Morning journal and courier., 1891-03-30
srur.sAoR1rrcE.

Rav nr RroxUD at Warner Hall on
 the True Idea of Christian1ty-The
 Koran and the Bible-PurPose or
 the ". M. O. A.
 The usual meeting of the New Haven
 Y. M. c. A. was addressed yesterday by
 Dr. F. A. M. Brown, the newly installed
 pastor of tho Presbyterian church. After
 the singing, reading and prayer, he spoke
 somewhat thus: "I do not feel inclined
 to call your attention at this service to
 the special occasion of this day or it's
 thought, but only to turn it into the same
 channel as the occasion of all the week. I will mention the words in this 17th chapter of St. John, "and if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me-" Here he speaks of the cross and calls it his throne,
 and says that all his followers will be
 drawn to it to worship. The great lesson of these words is self-sscrifce. This is
 one of the mysterious way in which Christ speaks. He is lifted on the cross. It seems to be his humiliation and
 destruction, and yet it is his triumph. It IS Gods idea of self-glori6cation. These
 self-humiliating thoughts are those by which the soul is elevated, and the eleva-
 tion of the human soul is gained by the contradiction of it. A man must sacrifice | himself to himself Here is man, sup l pose, who is attempting to learn some | thing, whether it be music or art or
 philosophy-various things by which he
 himself is developed: To do this
 he must submit his lower nature to
 his higher nature. It is the same prin- ciple that we call self-sacrifice. Now | see how that idea is carried out through all ages. The great bane of the Mohammedan religion is it's selfishness. The Koran can not be translated, for it would lose it's in spiration. The Bible gives religion to the whole world Duty is sometimes consid- | cred as doing what we do not like to do that sense, however, coming to us only | after we have been made over by the Bible | andC ChristJesus. Not llChrist waslifted up | do we find any ennobling of human nature, | even among the Jews, nor among the civ | ilized Romans. Even Plato and Socra- 1 tes show faults that betray the lack of | Christianity. Notice here, too, the eleva- | tion of woman. Till then it was only the | shameless one who was admitted to the l higher circles of society, but by Christian | ity she becomes respected and ennobled. | Their music, too, was not the inspiring | sounds which we hear from this chorus of young men to-day; they had only | a plain chant with one strain
 -they did not love their religion l as we do. might go on further; but l | wish to refer to it in a practical way. As we go into human life we if 1st practice conquering self cannot become lead | CT of men, unless I deny myself. This | resurrection idea is not only beautiful | idea; it is a power that works in human society. Human society is better now than ever before. There is still nobler l thought than to live for one's fellows. It | is to consecrate one's life to God; to love | God better than one's fellows, and so to | love ones fellows for his cake. One | more thought. You know that this society | spends it's efforts for young men not young
 women. Why is thiss My reply is that if
 you secure young men, that they shall fol- | low the highest life, you have made society. | It is the young men that fill our prisons | seldom are old men seen there; and it is l women. It is they that we see
 in every kind of crime and vice | the young woman in none, save | when she ministers to the base passions
 of the other. If young men lived the
 highest kind of life, the young women
 would be safe. "It is one of the great things set befors the Christian associations of this country-to work for young men. "One word more in regard to summer, | when we'll have smaller audiences than in | the winter. Don't forget the lessons of | the winter, but put them into practical | use. It is not by coming to meetings, but | by putting them to practical use, that we mount to the throne of Christ, the cross | wish you all success and Gods blessing, | individually and collectively.