The morning times., 1895-07-15
RAH PRATs is He LIVES
Rev. Or. Kent's First Sermon on
The Lords Prayer.
REALITY OF FATHERHOOD
Indicated by Christ in the First Clause
OF His Supplication-Spirit of the
the Relations OF Life-The World
Learning, Even Though Slowly.

Rev DIT Alexander Kent, OF the Peoples
Church. began yesterday morHLng a series
of SERMONS, with the Lords prayer as his
theme In the course contemplated, Dr.
Kent VIII subordinate The economic and
social features. for some time past promi-
uent in his Sabbath discourSes, although
they viii not be wholly eliminated. HIS
idea is 10 preach eight sermons, the first
OF which was given yesterday, and in each
leading Thought in the Sayour's prayer
VIII be discussed The first topic was
the opening sentence. "OuT ather which
art in Heaven"
IN his introductory remarks yesterday
Dr Kent briefly discussed prayer in gen
eTal, ills nature, objects and value.
1T appears TO be diificult," he said,
for most people To distinguish between
the form and the substance, or to realize
that the subs iauoe can exist apart from The
form IL Is not " hat the lips say, nor what
the Soul eis ought 10 BE- said or desired,
but it is what is deSired-what all the
energies OF the praying being are reaching
out after and are bent on attaining
A MANS LIFE HIS PRAYER
1T may be wealth. or fame, or power,
OF IL may be usefulness Whatever il is
that dominates the man and commands
his energies six days in tie week.-Mrs. is
hIs PRAYER. No matter what hIs lips say
IN hours II apart Tor devotion: no matter
what aspirations of a different or u0bler
sort, that may find utterance at such times,
the real prayer of the man, the controlling,
dominant desire is that which carries
with IL tua energies of his being.
'Ihe necessity Of acquiring righteous
ness as the condition OF life and the re-
spons,veuess which ii shows TO every
dominant desire and effort toward good
ness Jesus regarded as the very sub
stance and reality OF fatherhoOd, ana so
the words with which He begins the prayer
taught 10 HIS disciples are Our Father
which art In- Heaven
"Our Father Yes. our mother, too
All OF paTanthOOd that there is in man
and woman is only a partial manifestation
of a reality far greater than we can now
know The great mystery OF life is a
mystery that BATTLES all the efforts OF
science. Tie story OF mans evolution.
assuming il to be truly told, only takes Us
back 10 protopaSim. Here we have the
common llfa-Staff-that in which this
mysterious and insCrutable sumcJhing be-
gins all its manifestations.
CHILD OF THE INFINITE
There grows in a man the consciousness
that he is a Chld OF The Infinite. made in
the image Of God, and capable of coming
into real union. communion and fellow
ship with Him When men thought Of
God as a Being concerned Inercly Tor HIS
own glory, and a Beiug whose glory was
equally subscrved whether souls We're
eteTnally saved or cternaily damned, there
wasn't much ground for confidence.
This thought never inthc world appealed
TO the ilial affections, or enabled any soul
to realize the parental Character of divine
government. II was only when men began 10
IL H.4T a .fI 4r4E n Z "a "a
feCtions OF their fellows: in the self
sacrificing love of their bcnefact0rs and
redeemerS. a reflection or image Of purer
and miEhtieT love pulsatiHg in the heart
OF God, that they began really 10 trust
Him ana 10 have something OF the feel
ing that Children ought TO have in their
Fathers house
More and more II is coming to he rccog-
niZcd iu whatever sense the ultimate reality
OF the universe is related TO any man il is
related TO all men. The solidarity Of the
race Us becoming more settled conviction,
and The Old barriers bet ween nations as
civilized and barbarOus, as Christian and
pagan, are giving way The world is
moving steadily toward larger unity
LEARNING ALL TIE TIME.
"The world is learning, slowly, indeed,
but stIl learning, that fit wouid use prayer
effectively it must use it in the spirit OF
Him who gave it. Too long the church has
missed thc catholic, the universal siguifi-
canoe Of this petition. 1t has acted as if
the rgBt 10 offer 1t were limited 10 those
within MS pall-as if only the baptized We're
in the family OF God aud all the rest were
aliens
I'VE must carry the family spirit into
the world OF politics and industry We
must make the strength Of the strong the
defense OF the weak; the wisdom Of the
wise a beacon light OF tie SimDlp aDG The
virtue OF the best the salvation or the