The Penn's Grove record., 1904-09-02

Waxing Strong of the Infant - We
Should Seize Our Inheritance.
BROOKLYN, n. Y.-Having been APP
pointed Presiding Elder of the New York
District of the New York East Conference.
the Rev. DR.. John E. Adams. pastor Of
Grace NJ. &. Church, preached his closing
sermons Sunday. During his pastorate Of
a little more than two years he has had
marked success. The debt of the church.
100000, was Cancelled in January, 1903, the
aortgage burned and the church Is now
Lee from incumbrance. Sunday morning
DIR. Adams preached on can Advance Or
dered." The text was from Exodus xiv:
-: Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they go forward" DR.. Adams said:
When this advance was ordered, the Is
raelltes were encamped on the coast of
the Red Sea. Before them was the sea
spread out for miles and leagues, and they
had neither bridge nor boat, nor pontoon
by which to cross it. Behind them was
the army of Pharaoh, with horses and
chariots, with trained warriors and skilled
commanders, intent on their capture or
destruction. On either side, it would seem,
were formidable obstructions-mountains
or fortresses, or something that could not
be passed-for the Israelites saw no way
of escape and cried out for fear. In this
perilous and apparently hopeless situation
the people reproached Moses for the dread
tul extremity to which they had been re-
duced; whereupon that holy man appealed
to God for help, and then came, probably
IN tones of thunder that sounded in the
ears of all the people full and clear above
the roar of the sea, this strange order:
Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak
unto the children Of Israel that they go
forward"
Leaving now the literal narrative, ex-
cept as we may have occasion to recur to
1t incidentally, let us attend to the moral
meanings and uses of the text. The case
before us is exceptional in nothing but the
physical facts; the moral truths and I'M
DERIVING principles of this case are always
and everywhere present among the people
OF God. Indeed, the principles here in
VOWED are so general and the analogies of
universal history are so wide and complete
that L hin we are justified in regarding
this text as the law of the universe ap-
Piled to the church. The physical occasion
of this text, in all of its essential features.
finds its duplicate in the moral occasion
OF this service. We are the children of
Israel ourselves. | can prove it by st.
Paul: IF We be Christ's, then are We
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise" The Red Sea is before us.
Not that Red Sea that washes the sands of
Arabia and floats the commerce of the
East, but the Red Sea of moral hindrance
"a sea. that is deeper than the Atlantic
Ocean and wider than the Pacific. Phar-
aoh's army IS pursuing us. Not the an
tlquated Egyptian division, now extinct,
but the internal brigade itself, still in the
held and strictly up to date in every par
tlcuiar-and these enemies from the meth
ermost pit, inspired with inconceivable ha-
tired and, in the words of Milton. EARNED
with hell flames and fury" and following
US IN overwhelming numbers and with IN
appeasable ferceness. Such is our situa-
ton this very hour, and as we stand to-day
amid these threatening environments, the
captain of our salvation calls to Us from
heaven, Go forward" and in obedience
to tins order lies our duty, our safety and
our happiness.
Let us approach our subject step by
step. God is the author of the universe.
The universe existed in the Divine Mind
as an ideal before it existed in itself as
a substance. The ideal was complete and
perfect as well as beautiful and good; hut
the first states Of the actual ,~-iverse did
not realize that perfect ideal of the Di-
vine Mind. What then? Did God fail!
Did HIS active energy 9rove unequal to
His 5eneticent intentions? By no means.
God gave the universe this imperfect form
at first, not because He could not do other.
wise and had to abandon His ideal but be-
cause lie saw it better to realize His ideal
gradually through the law of progress than
20 realize it suddenly by an act of crea-
tive power. Deliberately ard of His own
volltion God made the universe a crude
Elass of unorganized matter and force
and then, lntr-sting His sublime work to
the law OF progress operated by reSpon-
slble lntelllgences, He directed that in due
time all should be reduced to order, har-
mony and beauty. This is he story of the
universe in its entirety and in its parts.
This is the story of the worlds and of their
productions. This Is the story of minerals,
vegetables and animals; of general species
and individuals; of angels, women and
men. This is the story of matter in all its
combinations, of life in all its forms, and
OF mind in all its phenomena. This, in
brief, so far as we have yet learned, is the
story o. all creation, and of all propaga-
ton.
Let ME illustrate what I mean by the
oak. Gods ideal for the oak is a majestic
tree, SIX feet in diameter and ten feet in
height, with mighty roots taking deep
hold OF the rocks and mighty branches
sweeping the clouds-a very giant that can
wrestle with the storms and play with the
~llghtnlngs. But in its beginning, as it
sprouts from the acorn, the oak IS a tiny
shoot which the foot of a little child could
effectually crush. God makes it thus and
says to it, Go forward" and then the lit
tie plant, obedient to the Divine com
mand, through cloud and sunshine and
changing season, soon goes on and out anC
up, until at last, by means of the law Of
progress IN the form of growth, it has
fulfilled the word of God. and stands be
fore the eyes of men in all the imposing
grandeur of its towering and solid matur
ity.
Take the eagle as another Illustration
Gods ideal for the eagle is an imperia
] hIrd nf rroo+ -. ~ - III
amazing keenness of vision and with pin
ions for majestic flight, the mountain cras
Its castle, and its pleasure ground the sky
Such is the Divine ideal for this noble
bird. But the young eaglet energies from
the shell a feeble little creature, and il
you could see it during the first week OF
" OF It's existence, and could stroke with
your hand its soft yellowish down ano
look into its pale blush eyes, its feeble
ness would probably excite your pity. But
as the little thing feeds and exercises, il
grows and strengthens, until at last, un
der the operation of this law of progress
1T can soar from the nest, launch into the
air, gaze directly into the MONDAY sun
beat down the storm clouds under it,
seven foot spread of wings, and sail from
continent to continent, through the ocean.
of azure above, over the oceans that rol
below.
But in this discussion we must rise GU
of life into mind, and then still ascend
from the intellectual to the spiritual. w
will, therefore, consider man as an illus
tration of the truth we are pursuing
Gods ideal for man is a most exalted anC
sublime being, with mental and moral en-
dowments of tremendous scope. so i'm
measurably superior in parts and power
to all else we know, that it seems the who'll
creation must eliminate in him. God de
signed man in His own image, intende,
him for communion and c-ompanionshil
with Himself, determined to make him Hi
vice-regent here on the earth, and pro
posed at last to share the government 0
the universe with Him forever. TIL
thought Of such dignity is an astonishin.
and overwhelming conception, but nothin.
less than this is Gods ideal for man, if
read the Scriptures Alright.
But the distance between inception an,
completion is greater here than elsewhere
not only because man is destined to ris
higher than other creatures, but also be
cause he begins lower. 1t Is a well-knowI
fact that the young of the humap specie
is inferior in strength and activity to tn
voJnU of mnpv Of fha 1ou-a~ ap,,,s1s T,,,r