The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-02-13
IS OPPOSED TO EXPANSION
THE REV. DR. M'LANE,S DISCO URSE
 AT PLYMOUTH CHURCH.

His Theme "A Nations Temptation and
 Opportunity" = The Example and
 Teachings of Jesus Christ-The Policy
 or This Country Iitherto-The
 Preacher "Would Wave the White
 Flag Over the Philippineso- The
 Islands Should Govern Themselves,
 At the Plymouth Congregational
 church last evening the pastor, the Rev.
 Dr. w. W. McLane, delivered very
 able discourse on the subject "A Na-
 tons Temptation and Opportunity" He
 declared himself to be against the re-
 tention of the Philippines by the Unit
 ed States. The sermon in full follows
 Again, the devil taketh him unto an
 exceedingly high mountain, and shew-
 eth him all the kingdoms of the world,
 ana the glory of them; and he said unto
 him, All these will I give thee, if thou
 Wilt fall down and worship me. Then
 saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence
 Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt wor-
 ship the Lord thy God, and Him only
 shalt thou serve."-Matthew iv. S-1O.
 Few men have won imperishable fame
 or have bequeathed to the world an in-
 mortal name. Some men, like Alexan-
 der and Napoleon, are remembered be-
 cause of their extraordinary genius and
 their brilliant achievements. Some men,
 like Moses and Columbus, are remem-
 bered because of their illustrious ser-
 vices. Among these in our national his-
 tory are Washington and Lincoln.
 Washington is remembered because he led our nation in it's struggle for iude-
 pendence. Lincoln Is remembered be-
 cause he wrote the proclamation of emancipation of slaves and because he lived and died that government of the people, for the people, by the people might not perish from the earth"
 Washington and Lincoln are both re- membered because they represented the principles upon which our government Is founded and by which it is preserved
 Our nation has set apart day for the preservation of the name and the per- petuation of the influence of each of these men. It is appropriate, and, just now, most timely, that on this day dedi- cated to the memory of one of our most illustrious citizens, one should speak of "a nations temptation and opportuni- ty.' But in a Christian church and to a Christian minister there is always one name more illustrious than any other and one example more perfect than any other, and that is the name and the ex- ample of Jesus Christ. He is the pat tern and the perfection of all that is pure in character perfect in principle and right in conduct.
 Jesus, as the Son of man. was set apart for a distinct mission. He was appointed to preach the gospel, to open the eyes of the blind and to give liberty to the captives. That is to say, the mission of Jesus was to announce and inaugurate the reign of love instead of selfshness, to enlighten the minds of men and to control them by truth in- stead of by force, to set men free from sin and from unjust servitude one to | another, and to reveal to men that | greatness and royalty consist in love and service. This great and gracious mis- sion, however, could be accomplished l only by self f-control, self-denial and suf- | fering. From suffering, Jesus, as tic Son of man, shrank. At the beginning of his career, therefore, the devil tempt | ed him. As to the form of the tempta- tion, it is no matter; as to the fact of it, it was the suggestion that if He would | abandon the divine ideal of life and | adopt the human ideal, if He would de- cline to be the Messiah anointed of God | and would become the messiah anointed | of men, if He would refuse to be the | king of love and would be the king of . force, if He would conform to the Jew ish and human idea of kingship and full fill the expectations and the desires of Israel, then he could sit on David's throne and win present and political power, and the kingdoms of the world could be won and their glory could be his Jesus met the temptation with the scorn of righteous indignation, and with the resistless power of a perfect princi- pie and pure heart. "Get thee hence, Satan; for it Is written Thou shalt wor- ship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve," was the irresistible answer with which Jesus met the temp tation. The will of God is always the way of righteousness, and the law of Sod is the law of a perfect life.
 The temptation which met Jesus is the which meets His church. The church composed of Jesus disciples Is commissioned to preach the gospel of owe, to enlighten the minds of men by ruth, to set men free from sin and thereby free from servitude. The church during her history has met the , to receive the spirit and to / ldopt the principles and to follow the , practices of the kingdoms of the world The church sometimes has yielded to , his temptation; she has allied herself :, with the political powers of the world; :, he has placed on her head a kingly F rown she has called to her aid the , cepter and the sword; she has attempt . d to control men from without rather , han from within; she has governed |, hem by force rather than by truth; ,, nd, so far as the church has done this, ( o far as she has forgotten her mission i nd her message, she has lost her glory | nd her grace. The outward troubles :, nd the inward evils which have alike f narred and marked the history of the hurch have been largely due to the :, act that in her lust of power she has ! ielded to temptation and has lost the :, ,vino heart and praciol1s Spirit of the |,