The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-18
THE VALUE OF GOODNESS
An Eloquent Sermon to Men in the
Columbia Theatre.
a Large Audience Told That Ii Pays
to BE Religious-The Triangular
ical Base Line With Sides Mental
and spfritun1-A Definition Given.

The mems meeting at the Columbia
Theatre yesterday afternoon at o'clock
under the auspices of the Y NJ C. A.. was
| largely attended, and considerable inter
est was manifested in the exercises L.
| L. Pierce, Secretary of the Y NJ. C. A..
presided, the orchestra of the association
| furnished the music. and the sermon was
delivered by Rev Maurice P. Fixes, pastor
of the Brantly Baptist Church. Baltimore.
The exercises were opened by the sing
! ing of hymn, and prayer was offered by
the Rev. J. J. Muir, pastor of the Street
| Baptist Church. The Scripture lesson was
| from Matthew, xix:23.
Secretary Pierce then announced that
the speaker for next Sunday afternoon
| would be the Rev. James Francis, of New
York and promised the audience good
address. Secretary Pierce also made an
appeal for large collection, stating that
the association was under considerable ex-
pense in carrying on the Sunday afternoon
meetings. and that they desired a surplus
for the use of the State Executive Com
mittee of the Association which he des-
cribed as the most important agency for
good in connection with the Y. NJ. c. A.
work.
At this point in the exercises Prof Nc
Fall, chorister OF the Calvary Baptist
Church choir, assisted by Harrigan Bark
er, sung duet. Some Day the Silver
Chord VIII Break
Rev. Fixes was then introduced, and in
stating his subject, Goodness" is Profit
able he said it was sometimes difficult to
find a theme which would interest men.
He stated that on one occasion in New
York he met a business man on the street
and asked him why he did not come to
church. The man replied that he did not
have much interest in the things preach
ed about. The man told Mr.. Fixes that if
he would preach about things that inter
ested business men he thought they would
come to church. Mir. Fixes said he told
the man that h. would preach on any
theme that he would name, if he would
come to church the following Sunday. The
man agreed. but when it came to choos-
ing the subject he could not think of one
appropriate. and replied, Preach on any
old thing. l will come anyhow
The speaker said he was face to face
with the same difficulty, but he would
speak on the commercial side of the Gospel
or that religion was paying investment.
He then paid a tribute to wealth. He
said that with the opportunities all about
men today, it was disgrace to be poor,
though he said the majority were disgraced
in that way. He advised those present to
get rich. as rich as possible in a legitimate
manner. Roll in wealth. said he land
pile up dollars to the million, if you can
do so honorably.'
MIR. Fixes said that manhood is TRAN
gular. That it has a physical side, an in
tellectual side and a spiritual side. He
said that the triangle thus formed is not
equilateral, for in different men the sides
Of the triangle are of very different
lengths. The triangle he said. was not
isosceles, for no two side are equal. He
described the triangle OF manhood as
scaline, the sides unequal and one of the
angles oblioue.
The speaker said 1t would not do TO
despise the physical side of human ma
ture He admired old Samson, who could ,
Stay thousands with the jaw bone Of an
ass, and could wrench the gates OF GAIA |
from their hinges and laugh in the face |
OF the Philistines. Mr.. Fixes compared 1
manhood to s. worth Of pigiron. II this I
iron is worked under heat, is hammered !
and wrought it will make SO worth of |
horse-shoes. Take the same piece of pig /
iron and work it still more and it viii /
make 1855 worth OF needles. said Mr.. Fixes. |
or So, 255 worth of penkuives. or $3.50, 900 |
worth of watch springs. Manhood, he |
said is like that. the more work you put /
upon il the better 1t is. II you stop with /
the physical you make a Jim Jefries or a /
John Sullivan and you stop there. If you |
develop the intellectual alone you end in |
1t was only when the spirit
ual is added that perfect manhood is pos
sible, and he said that OF course, the |
ideal manhood would be an equilateral tri-
angle.
In speaking of godliness as a part of
the spiritual character, Mr. Fixes said he
would give the four definitions of the
word in the Standard Dictionary. The
first of these, he said. is reverence and
love of God" He said that under this
definition all were Christians, for he I
could conceive of no one who did not
have in some degree reverence and love
of God. The second definition, Mr. Fixes
said, was the state of character of Those
under the control of the laws of God"
This, he said, also let all men in. as they
were all living. willing or unwilling.
under the control and laws of God. The
third definition, he thought, was nearer
the mark as il said those living as
though conformed to the laws of God"
But he said this is not the true definition.
He said that he was conformed to the
laws OF the District OF Columbia, but he
said some were not. hence the need OF
police, detectives, prisons, and courts Of
justice.
The fourth definition, Mr.. Fixes said,
was the true one. 1.-The state or character
of belonging absolutely to God" This,
he said, was a rare definition and difficult
of accomplishment.
Mr.. Fixes spoke at some length of the
difference between the form of goodness
and the real thing. illustrating several
telling points with interesting stories
that had marked effect upon his hear
ers. One of these was a legend that !
where the Bay of Naples now is once
stood the crater of volcano. like that
Of Vesuvius. This crater burned down to
the waters edge. and the waves of the
sea flowed in. put out the fires. and left
the beautiful bay where once were the
spittings and sputterings OF the old vol
cano Like this, Mr.. Fixes said, was the
end of the man who. after the fires of Sin
had burned in his soul, the waters from
he River of Life came in to put out the
8res and to cover over the old craters
With the shimmering waters Of happiness
At the close of the sermon Rev. Fixes
asked for those in the audience who
wanted an interest in this godliness of
which he had spoken TO stand up Most |