The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-25
SERMON BY REV. DIR. BAKER
PREAGHED YESTERD4Y MORNING
 4T TRINITY ?. E. CHURCH.

Ills Subject us 'sThc Two Conception
 of Humanity" Firstly as Made ant
 Man as an Ever New Possibility or
 the Gospel Message for the New Year
 Rev. Dr. Baker of Trinity church
 preached a very strong sermon yester-
 day morning at that church. His text
 was taken from St. Luke, I:59-63 as * * His name is John" The 1 subject of pr. Bakers sermon was
 "The two Conceptions of Humanity; first, as made and shaped by inheri- 1 tance, and secondly, man as an ever
 new possibility, or the gospel message 1 for the new year. The preacher spoke l in part as follows The description of
 the scene presented by the words of | the text, at the circumcision of John l the Baptist is one characterized by all | the beauty and the naturalness. the artistic presentation of details, which
 marks everything that comes from the | beauty loving St. Luke. If you were , furnished the bare facts of this event
 and told to put them into twenty lines, | you would more fully realize the won- derful evidences and beauty of the de- Scriptive powers of St. Luke. Truly His is the artists gospel Let us dwell upon the scene for few mo-
 ments that we may more fully realize it's lessons. We do not wholly know
 whence came this sacred, ancient rite
 of circumcision, which was an absolutely
 necessary rite for every male child, be-
 fore he could be received into the Jew
 ish nation, and into covenant relation
 with God: the penalty for its neglect,
 as for it's postponement beyond eight
 days, was. according to the Hebrew
 law-death. The place where the sac
 ramental act which gave way in the
 Christian church to infant baptism, was administered is not recorded, whether it was the temple, the syna- gogue or the home. St. Luke's descrip- ton makes us think that in this case at least it was the home. The news of the marvellous joy that had come to the home of Zacharria, the priest and Elizabeth, his wife, a descendant of Aaron, both of whom were noted throughout Jerusalem for their right eousness before God" as they walk ed in all the commandments and ordi- nances of the Lord bameless," the news spread quickly Their only child, a boy had been born to them in their old age. From all sides came their neighbors and kinsfok, the priests and ha I ta nj ,.rith on the eighth day there came to them from the temple. chosen priests. to cir cumcise the child and to give him his name There lies the infant the rep resentation of humanity, in the arms of his mother. What shall he be call- ed? The friends and neighbors had already decided upon a name. Gall him Zaccharias, of course, after the name of his father" they said. He will grow up 10 be a priest he will in herit his fathers tendencies and char acter; he will take his fathers place among us. Call him by name that will represent our conception of human life; that it is alone the result of in- heritance; that man may be only what his ancestors have been. Call him Zaccharias after the name of his father" No" answered Elizabeth; he shall have new name. He shal! be called John." She persista in spite of their supposed unanswera ble remon- saying, "There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name"
 They turn for help to the father | Surely their priest will be loyal to the l national conception of human life But, | no he has received a brighter vision of humanity. The mute priest asks for writing table, and to the marvel of | all writes His name is John" Where did this name, and with 1t the strange of human life as ever con- taining something new as well as old where did it come from? Not from new development of Hebrew phioso- ptv.
 It came shortly before as revelation from heaven, to Zacharias, the priest, as he was burning the incense of prayer 'in the temple of the Lord" From the angel, standing on the right side of the altar of incense came the revelation Fear not, Zacharias for thy prayer is heard and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John,' and because Iacharias could not at first realize the oyful truth of the angels message, or believe that the son who was to be porn to him should do so much more | han he had done, that in the future his lame should be preserved in sacred his- ory only as the father of John the Baptist, because this strange but n- 'piring conception of humanity as ever something new was almost % good to be true, the truth too great l 'or utterance, the priest after long tar ying in the mystery of the temples ,ision, came forth to the multitude ! waiting without with the reflection of he splendor of the vision still upon his ountenance, speeches.. Nor did he ecover his speech until the child had 1 eceived, in accordance with the divine it's new name John.
 Then its lips were unsealed and his cart cried out unto God in those in-