The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-05-06
IN THE CHURCHES.
REV. JAMES y. FAIRS INTRODUCTORY
SERMON.
d LARGE CONGREGATTON TO
HEAR UIH
STRIKES THE KuY-NONE or HIS MIN
IStRN
Reception rendered Distinguished Eng
lish Baptisis al Grace street Church
Last sight Addresses Of Wei
come.


TIE announcement that Rev James
Y Fair would preach his Introductory
sermon at the Grace street Presbyterian
Church Yesterday morning drew q large
crowd 10 hear him Long before the
hour fox the commencement OF the OK
ercises thc people came pouring into the
church from all parts of the city until
every seat in ihc spacious .edince was
filed Mr. Fair took for his text And
the house when DO VAS in building was
builf of stone made ready before 10 wac
brought tuithcr. so that there WAS nei-
Their hammer nor AK nor any tool OF
iron heard in The house while II was I'D
building II Kings, vi, e.
The building here referred TO, said the
minister. Was the temple of Solomon,
built Al Jerusalem. The building which
was the wonder of the world The con
struction of This wonderful building was
not left 90 him alone. Ii was built under
the inspiration of God. 10 was said
81 will build temple and the gates OF
hell shall not prevail against No.
IL was built of rock and stone, inn
rerishablc polished and sanctiied. The
various different stones and manner of
building are symbols of spiritual work
We are told i'm the text that there was
neither hammer nor AK nor any tool of
iron heard In the house while il was in
building.
This isamOst extraordinary occurrence
this great building, which took 50 long
+ he brought To- completion, during All
the time not "a sound of hammer nor AK
was heard Yesterday looked upon the
magnificent Ciiy Hall which is soon 10
grace your city with iis grand aud COM
mandinr appearance. III the law should
say that neither AK nor hammer should
he used on this building. YOU would say
fl is impossible 10 build. bat this temple
which We speak about to-day was built
in this way. No noise from the sound
of az and hammer arose NO harsh
reverberating soundpene'rated los mighty
arches From IFS foundation TO its bur
nishcd affairs The work went ON in silence
This. my hearers. CONVEYS To MS great
lesson 4 hammer is used in driving and
an AK in cutting, both are instruments OF
force
This teaches MS that the king.
dom of Christ is TO be built,
not by means of force. but by
agencies of peace, by the simple mes
sage Of silent truth. The Kingdoms of
this world are won by conquest through
great armies. Not SO with the kingdom
of God. but by measures of peace and
love The old Prophet EhiG attempted
TO convert Israel through force. l-lt fail
ure was the result God teaches us the
same lesson Ella evidently supposed
.I.a. ..I..Iaa N.aH
the means If force lie thought that
when their blood ran crimson TO the sea
the conquest was complete but before
the sun went down be SAW again idola-
tiy reigning supreme lie saw himself
an alien and his effort failure. Not in
the tempest is God TO be found, but the
still small voice that leads MS TO victory
in the end Is the power of God.
need not cite To YOU the cruelty and
death i'm The bloody days of the past,
when our forefathers were struggling
for religious freedom, trying to build The
church with the hammer and AK
THE VOICE or PEACE.
The temple of the Most High God is
not 10 be built with AK and hammer,
but w agencies of peace hy the still
small voice of God, by patience aud by
PRAYER "The Kingdom of God cOmeth
not by observation
The Saviour teaches that the Kingdom
of God has already come. It's diffusion 40
SILENT ils progress So slow. It's power not
IN the track of treadlng armies, but in the
creation OF the soul; building one church
after another. converting one soul after
another sending one missionary after
another The kingdom of God cometh
not after observation.
We see This lesson taught In the com
Ing OF spring Look out upon the green
verdure of spring time We see the
beautiful green foliage. but we did not
see The change We see spring time ina
the little buds AMI blades of grass, but
we did not see them turn thus We
see IL In the songs of the little birds, but
the coming one is silent So Is the moral
transformation Of the world. The world
TO day is being more rapidly converted
TO God than ever before. The dead in
Sin is being raised, ike Lazarus, from
the tomb,
The Lesson Is again taught ~ in the /
turning Of the world upon its axis |
The planets traverse the heavens IN 4
silence. No sound il heard, but II IS /
done In silent majesty.
You cannot see the stroke OF His |
omnipotent hand, for his acts are /
wrought in.pOweriul silence. We learn
a great lesson from the text.
The kindom Of God is not of this
world; it is spiritual not carnal You
cannot drive The sinner 700 may i'm
press on his body. but YOU cannot touch
the soul. You NAV put msnacles upon
the body, but the soul is intan ihle No,
you cannot drive tue SINNER, but by the
still small voice you may lead him TO
everlasting life. But, my hearers, this
small voice will sound alike TO those who
do not wish 10 hear. You may cover il
up with
THR DUST or THE TOMB,
but II will sound on through the ages OF
eternity.
We learn first how 20 Judge OF the I
progress and the condition OF the church.
When there is much said we think !
the work Is VI God, but We are taught .
here that these external manifestations /
are not always OF God The way 10 tell d
how church is progressing is when I
you see that Sabbath after Sabbath the Il
gospel Is being earnestly prcaciei, 1