The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-04-16
SERMON ON THE EAR
The Rev. DR.. Seudder breaches
on Physical and Spiritual
Deafness.

A very interesting and highly instructive
| sermon was last evening delivered in the
Tabernacle by the pastor, The Rev. John
F. Scudder, his subject being ssThe Ear; Ply
steal and Spiritual Deafness, &c" The dis
course was founded on the text Mark 4, g.
HAnd He saith unto him he that hath ears TO
hear let him hear" The preacher said;-
ANYONE familiar with the Gospels recog-
nizes in this text one of those proverbial ex-
pressions which our Lord frequently en-
| ployed in his public discourses, n with
which he often terminated his remarks. At
first sight it seems to be a mere truism with
out meaning and without point, but when
we ponder over it; when we crack off the
she'll and get at the kernel, we find it full
of delicious meat. In this saying of our Lord
lies hidden a deep, spiritual truth.
In this and other passages our Saviour es-
tablishes an analogy between the physical
sense of hearing and the moral sense of the
soul. The analogy is an interesting one and
| think it will pay us to follow up the clue
which we find In the text.
"The first question to ask is: What is the
ear and what Office does it perform for the
bodyl In answer to this question, | remark
that the ear is the medium of cOmmunlca-
ton bet W cen the brain and the great world
without. In this world there are sounds of
every description, from the buzzing of a fly
or Che chirping OF a sparrow, to the deafen-
ing noises which issue from the boiler works,
but without some medium of communication,
neither those nor any other sounds could be
made ineligible to the brain and trans
mitted into human consciousness. b
function of the ear is to serve as a go between,
as an interpreter between the brain with
in, and the world and sound without. From
the brain, which is a sort of central tele-
phone office there extends to the innermost
part of the ear a bundle of magic wires
called nerves, the ends of which are spread
out in a network, of very soft and sensitive
matter. OF course the rude blasts of air
could not come in contact with these delicate
nerve tips, without thereby utterly destroy
ing them. 1t is the office of the ear to trans
nit the rude vibrations of the air to these
nerve tips in such a wonderful manner as
not to injure them, and yet to do it so
thoroughly as to give them a truthful and
perfect impression of the sound without.
MACHINERY OF THE EAR.
Zone would suppose that the accomplish
chinery of very delicate and intricate con-
struction, and such indeed is the human
ear. 1t has the stamp of Gods patent upon
it, and / fail to see how any man can study
its marvellous construction without seeing in
il the work of Gods hands, and singing
praises at the same time to its divine CON
triver. It is worthy of note in this connec-
tion that fishes and reptiles nave no external
ears whatever. Sound is transmitted to
them through the bones of the head. In
birds there is a mere oriice, whereas in such
animals as the horse and deer the external
ear is better developed than in man. They
can move their ears, point their trumpets in
%ha dirootio., IF tho co1Jnd ond for fhic
son they are able to hear better than we are.
We have the same muscles in an undeveloped
state and some men are capable of moving
their ears
The speaker then gave a very minute and
expert description of the various organs
forming the physical ear, explaining the use
of each, its peculiar formation, its connec-
ton with the brain and other organs, and
showing its marvellous construction and the
great wisdom with which it was created.
People, he said. sslalk of the mysteries
connected with religion and plead them as
excuses for goddess lives, just as if they were
not mysteries everywhere. These persons
must know everything in the realm of spirit
before they undertake a religious life. Now,
how inconsistent are sue men. and how
foolish their position becomes when, for ex-
ample, we study our OWN sense of hearing
this wondrous mechanism which God has
placed in our bodies for the transmission of
sound. | hold that there is as much absolute
mystery in your hearing the song of a bird
or the crack Of a rifle as in receiving spiritual
impressions from your Father in heaven.
Not only is the soul continually spoken of as
possessing the power to hear God, but God
Himself is referred to as having a voice, and
as speaking directly to the soul. OF course,
this is a figurative speech, and no one should
be SO foolish as to suppose it to be the literal
fact.
GOD a SPIRIT
God is a spirit, not a corporeal being like
ourselves. and when the Scriptures speak of
His hands and eyes and ears they do SO
purely to accommodate themselves to our
human methods of speech. Tod voice as
frequently spoken of in the Bible is not a
physically audible sound like our voices. 1t
is a spiritual impression made by divine
agency Upon the human spirit. God has no
more of a physical voice than mans soul has
physical ears, and the latter is a manifest
absurdity.
ut is through conscience that the spirit of
God communicates with man and makes inn
presslons On him which are as real, if not
more real, than the sounds which come to
him through the physical organ OF hearing.
AT times the heavenly voice is almost audi
bic, SO clear and definite is the impression.
Adam heard Gods voice, and from his
day to this the human soul has
resounded with the same divine accents. Man
can make himself spiritually deaf if he SO
ordains, but every man is conscious of moral
and spiritual impressions upon his soul He
has felt them, and that settles their existence
forever. TIL ear of the soul is conscience.
1t is a physical faculty, a medium Of coln-
munication between God and the soul of
man. 1t is this conscience, some call it the
moral sense through which man receives his
idea of right and wrong. What joy can be
compared to the ecstacy upon its first ex-
perience OF redemption. This is joy unspcak-
able, touching enough to make the angels