The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-08-05
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE 81 elsHce
{. c. ANDREWS.
suhjeeti "Christisnity and "-Church
illustrations should Re Directed
Toward Freeing the Human soul Of
That selfshness which 10 Inherent.


That seifishness which 10 Inherent.
RRooKLYN. y. Y.-Bishop T.. C.. An
dreNs, OF the Methodist Episcopal Church,
preached SUNDAY, morning IN the Central
Christianity and Love" The text was
from l Timothy i:5: Now the end OF the
commandment Is charity oui OF a pure
heart, and OF good conscience, and oi
faith unfeigned." Bishop Andrews said;
Every careful reader of the English
Bible takes knowledge OF the fact that the
English language, like every other living
language. Is in process of change. lie
knows the significance of words, as well
as their form, and occasionally their order
changes. He reads, for instance. IN the
Psalms: MY heart Is fixed. oh God, my
heart is fixed and he remembers that
that word fixed az the time our version
was made had the meaning, which we stlll
retain IN our colloqulal speech, TO be
fixed up" aud so he reads My heart Is
prepared. oh God. my heart Is prepared.
He reads IN the Epistle 20 the lhessa,on-
ians that they which are alive at the sec
ond coming of Christ shall not prevent
them that are asleep, and he remembers
that the word prevent originally meant
10 precede simply, and came 10 have ITS
present meaning because he that precedes
another Is likely 10 get in the way OF tnat
one and obstruct another who follows, and
so he reads that at the second coming of
Christ they that are alive shall not precede,
or shall not have the advantage over them
that sleep IN Christ for both alike shall be
called TO meet their Lord IN the air.
So IN this text we have the word char
ity," word which to-day signifies either
almsgiving or kindly judgment OF others,
but IN the time of our version II mad the
meaning to which the new revisers have
and IN this passage We read this statement:
The aim of the commandment Is benevo-
lence, good WILL effective love, even as we
speak of the love OF man 10 God, then also
10 his fellow men.
Another bible criticism is worth our
while The word commandment like
the word law may have either a narrow
or a broad significance. The narrow s'g-
nitcance Of that is particular precept' at.
tended by particular sanction A broad
er meaning Is that of holy ordained in
stitution and system and that broader
meaning evidently should be here used be-
cause of the context. We come then TO
the entire statement: "1he end, OF aim, OF
the whole Christian institution is love out
of pure heart, and OF good conscience,
and Of faith uYleigned"
1t originated in heart OF boundleSs love
toward man IN an act of love unparalleled,
even the gift of Gods only Son. All its
prccepts turn In this direction. Church or
ganizations and mlnIstTatIOns of every
kind. # they be rightly directed, have SIM.
ply this purpose 10 discharge the human
soul of that selhshness that belongs TO II
bv nature, and TO enter into u all the love
OF God.
Now all familiar with the New Tcsta.
ment know that this IL no solitary utter
a aud
comprehensive statements. One came to
the Master saying: (Which IL the first and
great commandment" And He answered
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, aud
with al thy mind, and with all thy
strength tins is the first commandment,
and the second Is like unto IL. Thou shalt
love thy nclchbor as thyseif. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the
prophets ln another passage St. Paul
tells us that Love Is the fulfilling of the
law" Ii there be any other command.
mcnt, 1T l. briefly Comprehcndod IN this
saying. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
( thyseif" St James calls this the royal
law st. Paul tells rs: Above all things,
have fervent charity one toward another
And st John, in a memorable passage, IN
one OF his eplsties, tells us that God is
love, and he that dwelleth IN love dweleth
IN God and God in him
Christ told the story of a man who went
down from Jerusalem 10 Jericho and fell
among robbers, as one may nowadays do
on that road. They robbed him, stripped
hm Of his raIment. wounded him, and ,eit
him half dead. Then came one OF tho chief
representatives, OF the current religion, a
priest. and passed hy on thc other side.
Then there came down a subordinate rep
resCntatiye of the current religion, "A lie
vite, and he came and looked and passed
hy on the other side. Then came "A hereto
IN religion, an alien IN race, and, looking
upon the wounded man, he was moved
with compassion and dlsm0untcd and
bound up his wounds, set the wounded
man on his own beast, brought him 10 an
inn and took care OF HIM for the night and
paid the charges, leaving money for addl-
tional charges, saying 10 the inn keeper
IF It costs more ] Will repay when ] come
again" And that alien an race, that here
Il. in religion, the Lord Jesus presents be
fore US az the one great example Of our
practical religion.
Now be pleased TO notice two facts in
this natural love In the first place, much
Of II - simply instructive q divine i'm
plantation for high purposes but because
not founded IN moral reason, divine reason,
therefore without moral worth. IL Is but
part OF that endowment Of human nature
by which the propagation and the educa-
tiOn OF the race Is made possible, but IT
does not imply OF necessity any high moral
quality. The bear viii rush on the point OF
the spear IN the defense OF It's cubs. The
wildcat will die for It's young. The eagle,
with unwearied patience, VIII teach the
young eag!et TO Ay. VIII you therefore,
say. Behold, what paragons OF moral ex.
cellencet' Would you not say Of them II
they lacked parental and hIal love: Be
hold what mo8stersy
In the second place, this natural love is
marked 10y great limitations IN Its extent.
IL D. laid upon ones family and one e
friends. upon ones neighbOTs and country,
upon those who are Of the same race, or u
may be OF the same religious faith, or oi
the same political persuasion, and II is
hemmed IN by these limitations. How
many a man goes 10 the market place and
90 the exchange with perfect indifference
20 the prosperity and happiness OF his fel-
low man and wTestles with them IN bUsI-
ness 10 return 10 his home 20 lavish gladly
upon bis family all his ill-gotten gains.
There are many generous men IN all or
communities but they may be also men de.
slrous OF having their generosity duly -
knowledged and trumpeted abroad through
out the world, and u they fail OF that ac-
knoW.e .edgmcnt somehow their charity
seems 10 sour upon them, and they feel
that they are not recognized az they ex-
pectct 10 be. Benedict Arnold was an cr.-
inently brave and skiliful soldier, and so
far a. We know q true patriot. but he was
D spendthrift, and when Congress censured
him IN various ways ne a. length became
Benedict Arnold the traitor. The truth s
that u - very easy % overload all the
joists and timbers of cur soul with :. he.e
defects and we may notice in passing that
a great deal that passes for charity is Of
tentImcs a thin veneer over unmcasured
masses Of selfishness, and We nay further
notice that sometimes We have credited