The Newtown bee., 1909-06-04
The 'NewtoWn Bee
 Nswtcwn. Friday, June {, 1909,
A SERMON BY REV F. II. SAWYER
Of, Thomaston.. Formerly of Sandy
 Hook.

Hook.
 Habakkuk S:4 The just shall live by his faithfulness. lR. VI
 hs q class Gods prophets were ops timists. They saw over and beyond difficulties. But Habakkuk was of different sort. He has been called "the father of lsrael's religious doubt" Dr c, A Smith has put the case thus, "Habakkuk at least feels that revelation Is baiiled by experi- ence, that the facts of life bewllder a man who believes in the God whom the prophets have declared unto ls- rael."
 Amos has declared God righteous, yet Habakguk sees him permitting the treaeherous 10 su'ceed, and the wicked devouring these who are bet ter than they.
 Hosea lad proclaimed the love of God. Habakkuk sees God chosen like the fish of the sea, with no le- fender.
 Isaiah had announced the mf jesty and holiness ef the Lord. lI1bak'uk sees iniquitious men exalted by suc- cesses.
 Cur ,rophet is astonished at the seeming bafiling of revalation by ex- perience. He is filled with wonder approashing skcplit'sm at the appar- ent contradictions between the facts of life and the faith he has been taught
 Cor promises to answer his aston ishment and question irgs by a vision later. Put the Lord does not put him off with simply the announcement of vision to come. God gives a partirl answer at once. That ad- vance answer has a negative and a positive tide. It has a word of yarn- ing, and a word to ground Habakkuk on great moral principle.
 "Behold his soul which is lifted up in him" is the divine warning against swollen individualism, against the exaggerated valuation of sel''s view and opinion. Behold his soul is lifted up or puffed up with big notion of it's ability to de- eide life's problems singlehanded. The divine warning is against all this. How ridiculous is swoolen in- di,idualism! 'In former age" one has written, scientists declared what could happen and what could not. The great Laplace once de clared that it was impossible that stones shold fall out of the heavens upon the earth. Only ebout 60 years ago August Comte declared it to be imposs ihle for any man by any means to determine the chemical compo- sition of the heavenly bodies The illustrious Stephenson declared it to be impossible for the Mediterranean to be connected by canal with the Red Sea. A short time ago it was counted imrOscit''e to see through m oak plank four inches thick"
 In his advance answer to Habak- kuk the Divine warned also against being a slave or toy of changes. His soul which is lifted up is not upright in him. i. c., is not straight or level. Like a dory or skiff upon the bay it is the slave of changes. When the water is calm the boat ride level. When the sea is restless the boat is ever changing from one uneven pO- sition to another How different the lighthouse which stands in tie waters of the same bay! Storm or calm, placid or restless, still the lighthouse stands level because it rests on a stradfast foundation rathn: than Cll a fitful sea. Habakkuk is thus di- rected, Dy way of contrast, to the sensibleness of resting or something steady amidst the repeatedly chang ing sea of life. That steady some thing is God. Let Habakkuk be faithful to God despite forbidding ap- pc. rances of the Div ne goodness. The belief tfat God is god holds n from generation to generation. De- spite earthquake and devouring flame, despite suffering and disap- pointment of hopes, the belief per sists that God is good and dceth well. When tempted to loose this belief it is well to recall one or two facts. When Doratello finished the statue of St Mark which now stands in Florence it was inspected by the linen workers who were responsible for it's erection. They at once slid 1t was out of proportion, that it was awkward in shape and that it lacked fidelity to life. They further de- handed that necessary alterations be made. The artist cnnsCnted. The statu- was then in the studi WI en next the linen workers came it had been lifted to the nicke for wl.ich it had been intended. The worthy crit ics were entirely satisfied and con- graduated themselves upon their artistic taste. The figure had not been tG iched with the 'hisel. We make the slme hlurders in onr judg melt of God. We mu walk al. around Cod before we car judge him. We make the mistake of applying time measurements to eternal princi- pies. We do not allow for point of vision.
 Another fact to be recalled is the statement of Job of old: Though He slay me yet will l trust Him." And still another is the testimony of Rev Byron Palmer of OUT own day. He faced the ordeal daily of being shut away from Inc world of leaving his