The herald., 1897-04-12
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL
DR.. Day Discourses on the Funda
mental Principles of Religion

"Tvo verses in the Bible" said the
pastor, Rev. DR.. Day, which stand as
vast mountain peaks, towering above all
other uplifting heights, are those re-
corded respectively in Genesis i'll, and
John iii:16. The first, In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth.'
is the keynote and the germ of all that
has been truthfully written or can be
known of this material universe.
Whether the processes have been those
of evolution or development, or some
other hitherto unsuspected, nothing less
than such a statement as this can ulti-
mately satisfy thoughtful minds con-
cerning their first cause.
Genesis i'll is an example of the
scriptural method of dealing with
fundamental principals The greater
facts of God and man. the universe and
heaven, ii does not explain; it simply
tells us what to do about them. So
with the problems of sin, the incarna-
ton and what in the understanding of
the Almighty took place on the cross;
God consented, projected, shaped.
But Genesis is not complete without
this declaration in John: God so loved
the world that He gave His only begot-
ten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish. but have ever
lasting life A lofty conception Of
might must open the way for a worthy
idea of mercy. So in mighty process
sion come the revelation of power, law,
love; love in power, power in love. law
in both. What God was great enough
to call into being He is good enough to
love unto the end. If God so loved the
world-that is man-then man has that
in him which gives ample grounds for
such love and such sacrifice; and what
an appeal it is that every man should
keep himself worthy of that love.
I'm the sixteenth verse of the third
chapter of John is revealed the
fact that love is truly a force
in the universe as is electric
ity or gravitation. Indeed, the might
| which rolls a world through space is of
less rank and magnitude than that op-
GRAFTON which brings new spiritual life
into a human soul Matter is helpless
the subject of absolute omnipotence Not
80 a soul; it has a sovereignty of its own
can say No to itself or to God And
herein lies the secret which impelled the
divine undertakings for human we'll
being. God so loved, measure of the
measureless, in giving himself for us.
! mere, dlsO, III the strongest possible
language, is the declaration that man
needed a divine redemption, and also
that the Infinite saw no other way ex-
cept by what was comprehended in the
incarnation by which human redemption
might be accomplished. If the Master
meant what he said, there is sufficient
reason for all the solicitude, the cost
and the care of Christian men and wo-
men for leading their fellow-men to
Christ as an only and sufficient Savior.
If he meant what he said, what a terrible
thing it Is to teach men that they need
no personal Savior. no redemption, no
forgiveness. If he meant what he said.
how shall we escape if we neglect so
great salvation?'
"If infinite love is back of all human
salvation, shall we not find that love in
the direction of all the providences of our
lives? And what assurance to the trust
ing soul is this, that he who so loved me
in life will not fail me when pass in to
the vast mystery which begins where
this earthly life ends"