The morning call., 1893-02-27
A HOUSE OF FAITH.
Fine Structure Dedicated
to Christ.
THE NEW CENTENARY CHURCH
Impressive Sermons Delivered by
Revs. r. j. Briggs, Horace M.
Du Bose and A. c. Bane.

lie DSW centenary OHuTcu kOl tue MStll-
odist Episcopal Church South. was formally
opened and dedicated yesterday with APP
proprate ceremonies. During the day
three services were held and at each the
pretty church was filed to its utmost ca
pacIty.
At the morning services the pastor of
the congregation. Rev. r. }. Briggs DID,.
presided and the subject of the discourse
was the third aud fourth verses of the
one hundred and thrtv-second Psalm, sig
nifying Davld's devotion TO the creator and
the desire of the psalmist to have home
dedicated TO the worship of God.
To Illustrate his remarks the speaker
divided humanity into three classes
The first was those who would call all
chu rch worship superstition; the second
would characterize such ceremonies as
church dedication an exaggeratlon. while
the third class, the Christians, look upon
all church worship as high and true de-
votion to the ruler Of the universe.
The first class believ that there bis no
God, and that church is purely an in-
novaton of superstition In " hlch TO glorify
being who exists only in the imagination.
The second class grants that there is a God,
because the facts Of reason demand that
there should be some divine and incompre-
hensibIe power, but to that class all SER
vices are perhaps proper In their meaning.
but absolutely unnecessary. Their belief
is cold and unpassiOnate one. The third
class, the Christians, worship In temple
dedicated for that purpose, because man
kind from prehistoric times have done so.
and it is in obedience to an instinct OF
nature, and it would be inhuman not to
obey that instinct. II is that instinct in
man which marks him off from the brute
creation. To worship some being IN some
c0nsecrated place was the highest language
OF humanity, and to refuse to obey that
noblest instinct. was TO break the golden
chains which bind mankind TO its God and
creator.
The afternoon service was conducted by
Rev. Horace NJ. Du Bose, DID,. of Ala
media. The text of the sermon was taken
from the sixty-fifth Psalm. fourth verse:
1--WE shall be satisfied with the goodness Of
thy house, even of thy holy temple" The
following are the words of the speaker:
at is an ancient sea which beats its full
ness through cur blood. What we feel men
have felt before; our faith is an inherit
ance, our hope is legacy. AS the Almug
harp was famed 10 acquire sweeter resO-
nance through age and use, So the long CEN
turtles through which cur humanity has
passed and the constant shifting upon il OF
the hand OF God have served 10 deepen and
emphasize thu ancient and hereditary har-
monies OF life.
"a perpetual hunger holds the race of
man; a hunger which is never satisfied with
the husks that the swine fatten upon TO
safety, nor yet with the crust of goddess
penury. All the years of its earthly waiting
tile soul is filled with longing. Nature,
which is but the image OF man, as be is the
Image Of God. IS a perennial mimicry or
pantomime OF tie speech and passion OF the
souls restless desires
The sun flies forward 10 his brother sun:
lie dark earth follows wheeled In her eclipse
The seas and the ryeTs course through
their circuits to and from the heart of the
planet they rise like tears from hidden
fountain into the lachTymals Of heaven; ;
the seasons chase each other through the
ecptle. their garments trailing seed time
and harvest winter and summer. in golden.
green and hoary zones about the earth.
These tokens type the moods, passions and
eteTnItIes OF the soul. Thus Is natures
pageant rightly Interpreted. He hath made
everything beautiful 10 its time; he hath
set The world IN their hearts
The Lord Christ pGuie a Swifter. more
irresistible yeaTniDg through the 0etayes of
the soul when he said. Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after righteousness. and
The voice OF prophecy, as of Que hidden
among the pillars OF cathedral, informing.
responding, i shall be satisfied when /
awake in tiny likeness We shall be salts
fed with the goodness of thy house. The
hereIsms of life are allied to this Unsuitable
longing. The Tower of Babel, the pyramids,
the temple at Ephesus, the Tai. every min
steT, every babtatiOn ever built on earth,
was designed by the two hands of the soul
desire and hunger These have felied the
forests; plOwed the valleys ana sown them
With The seed corn of hope. they have
builded bridges. wrought about the earth
network Of iron highways, painted on can
vas, carved the stones in 10 sembanee OF life,
written laws, indicted songs, minstered To
sorrow and laid hold upon the skirts OF
Jehovah. These are the hands adorned
Nlih gold rings, set with beryls these are
they which were pierced with nails; these
are they which are 10 be baptized with the
Hgbt of lmm oTtallty when They come 10
swing cenSers and wave pain branches in
the day of the coming of the King.
"What prospect is there that our longings
are to be satisfied? Are we sure they are
not wandering fires, and that the angels of
our hopes Will not follow them into wilder
I ess worlds TO he smitten down by savage
hands and cease forever? To these ques-
tons there is abundant answer.
The lodgings of humanity have always
pointed to the sanctuary of Jehovah-the
church Of Jesus Christ in prophecy, history
and experience. Every where the wish has
been the same. though Of varions express
sion-in the HindO shrine. In the Moslem
mosque, in tie Christian temple. The
cture Of Israel wandering through desert
lands for forty years to ind the temple of
God in the Businesses Of R00dly mountains
is the picture Of humanity in history seek
ing the spiritual temple of God in the city
which hath foundations. The church Of
Jesus Christ embodies an answer 30 every
longing. every hope, every dream OF the
purified soul. We shall be satisfied with
the goodness of thy house.
The text has spoken Of the magniicence
and garniure Of the Jewish temple, which
as yet was not built. That temple was
prophecy Of Christ in stone, in cedar, in
purple, in gold and precious things. Its
masses OF masonry. it, maZeS OF Sculptured
pillars. its landscapes Of tapestries, its
plinths Of cedar, its pageant of gold, all
climbed 10 their elimination In a voice
which proclaimed the incarnation Of the
Godhead in the Son Of Man. The gold was
bis divinity; the purple was his kingly ex-
cellence the precious stones were his
treasures of wisdom and knowledge; the
white linen was his purity; the fragrant
cedar was his humanity; the blood Of The
sacrifice WAS his atonement, and the incense
which filled the courts was his love of his
Own even unto death.
This was the old church. and the new
church is his own body. 1t has passed from
the garnishments and devices Of the old
and the dead. and is adorned with the
presence of the living Christ and the doc
trInes OF his grace. The satisfying good
ness Of the church begins In the fact of q
divine Christ 1t is cruel robbery which
denies the world its faith IN Christ as the
Son Of God. Denies! There Is no power on
earth which can deny that possession. 1t
has entered into every line OF our litera-
ture, woven itself into the laws Of life and
set Itself in the dominiOns of power. He Is
over all God. blessed forever.
The satisfying goodness of the church
Is completed in the humanity of Christ.
Sympathy and fellowship were the twin
Impulses OF the soul of Christ while he
walked among men. These he commune
Gated TO his church. and these. everywhere,
the true church teaches and puts into prac-
tlce. silly and utterly groundess charge
has gone abroad that the workingmeE OF to-
day are deserving the church and are charg-
ing against 1t their sufferings and wrongs.
There was never time when so many toilers
and 'breadwinners' were housed in the tenn
Il l.