The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1909-04-02
THE PULPIT.
BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON 6Y
THE REV. JOHN WESLEY HILL.
Theme: The Kingship of Patience.

New 1OTk NllN.-l ne lOllONlne
impressive discourse was delivered in
the Metropolitan Temple On. Ed by
the pastor. the Rev. John Wesley
Hill, who is by far al present the
most progressive of New York's
preachers. The subject OF the SER
mon was The Kingship of Patience, ="
and the text, Revelation l:9: Il,
John, your brother and companion in
tribulation. and in the kingdom and
patience OF Jesus Christ" Mr.. Hill
said:
Patience does not appeal 10 us as
q regal quality. Why should king
wait? Having power 10 accomplish
at once. why should he bear with the
dulness and obdurateness of his sub
jects? Commanding swift agencies.
why should he delay their execution?
And right here-He encounter a seem
ing contradiction; our text introduces
a divine Interpretation. IL teaches
that kingship is not divorced from pa
thence, but bound up with IL; that
the divine kingdom is inherited
through patience; and that spiritual
sovereignty is acquired not by sim
gle bound, but through the long,
plodding pilgrimage which patience
which permeates the entire spiritual
economy, finding its supreme exem-
plfication in the being and nature Of
God
Christianity is solitary in its rev.
slation of patience as quality Of
God No pagan god was ever crowned
with this virtue. The coarse mind of
man never evolved a gentle deity.
The gods OF human genius are great
in impatience. force and resentment.
This conception of impatience as the
prerogative of deity is not only at the
root of the grotesque forms of pagan
ism, but il is responsible for many of
the false and monstrous views of
God that have found their way into
the so-called christian theology. "
When theologians paint pictures of
God that stamp Him with remorse-
less absolutism; when they say that
God must be just and may be merci-
full. and set themselves 10 parceling
out the divine nature into sections,
tracing the boundary lines with
mathematical precision. and then
setting watches upon the frontiers
lest love should encroach upon truth
and mercy supplant justice; then
they forget that all the great moral
qualities are duly proportioned in the
divine nature; that they include each
other in a way that defies triangula-
ton; and that patience is the
guardian of them all.
When the sculptor's vision dis
closes the angel in the block, he is
not discouraged by hardness in the
stone nor defect in the grain. He is
bent on actualizing his ideal. The
greater the difficulties, the more his
patience is called into play. And
dare we think of God as conceiving a
purpose less sharply or bringing it TO
perfection with less patience?
We fall into bitter, suspicious, mis-
anthropic frames of mind over the
high-handed insolence of demagogu-
ism, over social laXity and licentious-
ness, over fraud and graft and god
less luxury; and because things are
crooked we would hew them TO the
line of our thinking, lay the scor-
pion scourge on the back of con-
servatism. condemn all who are not
willing to march to our music; yea.
We are tempted TO doubt the divine
goodness, because God does not arise
in His might, destroy sin, and usher
in the millennium. But meanwhile,
God waits He stands in the midst
OF the passing centuries with out
stretched hands OF entreaty. No
other attitude would be consonant
with His character. Self-existent and
eternal, without beginning or ending.
He cannot cake account of time.
Time is an element that does not
enter into His being. Perfection is
the mould in which the divine ideals
are cast; the amount of time is moth
ing. II is not question of calendar
but of character. The problem re-
duces itself TO perfection That is
the infinite goal toward which all
things in the universe, seen and un-
seen, are silently, slowly, and patient
ly moving-the goal of a redeemed
perfected and glorified humanity.
From this viewpoint, we begin 10
understand that there is divine
philosophy in the expression, the
Kingdom and patience of Jesus
Christ" In it is hidden the mystery
OF redemption: above IL is lifted the
blood-stained cross; uuon the cross
hangs an innocent Victim, an in
finite Sacrifice. vicarious and saving.
Gods great love argument 10 the
world. Time. Providence and Cal
vary are the forces that conquer the
soul, and therefore God waits to give
them a chance, waits for US to weary
of our rebellion, waits for the fever
of sin TO cool, waits for the black
blood Of passion TO run out, waits
with infinite patience for US 10 re-
turn, demanding no more than obedi-
ence, and asking only the homage Of
our hearts; and then He embraces us
in the rapture of long delayed recon
ciliation
Standing thus before Calvary, and
gazing into the tranquil face Of Jesus
Christ. We begin 20 realize what is
meant by the patience OF Jesus
Christ. His patience meant infinitely
more than the popular conception OF
patience; more than the power OF
physical endurance, more than drift