The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-04-26
I. 0. O. F.
Sermon By Rev. Alex. Mack ntOsh
in Honor Of the Odd Fellows
Anniversary.


the sermon preached by the Rev.
Alex. Macintosh last Sunday, the
occasion being the commemoration
of the seventy-third anniversary of
the establishment Of the society
JOHN ". 10-1I.-"Herein is love; %ot
that we loved God, but that lie
loved us, and sent His Son to be
the Precipitation for our sins. Be
loved, if God so loved US, we ought
also to love one another"
IL is very happy circumstance
that this year, at the time when the
great brotherhood OF odd fellowship
is celebrating with demonstration of
Joy its new birth and rising to life,
the Church Of Christ should be re-
ioiciug with exultation at the resur-
rection of her Lord from the dead,
and at her new birth In Him. The
Church can rejoice together with her
for such good things as odd-fellow-
ship does can only spring from the
Body Of Christ. They can unite in
the sweetest hymn ever sung by an
gels or by men-"Peace on earth,
goodwill towards men, that peace
which was born of God and came to
men through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
There are many pleasant indications
ia the world of the union of great
bodies of men, who have for their
distant object the lettering of the
world-the increase of its national
joys and the amelioration of its cares
and sorrows. l do not mean that in
outward forms or ceremonies, or in
modes of government, there is any
approximation to similarity, but that
men are growing to have more sym
patty with each other. They are
recognizing more and more the good
IN each other, and are becoming
more ready to praise than to con-
denim systems differing from their
own, but directed to the same end.
We read of bishops and chief pastors
of the Christian Church extending
their hand to benevolent societies,
such as odd fellowship, and encour-
aging them IN the work and labor of
love; one OF them, and he among the
noblest of his brethren, even becom-
ing a member OF the order. We see
a branch of the Christian Church,
which has always viewed with sus-
picion any work done for Christ not
proceeding from itself and under its
seal, now In great measure removing
its marks of condemnation; and the
greatest and most satisfactory evil
denee of all is the drawing nearer of
the bodies and individuals to the one
great fold of Christ, and recognizing
the fact that though there are many
hocks there is but one fold. This is
the great bond of union between men
of good will. How their works of
love, which includes those which
spring from all the other virtues,
would increase and spread if they
would only believe in Him who Him
self is lovel If those works have SO
multiplied while men have only
family recognized their source, what
a harvest will there be when all can
say from the heart, "Lord, I believe,
help Thou mine unbelief." And that
faith is in Christ and Him Crucified.
Some have fallen into error by tax
ing a part for the whole, imagining
that by being benevolent to their fell
low men they were performing the
whole duty of man, acting as though
this life were all-that Christ had not
risen, and that all preaching Ito the
contrary were vain. No, brethren,
this life is too short, and things in
this world, Notwithstanding the great
efforts of man towards fairness, are
too uneven for sensible men to be-
Iieve that. Christ IS risen; He has
assembled to open the gates OF another
life for US. and this IS eternity. Here
on earth is our time of probation
This is the time to fit ourselves for
eternity. We have a Judge who is
upright. He is not extreme to mark
what we have done amiss, but we
shall all have to give account of our
deeds, what we have done in the
body, whether they be good or bad.
It were better to have our books with
as few errors and omissions as pos
sible. Therefore it behoves all who
thus dream and cherish this fallacy,
to awake to new life Then they
will find that their very benevolence
has deeper and surer source, and
will not so soon grow cold. There is
another tendency to err which men
are seen to have, and which is very
destructive to the cause they have in
hand. They are led away to raise to
a high place in their imagination
their beloved order or their church
and, strange to say, they become OBJ
livious of the real existence of the
reason of the being of the object of
their alteration. In the dedication of
their Order they forget Friendship,
Love and Truth; and in their worship
of their Church, they forget Christ
and the Love he died to show towards
men. In their enthusiasm they bring
upon their neighbor- him whom
they are under the strongest obliga-
tions to loVe-that is to conduce to
his happiness and welfare, nothing
but pain and misery. In days gone
by, their zeal used to show itself in
the Inquisition and other tortures,
prison and death. Now they find
vent for it in petty prosecutions, try
ing to take the bread out of the
mouth or to heap indignity on the
life and actions OF the fancied enemy.
Beloved, if we love God and have the
spirit of Christ to rule our actions,
we shall be remembered among none
OF these. Our chiefest happiness will