The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-07-02
PATRIOTIC OBSERVATION.
REF. z. v. TOLEs SPEAKS BEFORE Tn E 0. '. 4. M. AND TIE F. O. s. 0FA.

REF. z. v. TOLEs SPEAKS BEFORE
 THE 0. '. 4. M. AND TIE F. o. s. OF 4.
 Christs Spirit of seif-sacriAee to Bs Our
 Example of True Patriotism-sien ot | Faith and Prayer tho Founders of Our | Country-This Spirit should Be Applied
 to tho Industrial Condition of the Present.
 Yesterday was observed as "Flower
 sundaym at the SummerAeld NJ. E.
 church. In the morning tho pastor,
 Rev. S. W. Toles, preached m interest
 ing sermon on ''Flowers;" which was
 listened to by large congregation. In
 the evening his subject was "Patrlot-
 ism;" and quite large delegation from
 the o. U. A. M. and P. O. s. of A. were
 in attendance in regalia and occupied
 the seats in the body of the church.
 The church was beautifully decorated
 with flags and flowers. The preacher
 spoke from the text But have bap-
 tism to be bnptised with; and how am
 straitened till 1t be accomplshedy
 Luke xii 50. He spoke in the maii as
 follows:
 | Christ does not here refer to a water
 baptism, but a baptism of fire, of sor-
 rowing and of suffering. Before Him
 lay the cross. He was to be Il deliverer
 and had chosen the path leading to 1t,
 knowing full well the bodily suffering and anguish of soul He must endure. He might have chosen otherwise, but Je did not. The great purpose of His
 heart and unselfsh power of His nature
 made Him prefer a sacrificial death to a bed of down. To Him came visions of pleasure, riches, greatness, the same as come to other men. But from all He turned aside that by His example and
 through His help men might walk in l the humber and yet more royal path of life. You all know how natural 1t Is. l especially in youth, to picture the kind
 of life 0e would like to realize. Omar,
 son of Hassan, of oriental fame, in his twentieth year began to look out on life and picture 1t as he hoped 1t might be to him. He resolved to devote ten years to study and ten years to travel.
 He believed that at the end of that time
 he would have great intelligence, wealth and honor. Then he resolved to marry
 and enjoy all the felicites of home and wealth for twenty years.
 l After this his plan was to live in a
 rural dwelling in quiet and retirement until the balance of his life was spent | Such In substance is ever the dream of 1 man. It requires no critical mental an- l alysis to see that every ingredient of l such dream is selfish, but such was not the dream of Christ. Christ was unselfsh. He was love incarnate, and
 that Is why He chose for Himself a path which man, unless acted upon by
 3 higher power, never chooses. After His water baptism He was led up into the wilderness to the mount of tempta- ton. Before His vision were made to l appear the different paths of lifs-the | path of ease and pleasure to worldly honor and the path to wealth and great territorial dominion. All thatwas nec- esary for the attainment of all these ! things was for Christ to use His mirac- ulous power for His own pleasure and glory. Christ, acting in obedience to 1 the higher law of life, turned aside, l choosing instead the path of humila- ton. That choice made the whole of His public life a cross, or in other words made the whole of that life one of sor- row and suffering, of which Gethsemane | and Calvary were only the more criti- gal tests. It was in the midst of this active life of self-denial and suffering | that one day there came from His lips
 this strange outburst of truth: Sup pose ye that am come to give peace on
 the earth? tell you nay, but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided. three against two and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother" Christ foresaw this strife. He knew it's deep and awful meaning. He knew it meant to Him the shame and agony of the cross. Still he went forth in the path of duty, "straitened' until this work was done. His work was to procure the freedom of men whenever and wherever found. For ages before men had strug- gled for freedom. For it the Greeks had fought at Marathon and the Spartans had fought at Thermopylae. The history of Rome is but history of struggle for freedom. For centuries in Rome there were the wars of the races-the plebeians struggling with the patricians. At length, when the plebeians had nearly received their
 rights and Rome was victorious over
 all the world, it was again the same old
 story-the conquerers were conquered
 by their own vices. Jesus Christ came
 to give true freedom-the freedom from
 sin and selfishness. He secured this
 freedom for men by prayer, by faith, by
 obedience and by unselfish sacrifice.
 The world to-day is better because of
 the spirit in Christ and because of what
 He suffered and what He wrought for
 man. It is not sacrilege, but truth,
 when say that a spirit similar to that
 which was in Christ was in the hearts of the founders of this country. It is this spirit that has made our country great and prosperous. Our fathers de- liberately chose the path of suffering, knowing full well what 1t meant.
 When they signed the Declaration of Independence they knew that in the struggle that was to follow father would be divided against son and son against father, the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother. They knew that the struggle would be long and bitter. Yet they chose the path as the only one that would lead to freedom. If our country is to be maintaiuad the same spirit of