The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-05-31
KNOWING AND DOING.
Extracts from a Sermon by
Rev. Henry VanDyke.

The subject OF the discourse was
knowing and Doing; Joy and Power" "
The text was from st. John, the thir.
teenth chapter and the seventeenth verse:
eff We know these things, happy are ye
il We do them"
Mr.. Van Dyke said:
Il want to speak to you today about
the religion of Christ in its relation to
happiness.
In the wish for happiness, all men arc
strangely alike. In their views of it, and
in their ways of seeking it, they are
singularly different. If we acknowledge
Christ as our Master and Lord there are
two questions that we must ask of Him
First, is it right to wish to be happy
Second, what are the chief conditions on
which the fulfilment of that wish de
pends2
NOTHING HARD IN 1T.
The desire Of happiness is natural
Now what does Christ say in regard to
this natural human wish? Does he say
that 1t Is an illusion? Does He condemn
and deny it? Would He had accepted
Goethes definition: Religion is reuncia.
ton.
Surely such a notion is far from the
spirit OF Jesus. There is nothing of the
hardness OF Stoicism, the coldness of
Buddhism, in Christ's gospel. 1t is hui
name, sympathetic and consoling. I'm
rest and WEAKNESS, the fever of passion
and the chill of despair soul-sohtude and
heart trouble are the very things that
He comes to cure. He begins His great
discourse with series of beatitudes
10 hC
meaning. Nine times He rings the
changes on that word, like silver bel
: sounding from the campanile of His fair
temple on the mountain side, calling all
who long for happiness to come to Hin
and find rest for their souls
IF we accept His teaching we mus
believe that men are not wrong in wish
ing for joy but wrong in their ways o
seeking it. Earthly happiness plcasur,
that belongs to the senses and perishe
with them, is dream and a delusion
But happiness on earth-blossoming il
spiritual joy fruiting in spiritual powei
is reality.
eff we come to Christ for this happi
ness, He tells us four great secrets abou
1. ut is inward and not outward; and
so it does not depend on what we have
but on what we are.
2. 1T is not to be found by direct seek.
ing, but by setting our faces toward the
things from which it flows; and so we
must climb the mount if we would see the
vision; we must tune the instrument, il
we would hear the music.
3. 1T is not solitary but social, and SO
we can never have t without sharing it.
4. ct is the result OF Gods will for us
and not of our wills for ourselves, and
so we can only find it by giving ourselves
control Of God.
For this is peace-to lose the lonely note,
of self in loves celestial ordered strain;
And this IS joy-to find ones self again;
In Him whose harmonies forever float
Through all the spheres of song, below,
above,
For God is music. even as God is love.
"The first thing that commended the
church of Jesus to the weary and dis
heartened world in the early years of her
triumph, was her power to make her
children happy. At midnight in the
prison, Paul and Silas sang praises, and
the other prisoners heard them. The
lateral force of joy-that was the power
OF the church
What then, are the conditions upon
which true happiness depends. Christ
tells us in the text. If We know these
things. happy are We if We do them.
This is the blessing with a double if
II We know'-this Is the knowledge which
Christ gives to faith. If We do'-this is
the obedience which faith gives to Christ.
Knowing and doing these are the twin
pillars, joachim and Boaz, on which the
house of happiness is built. The har-
mony of faith and life-this is the secret
OF inward joy and vital power
IF we knoW"-there is, then. a GER
tain kind of knowledge without which
we cannot be happy.
If we were mere plants or animals we
might go on living through our appointed
years in complete indifference to the
origin and meaning Of our existence.
But within us as human beings, there IS
something tlat ,cries out and rebels
against such child 61z 615 6Ik 6h 6Ia
against such a blind life Man is born to
ask what things mean.
STRONGHOLD OF UNBELIEF
''The inconsistency of Christians is the
stronghold of unbelief. The lack Of vital
joy in the church is the chief cause Of
indifference in the world The feeble
energy, the faltering and reluctant spirit,
the WEAKNESS is well-doing with which
too many believers. impoverish and sad
den their own hearts, make other men
question the reality and value of religion
and turn away from it in cool neglect
What then is the duty of the church?
What must she do to win the confidence
of the world? What is the best way for
her to prove her doctrine all divine?
First, she must increase her labors in
the love Of men. Second she must prac-
tice the simple life in the trust of God.
''The church that the twentieth cen
fury will hear most gladly and honor
most sincerely will have two marks. Tt
will be the church that breaches the cen
trail truths of Christianity most clearly
strongly and joyfully. 1t will be the
church that finds and shows most happi
ness in living the simple life and doing
good in the world May that church be
ours!"
Among the Railroads.