The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-11-25
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A STRONG DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF COD"
Tie Rev. Livingston T.. Tsylor Tells why
Religion is an AFFAIR OF the soul and
Got- seetariaD, DOsmatie 1bsistenee
Ia Prrilous.

for the subject Of hs sermon. The
knowledge OF God The text was from
Psalm l1Xxiy:2: My heart and my fesh
erieth out for the living God" Mr.. Tay-
l9S.said:
! come back TO this pulpit in no uncer.
LInty OF mind with reference 10 what my
message should be. / know, at any rate,
where 10 must begin. Unless i mistake
the terms OF my commission, unless j mis-
take the nature Of the means placed az my
disposal, which are The Bible and the
church, unless i mistake the example OF
my Master, II is my business 10 help men,
90 lar as IN me hes, 10 ind God.
There IS no mlstaklng my own mind
nor what the summer has done 20 confirm
IL IN this conviction. To me, as 20 many
Of ycu, the glory OF the Lord has been re-
vealed anew in earth and sky and sea. To
me, as 10 many Of you, has come the op-
portun!ty TO read and 20 think and TO en-
ter into the thoughts OF other persons. We
have gone out OF doors with our religion.
We have taken our ideas OF God and life
away from home with US. We have tray-
eled far sield with them IN the books
which We have read. How have they
Jared?
For myself did not by any means get
nd OF Jeremiah's words by preaching on
them last Sunday morning. They stay by
me, as they began to stay by me in the
early summer The gods that have not
uidAc tue nthNtns anu llt tdItus tutsG
shall perish from the earth and from un-
der the heavens" Heaven and earth bear
testimony against every inadequate idea of
God. We must have a God whom nothing
in heaven or on earth can dethrone. We
must have God our faith IN whom need
not be shaken by anything we may learn
about nature, or about the Bible, or about
the life OF men aud nations We must
have a God who viii not break down and
perish out OF our souls IN the hour of trial.
We must have God VINO snail be God to
US, our God. even when we can only cry
with job; I",Oh; tina: l knew where !
might hnd HIM" We must have n God
10 whom we may say, Father, into Thy
hands | commend my spirit in the very
hour in which We may have cried My
God. my God, why hast Thou forsaken
me" Such is the God and Father of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Such is
the God from whom nothing in the heights
or in the depths, nothing IN the past, the
present or the future could detsch the
faith OF Paul, SaCh rs the God our need of
whom may be revealed to us at any mo-
ment by the lightning flash Of some great
calamity. Such is the God our need OF
whom viii bear down upon our minds
more and more heavily az we face more
and more frankly the facts Of life.
Here Is a man who has been summoned
by a midnight message to the bedside OF
hls child. As he goes from ferry 10 ferry
TO ascertain by what route he can reach
her most quickly, every man be addresses
reads his secret and shows him kindness.
Connections are close Over every signal
hight that delays him the engineer sees a
night lamp IN sick room that tells him
every second lost must be made up. The
conductor nervous,y hurres passengers of
and on the train at every stop. The race
~ won. The father stands beside his child.
There are the doctors There are the
rl., l. 49,.
that human love and sympathy and skill
can suggest is being done. Where is thy
God? j say father, where Is thy God
Nature says TO bim, Il have contrived n
little sack in your chllds body. have
filed it with poison. Within twenty.four
hours ! propose to break it. If | break
1T your child viii die. If you are willing
10 take other chances, let the surgeons re
move 1t. Then / viii do the best / can
for you"
Some men tell me that their God is ma.
ture. Does your God thus speak His whole
mind? Why, that room where n father Is
making up his mind what answer 10 give
TO natures uitimatum Is flooded with pure
love. Everybody cares. Are you ready to
Fay Everybody cares but God" There is
sick child there 20 be accounted for.
There is a harsh uitimatum of nature 10
be accounted for. But there are loving
hearts IN that room to he accounted for,
Also. ana lUtfe Is Il lNlNeifdl capacity Iol
sympathy and helpful action to be ac-
counted for. 1t is a scene which fairly
represents the tragedy of the world pro.
eess In which aspects Of 1T do you dis
rern the working of the higher LAWN the
merCIless progress Of the disease or IN
what IS being done to save, to heal, to
comfort? If there is any purpose or even
any tendency, to be discovered in such q
scene, IS 1t the triumph of pain and the
perfecting of cruelty that is being pro
noted: or is IT the periecting Of faith and
love?
Christians should know where to lool;
for God in such scenes They viii end
Him IN precisely the place In which they
would look for Jesus Christ. Sometimes
We wonder why so many miracles of heal
Ing are recorded IN the gospels. MAY II
not be because God wants us to know
where 10 place Him when we are confront
ed by the elemental questions which sick.
ness aud pain and death are certain "a
raise in our minds? IL s the higher laN
which should ever speak TO Us of God
il is with life and healing with love and
care, that we are taught 20 associate the
thought of God. In the midst OF lifes con
tusions we know IN part, When that
which is perfect Is come IL will prove @
be--love We can even think Of ourselves
when 1t Is all over, looking back and say
ing:
with mercy and with judgment
Ny web Of time Tie Woye,
And ave the dews OF sorrow
Were lustered with His love:
I'll bless the hand that guided.
Ill bless the heart that Planned.
When throned where glory dwe.,th,
In Emmanueis land
like to think of the positive aspects d
the First Commandment: Thou shalt hGv,
no other God before Me- That means
stated positively: Thou shalt have a God
and thou shalt have Me for thy God
Thou shalt have a God. Ii u the frat lav
OF the souls own life. Thou shalt have
God whom nothing can ever make 70 un
reasonable for you 10 trust. II 10 ~,
souls law Of sell preservation. How dC
We know when we are going 10 be IN criti
cal need OF faith like Paurs-of faith lik,
that Of our dying Lord Every man wh,
suffers needs 1t. Every man Who think
needs u.
saw that every man who thinks need
God. v, are thinking here tonight. ",
have beeh tASAng some of the ven
thoughts which have stolen away the fsiti
OF many man and many a woman W
have been facing facts which throw IL,
mind into an agony. We have been dealIui
with conditions which faith has 10 reckoi
with. / have talked with men. the tumul
of whose minds made me think AZ ~,
north coast waves. as Robert Louis SEE
,enson describes them, IN all the terror @
them, IN all the power OF them 20 wreti
the frail barks IN which men voyage. Tier,
may be minds Incapable Of tumult. Their
may be people who cannot undsrstan,
how any question relating to religion cat
thinks and who knows how to 'hins "a,
N l0nrT IN IA. .H.r ID.