The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-11-11

! Christianity was vindicated OF the basis
! OF what IL was doing IN India, CHINA and
the islands OF the sea. But this Is the
point II was not said that Christianity
was shattering SIN and grinding into
dust tfrs powers of evil In Boston. The
return shot was badly aimed. IL over
shot the mark and missed the point that
the first speaker had In mind
If there are people present this morn
ing who really want TO know what there
is to do and what the Gospel OF Jesus
Christ is ca Dable of doing II IL not enough
to say send your money TO ;hc American
board OF foreign missions. for great
things have been done I'm China, one must
End something To 90 here In this church
and be shle TO point out what the Cos
pel Of Jesus Christ Is capable OF shat-
tering and grinding into the dust In
Providence.
Lorg-distance firing and target practice
has It's place but we need To get down
10 short range for effective service. Wait
until you see the whites OF their eyes,
was the command AT Bunker hill. Person
oil. hand 10 hand. heart TO heart. work IL
what is needed In all Of our churches
A BAD LIFE.
"Whatsoever thy hand hndeth TO do.
do il with thy might" said the pessimis-
tic writer OF Ecclesiastes.
Its a bad life that the searching MI
croscope OF Gods love can find no good
in. and it's a worthless book that contains
nothing that is not worth emphasizing
There are few OF our modern novels that
do not contain some one thought that
is worth pressing | know OF no ilustra-
tion that Is stronger. The spirit or Ec-
clesiastes Is opposed To the whole Spirit
OF the Gospels. Yet it's gloomy pressimism
Serves as ballast TO the airy optimism
that continually insists; Gods In his
Heaven. alls right with the world
The text is especially applicable TO our
own day rot only because Il is practical.
hut because its exact -llteralnesa can be
applied with a meaning that would have
been foreign To even the most enlightened
minds OF two thousand years ago.
The reason for this is found I'm the
widening OF our conception OF the vir-
tues. They have become more dineren-
tiated They have a wider application.
Many things that experience has taught
us as constituting virtuous action IL
would have been difficult for the Greeks
or the Jews to have named This Is we'll
Illustrated I'm contrasting the ancient and
modern conceptions of courage. To the
Greek courage meant resistance To fear
I'm the presence OF danger and death. Our
conception OF courage has been greatly
extended. The foreign missionary. the
hospital nurse, the slum sister, the man
who combats evil at the expense of his
own interest these are types OF virtue
that we consider just courageous as
the action OF the soldier In confronting
changes and death upon the battlefield.
The courageous man In Greece was the
soldier. but the courageous man today Is
the man In whatsoever station In life
confronts its difficulties and embar-
easements Had we a delicate instru-
ment with which we could measure the
relaxing and the tightening of the
strings OF the moral fibre and determine
exactly the quality OF our moral nature
Il would probably be evident that there
are millions of men and women who in
insignificant and hidden spheres Of life
are exercising daily a courage that not
even the smoke and shout of battle could
inspire.
BATTL LEFIELDS OF DAILY TRIAL.
One dies on the battlefield covered
with wounds and clothed with glory;
but one dies on the small battlefelds OF
daily trial and tribrlation, unseen, un-
needed by the crowd and take " that
TO so die for concrete principal requires
more courage than TO die before men for
the glitterIng generalities Of liberty and
patriotism.
The Significance OF this In relation to
our text lies In the fact that whatsoever
We do that is OF good reputc offers a
field for the exercise of the highest Vir-
tues. Indeed the more insignificant are
the things in the eyes OF the world and
the less deserving thy may seem OF at
tention may be just the reasons why
they call forth more true virtue i'm the
doing of them.
Whatever others may think of such
action. II II calls forth more virtue from
Us, II is of greater profit II
means more then as a re-
suit OF this greater profit 20 others
because OF its greater usefulness to our
selves. For In this matter of toll and
service the doer and the one for whom
the thing Is done ere so closely related
that to benefit one benefits both.
You cannot do good deed for your
neighbor without benehting yourself
Nor can you perform virtGous sct
that IL of real benefit 10 yourself without
being OF service 10 some other person
Here as elsewhere the great truth ia en-.
phasized that I'VE are members one OF
another"
IN THE MORAL WORLD.
Prohi then in the moral world does not
depcrd en- DOING certain Class of largo
things which the word is accustomed TO
applaud. This rs as true In the moral
world as in the business world. man
msy rcliizo as much on the manufacture
of pins o" soap as IN the manufacture q
locom ,iycs or the periecjlng OF dlo-
monds u isn't the size Of the thing
or the value ot ths thing but the way
the thing is done that counts for pront
or less
Whateoever your hand nndeth 10 do. do
70 g. not therefore an idle command. The
universally al 10 seems at first though, 20
rob u ~ all virtue. We ray that even
among TIE sood things 10 he done. We
must choose a. We are 90 grow
but tho uniy srgali,y Of cur doing any
thing and everything. aud finding virtue
and profit IN IL. L. emphasized on the
theoretical side by ethics and illustrated
on the practical side ~ every business
p''nt IN the world
Vet u must be- confessed that We have
made this command more general than
the limits Of our text permit NJ these
words of the preacher have virtue. it
ls not because of thclr complete unlver-
salty hut because 81 the generality OF
the command I'm n restricted sphere
he does not say Whatsoever YOU find
IN 10. do w.. hut whatsoever fhy hand
hndcth 10 do do ~ The emphasis n
on hand. The emphasis Il ON vhafeoo.or