The herald., 1896-04-13
YESTERDAY At THE CHURCHES
SOME OF TIE MANY SERMONS THAT
WERE DELIVERED
A Word to Wicked cities Listened To at
Unity-Interssting Discourse on Theos-
ephy-A Nstsd Scholar at Y. NJ. G. A.
haii-Other Sunday Addresses

haii-0ther sunday Addresses
The pastor of Unity church, Rev. j.
S. Thomson, delivered sermon yester-
day morning on Christs Word to
Wicked Cities. taking the text, Woe
unto thee, Charazin. Matthew u:l.
The gentleman said: The histories of
Carthage, Jerusalem, Tyre, Sidon.
Sodom. Capernaum, Corinth, Athens
and Rome, show that great cities may
fall into decay from many causes. Fa-
naticism, opposition to progress, politi-
cal corruption, sexual immortality and
irreligion are some of the causes of de-
cay in cities. The prophets of the Old
Testament denounced the wickedness
of Jerusalem, and of many of the cities
in Asia, Europe and Africa. Christ
spoke freely and strongly about the i'm
moralities of Charazin, Bethsaida.
Capernaum and Jerusalem. The pulpit
can claim the authority of the Bible and
point to its example for criticising false
views of life and for condemning sim
ners and criminals. The Bible proves
that thousands of years ago there were
| moral heroes that maintained the right
of free speech and that used it fear
lessly against all forms Of wrong, and
many of them suffered imprisonment
and death for their bold and true words.
The excitement in Fresno over the pub
ing the sexual immortality of its inhab-
itants suggests that some people think
their thoughts in the past, dark ages of
the world. These people would pass
laws against free speech. They would
punish the pulpit for daring to speak
about the immoralities of cities. The
sins of community must be respected
by the preachers. Iniquity must grow
without a rebuke. No tongue must
speak against corruption of any kind.
| The pulpit must hold it's tongue in re-
gard to the sins round about the
church. 1t may denounce the bigoted
Turks for killing Armenians, or the sins
of Russia; but our own sins are too dear
to us to let the pulpit mention them.
| These same people would praise the
adulterous Herod for beheading John
| the Baptist because the innocent Her
odias did not like his preaching about
her conduct; they would honor the king
| of Jerusalem for putting jeremiah in
| jail on account of his condemnation of
| the follies and crimes of the court; and
| they would maintain that the priests
| who caused the crucifixion of Christ de-
| served high praise for getting rid of a
| severe critic of their sins and hypocri-
| sizes. Freedom Of speech is one of the
| dearest privileges of American citizen
| ship. 1t cannot be taken from one class
! OF public speakers and allowed to be-
| long to other classes of public speakers.
|
mistakes; but that is no reason to muz-
zle the pulpit.
| Political speakers make mistakes and
| slander not infrequently their oppo-
| nents; and the newspapers occasionally
are unjust in their articles. Are politi
| cal speakers and newspapers to be Si-
| fenced on this account? The news
| papers render noble service to civiliza-
| ton by exposing crimes and sins: and
| we honor them for their bravery and
| patriotism. We overlook their weak
nesses because of their many virtues.
| If community be moral it can afford
| to treat with silent contempt the foolish
and fanatical utterances of strangers.
Conscious innocence generally makes
| little fuss over the wild attacks of
scheming sensationalists. Those who
are forever clamoring for laws for this
| and that annoyance should remember
that no law is useful without the con-
, science of the people to enforce it. Law
alone cannot save us. We need pure
| hearts, educated consciences and re-
ligious training as well as laws. We
| cannot keep laws that are made to pun
| ish human nature for being fallible. AS
| long as there are men for sale we may
| expect municipal corruption, and yet
the examples of Birmingham, Glasgow,
Budapesth and other large cities show
that municipal affairs may be managed
with wisdom and honesty.
|
| strive to have decent cities. We love
our children, and in the home we edu-
| cate them to be good men and women.
and we endeavor to show them good ex-
amples; but all our strivings for their
moral education may be neutraliZed by
| an impure moral atmosphere, by un-
| clean companionships, by alluring at
fractions to vice, by wicked public ex-
| amples, by diabolical opportunities to
| serve lust, by bad books and obscene
pictures. Jerusalem proved itself un-
| worthy of it's rich inheriIances of it's
! brave prophets, of it's providential op-
portunities. and it perished. Christ
wept over the doomed city and its lost
| opportunities, and he taught that the
real strength of a city is it's religious
| conscience. The doctrine of "the sur
vival of the fittest'' is proved by the
history of nations and individuals. The
| word of God to worthless nation. tribe
or individual is why cumbers it the
| ground?' The vanishing tribes of
America, Australia and Africa prove
that Gods will is to give the earth to the
best. and not to the worst. While the
| multitude may choose to walk in the
broad and easy Ways, the few who pre-
| fer the narrow ways of truth and right
! will win the world
| THE consensus of the competent in
our day will be the common standard
of the future. Fear not, little flock, for
| IL 10 youI It dtIeI SOOu pltdSuIc " give
| you the kingdom Qualities, and not
numbers, will rule the world. Christ is
| represented to be the ruler of nations
| and the king of the race, not because of
| any arbitrary decision Of Providence,
nor because of any theological preten-
sions, but because his gospel is the only
adequate guide-book for the highest
! civilization, and his life is the divine
| pattern to which advancing nations will
look. The application of his doctrines
| to the affairs of our world is now the
only hope of moral progress and spirit
ual development. The theorists, specu-
+! lators and theologians will after fail
ures many learn the truth of Christ's
| statement, Without me you can do
nothing" The man who accepts Christ's
religion and follows his example is in
| the middle of the stream of providential
| tendencies; and the eddies of fads,
schemes, notions and morbid fancies
will be left behind, and all the theo-
logical rubbish of the centuries will be
| like chaff before the winds of progress.
James M. Pryse
Odd Fellows Hall was filled with an