St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-26
hi THREE GUIDES
Asking Christian Following
Good Sermon by Rev. Vail.

verSaliSt church, preached a very inter-
esting sermon yesterday morning. He
took for his theme: "Prove all things.
Hold fast to that which is good" Dur
ing his discourse he said.
If a man should come to me with the
question, What is the way Of life? |
might deal with this inquiry in two
ways. l could give him a definite
statement as to what he should
accept as final. or l could give
him what seemed to me the final
conclusion, and say: Here is your op-
portunity to accept this idea as the best,
but | make no claim as to lnfalllblllty,
and only ask it if seems to you BEST" Is
not this the attitude of Christ as a
teacher? Can you find in any other the
demand made. for faith so often? But
suppose | even go further in my igno-
rance to-day, and say L do not know, L
only accept certain ideas from others
because they seem best to me. | will
give you an account of the theories and
then let you choose.
The first system, of course,is the tradi-
tional one. If he has acclaim tits because
it a working system. Does not the BiSh-
op Blougram of Browning have a certain
force when he says: 'DO you not see
the power of a working church," Do
we not impress the common mind with
organ and chorus, with u floods OF
music and invocatiOnS. with our appeal
to their fears by showing the bottomless
pit. If we can hold men in order by
these methods, are we not to be allowed
a little private privilege as to our w
beliefs? Is not fear the strongest pry
the Protestant minister has for immedi-'
ate and superficial results? How
many men that we know are in
fuenced to goodness because they
are afraid of the devil or of public opin-
ion, or because of some fear equally
selfish? One class of men say then:
This is a good working theory. The
world has always used it, so pocket
your scrupleS, if you have any. and join
"Do not show the slightest dishoneStytO
conviction; but do not forget that the
world has always believed in a God who
is Ruler of the Universe, and that in
the great struggle a large majority of
men will be lost. But, at the same
time, His power is so great that
He can speak worlds into existence.
or destroy them with a breath. His
wisdom is so marvellous that the wisdom
of all the world would be a rush light
in the forest on a dark night compared
with the sun which shattered the dark
ness and sent the battaliOnS of night
flying before the one and glory OF the
day; while His love is more than the
joy of all lovers, the burning affection
of all mothers, the song of all patriots
falling on the field or disappearing
when the ship goes down in the. Strug-
Cling sea-. .'They ask you n me to
swear allegiance to a person so wise, so
lovely, S % powerful, but endowed with
such attributes, creating a world with
out asking anybody's advice and sacri-
ficing SO many at last that their number
is more than the leaves of the forest.
Then another man who says:
"There can be &c such person as the one
described. We do not know much
about what we see, but we observe GER
tain facts, and these will give us a clue
Mr.. TyndalI says go back to the atom.
That is tangible. So, before the first
polyp f1Oated on the sea, long before the
gigantic monsters of the forest met in
conflict, or man disputed a home with
the cave-bear, the atom existed con-
tanning all the possibilities of Il life.
That is all the creator we know. Man
came to the world and came fighting.
He chased the bear, rid the land of the
serpent, then he turned his attention to
the other tribes, and from that time to
this men have been hOnOred most for
fighting qualities, while in civilized
lands combinations make one man rich
and another a beggar, and the very men
that beggar you laugh you to scorn."
In this philosophy there is one varia-
ton in SchOpenhauer. who has re-
lieved it by browning man with one at
tribute that is not given to the brute
creation. Man is capable of pity. That
is why prisoners are spared, why Or
phanages are built, why poetry is
written, why, patriotism is developed;
But even with this brief respite it is all
in vain. Life, indeed, is in the world;
now organized as the rose, now as the
squirrel, now as the king; but the
structure In which each dwells will
decay as the palace of mist in the pres
ence of the sun. Life will continue,
but not the person. And at last, says
| ~Schopenhauer, by the cooling of her
crust even the earth will grow old; her
robe of green will scar and wither;
hushed will be the song of the bird;
still the brooklet and the heav-
ing ocean; ice will cover the
! mountains and transform them into
fairy palaces; summer seas will have
ceased their music and died in the
clutch of the ice king. while the world
| Will Toll Oh, d utdQ SlOpo III space. lily
with her white robe will stand reaching
a tender hand to soothe his last repose;
will say of man: .ThiS is his end. Few
were his days, and they. were full of
trouble; he came up as a flower and
was cut down; tears were MS birth
right and sorrow his daily burden; let
him sleep the unbroken sleep from
which none shall ever wake to sigh"
"To man still comes another choice
of a theory. 1t comes in the words of
the Christ. 1t says all the wisest have
felt that there must be some intelligent
power behind what we see to mould it
into form, to give direction to life, to
set in motion the forces We see work
ing. That power is God, and God is
! good. He told us then, as Emerson IN
| the later day, that the universe is moral;
that clouds may darken the sky for an
hour, but that they will be shattered
into shining fragments. He claimed
not to prove this, but to show it. He
boldly invited men to look at Him, His
enduring kindness, charitable judg-
ment, plying sympathy; and this He
said was the heart of God, and then He
told them that they were the sons of
God, and that they, too, might have this
| life and know its meaning.
When it came it startled the world.
Men at that time were slaves driven in
procession under the whip. Death and
rest were their only hope. Life was
sybolized by the horns found in the for
est, LETT by the two stages engaged in
deadly combat. HIS message startled
men. There came a desire for
universal education because there
came a higher idea of man. Poetry
began to sing new songs of mans hope
and his glory. 1t declared that not n
drop of heroic blood was eve shed in
vain; that the love out of which grew
the cradle song was of more value than
an argosy loaded with silver; that the
upheaval of the hills and destruction of
the plains would be less of a loss than
the loss of a man. And finally it de-
cIared that men should survive the