Morning journal and courier., 1890-11-28

SUGGESTIONS OF TIE DAY. s.
4 MasterIy Thanksgiving sermon By
Rev. DR.. Phillips of the Church OF
the Redcemer BEFORE q United Com
rregatfOn at Center Church-Tho
Supremacy of Nature, the Crea.
tors Primary Great Lavv-A
Thanksg1ving for the Progress Of
Humanity and a Forecast OF the
Final Perfect Day.
A mastery Thanksgiving sermon was
by Rev. DR.. Phillips, the new
pastor of the Church of the Redeemer,
from the pulpit of Center church yester
day morning before united congregation
from various churches. It was an admir-
able discourse and was intently listened
to. Rev. DR.. Smyth and Rev. DR.. Munger
were among the eminent divines present.
DR.. Phillips chose his text from Psalms
81; L:
ths mhItitSde q isies 81 GLAD thefeol;
It's the creators primary great law
The call and the occasion to give thanks
are constant and universal, said he, yet
personal discomforts and disappointment
are SO persistent in thrusting themselves
upon our attention that it would be diff
cult to hit upon time when all men could
be induced to be thankful or even to be-
ieve that they had special cause for graft
tude Somebody has been defeated; some
body's riches have taken wings; somebody's
hopes have been blighted; somebody's
plans have miscarried; somebody's hearth
stone is desolate; somebody weeps and car
ries a coffin in his heart or gnaws q crust
and shivers in the unfriendly air. But
the statement of the text, calling our
thought off ourselves to fix it on a race,
substituting ages for days, offers an eternal
can always rejoice. That neither partial
and short sighted man, nor capricious
chance, nor cruel fate, nor insensate law,
nor yet the philosophers and scientific
thinkers of the universe, but the Lord
reigneth, is declaration which fills our,
hearts with laughter and our mouths with
song, shoots rainbow across the BLACKLIST
clouds, puts hope into the most bewilder-,
ing conditions and throws the light of 8
promised solution over the most stipend
ons and yexing problems. "The Lord
reigneth; let the earth rejoice" What
does this declaration of the Psalmist sug-
gests First-The orderly movement Of
nature, the regular march of the seasons,
the unbroken succession of day and night,
the early and later rain, seed for the -sower
and bread for the eater. Questions of
populations and food supply are guaran-
teed a satisfactory settlement and need
not trouble us. There May be famine
in Canaan, but there is plenty in
Egypt and q Joseph to husband
and distribute the corn. He who babe the
race be fruitful and multiply set the bow
Of an everlasting covenant in the clouds
/ above Ararat, declared that the earth
| should remain the nourishing mother of
| all her children, and himself rules in ma
| ture as well as in the kingdom of grace
| And since he is the ruler of nature we
! need not be troubled about any supposed
| antagonism between science and revela-
ton. Many people speak to us as If ma
| ture were under one sovereign, and the
| spiritual world under another, and there
i were constant danger that natures SOW
| ereign would invade the spiritual nature
/ and overthrow religion. We are to re-
| member that God isnot responsible for our
unauthorized theories and misinterpreta-
| tons of Moses or, nature, nor; for our
| ecclesiastical traditions. The shattering
| of our idols does not affect his position in
| the universe nor endanger his throne.
Whatever theory you accept, an omnifc
word, spontaneous generation, biogenesis,
evolution, be sure that God is behind it,
and ordained the process and governs it.
If you have the courage to go back, back
behind the outposts of science, you. will
find him, serene, unchanging, omipotent.
| Gre mountains reared their forms sublime
Or heaven and earth in order stood,
/ Before the birth of ancient time,
From everlasting thou art God"
There can be no real disharmony be.
tween science and religion, for the same
| God is in all and over all in both realms
and the universe is one. Whatever may
be the outcome of the present tumult,
whatever the result of the work of the in.
quisitive hammer and crucible and lens
whether science be driven back to the ole
positions Of the church, or the church b,
driven up to the positions of science; thu
reverent thought of the future will FIND
that nothing has been endangered or los
| from the great doctrine of the divine SOW
, ereignty; its clearer vision will see that q
is the Lord, and the whole earth will keel
silence before him."
II. It suggests the triumph of mora
ideas among nations" and individuals, tn
supremacy Of conscience and the reign O
the people. It doesn't seem at times that thi
can ever be. In the carnival of greed and lus
and power moral ideas seem deathstrucl
pigmies. In this day of monopoles, ring
and interruptions politics the people seen
to have no prospect of mounting tn
throne. But the divine government i
, pledged to bring this triumph and in tn
| person and system of Jesus of Nazaretl
that pledge was renewed. To me, at least
| the past record and present conditions o
| | this land of ours furnish q marvellous ant
, convincing proof of the power and growtl
of these principles. Our history is satur
ated with the moral idea; it is the founda
ton Of our institutions, the inspira
ton and Interpretation of our ca
reer. We win a protest hurled in
dogma of the divine right of kings
a declaration of the sovereignty of the PEG
pie, involving in its announcement tn
doctrine of the supremacy of conscience
Puritanism in England, with its outeom
in this country, was the resultant of tw
forces, a religious and a political; and O
the two the religious had far the larges
share in shaping the product. What ar
) some of the present signs of the growth o
these principles among us! It is constant
ly becoming more difficult to whip mel
into allegiance to party right or wrong
The growing disposition to divorce th
government of cities from partisan polite
and place it in the hands of men chosen b,
the people for their fitness and ability ant
directly responsible to the people, as
blow at corruption and q manifestation o
the love of justice and integrity in tn
hearts of men, is triumph Of the mora
idea Our ready answer to the signifi
can't call to the front as th,
great missionary nation of the earti
is another triumph. In our early histo
| ry, in the genius of our institutions, ou1
Christian principles, our open invitation
to all nations and the turning of all PEG
PIES to us to study our principles and
methods find the call. And in the gold
en- streams flowing into our great evan
gelizing agencies read the answer. I
we are true to this evident purpose o.
heaven concerning us, we shall win tn,
brightest crown that ever sat upon ma
TONS brow.
/ Communities as well as individuals arr
coming to a known realization of theil
responsibility as towards the unfortunate
the weak and the sinful; and schemes o.
reformation, of help by encouraging sell
help, are taking the place of schemes
which only looked to protection. There il
hardly q human sorrow or want or weak
ness that goes untouched by the wand oi
organized, sympathetic helpfulness.
| An enlightened public conscience il
placing the Cain mark upon the brow Of
that seTfishness which, seeking only itt
own, joins itself to gambling in food sup
| plies cornerinp staDles watering stocks