The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-15
SECRET OF ALL HAPPINESS
PASTOR Nj. N. ANDREASEN FINDS IN
CONFIDENCEf,IN THE d.
VINE.
AND NOAH WALKED WITH GOD.
Rev. j.. #. Stout Tells of the Patri-
arch's AbsOIute4and Unfiinch-
Ing Faith. s,H

peluS 10 the cause of practical religion
by his sermon before the congregation
Of the Central Presbyterian church
yesterday morning He gave a deeper
and more practical view of some of the
petitions of the Lords prayer, choosing
for his text the petition: Give US this
day our daily bread" In part the
preacher said:
With all due respect for the opinions
of those who regard this petition fig
uratlvely as prayer for spiritual
blessing, am still convinced that our
Lord here teaches us to pray for bread
in the literal and material sense. He
who made the body does not scorn to
feed 1t. The body is the temple of the
| Holy Ghost, and though feeding the
body is very ordinary and common
place thing our Lord would teach us
| to regard it as a religious act.
In this petition we pledge our SYM
pathy. We do not pray solidarity and
sel1shly. The spirit of the Gospel is
the very opposite of a selfish spirit. It
prompts us to seek the good Of others,
| as we'll as our own-not their spiritual
| good only, but their temporal good also.
| Let no man seek his own, but every
man another's wealth. This petition
teaches us not only to bear in mind
our own necessities, but also the neces-
! sites of others, and to esteem the care
| Of those in need as our own. This Is in
keeping with the whole tenor of Christ's
| teaching. He WOULD have us mindful
| of the necessities of, our neighbor.
I believe that :, God intended some
| should be rich and some poor, and this
instituted the emergency for human
| benefcence ando charity. Every man
| to whom God has given. more than
| enough for his own sneeds He has, by
| this very act, commissioned to be the
| aln1oner of His bounty to those less IA
vored. 1.-THE poop We have with you
| always" said Christ: know Of no one
| who denies that these unfortunate ones
have an absolute right to live and con-
sequently right to so much Of the
property of others as may be necessary
| to support them. Our asylums and
| hospitals and homes for the poor and
iEfirm all grow 0lt of the duty which
the element Of wealth and strength
owes to the element = of poverty and
| weakness.
1 touch here upon one Of the most
difficult questions that has occupied
| the minds Of Christian philanthropiSt5.
Pauperism must be fed. But how?
How is society to care for her destitute
children without nursing and fostering
| them in slOth? / do not see in social
revolution or in human legislation the
solution Of the problem, unless the so
| luton means the surrender of our free
| institutions and the assumption Of des-
| pOtic powers and the consequent de-
struction of industry and enterprise
and independence among men. We are
| forced to have RECOURSE to the pfiiT-
ciples and the practice of the gospel.
! Jesus Christ is needed. not only as
/ the daNsrnan between God. and, man,
but also, as the daysman between man
and man; between the several classes
! Of society now cycling each other
! aSkance, each endeaVoring to abridge
its duties and exaggerating its de-
mandS upon the class opposed to itself.
! The gospel does not contemplate the
! ObliteratiOn of distinctions that now
| obtain in society, in the sense of re-
ducing all to the same level of wealth
or social standing but it does contem-
! plate the, diffusion Of sympathy and
! good will among men. 1t lays its hand
upon the poor and teaches them self
/ respect, sobriety, economy and content
| ment; and upon the rich and teaches
| them compassion, sympathy and gen
| erOsity. 1t says to all, eye are men,
| bers, one Of another" We cannot for
| get it with inpunity; and yet our dan
! ger lies in the forgetfulness of this
| great truth. There are men poor and
| in want today because Of oppression
and injustice and robbery and wrong.
! Strong institutions. (Which is but an
| other term for a combination Of strong
!
or starve out those who are doing q
small but honest business in their line.
They were not content to let a man
eat his daily bread If they could lay
their hands upon it. They have cried
not US, our bread. but me, my bread,
and not for today but for years, and
they have grown fat and sleek on the
flesh and blood .lof others. On such
lips this Lords prayer is an insult to
high heaven and q nockery to God s
| poor. u
Christ would have US, then, as we
pray for ourselvesj bear in mind the
needs Of others. E Has He. given you
your daily bread? Then He makes you
His agent, and says! Come, work
with me in answering the prayers of
your brother; come with me, and, by
generosity, hrotherly sympathy and
gentle kindness, smooth the ruggedness
of the poor mans path and cause the
widows heart to sing for joy" That is
| the spirit of the petition.