The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-04-27
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON 81
REV. Or. A. n, COoDENOUCH.
Subject Material Prosperity.

Bristol. Conn.-The Rev. Or. Arthur
III. Goodenough long Brooklyn pas
tor. now of the Prospect Nj. T.. Church
here. preache Sunday strong ser
mon on lis our Nation Drunk With
National Prosperity" The text was
from Exodus NN, and ): Il am the
Lord thy God. which have brought thee
ont of the land OF Egypt. out OF the
house OF bondage. Thou shalt have 10
other gods before Me" DR.. Goode-
nough said:
The text is taken from the Deca-
logue. The Ten Commandments were
ISraerS national constitution. The
Decalogue was given as the rule or
conduct of the people of Israel. The
story of Israel'S deliverance and saliva
tion and the birth Of the nation aS re-
corded in the Pentateuch reads like
fiction. 1t is a wonderful StCry. II is
not fiction howeVer-it is history. God
is always and forever against human
slavery. God is 4 just God; God loved
the poor and suffering and hopeless
people down in Egypt. II was His
purpose to deliver them. He did de
liver them. And rs many of them aS
Infinite mercy could save hnalIN
reached the promised land. | suppose
God has Il right To have faVor.tes. aS
well as anybody else. TO make law
that nobody should have favOriteS
would be the legislation of lunaticS
That would be contrary 10 the law of
life. The law Of life iS the law OF
God. and you cannot 20 back OF that
God had a special regard for Israel
Why not? lie certainly had right to-
because He was kind and mcrclIui
and good To everybody else. But the
favored people frequently forgot God.
They turned away from following at-
ter Hin and sought out ways Of their
own. And sometimes they preferred
garlic and onions i'm Egypt rather than
the discipline Of the journey. which
would ultimately bring them to the
land of milk and honey. Very often
God had 10 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"
II 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 with
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 a little over Il hundred
years. has worked It's way 10 the fore.
And now. by sheer skill and industry,
by mental power and the kindly heart.
she has made herself the foremost ma
ton III the family of nations. Other
nations tell us that we are great peO-
pie. and we are inclined to believe
them. The late Arcndeacon Farrar,
that much beloved and widely known
EngliShman, has said. America was
Coda destined heritage; not for tyr
amy, not for aristocraCy. not for priv
ilcge--but for progress. and for liberty.
and for the development of great
and noble type Of righteous. fearless
and Independent manhood
That IS the worlds estimate Of us.
God forbid that we should ever fail
i'm one jot or little of what is expected
of rs! Our mission is 10 make the
world better. The WAYS aud means
are here: the ability to use them is also
here. God grant that what is in our
Itdu' tllNl III htl dliiN anu III 'Hl
banks and in our barns. may all he
laid upOn the altar-cOnspcrated tO the
advance and uplift Of all the people
who look 90 us for guidance and bless
ing. In order 10 accomplish that we
must, ourselves. keep right in thought
and pure in heart and walk in The
upward path that 'eadS to more light
and TO the summit of human perfec
ton.
For some years past there has come
10 us an unbrokCn stream of prosperity.
This Is due 10 two things: FirSt-the
blessings Of heaven. i'm rain and dew
and sunshine upon a rich and fertile
soil. Second-the industry and skill Of
man in making the best and most Of
what is within reach.
our Secretary of Agriculture has
given 10 the world a report that makes
the heart or every American dance
for Joy. The whole world has stood
before II in surprise and delight. Not
only has il beaten all previous reports
in our own land, but il has surpassed
anything that any nation has ever been
able To render. The value OF the years
farm products. that actually came into
the pockets Of the farmers. was Sc.
41J,OOOOOO. That sum would more
than pay the national debt Of France
or Russia. According 10 the editor OF
Current Literature. lt would purchaS"
all the gold produced in the world w
the last twenty years Three farm
products have yielded enormous sums.
Corn. 81 216.OO0OOO: milk and butter.
S6GJ, 100000. and hay. S60j. 900 900.
Secretary Wilson tells us that the az
gregate value of all our farms has in
creased I'm five years So. l33OOO,OOo
What does this mean? II means
many things. II means. first Of all.
that there is plenty Of money. When
tho farmer does well. everybody else
does we'll All our wealth comes ont
OF the soil. And i'm the rich harvest
there j. more Of God than Of man.
When the harveStS are plentiful. the
mills. the shops the factories. are all
busy. There H. work for everybody
And when this is the ease. the poor
man grows rich and the rich man
grows richer. To all Of which we have