The Penn's Grove record., 1906-01-19
THE PULPIT.
a BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. LUTHER R. DYOTT.


~ DJott, pastor Oh the united COn2re-
gational Church, preached Sunday
morning on "The I~ndestructible Foun-
cations" He took his texts from
Psalms xi.:3: eff the foundations be
destroyed, what can the righteous do?'
Hebrews Kill (revised version: Faith
is the assurance of things hoped for,
the proving of things not seen;'' II.
Timothy i'll revised version: 81
know whom 1 have believed, and am
persuaded that He is able to guard that
which l have committed unto Him
against that day." Mr.. Dyott said:
We seek the solid and safe in the
things of the unseen world. This is
OF supreme Importance. Other things
IN this connection are relatively i'm
portant. They are to be thought of,
and appreciated, and even sought,
found and kept. We must have them.
Room for the active life of a growing
belief is Indispensable. A place for the
sweet and sustaining comforts of the
larger hope of humanity is desirable.
The garniture of refined and immortal
love is ever to be regarded as more
than a mere luxury of the inner life.
Other work is important; but only SO to
- SOlApdAdlfc uOST6e.
Tedious and temporary is the task
of the theologian. Unsatisfactory is
the task of the creed-maker. Small is
the task where Earring ~sectaries''
learn their selfish interest to discern,
and, not unfrequently, to become ire
llglous in the name of religion. Spas
modic the task, and thankless the eff
fort of the iconoclast. Feverish and
fitful, though somewhat sensational
and im~periOus, is the task of the sci
enlist. But all who are concerned
about building character upon indie
structible foundations and are actively
engaged in this work, are realizing that
which is of supreme Importance, as day
by day. hour by hour, moment by mo-
ment, rises that "house not made with
hands," Here we must toll with clear
understanding, magnificent courage
and untiring patience. Here we must
be serious and certain.
1t is a fine intimation and a hopeful
indication. that, in some respects, at
least, we are equal to the demands.
We do desire foundations which can
be destroyed. Here we are serious
enough when we are serious at all.
We do not wish to be deceived with
reference to these things. We delib-
erately prefer not to have our fountains
of life poisoned. We object to the
destruction of the foundations of be-
lief. Error. f%alsehood, deceit are bad
enough anywhere, but they do the most
harm if admitted into the affairs of re-
ligion. He who poisons my body may
only affect the place where my real
life sojourns for a little while, but he
who poisons my mind and my soul does
me untold harm for eternity. He and l
may never be able to make satisfactory
repairs Of some kinds of destructive
work. Most of us think SO. We do
desire the solid and safe things of the
immutable v~erities of truth which will
stand the tests. eff the foundations
be destroyed what can the righteous
dos"
The strongest emphasis of our times,
especially in matters of religion, is be-
ing placed upon the demand for the
real. Notwithstanding the prevalent
superficiality of our age, the quick
sales of birth-rights for pottage, the
heated passion for pleasure, the gaudy
show of those who "glory in appear
ance and not in heart;'' notwithstand-
ing the fact that we are living in
"grievous tines when SO many are
"lovers of self, lovers of money, boast
full, naughty, railers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, without
natural affections, im%placable, SANDER
ers, without self-control, fierce, 10 low
ers of good, traitors, headstrong, pulled
up, lovers of pleasure rather than low
ers of God, holding a form of godliness
but denying the power thereof" not
withstanding the fact that in the very
church, itself, there are certain oscilla-
tory movements calculated to perturb
the life of some believers; notwith-
standing all these things, and many
more, still the underlying current is to-
ward the fuller and freer life, and the
immediate and increasing demand in
the religious life is of the assurance
of things hoped for, the proving of
things not seen,' and for that gertrude
of knowledge which enables the indi-
vidual believer to stand upon some in
destructible foundation and say, u
know whom 1 have believed. and am
persuaded that He is able to guard
that which I have committed unto Him
against that day."
Good is deeper than evil even in per.
sons who do not profess to be good
The oscillations of belief may be per.
mitted of God Himself, and end in
doing much good for the common faith
of Christendom. The unsettled condi
ton of certain moods of faith may only
reveal at last that there are some
things which can not be shaken and
must remain. God may be permitting
the shaking up in order that we may
have the removing of those things that
are shaken, as of things that are made
that those things which can not be
shaken may remain. Ours has beer
called an "age of doubt" but the evil
altogether satisfactory. Professor
James says: "Our religious life lies
more, and our practical life less, than
it used to on the perilous edge" But
does not the professor attempt to draw
q distinction where no distinction be.
longs?
Is not our religious life, in fact and
in fine, a practical life? Are not the
most practical deeds in the world born
of religion? Good life, good thoughts
good words, good deeds belong to re.
ligion whether they be done in this OF
that church, or bear no ecclesiastical
stamp at all. Reality is at a premium
in the religion of to-day. Let us be.
lieve that the demand for the real
the desire to investigate, the new state
ments of old truths, the rewriting OF
some theology, the revising of some
creed, the call for a new adjustment
of things, do not invariably imply the
existence of doubt and the destruction
of the foundations of belief. If, in
deed, this be doubt, then it is not the
kind of doubt that we need to fear. II
these things destroy our foundations
it will prove nothing more than that
we were on temporary and destructible
foundations, when we should have had
something better.
King calls our attention to the fact
that 'just as the acceptance of the
principle of the correlation of forces
called for a rewriting of physics-a new
physics, or the theory of evolution for
the rewriting of biology-a new biol.
ogy, so, in the same sense, the accept
ance of certain great convictions of our
day calls for a rewriting of theology
q new theology" Call it a new theol