' the air around us. Man is supported by the universe, but only in the physical compon- ents, not the intellectual and spiritual Knowledge is not what man creates; it is an
 acquaintance with surroundings, the rightly knowing laws and forces relating to social order, and without this there can be no knowledge. If man, therefore, is ever per feet he must reach it through the universe, since it gives him all he has.
 What is a perfect nfe4 You remember the
  stood on the pedestal for thirty years with only a small rnorsel of bread and a small cup of water each day; how he was overrun with vermin, and as they dropped out of the sore and eaten flesh how he put them back with
 the words, "Eatl Eat what God has prepared for you.n But in this age we believe that what perfection there is can be derived from
 man to man, from the universe itself,
 tell you, it is to be gained by knowledge of the life of the soul. by the requirements of this state of man. There are great mon, earnest men, who believe that when man drops into earth all there is of
 him crumbles and passes away. If all there
 is to life is combination of chemical atoms
 then of course there is no need for the su-
 preme wisdom which some of us SO vainly
 strive to attain. The lowest forms of life
 have never been initiated
 It seems to me the ways of destiny are for
 ever upwards. They are the Holdings of life.
 It is strange thing that Jesus Christ never
 used the language of the Greek Jews of his
 time when he wished to express endless du-
 ration. If he wanted to express what was
 then called endless punishment, or correc-
 tion, he always used age-leng correction I
 assert that we cannot prove endless punish-
 ment from the Bible.
 My dear friends, I have not attempted any thing great to day, I'm only spending the Sunday with you. Let us be true to our latest best thought and plant our banners on- ward, ever onward as far as we can see. This is our world, let us enter into it's life. When all is over have no doubt we shall find our true end of existence, and when the body drops away, man, woman, all will stand forth in the full dignity and strength of their being will in parting say how happy I am to be with you and convoke the blessings of God and all good men upon you and ours, and may we journey along to that perfection which is so difficult to comprehend and which, pray God, may fall upon us from love.