The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-09

His Covenant"
 Rev. George H. Ferris, pastor of the
 Calvary Baptist church, preached a
 splendid sermon in that church Sun
 day October ?, before large congrega-
 ton. Rev. Mr Ferris text was taken
 from Psalm 25-iX: ''The secret of the
 Lord is with them that fear Him; and
 He will show them His covenant" He
 spoke as follows:
 Then the Lord has a secret, Then
 there is an esoteric and an exoteric
 among the subjects of the Kingdom
 Then, even in holy things, an aristoc-
 racy is to be found, so that, if every
 outward restraint were removed, some,
 by their very nature, would never get
 nearer than the outer court while
 others would find their way into the
 secret place of the Most High. And
 this, not because of any favoritism on
 the part of the Almighty, not because of
 an inclination to select men arbitrarily
 for positions of honor, not because the
 throne of the Kingdom of Heaven must
 needs have courtiers, and flatterers,
 and parasites about it, but simply be-
 cause some souls are more nearly at
 tuned than others to the sarcred har-
 mony of universal truth, leaning on
 the Masters breast until they under
 stand the spirit and motives from
 which his outer life flows
 It is amazing how many people there
 are, who call themselves religious,
 who know nothing whatever of the
 secret of religion. Just as the nhabi-
 tants of Rhodes built the Colossus, d
 giant statue, at the entrance to their
 harbor, and made it one of the seven
 wonders of the world, and then called
 themselves ''Colossians''; as if that huge figure held up to the gaze of the
 world, increased their own stature any; so do we form an organization, and name it after the matchless Christ, and call ourselves Christian" and fancy that the name will save us.
 We may admire Christ thoroughly, and stand in awe of his sterling moral integrity, and bow before his deep communion with God but all this may have no point of contact with our own problems and difficulties. and the secret of his life of trust and integ- rity may remain forever unknown to us. We see the outside, the form, the OuliiliC, lIC dPPCdl dtlNc pul We nave never dwelt within the chambers of his love, we have never partaken of the bountiful feast of his forgiveness, we have never meditated in the secret regions of his faith
 You remember the little allegory in Lessing's Nathan the Wise. There was certain dynasty that propagated itself by ring which father handed down to son, giving it to the son whom he loved most, and who he was persua- ded would make a wise and faithful ruler. This ring possessed a magic charm. It had the power of making its owner beloved of God and man. Now it so happened that once upon a time there ruled certain king who had three sons, equally virtuous and equal ly beloved. He knew not which to choose as his successor. As the end of his life drew near he decided upon this plan. He sent for the finest jew eler in his realm and had other rings made, just like the magic ring, and calling his sons to him separately, he gave them each ring, and shortly after died. Then arose a strife among them, as to who should rule the king dom, because each claimed to be pos sessor of the rightful ring. At last the wise men of the nation were called to- gether, and long did they mediate i'll council, and carefully did they exam inc the rings, but they were able to | reach no decision, so carefully had the | jeweler done his work Then they | called the sons before them and | spake as follows: We cannot tell | you which has the rigNful claim to the kingdom. We suggest that it be di- vided. But it need not remain so for ever The true ring has the power of | making it's possessor beloved of God | and man. In time it will become mani- fest which one this is" The moral of the tale is thiss The world is full of the cries of ''Lo, here" and "lo. there," and multitudes are claiming to know the only rightful road of truth and righteousness, but amid all the confu- sion of voices and the clash of sects, there is only one thing for an earnest | man to do, to have care that his church Is the one most loved of God and man, for believe me, there is one rue church. and this division of the Kingdom of Christ cannot last, but the ultimate union will not come through earned discussions of the wise men on he conflicting claims of the different tions, but it will come in the field of action, and that church will tr- lmph which has most of the spirit of it's Master 'The secret of the Lord is with hem that fear Him."
 I once knew a man who was accus- omed to say his prayers on the way upstairs to bed, and while he was un- lressing, in order to go to sleep at once, Is soon as he was undressed. No doubt le was confident that the repetition of 10 many words had a certain virtue in [, and he probably slept more soundly because he had not neglected his de- yotions. Just as the old theurgists of he Middle Ages thought that the pro- lunciation of the word "Abracadabra, f done properly and in a true diminu- ndo, would cure man of a fever, so his man really fancied that such deeds worked narvels in the salvation of his oul. l remember standing on the 'iazza of San Marco in Venice, and a very curious clock. When struck some saints came out from ehind the scenes, and bowed to the yirgin in very dignfied manner and hen disappeared again. The children { iere in transports of astOnishment, nd some of the ignorant people near { 10 crossed themselves very sOlamnIy