The Penn's Grove record., 1905-06-16
THE PULPIT
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. M. w. STRIKER, PRESIDENT
OF HAMILTON COLLEGE
Subject: Service.

Subject: Service.
Brooklyn, n. Y.-Dr. NJ. w. Stryker,
President of Hamilton College, Clinton,
n. Y, occupied the pulpit Of the Han
son Place NJ. L. Church in the absence
of DR.. Locke, the pastor. He preached
the following sermon on Service"
My text is that verse in the twelfth
chapter of the epistle to the Romans in
which the apostle says that there are
some things hard to be understood
which the unlearned and the unstable
wrest to their own destruction. 1t is
true that Satan often hides in The dark
passages of Gods word. 1t is also true
that the hardest things TO understand
are not those hat the intellect has to
unravel and explain, but the things
that concern the deeds. For my part,
whoever else may have found it hard,
I have not found the ninth chapter of
Romans as hard as the twelfth. Even
if l did not do it very we'll it was easier
to think straight than it is to be good.
1t is a wonderful thing that, after all
these mighty, reverberating words, that
search the very heights and depths of
the plan of God that make this letter
SO compact up to this point. it all broad
ems out in the most natural fashion
into administrative matters. l notice
that the thing about the twelfth chap
ter is that it does not say anything
about what we must not do. 1t is
always true that if you get light in
darkness will go out. The way to keep
our hearts empty of evil is to fill them
up to the brim with good. We do not
get the darkness out of this room with
q broom, but~with a match or q spark.
DR.. Thomas Chalmers used to speak
about the "eXpulsiYe power of the new
affection" To many Il man who never
amounted to anything the honest, pure
love OF a true woman has been an in
centive to him to make something of
himself for her sake; and whenever the
love of God comes into the human
heart it drives out evil and seeks to
clothe itself with living and loyal ac-
ton; and if there is any one who thinks
the deed is easy and the doctrine hard,
that is not my experience.
1 want to speak tonight upon this
special admOnition to service which
Paul says is reasonable. God does
not ask anything that is not rational.
Christianity and Christian living can
give account of themselves. There is
nothing so silly as to be a sinner. 1t
makes angels weep and devils laugh
to see a man trying to serve God and
himself. That man is walking north
and south; it is a straddle. Now Paul
says it is a reasonable service. He
said, try it, put it to the proof, and he
was an expert who had tried it for
thirty years. l am going to take one
special line of analogy. You have
often heard it said of q man of intense
activity that he was a perfect steam
engine,' and that would be said more
often if there were more men who
were what they ought to be, "a perfect
steam engine" l think there is a ser
mon in that, and I am going to try
to get at it. You will help. You will
think a great many things which l
won't and preach a sermon to your
selves about being perfect steam ell
gines. For u present purposes we
will talk about that particular style of
steam engine, the railway locomotive.
America is doing a great business in
making these, and wherever they are
Eent-Africa or South America or Asia,
every one of them is q kind of mission
airy force, a living testimony of that
force and skill which are resident in
free mankind. The call now is loud
and clear for Americans who shall be
more committed to teach the world
manhood. The tide of time is rising
and sinew and muscle are called into
the service of God. This is no time for
limping or lettering.
Look out upon this world and see
how God is COMPRISING and packing
it together. If we won't take our
Gospel in the missionary ship, it shall
go in the warship. Somehow men are
going to be brought together. We are
q conceited lot, we Americans, but we
do not like to be told so. We have q
good thing, and like to keep it. We
say of the Chinese, ''shut them out,
put them aside" And perhaps of some
others, also, Don't let those gOOd-fOr-
nothing Russians, Poles and Italians
come" Bless your heart. Your great
grandfather or grandmother was moth.
ing but an emigrant-mine was a
Dutchman, at that. We are all the
children of immigrants; We are all in
truders on this continent. The only
Americans are not now citizens, but
live on pensions. We have stolen ev.
erything they had that was in sight
You had better not talk about that
Gods plan is to keep the races of this
world marching and moving. Yet
somehow, some cannot get it through
their thick heads, their g~old-plated
heads, their noodles, hard with crue
ambitions and paltry pride, that wheI
the Scripture says, HE made of one
blood oil nations - If mans what i
says. If you won't learn it by peace
you will learn it by war; if you won
learn it in Bibles, you will learn it by
bullets; if you won't learn it in packed
Europe and Asia and go there, God viii
bring those people here. Let then
come. l laugh at all this talk abou.
checking immigration. King Canut'
might just as we'll have tried to throw
back the "a with his mandate. IL
a certain sense it is proper to say tha'
God is a mighty utii. tartan. 1t is {
great time for service; we need TO wake
up, it was nearly daylight, it is dawn
great things are coming. Therefore,
think that our churches, colleges
schools and homes ought TO engage il
the manufacture of locomotives.
That wonderful, intricate engine
who made it? Did a baby locomotive
grow up into that great machine? Yol
say it is evolution. Evolution de
scribes the way a thing is made, bur
never made anything. The process OF
making is evolution. If you ask me
If l believe God made this world by
process, L say yes. That is the way He
makes everything. When He makes
anything that can grow He gives il
a chance to grow. His plans are made
and 1 don't care where He began!
care more for where He ends. YOU
say it took a. long while. Yes, the
larger the pattern, the larger the plan
Our steam engine is a fine instance o.
evolution. 1t is mans creation and il
represents his Creators idea and III
tention. 1t is a wonderful epitome oil
mind working for an intended end; Of
a purpose perfected by thought. And
your bodies? They just happened
The steam engine had to be made ant
you are an accident? A master me
chanic and designer, he is a mere
chance? Do not think it. Where is
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