The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-28
AT PLYMOUTH CHURCH.
REV. l. C. MESERTE PREACHED
 YESTERDAY.
Congregation of Dwight Place Church
 WoEshipped There-summer Schedule of Services Observed d-Eloquent Ob-
EerVaHce.

servanee.
 At Plymouth church yesterday morning morning the Rev. l. (. Meserve occupied me puspat iu place Uf the pastor, the Rev: UT. ht Lane. The service was one Of the regular summer schedule and the members oI tue Dwight Place church wOrshlpped "lt1 @ 1uo CUngrpgatiDu There was A good attendance and the sermon was from the nftetnlh cnalIr ter of John and the Fifteenth verse. Have Called You Friends" The ulscOuise was ill part as follows: rt,, 1 Jesus is talking tU His dlSclpeS. IAGJ were men chosen by Himself to be mace acquainted with His thoughts ana put poses. They therefore stood to hlh III @ peculiar and close relationship. Slnce ne was always telling them His thoughts they were always learning from Him. As teacher He WAS a revelation to them. ne scribes taught the lads Of that day Ill the most sterroptyped way D0sSleie' iOrehe5 thrdshiug out nothing but chan. nInu fed on such unsubstantial food Will nave 10 be first class mind, and do its own tfuth finding or 1t will never know anything. Ill our time there is danger of going to me other extreme. It was well said the other day by the assembled educators or the country that one mind cannot come lhtO contact with all knowledge, much less mas ter it. Atilla the Hun Ted on teSn "lone' never tasted bread ill his life. Poor nah' he was like .Iul mind crammed with lh- formation and propositions until life mas become q burden. 4 part of the learning Ill the, case UE Jesus u'Sci9ltS ""9 iIi'" ton. They watched Him closely, saw what manner of man He was. as well as they were able, and became aS like Him as pos, sible. This was true with respect 10 moral conduct, and also with respect to theif pro cedure as His servants. rentecost IS re- production of His methods. It IS 1resh appearance of His Spirit also. Ill this they are our models. for real Christianity IS be' ing animated by the Masters g spirit. But the thought this morning is that these men were His Companions as well as HIS pupl.S and imitators. They were thus by virtue or being His disciples. The intimacy was complete. He admitted them to His mind and to His heart. He called them l friends.
 If we have the truth of the matter this friendship began with him. fe nave not chosen Me, but have chosen you It is what We call grace that makes and calls them friends The you of the text Is word of selection and election. II is to De emphasized as well as friends: Ihese two are the emphatic words of the sentence. There is something subtle here. Once when a king of England was Prince of Wales witty and favored young man having taken overmuch wine, clapped the prince upon the back in a very familiar way, and was Ia vored no more. It is friendship with linn ited familiarity. But Christ admits us to a close and joyful familiarity with Himself, that increases as our spirituality grows. Its limit is far away, and far up the scale of being.
 These men are, in q way, illustrations of a Christian doctrine of survival of the Attest. yonng man asked Rabbi Hlllei, the story goes, to teach him something, 1T for no longer time than while he could stand on one foot. The great rabbi laugh ingly complied, telling him never to do to any other man what he would not like that man to do to him. It is the ancient con ception of what the Master put in a posi- tive form and we call the Golden Rule. That saying has survived all yicissitudes for many centuries. It is not always tie scum that comes to the top. Ill public life you find the best at the very top. Henry the Eighth was hard man to please. Like all irresponsible mOnarchS he tired of his fayorites and even of his ablest advisers. Our King does nothing of the sort. With Him merit succeeds, always succeeds. The wiser and the better come to the front e. cause wisdom aud goodness are what He fuyUrS. Napoleon and Alexander dincd to- gether one day In 1908 at Erfurth They had just made treaty. After dinner they went to the theater. The friendship of great man is | gift of the gods said an actor on the stage. Alexander rose in his place, bowed to Napoleon and said, ex- day Perhaps he did, but he had no such occasion to experience it as has, every day, the humblest friend of the Lord Jesus. It Is true that the sentiment of affection cannot always be made to order. It fol- lows the lines of least resistance, does the human heart
 "A speculative mind Is almost sure to turn his religion into theory and system. 4 practical mind will make 1t q method of progress, in some desired direction. The artist mind finds or makes 1t a thing of order and beauty. All well enough as ad- iuncts. It is the loving heart that does the best thing and makes the Christ his re- ligion. If we love Him we will keep His commandments even as He said. Loving Him we come to think with Him as We are persuaded Nicodemus did in the end. Lov- | it,,r IsTaa tn Ff-tFb we hope the rich young man came to do. In the late Bishop Whipples' autobiography there is story of a minister of one of hls churches who was called to visit dying man. The keeper of the house where the man was did not happen to be at home. When she returned she was very angry that minister had been in her house and she sent him word that she would kill him course, and she threatened him with knife He told her that he could pray with his eyes open and that If she attacked him he would break her head with his stick. The story Is not only true but instructive. It sets forth the quality of courage, which is so indispensable for any man who would be the Lords friend.
 "Quakers call themselves friends It is their distinctive tltle and the one they wish to be called by always. There is nOth- ing illegitimatc ill the word as they use it. Christian people are the Lords reprpsen- tatives in the world They are His friends Just as Iue Gltu the president sends abroad to the greatest courts are his friends. The title Is noble that 1t suggests measure of chivary for him who would wear it. in this proSaic age 1t is refreshing to meet q soul that rises above the commonplace and becomes heroic. The spirit of self sacri- fee is necessary here. The more perfect 1t is the more entire will be the worthi- ness of the title of friend. Indeed there Is Ia dash of the Puritan Idea required also Into Christ ip all things, alwavs, and only. His friends win three kingdoms for Him. The kingdom of Self. The Kingdom in Society. and the kingdom that lasts for lcver Eternity. Nothing is irksome to friends They find no fault, they are never lpessimists. They are never tired of soul. 1t Is the word of utmost meaning as well as the highest of titles. Are we all Ills friends?
 And it must not he forgotten that Christ has told us that personal welcome awaits very friend of His when the gate Is reached Without trepidation with eager anticipation, We may approach the other life. A face more beautiful than any pres ent imagination of ours will be reveal led when the hand once pierced opens the gate. and we will press in with joy untold, we find ourselves at home, not because we have been able to purchase onr entrance In lany conceivable way but iuts because we are His proven and beloved friends"
 |
 HOME COMING OF THE YACHTS.
 The fleet of yachts of the Sachems Head Yacht club and of the New Haven