Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1906-04-26
ONWARD TO GLORY
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON
The Only Faith That Has Endured
Throughout the Ages is Christian
ity-The World Made Better,

Bristol, Conn.-The Rev. Or. Arthur
n. Goodenough, long Brooklyn pas
tor, now of the Prospect NJ. e. Church
here. preached Sunday a strong SER
mon on "Is Our Nation Drunk With
National Prosperity" The text was
from Exodus Xxx, 2 and 8: 81 am the
Lord thy God, which have brought thee
out of the land of Egypt, out Of the
house of bondage. Thou shalt have no
other gods before Me-" DR.. Goode-
cough said:
The text is taken from the Deca-
iogue The Ten Commandments were
Israel's national constitution. The
Decalogue was given as the rule of
conduct Of the people OF Israel. The
story of Israel's deliverance and saliva
ton and the birth of the nation as re-
! corded in the Pentateuch reads like
! fiction. It is wonderful story. 1t is
not fiction, however-it is history. God
is always and forever against human
slavery. God is just God; God loved
! the poor and suffering .and hopeless
| people down in Egypt. 1t was His
! purpose to deliver them. He did de-
liver them. And as many Of them as
| infinite mercy could save finally
reached the promised land. I suppose
| God has q right to have favOrtes. as
! we'll as anybody else. To make law
! that nobody should have favorites
would be the legislation Of lunatics.
/, That would be contrary to the law OF
| life. The law Of life is the law Of
| God, and you cannot so back of that.
! God had special regard for Israel.
Why not? He certainly had right to-.
| because He was kind and mercifu!
and good to everybody else. But the
favored people frequently forgot God.
| They turned away from following af-
ter Him and sought out ways of their
own. And sometimes they preferred
garlic and onions in Egypt rather than
the discipline of the journey, which
would ultimately bring them to the
land of milk and honey. Very ofte''
God had to say to them the words
which we have read as our text: Il
am the Lord thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt
Thou shalt have no other gods before
Me-
| It has often been said that America
is Gods second Israel. God has surely
been good to this nation. He has
shown us many mercies. He has
abundantly poured into our laps the
wealth Of the prairie and mine. And
the most valuable crop Of all Will
which God has enriched us is in the
| galaxy of great and good men, by
whose life and labor we are all blessed
! Our republic, in little over a hundred
| years. has worked its way to the fore
| And now, by sheer skill and industry
by mental power and the kindly heart
she has made herself the foremost ma
ton in the family of nations. Othe
nations tell US that we are great peo
pie, and we are inclined to believ'
them. The late Archdeacon Farrar
that much beloved and widely know
Englishman, has said. s'America wa
Gods destined heritage; not for tyr
amy, not for aristocracy, not for priv
ilege--but for progress, and for liberty
and for the development Of a grea
and noble type of righteous, fear;es
and Independent manhood
That is the worlds estimate of us
God forbid that we shonld ever fa1
in one jot or title of what is expected
Of us! Our mission is to make tn
world better. The ways and mean
are here; the ability to use them is ais
here. God grant that what is in ou
heads and in our hands and In ou
banks and in our barns, may all b
laid upon the altar-consecrated to th
advance and uplift OF all the peopl
/ who look 20 us for guidance and bless
ing. In order to accomplish that W
must, ourselves, keep right in though
and pure in heart, and walk in tn
upward path that 'eads to more ligh
, and to the summit Of human perfe'
ton.
} For some years past there has com
. to us an unbroken stream Of prosperit.
This is due to two things: First-th
blessings Of heaven. in rain and de-