St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-07
The WORLD IS SICK.
Rev. DR.. Smith Ppeseribes a
Remedy For the ALL
ment.
Only Restoration Of the Soul
Can Bring the Sinner
Peace.
Z
Unrepentant Sin Has Only
Darkness For It's
: Promise.
Father Stanley Explains Ro-
cation Days and the Eff
cacy Of Prayer.

"ioo OOiiS well Hlleu. Lie subject OF
Rev. DR.. Smiths discourse was GA
Powerful Religion" his text being
taken from L. Corinthians, iv. 20: For
but in power" Summarized, the rev.
erend gentleman's remarks were as fol-
lows:
Religion, our author would say. is
not theory. The context shows him
to have had in mind both doctrine, and
organization. 1t is not churchcraft or
formula, old orthodox or new heterOdox:
the kingdom of God is power. The
world is sick; what is needed is not
learned diagnosis, exact or otherwise.
but remedy. The word power is very
familiar one to readers OF the New Test
ament. The Gospel challenged the at
tentIon OF men because it had force in
1t; 1t continues to command the atten-
tlOn OF men only i'll so far as it has
strength to heal human hurts.
1.-The gospel stands at the top of the
stairway of power. All forces wbatso-
ever bow down before the superb throne
OF the Son of Man. The first step upon
the stairway of power is that which is
purely physical. No finer manifesto
ton of it can be found than an ocean
storm, with inky sky, rent by thunder
bolts, to the accompaniment of bowling
tempest and tossing pillows. But when
power becomes thoughtful, it rises
higher, and force in the harness
OF mechanics is something nobler.
ana so the steam engines in the
water works in Chicago are a sublimer
SlgnG than an ocean storm. But pure
intellect is step higher than mechan-
| les, for some great thought NAV outlast
iron and stone, incarnate itself again
and again in human institutions and
abide for countless generations as a
working force on the earth. There is a
nlghef expression of power than pure
thought' Tor men will not yield because
thelr reason is convinced: there is that
| power OF sweetness manifested in nj ct
ure or III music which melts the heart.
inspires the passions and so masters
Doth intellect and will. We can
| ascend still higher the stairway
OF power, for there is a passive
| manifestation of strength mightier than
storm, or intellect. OF art. 1t is that
power which speaks through self-denial
and through suffering. When Blandina
OF Lyons, the female slave, suffered
death rather than yield to crime against
ner soul and body, and so was subjected
10 torture of every kind, and, though
slight OF form and feeble of strength,
her matchleSs spirit crowned its cOur-
age with martyrdom, there was in this
spectacle certain divinity which fas-
clnated the attention of Europe, and, as
even GibbOn confesses, entered as per-
manent factor into the future legisla-
ton of empires. But there is highest
manifestation of power. When the
Man of Sorrows had spent the night in
agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and
was at length armed with the angels
cfp y, ,oI I'D 20
vigil was broken in upon ny motley
| crowd of priests and soldiers coming
with torches and weapons. He rose to
| meet the mob with the question
Whom seek yep And when they said
Jesus of Nazareth He answered, i am
| He.' But no sooner did He confess
| Himself the object of their search than
| the whole crowd, Judas with the rest,
| staggered backward and fell upon the
ground, and it was needful for Him to
call them to themselves, and. putting up
| His hands, like lamb was He led away
to the slaughter. This was the powe
of the spirit over flesh, the strength Of
| one pure soul against swords and
slaves. This. I think, is hint of the
| final and highest power of the tOpmoSt
| throne of the universe.
| 1--WE need a religion that has power
| in it,; nothing else will do. TIE woes
| of men are real, their sins are terrible.
| their burdens are great. Any gospel
| must deal with these actual problems.
| When the secret of human nature is
| yielded up it is found to be weakness:
! the answering secret out of heaven must
| bring divine strength.
OLD TRADITIONS WILL NOT DO.
"Many of the religious dwelling places
| of the past lie in ruins before the artil-
Of in1c nd
! They may have been splendid palaces
| indeed in their time; the timid and the
| fearful, the ignorant and the super
| stitious, may still be willing to haunt
| them by multitudes, cheered by such
music as hoGting owls and crying jack
! ais, but the courageous must move for
| ward. Nor will it do to bring in a new
religion of nebulosity. 1t is useless to
say. your palaces are in ruins, come and
| dwell with us in the fOgs. no matter if
the mists are made up of poetic fancies.
rev theOlOgies. comparative religion
| and general mental vacuity Illuminated
| by mOonshine. Very few earnest souls
| can find lasting comfort in any of the
| finely favored substitutes for religion
| and man can not walk the barren deserts
of realism and of positive philosophy.
| Everywhere is the glare of an unsup-
| portable noon; but courage, beyond
these desert rocks and sands there lie
| tine blessed mountains of a rational
faith. The gospel of the Nazarene in
its simple elements, unspOiled by tradi-
| lions of men, may yet speak
| to the unauenchable truth and
wisdom in human hearts. The great
ideas of His message still have power
for the sons of men. Duty gives mean
| ing to life. 1t may seem a dark and
| forbidding soil, but its darkness is rich
ness. and out of it come the fertile
! growths of holiness and happiness.
Immortality gives emphasis to NAM
| Despite generations of misdoing, broken
strength and ill-guided steps, man is
| essentially invincible. Time has no
| power over him. space cannot prison
him, he may be free, he is the child of
the eternal. But the gospel gives hope
to the ruined, there is no sin but may
find pardon. There is no moral bank
rupt, empty and ragged, wandering in
his pollution anywhere upon Gods
earth, but may find welcome in his
Fathers house. 1t is this message
of hope which arms the gospel with its
| permanent power. These three thoughts
duty. Immortality and salvation, are
| Gods great QuarrieS of truth out of
which all the generations of men NAV
build palaces of religion which will last
forever. But the gospel has power in
the reinforcements which it brings
to the human soul. We are in the
midst of
STRUGGLES LONG AND TERRIBLE,
struggles of heart, of flesh and of blood,
but struggles also against the princi-
palities and powers which we find
throned in the selfish institutions and
traditions of this world. To His dis
ciples everywhere is repeated the
promise of Pentecost. aye shall
receive power, after that the Holy
Spirit is come upon YOU" 1t
in this mingling of the divine with the
human that is the essential truth of the
supernatural. 1t is not possible. per
hons tn oortifx- 70 IN +ba