The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-02
UNTO THE PERFECT MAN
New Years Sermon at the I'm
manuel Presbyterian Church
BY REV. A. 1. GOODFRlENO
The Soul II Like . Seed-Must Invest
Itself for q Great Purpose-we
Must Store Our Minds With
Useful Knowledge.

Rev. A. T. Goodfriend OF the Imman-
uel Presbyterian church last evening
preached a sermon appropriate to the
day. taking for his text. It'll We All
Come Unto the Perfect Man." He
said:
The soul Is like a seed which must
be planted. watered and cultivated. IL
its possibilities are e be developed.
Every soul like the seed is capable OF
furilling its mission in the world. The
soul. therefore to make most of itself
The world is a tough place for slug
CARDS. for lazy people. That man is
ready for his burial robes. who has
nothing sublime to live for. who mag
ines that the world owes him a living. |
Religion. condensed in a nutshell. Is to
make most OF oneself. and as my text
declares, to come unto the perfect
man.
Men take pride in building beautiful
homes, in controlling large business en-
terprises, In enriching themselves with
worldly goods n in clothing themselves
with worldly honors, but is 1t not of
greater Importance to enrich ones heart
and life. and to become as Lowell ex-
pressed IL. men with empires In their
/ aim ne TicntHl lTtdsuTte VI Inv
world are not hidden in the mountains.
in the seas. and in stocks and bonds.
but in men who have made most of
themselves and have thus become the
favorites of heaven Happy is the
man that findeth wisdom. for the mer-
chandise of IL is better han the mer-
chandise of silver and the gain there
Of than fine gold
He who would make most of life
must have in view the training of the
body. The body is to be symmetrically
developed. Physical symmetry, ma
jesty n beauty. have been the high
est type Of the ancients. of noble man.
hood. No man Is true to himself who
Ill uses his body. No man can be ac-
counted religious. who ever for the sake
Of religion. will abuse his body. The
Christian should do the most Ito make
his body as perfect and powerful a ma
chine for the mind, as is possible for II
to become. Christianity is yet to be-
come a saving power in the realm of
the physical. Any teaching that in
terferes with the making OF true man
hood. with the development of n race
strong in body, strong in intellect, and
in soul powers, will be out of date in
the near future, and condemned as
heresy by the court of public sentiment.
Religion is not merely praying,
kneeling. and burning incense. The re-
ligious man is one who makes most OF
himself in order that he may better be
able to make most of his fellows. The
intellect Is like a sheet OF paper. upon
which may be written the grandest
thoughts of heaven Man Is seen to be
a double creature. The physical de-
veloped without the spiritual makes
him a splendid animal. but the animal
often becomes. like the companions Of
Ulysses, metamorphosed into a swine.
The spiritual must be supreme. 1t is
the only way to perfection for the in
dividual and the race. without INTEL
lect, without heart. without God. man
is no better than the horse. n h the
soul, that plucks rich treasures from
the temple of knowledge. that feasts at
the ~banqueting hall OF learning: the
sou that has grand ideals and aspira-
lions and and communes with its God
! in the paradise Of light and knowledge
that has the apostles idea. till we come
unto the perfect man.
II said a moment ago. that the mind
is like a sheet of white paDer uron
which may be written The grandes;
thoughts of heaven. l wish now TO say,
that IL Is God who Is the originator 81
thought. and IT is God who Is wiling
4 II upon the mind and heart Of man,
: When God would order a great revclu-
i, ton in history. he writes the thought
upon the heart Of one qualified to re-
; ceive Il. Though Is the migh,isst wCa-
pom OF the spirit of God. by thought
, Moses led Israel out OF bondage ard
. framed a cOOe OF laws tnbt nave DIES
ed the world. BY thought, the pro-
$ phets grasped the geometry Of the plar
, of God and foretold events of the fu.
/, ture. BY thought. Tyndall climbing thu
4 Matterhorn revealed to the world th'
a antiquity Of rocks and their formation
4 and Gods great design in creation. II,
thought. Herschel and Proctor explor
I, ed the heavenly bodies and revealed 4
a us a universe Of law and order. q
symmetry and beauty. made by III
4 great architect Of the universe. II 1
A by reading Gods thoughts in the heav
q ems. i'm the rocks. i'm all of his reveal
tions In the natural and spiritual world
. that we acquire the knowledge tina
enables us TO go on unto perfection
: Man becomes divine by receiving God
thoughts into his own heart and life
y Who can m the might of
= thought that contains a great mora
!, idea? Where is the power that ca
: combat against IL? Who can measure IL
u influence. and its benefcence? VIII
can follow its footsteps? 1t knocks a
Ie the door Of tyrants and causes throne
y to tremble. II goes on through the cen
y turtles and sheds a pathway of light o
&c the worlds civilization. OF all III
n wonderful things God has made. though
that contains the plan Of God. the wis
10 dom Of God. the purposes OF God Is IN
J. most wonderful.
u God has endowed us with a three
lie fold life. the physical. intellect and spil
IN ituai. The physical alone will develo
a Spartan. the intellect and physical
he Grecian. neither OF which are true typ'
In of manhood. 1t In the moral life Thu
he makes a nation or an Individual grea
IT A nation TO be strong. must be moral
its laws. its institution. Its ballots. \
IT power can destroy a nation whose idei
a are divine. or in the Individual. life
az won or lost by whatever thoughts a
ye uppermost in the heart, so with nation
nraat thOnUhfG moral ideas ennfa
90 with God will make us strong and pr
10 gressive. and will help us 10 reach d
"a goal of perfection. Let us therefore b
gin the new year, the year 1899. with
determination TO store our minds wi
useful knowledge. to be moral and
n live In the atmosphere OF Goo
a throne"