St. Paul daily globe., 1888-02-06
A Large Congregation at the
Peoples Church to Hear
DR.. Smiths Sermon.
Predictions Of Future Bliss
Do Not Do Away With
Present Evils.
Man, Himself, and His Dignity,
by Some Placed Higher
Than Archangels.
Rev. Father Stanley Says the
Chief Foe to Fight Is
Infidelity.

ITO the man whose hunger and desire
cry out within him like the Shrill voices
of Wild beasts, it does not help to say
that 500 or 1000 years flom now there
shall be no longer poverty or pain"
said Rev. S. &. Smith in his sermon at
the opera house yesterday morning.
The music of harpS in the future can
not satisfy us for the walls that are
here. The promise of banQuetS under
the spreading branches of the tree of
life are but as the mirage in the desert
to those bereft of every good on this side
OF the river that rolls darkly between"
a larger crowd than ever before in
the history of the Peoples church was
present at the service yesterday morn
ing. The parquet and dress circles
have been well filled at all the services,
and for the last two weeks preceding
yesterday few have been obliged to
seek seats i'll the balcony: but yeSter-
day the parquet, dress circle and bal
cony were all occupied. and the man
who came late was given a seat in the
top gallery. 1.-The World Is Good" was
the subject of an eloquent and enter
tanning sermon by the pastor. The
text was Romans viii. %: ''And we
know all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to His purpose"
TIE SERMON.
To those who have reflected, life
seems strange mystery. There are
elements it it which the reason caunct
unravel. Few are able to pass from
childhood to age and believe unceas-
ingly that the world is good. Even the
unity OF nature comes bye-and bye to
oppresS us. We see that man, though
morally free, must choose according to
the ideas which he has imbibed; and in
every other realm he is powerless
against the forces about him. He, him
self. has within him the strands of a
hundred generations. Dead hands
tug. at his heart-strings and
hold him back, or lurid passions
brought out of the grave burn like
strange fire within his bosom. Not
only does heredity well nigh create him,
but civilizations and education fashion
him. AS the iron held upon the anvil,
so is he smitten by the hammers of
time, of knowledge, even of climate
and material forces, until he can
scarcely say how much of himself has
been guided in any wise by his own
choice: and then, when here, as little
can lie understand the life which he is
expected to lead. He soon sees that
PHILOSOPHERS and history, yea, even the
philosophy of single human life are
but gueSseS, more or less shrOuded by
unutterable mysteries. He himself is
but a Speck borne forward upon the
bosom of dark river, whose sources he
cannot see, and which pOurs its roaring
tide into the abyss of eternity. The
darkness is lighted by a hope which has
in II of inf 70 h.
lleye that this stream is the current of a
power which eyermore ''makes for
righteousness"
Then there are the positive ills which
come in concrete form to every human
life. Sometimes it is poverty, some
times calumny, or feebleneSs of body,
or heartache unquenchabie. from mani
fold sorrows that sting us. What light
is there which may be cast upon the
problem of life? Some talk of the
progress of the world, and tell us how
much better off the race is now than
hitherto, and point TO a time when all
ills shall be swallowed up in common
good. But, meanwhile we are here,
and these advantages to generations yet
unborn cannot satisfy the aching of our
hearts. The languid limbs and racked
nerves are not made strong and good
by the promise that some time remedies
shah come which shall enable men to
die as the prophet predicted, like chill
dren. a hundred years old. To the man
whose hunger and desire cry out within
him like the Shrlll voices of wild beasts,
it does not help to say that 500 or 1000
years from now there shall be no
longer poverty OF pain. And what bet
ter is it to argue that
SINCE WE ARE IMMORTAL
in some other world, God will give us
recOmpense for this? tits of Gods deal
ings with us in this world that we know
the most; and if he has miSerably made
and after worse fashion managed this
world, how dare we trust him for any
other? The music of harps cannot sat
iSfy US for the walls that are here. The
promise of banquets under the spread
ing branches of the tree of life are but
as mirage in the desert to those who are
bereft of every good on this side of the
river that rolls darkly between. How
have men thus far met the problem?
Some of the greatest souls have pro-
posed, that since evils.abound. the wise
man may attain peace by remuneration.
This is the wisdom of India. And what
is remuneration. when considered by
itself alone, but form of suicide? ANY
part of our nature unSatisfied, for us is
dead or worse. If the heart yearns for
love, and has no object upon which it
may feed, is not this suicide of the
heart? If the reason would have
great thought and philosophy
is bani hed,u is not this self-destruc-
ton of the Intellect? If any part of all
the infinite variety of strength that is
cOmpacted together in that mystery we
name man is hindered from it's true ex-
ercise and proper use, is it not so far a
suicide? 1t cannot be that a theory
which proposes. in whole or part, the
destruction of man can possibly be true,
if the head and heart of man be sound i,
and the world be not a madhouse.
Some have proposed sublime contempt
of life; since there may come smiles or
tears, good or or ill, let us despise alike
the light and shade. The religion of
the stole is intelligent, sad and stern.
Seeing no pity anywhere, he has none
for himself. Believing that fate rules,
he yields himself passively as it's vic
tim. For him there is neither hope nor
fear. But, others say, since life is brief
and the world is smitten with evils, man
is finite, his chances are few, "While
| we live, let us live" Since we
cannot abolish evils, let us at
least endeayor to forget them. Since we
cannot understand our surroundings, so
far as they are painful. let us ignore
them. The poor man may drown his
sorrows in a mug of beer: the rich may
forget his in music, feasting and dane
ing. This philosophy is more joyous
than the last, but it is also more blind
for the sated heart, bye and bye, begins
to feed upon itself. The eyes that we
shut so long must at length open; for
they have been made to see; and there
before us, in the sands of time, the
| sphinx Of our existence lifts its calm
face with its riddle still unSolved, and
our destruction still before us.
What shall we do with the problem of
| life as it comes to lis in this world? So
far as science has anything to say
to us all, it says that this is the best
| ,rorld f0t. nnan Of ,,hinh Il l-i,o,ur, cr,r