The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-08-14
A POWERFUL SERMON
DELJVERED AT TRINITY M. B.
 CHURCH BY REV. DE. FRINGE.

The Rev. Morris M. Prince, D. D., 0
 Dickinson college. occupied the pulpl
 of Trinity M. D. church yesterday
 morning. His sermon was a powerful
 tention by an unusually large congrega'
 ton. Dr. Prince was formerly the pas
 close of the services he was greeted af- | fectionately by many of his old con
 sregation.
 | He selected as his text the Second l Chronicles, list chapter third and fourth
 verses: Blessed be God. even the Fla | ther Of our Lord Jesus Christ, father of mercies and the God of all comfort; who comforteth Us in all our tribu- lations, that we may be able to com fort them which are in any trouble by
 the comfort wherewith we ourselves are cofnforted of God
 In opening the speaker told of the
 life Of, the apostle Paul and the example
 of patience and Godlike spirit it afford
 ed to all Christians. He told how the
 apostle never shirked any trial nor ever
 forgot the presence of the Almighty,
 one whose guiding hand overstretches
 all. Tt is human nature.' he oontin-
 ued, to desire to escape all trials, to
 be exempt from all losses and crosses,
 troubles and afflictions. I. looks for
 comfort to a change of outward cir
 oumStanCes. The comfort Paul talks
 about is an Inward change. It Is com
 fort in tribulation. peace amid conflict and joy in the midst of sorrow l sup pose Paul no better understood the mys- teres Of life than we do He conld no more solve the problems of pain and suffering than we can solve them.
 Why things happen we cannot tell, neither can Paul. He was perplexed. troubled and distressed just as we are, but he not only had d knowledge of God as the infinite creator, the eternal sovereign of the world, and judge of all men, but he knew Him as the Father of merces and the God of all comfort.
 This new revelation of Gods charac- ter came to the apostle through the sufferings he endured In no other way could he have known God as the God or all comfort. He virtually says: II never knew till the sufferings of Christ abounded in me how near God could come to human soul; how rich could be His mercies; how tender His sym pathes and inspiring His comfort He | saw there was a divine purpose and | promise in every affliction, and that | somehow the limitations of this life | were related to the joy and the glory of | the life to come. He did not covet pain, | nor court disaster. In the immediate endurance of any earthly aff1iction there is no element of joy. The reason for rejoicing is mainly in it's final result.
 To all human appearance life is tan gled thread. It Is broken, fragmen- tary thing. It is crowded With mystery and as fieeting as a summer cloud. The singer charming and comforting us with song suddenly vanishes from sight the voice is hushed and song fades away. We are heart broken over the separation of earth. What does 1t all mean? Is this all there is in human fife? Does death end all? Is there Father in heaven? ' Is there a Saviour rom sin! Is there a meeting again af- CT death? This is what man wants most of all to know. He goes to the great volume of nature. It vaguely hints, 1t faintly suggests, but it gives 10 satisfying answer. He turns to the ,ook of philosophy. It speculates and but makes no comforting eply.
 The message of Jesus Christ is clear md positive. It tells us that human fife is not a fragmentary thing; it goes n unbroken. Death is only tunnel trough the dark mountain The singer as not ceased her song-she only mi rated, like birds of passage, to a fairer and, The separations of earth are only or season and the trials are but for
 moment. This world has all along been grow 1g better. This century is the best nan has ever known. And the next ill be better still Our work is not ( lerely to reap the results of others toll. ( Ve ourselves are to SOW that others l lay reap. We are not only ending l ork others began; we are beginning z ew work and new forward move rents. { This nation is to ''take up the white | all DuIbcll as IL lFcNtl iIdS DelcI6, | ot for it's own sake, but for the sake ' others. The burden is a heavy one C
 means vexation, sorrow, exile and l lcrifice. It is not, however. in the T )irit of sordd sefishness. commercial l m or imperialism that the nation r kes up it's burden, but it is that We I ay comfort others with the comfort a herewith we are comforted by God s , the church is learning, as never be- c re, that He is to enter with heart in- llgence and power into the work of I quickening, strengthening, t
 all ways recovering, the weak, hard k lshed and suffering ranks of human 1 " ciety. t1 le horizon of Christian vision is n
 broadening a le scope of Christian work is enlarg- lc
 ing. 16 The drift of Christian thought to-day e to bring the life of the church into F intact with the common life of man! st
 bring the healing, comforting forces A
 Christianity into practical touch la tn the evils of society. 1T The social conscience of the church Is n 'akins, and she is applying her ac- lo1 tiles to the improvement of social tf d industrial conditions. Every year of } church is being more and more con- II rted to Christianity. She is proclaim Vt