The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-10-23
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
DISCOURSE ENTITLED "LIFE's YIELD
TO TH= MORAL cCNauERO7."
: ne Rev. 7. II. williams 4 rSes u 10 spend
Our Few Erief Years Fighting sin and
Serving Man Until We Pass to the Great
Beyond-An Uplifting Discourse.

gregational Church. Bradford. England
| preached in Plymouth Church Sunday
morning. There was a large audience
The Rev. DR. Newell Dwight Hills intro
duced Ar. Williams. Earnest attention
was given % bis thOuchtia. sermon. ne
subject was Lies Yield 10 the Moral
| Conqueror" and the text was from pas
sages in the Apocalypse. Mr.. Williams
said
Each one Of the messages to the churches
! OF Asia closes with a promise. They con-
tain threats and warnings and command
ments, but a. the close stands the promise
! ike distant hill IN sunshine, seen
through the storm, 20 lure on ever the
worst st-beaten 70 the better things OF God
and man. The messages lay down the
moral task without compromise, but they
close with the assurance that
"The topping crags Of duty scaled
Are close upon the shining tablelands,
To which our God Himself Is moon and
sun"
There is here a twofold aspect CT life
which every morally earnest man - ac-
/ quainted with. He knows that its condi-
! tons are stern. that there u VIgor IN II.
I but he knows also that the vigor Is BLENDED
/ with tenderness, that all its struggle i
/ permeated by promise. We might indeed
Il say that moral earnestness and hopeful
ness 90 togther. Stand Loyalty under the
! bower OF duty. and YOU VIII hear the bird
2 of hope sing Unfaith.ulness 20 the moral
idea breeds pesslmIsm OF the worst kind I;
3 fidelity. while it does not encourage cheap
and ightsome optimism. does lnscrlbe IN
the heart OF the backest duty the shining
word OF me coming time. God has so made
US that EMBODIED in the bosom of loyalty
. lies the assurance OF triumph for the good.
Now, it is this loyalty 10 the good this
fidelity TO the moral ideal, this perseverlng
attitude. which | take 20 be indicated IN
the word Overcoming or "conqaerng."
Every promise Is made 10 him who over
cometh" or who "conquers' Not, mark
YOU. Ia him who has overcome, or who has
conquered in any full or final sense. These
promises are not OF gifts TO be bestowed
nj the end OF the course. but OF experiences
TO be realized in going on, so long as you
, 90 on IN the right way. Now. is IL a fact
for II Is no use preaching theories away
from the facts of liie-that the promises
made TO those Asian churches in the name
OF Christ, sent to them by John as direct
from Christ, are to be regarded as promises
/ made 10 US by God: For myself | can
not regard them so. except so far as
they contain truths attested by the eXper-
J fence OF men. Indeed, the messages given
10 the churches OF Asia are not entirely
I from Christ as He was, not from Christ as
: we understand Him to-day. but from
Christ as John understood Him. When
we read the promises OF the moral life we
read not only the facts Of our moral expe-
rence. but also certain Interpretation
given by more than one bias. such As the
personal bias or the national bias. The fu'
ture we depict may be in essence guaran.
teed by the universal laws of the moral
life, but the depletion may bear personal
or national coors, which rust fade; per-
sonal and national elements which must
be eliminated. John was Christian, but
he was also Jew. Like every man, he
had a temperament, both the nationality
and the personality would affect his vision
OF the future. Our Christ never takes abb
solute and full possession or us, car very
best understanding of Him has some mix
ture OF ourselves IN 1t, which is not in Him.
'To him that overcometh and keepeth
My word will | give power over the ma
tions, and he shall rule them with rod OF
iron, "a the vessels of a potter shall be
broken 20 shiN.ns, even as / received OF
Ny Father" Here are words attributed
10 jesus which none OF us would like to
think OF Him as speaking. We could not
find in Jesus any promise of authority
over nations to rule them with rod OF
iron. as the vessels OF a potter are broken
TO shvers; nor do we think of Him as
claiming 10 have received such from His
! Father That Is not our way OF thinking
of Christ TO-DAY. Then how did John
come 10 hear Christ saw that? Because
! John had been reared in the atmosphere
! and fed uDon the sentiments of Psalm ii.
His Jewish teachers ha0 taught him TO re-
gard Psalm ii as Messianic. And what was
the Messiah to do? The Lord said to Him.
ASK of Me and will give thee the ma
I tions for thine inheritance and the utter
most parts Of the earth for thy posses
sion. Thou shalt break them with a rod
OF iron; thou shalt dash them 10 pieces
like a pottsr's vessel Some Jews some
times believed that that was one OF the
II II. - 4 y
Jew came to believe that Jesus was the
Messiah YOU would think that he would
at least throw of that old notion. Jesus
had said Come unto Me all We that labor
and are heavy laden" etc. 81 am meek OF
heart, lowly." blessed are the meek, !"
etc. "Other cheek" etc. The general
character and teaching of Jesus was the
very opposite OF the Psalm ii conception of
Messiah. Yet the jew who believed that
Jesus was the Messiah carried over with
him a good deal OF the Old national con
Ccption and attributed it to Jesus. That
Is what John does here. II was not Jesus
: speaking, but his own nationaiism that
/ was representing Jesus. This il not very
/ surprising when you remember that Chris
tians even vet take the Psalm ii to refer
TO Jesus. Nothing could be more unlike
| Jesus of Nazareth than the description OF
the Messiah in Psalm H. 1t is high time Ia
| protest. as Cheyne does, against the habit
OF finding Christ in passages unrelated
20 Christ and His religion" II fear.
saws Canon Chevne. that our unmiti.
gated adoption OF the Psalter az it stands
NAV counteract that spirit of love which is
one-half of Christianity" The fear is too
well founded. What did the great ST
Bernard say long ago regarding the wars
| Of the Crusades upon the Mohammedans
! These are his words: They are ministers
OF God 10 inflict His vengeance. For them
| 10 give or receive death is not A sin but a
most glorious deed; the Son OF God de-
| lights 70 receive the blood OF His enemies
He is gorifed in the death OF the pagans.
IL is most astounding that Jesus could
have b,en conceived az the incarnation ot
! Gods redeeming purpose and love and yet
as One who could delight in the blood ot
/ His enemies. The Nessianc Interpretation
OF many psalms undoubtedly tends 10 un.
dermine the value OF the revelation Of God
in Christ In a Christian magazine oi
some time ago one article is entitled The
Tenderness OF Jesus" and the next is The
Imprecatory Psalms Vindieated" / al
ways maintain that there is severity IN
the law OF life, that divine love is not soft
ness. nor mercy a license to indulgence;
pain. suffering. retribu,ion are here there
was a severity in Jesus because Jesus wa
true to life's law. but the Spirit of Jesu.
was not the spirit OF the imprecatory
psalms. and the Messiah of many psalm:
Is quite unlike our Christ. SO far az ",
are under their influence we need 10 eX
eorite ourselves and clear our vision.
But this promise ~ co,ored not only h'
Johns nationalism. but possibly also b,
certain traits OF his personal character. il
was John who saw man casting out dey
lis in Jesus name and forbade him. be
cause he did not follow with them-ther,
was a strong party spirit IN him. Johr
vas one OF two who wanted the chic
"a. L. u l.. 81