Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1908-04-16
THE PULPIT.
4 SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON ~
DR.. ROBERT ROGERS.
Theme: Overcoming Evil.

Brooklyn. N. Yin the Church OF
the Good Shepherd, the rector, the
Rev. DR.. Robert Rogers, preached
Sunday morning on Overcoming
Evil" .rhe text was from Romans
1921: BE not overcome OF evil,
hit overcome evil with good" DR..
Rogers said:
This is the closing verse of a rather
remarkable chapter. The words i'm
mediately preceding my text, IF
thine enemy hunger, feed him; II he
thirst, give him drink" BLESS them
which persecute you, bless and curse
not" do not sound like the words OF
a Jew who was trained under the
maxims, love thy neighbor and hate
thine enemy. They have much more
the sound of the voice Of Jesus, who
said, "Love your enemies" 1t is
very impressive to think how deeply
Jesus was able to fasten His peculiar
teaching upon a man like Paul, who
had been trained in the religious
philosophy Of the old schools.
Paul has lost his old prejudices; he
has separated himself from the mar
row tenets of Judaism; he has i'm
bibed the spirit OF Christ; ne has been
born again into q new world Of moral
philosophy, and he has been regarded
as the best interpreter OF the Cos
pei of Christ among the writer's of the
New Testament. Luther said the
Epistle to the Romans is a complete
epitome of the Gospel. In our text
Paul has something to say about evil
and something to say about good.
He does rot deny TIE existence Of
evil, as some modeTns are doing; he
does not pass it over as merely good
in the making" He says, "Abhor
that which is evil" hate it, fight 1t,
overcome it. But while he thus pre-
sents the reality Of evil and the i'm
portant influence it has in human ex-
perience, yet he looks upon it as
something to be conquered, to be
eliminated from life. He looks upon
it as only a temporary condition of
things. It is not a necessary COM
plement Of character. He says, BE
not overcome Of evil" therefore, q
man al be free from it.
It is a matter of very great i'm
poTtanca to every man to be sure of
this trutl, that sin is not a necessity
OF his being; many a man is in deep
encouragement because he has been
taught the permanence of this in
eradicable faint of SIM" this neces-
sary weakness and frailty of human
nature.
Paul has a much finer conception OF
a mans possibilities. BE not over
come of evil, but overcome evil with
good" is his message to every mans
soul, and in this he is but following
his Master, who said" Be We perfect
ever as your Father in Heaven is per-
feet" Thus if we follow Paul's teach
ing It will be wise for us to know OF
a certainty that there is evil in the
world, that we can know It inwardly
by conviction, that we can know il
outwardly by its consequences. But
let us at the same tine know that WI
lave the power to be separate and
free from it and the ability to con.
Quer it.
Paul has also a philosophy Of good
Good is the power which overcomes
evil. While evil is transient and tenn.
porary, good is permanent and
eternal. Good m from God
Wherever evil is present bring gooG
to meet it. Wherever hatred is pres
ent bring love to conquer it. Wher
ever ignorance and superstition Il
present bring truth to enlighten it
Wherever lust and impurity are pres
ent bring love and purity. Wherever
unbelief and recklessness are present
bring your faith to victory. Wher
ever despair or moral rebellion il
present bring hope. Wherever strife
and enmity are present bring charity
This is Paul's philosophy of goot
overcoming evil. Once set free tn,
forces OF good in a mans individual
life he will be saved from wrong
Once set free and active the forces O
God in a community or city and evi
will be destroyed. This is not a mer
system of theory or speculation; i
has the power of demonstration be
hind it. The experiences of life ar
full of Illustrations of this fact, blu
let me especially tell you somethin
about a wonderful work being don
in Emanuel Church, Boston, an
which is being taken up by othe
churches, and will grow more an
more widely as it is. Investigated, an
Its marvellous power cOmprehended.
The whole genius Of this gres
work lies in the power of good Over
coming evil. The two clergymen /
that church are curing men and won
en- Of such evils as drunkenness, dru
habits, gambling, k}eptomania. mu:
derous impulse, despair and morbit
ness, leading to suicidal mania, an
mental prostration. A young woma
was recently cured of the habit !,
lying and impudence to parents an
teachers, a very grievous Athletic
which seemed impossible of cure
the best skill and advice. These a.
a type of a hundred other evils whit
yield ~to-this new method of trea
ment. You will notice that each OF
has it's basis in moral disorder
some kind, and I have no doubt wha
ever that every moral delinquency
remediable in the same way.
| The method by which this NOR
healing is accomplished is plain
every student Of psychology, but
:. is not QaSv To nYn1ain tn Othors n