The Penn's Grove record., 1905-03-03
THE PULPIT,
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
BISHOP D. H. GREER. D. o.. LID.
Subject: Standing Before Christ.

ONCE, Sunday morning. His subject
was, standing Before the Master"
He chose his text from II. Kings v:25:
He went in and stood before his
Master" Bishop Greer said in the
course of his sermon:
You will recall, perhaps, the connec-
ton in which these words were spoken.
Elisha the Prophet had cured a man
of his leprosy, who wanted to give the
prophet some suitable reward, but the
prophet refused to take it, and said:
"As the Lord liveth / will not receive
it," And the servant of the prophet
is not of the same mind, and when the
man departed he said to himself: "Now
l will go and take somewhat of him."
And so he did, and then when he had
stored it away in some secret place,
as he supposed. he came to where his
master was and went in and stood be-
fore him. And as he came, my friends,
so we must come to another prophet
of Israel. another and a greater one.
who, although of Israel born, is the
Master of us all, to whom all hearts
are open, before whom there is no
secret, and before whom we must
stand. This is my subject for a little
while this morning, standing Before
the Master"
There is a great world struggle going
on to-day, which although it assumes
many different forms is yet the same.
1t is a great struggle for ereedom-a
struggle which. to be sure, has been
going on to some extent in every age,
but which in this particular age APP
pears on a larger field of action with
a greater number of actors partici-
pating in it more conspicuously per-
haps, and which is carried on now as
never before with an earnestness more
earnest, with a purpose more resolute,
and its pitiful effort at times, with a
pathos more pathetic, human life is
trying to set itself free from misery
and from bondage, and to become SOW
ereign lord of itself. This it is trying
to do by various means and methods,
by weapons of war on battleields, by
bullets and by ballots. by social agi-
tations and by political discussions, by
great material and industrial advance
ment and enrichments, widening out
and expanding and thus broadening
more and more its scope, its power, its
dominion, and, through it all, its free
dom from bondage and control.
And within certain limits that is good
and right, and much to be desired.
But freedom is like fire. When guard
ed, restrained and kept within control,
it is good for service and performing
many useful offices and tasks; but
when it is not controlled and becomes
a confiagration, then it is no longer
useful and serviceable, but injurious
and destructive. And are there not
some signs appearing here and there,
sporadically, in spots in u modern
life, which show that the freedom fire
to-day is getting beyond control, be-
coming a c~onlagration, burning and
consuming, not only some of those old
and obsolete traditions which stand
in the way of progress, but some of
those old and pure and good and eter-
nally true traditions without which
there can be no progress at all.
A young man in this city, in the Bor-
ough of Manhattan, q young q of
culture and refinement and position,
and the graduate of q leading univer-
sity, remarked to me not long ago:
las long as | can manage to keep a
reputable outward appearance, and
cOntrive to live so as not to lose the
favor and good will of public opinion,
why should l not live to-day precisely
as l please? Am l not free? Am l
not the sovereign lord and master of
myself? And if l find in me certain
natural tendencies, instincts, proclivi-
ties and passions which l love to in
dulge, which l can indulge, why should
/ not indulge them? Am L not free,
the sovereign lord and master of my
self? Whose business is it but my
own. and what, indeed, shall hinder?
Public opinion? But l am assuming
that public opinion will not know any
thing about it. Religion? Why, who
knows anything about religion to-day?
The Bible? Well, this is the twentieth
century, and the Bible is on the shelf.
Am l not free to do precisely as l
please as the sovereign lord and master
of myself?"
That speech, perhaps, was to some
little extent typical of a growing con-
dition. freedoms fire becoming q con-
fagration, burning down and consum-
ing some Of the old, true, eternal, fixed
and established human religions; some
of the old, true and established social
restraints. And if we look at our
modern society very closely we see it
not only appearing here and there
among the young men and the young
women, but also among some others
that are not yet so young, too much
freedom, perhaps, among the old, If you
please, when they throw aside the Die
fashioned feminine graces, modesties,
proprietics. too much freedom in de-
meanor and department, hoping thus
to show, perhaps, that they are eman-
cipated. But. as some n has remarked,
such freedom is not the result of high
er education, or culture, or advance
ment, or progress, but of a dull and
stupid ignorance. 1t is a reversion of
the lesson of Peters vision, and always
to call all things common and I'M
clean.
Thus to-day we see here ard there
beginning to appear abuses of this
magnificent human freedom, a dispo-
sition upon the part of many of every
age to push and set aside whatever
seems to interfere with the freedom
of their lives, with the full and free
expression, indulgence and gratitica-
ton of their desire to live and do pre-
cisely what they please. And so the
children soon wander off to do as they
please. Why not, are they not free?
And the husband wanders off to do as
he pleases? Why not, is he not free?
And the wife wanders off to do as she
pleases, and the marriage vow wanders
off. Why not, is it not a free age:
And like a house that rests upon the
shifting sand, the home breaks up and
falls, and great is the fall thereof, for
it pulls society down.
All, my friends. freedom is a mag
niicent and glorious thing. and it has
it's great and magnificent uses, and it
has its great and m%alevolent abuses,
and in spite of all our solemn declara-
ton papers and Magma Charta claims
human life is not free, except with that
freedom which is the sacred moral
sphere, for rich or poor, or young, or
old. from moral leading comes. Free
dom which comes from elsewhere is
not freedom, but bondage to our pas
sions, as more and more we give graft
fication to them; bondage to III cir
cumstances As more and more we give
multiplication to them, and, worst OF
all, bondage to ourselves, our W i'm
perial selves, and from our W prison
selves unable to escape.
There is no such thing as true and