The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-03
SERMON TO YALE STUDENTS
EXCELLENT DISCOURSE BY PRES.
 RAYMOND OF UNION COLLEGE.
The Parable of the Kingdom of Heaven Ltksned Unto n Pearl of Great Price, Was tho Topic Holy Communion Celebrated by the College Church.

Celebrated by the College Church. The college pulpit at Battell chapel yesterday morning was filled by Rev.
 Andrew V. Raymond, president or Union college. He preached an able and timely sermon especially approprl- ate and full of splendid suggestions to
 young men who are about to enter into
 the affairs of life. At the conclusion or | this service the sacrament of the holy communion was celebrated.
 Rev. Dr. Raymond took his text rom the thirteenth chapter of St. Matthew l gospel and the forty-fifth and forty- sixth verses. They read: The King
 dom of heaven is like unto merchant
 man seeking goodly pearls, who, when I he had found one of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought It.
 The speaker said in part:
 "The kingdom of heaven--a phrase figure of speech, picture, dream ; intangible, vague mysterious yet the | inspiration of all the generations, the dominant force of all history, for under some form of words it has voiced the 1 faith and aspirations of humanity rom the beginning, and all the struggles or
 the ages have been but witnesses to it's hidden energy. Wherever men nave believed in something purer holier,
 more enduring and more satisfying that l they have yet seen or known there the 1 influence of the kingdom or heaven mas | been felt. 'The Kingdom of heaven IS | like unto a merchantmen seeking good | ly pearls To the Oriental mind the picture was plain, for pearls were among the most coveted treasure of the east. With their yelled transparency their subtle suggestions of deep purity they were prized above more brilliant | jewels. In the broad outlines of the
 parable it is a portrayal Of the divine
 energy working ceaselessly for the
 realization, among the children Of men | of something purer and worthier than 1 has yet appeared. Translated into mod ern thought, it gives the doctrine Of 1 natural selection and the survival or
 the Attest, and tells the story of all 1 progress.
 Every man reaching up in any way is so far under the influence of the ] kingdom of heaven, unsatisf1ed until ne has found the best. Life means growth. l The persistent striving for something
 better is the sign of life, the evidence
 of the power within us of the Kingdom of heaven The absence of striving, l contentment with the inferior, is the mark upon us of the kingdom of death. Seeking goodly pearls means seeking real values, seeking what is superior,
 more perfect, for its own sake. Let us not miss the thought. It is fundamen- l tai The distinction we have made
 strikes deeper than we realize. It con- cerns life in all it's phases. It enters
 into all the great questions of the day.
 When capital combines, not to improve products, but to increase profits; when it's aim is. by monopoly, to create fcti-
 tious values, it is false to the first prin- ciple of the kingdom of heaven, and its
 triumphs are but temporary. When labor unites to demand uniform wages irrespective of individual efficiency, it
 is following a principle subversve of abiding good.
 AS with the individual, so with the organized life of nations. More impor- tant than the striving for material de- velopment, commercial superiority, physical strength and excellence is the striving for justice and the peaceable fruits of righteousness Permanent national gain can only come through the increase of the permanent national virtues, the larger expression of the abiding forces of the eternal kingdom.
 So long as the kingdom of heaven is su- preme nothing can endure that does not incarnate it's spirit. China may be hu- inflated, it's government destroyed it's territory divided. The strength of the west may easily triumph over the | weakness of the east and demand what it will. but as surely as an arrogant
 selfshness prompts it's demands, not gain. but loss will result The fact that in the council of nations, debating 1 the great question of the policy in the Orient the voice of America has been heard and needed, is an evidence of growing influence, a tribute to our strength, and as such may appeal to our pride.
 "Of far greater importance to us, | however and of far greater importance | to the world is the fact that America s voice has been for patience and for | bearance, for mercy and magnanimity. | That is an evidence of our spiritual de- 1 velopment, a tribute to the greatness l of our national faiths and purposes It
 is wrong to think that we are a nation
 of gold hunters The gold has been | found but that is only an incidental
 result. Primarily, we are a nation of | idealists of seekers after truth, after
 the larger realization, the more perfect
 expression of the things good in them
 selves. We miss the distinguishing
 mark of American civilization if we see
 only its commercial side, its fortunes
 and not it's inspirations. Let us no l longer be deceived by the assertion, SO often made that the tendencies of American life are materialistic, the as- 1 sertion that seems to gain force from l the fact of our material development and commercial aggTessiveness.
 While time lasts what is purest and best most to be desired in achievement
 and character, will be the pearl of great price, and only he can possess 1t who can and will meet the cost Until the kingdom of heaven fails, until right | eousness fails, until God is not, this
 will be the law of life, and everything | that opposes it will be the whispering
 of the father of lies, the delustion that l impoverishes and destroys.
 | As with tho individual. so with tho 1 nation. Honor is not won by the strength that can rob. Greatness is not achieved by buster and bluff Victories ! are not gained by dress parades. For | the Yaa liza finn nf' evary 11iobhr i6ppl of