The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1910-08-04
THE PULPIT.
a BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON p"
ca c +. J. WRlGLeY.
Tneme The True Lirc.

brooklyn. n Y. - Dr. c. F. =
Wrigley. rector Of Grace Church
preached Sunday morning on "Th,
True Life The text was from
Matthew 11.25, Il thank Thee. {
Father, Lord ol heaven and earth
that Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent. and hast re
Vealed them unto babes Dr. Wrig
ley said:
When a man makes ur his mine
not TO vegetate. not TO be content
simply to exist. hu TO live the life,
when he realizes that he is not only
an animal, having much in common
with the animals: but also a man
having much in common with the
world Of mystery by which he is sur.
rounded. there are very few ultimate
ideals to which he can turn The
fact Is. there are only two such ideals
If We bar out that insane suggestion
of the disordered mind of Nietscho
that a man fhould cultivate the will
to enjoy or the will TO have pow.
er." which is not a philosophy of life,
but suitably n fOolhardy agoism.
The mans choice really lies be.
tween a life Of pessimism and agnOs.
ticism, a life which gives up all the
real problems OF life and settles down
into an existence Of grim despair and
apparently hopeless ignorance Of all
the things which. most Of all, a man
wants to know. or q life which IAN.
swers the challenge of all suffering
and mystery and sin by affirming the
everlasting yea On the one side
We have Buddha and Buddhism,
which even yet holds in its grasp In.
dia and China and other Eastern
countries, and is the cause of the un'
progressive and despairing life OF
those peoples. and. on the other
hand, we have Jesus Christ and the
ronfdent and affirmative attitude
aat He takes toward life, proclaim.
'1g a bold faith in tatherly God,
who is guiding the world toward q
'artaiu goal OF goodness and perfec-
zion He points out to us a life or
fuller content than any of which man
had dared TO dream, and He ioyfully
points it out TO rs calls 1t His gos-
pei, and declares that 1t shines
through all the perpleXities and
struggles OF our existence-nay, that
IL is the author and origin not only
of all our troubles but also of all our
satisfactions. That it is the quality
of the everlasting, that it is seizing
hold Of man and triumphantly bid.
ding him to put his hand into the
hand OF God, and through the mys-
teries and mists Of life to trust the
Father, and not only allow himself
to he led, but himself to struggle up
toward the eternal.
Which Of these ideals shall a man
accept to-day? Is there any choice?
Can q man study the two for even a
short time and still be undecided?
True, the man may not have heard
OF the second ideal, and that it is
which constitutes the clarion call tc
missions; but II he has heard, can
he long question which ideal he is
to choose? Why, without thinking
a moment, an ordinary, unprejudiced
man would say, as he looked upon the
two pictures Of life, would rather
be wrong with Jesus than right with
Buddha
But, in sneaking OF this life, Jesus
said II thank Thee. Father, that
Thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and revealed them
unto babes" What does that mean?
Surely, not that the gospel is hidden
from men of great intellectual power
or mental acumen; not that knowl-
edge or wisdom is a bar TO the ac-
ceptance of the teachings of Jesus.
This is untrue as a fact, for, since
the coming of Jesus Christ into the
world, II is safely within the limits
nf truth 70 say chat the vast majority
OF the really wise and intellectually
great men Of the Christian world
have been Christians. When man
says that his world wide knowledge
hinders him from accepting the mar.
row revelation Of Jesus, | point tC
Gladstone. When a man says that
his scientific studies are a hindrance
10 his .tith I point TO Lord Kelvin,
for both Gladstone and Kelvin repre-
sent covering intellectual ability, the
one in the departments OF literature
aLd statesuInship, and the other in
pure science. No. Jesus does not
mean that wisdom prevents man
from believing nor does He discour-
age learning; Chrlst's religion, in
fact, has been the leader always in
the educational world, but He means
that 10 amount OF learning can give
10 man that which He comes tc the
world - give. Worldly learning can
not reveal heavenly things In other
words, worldly wisdom cannot be
substituted for revelation
Jesus Christ came into the world
20 live life, which should be in it.
self revelation Of new values. It
Is needless 20 say they are opposed to
world values For instance, Jesus
begins with life Itself It is the su-
preme value, hence the horrible char.
acter Of murder and suicide. The
Christian world has not yet grasped
the real meaning OF the value which
Jesus placed upon life, not cultivated
and refined, hut Just human life.
Then comes humility, the possession
Of which puts man into the right
altitude toward God and his fellow
man Then unselfshuess. which en-
ables him to shed many OF the char
lcteristics OF the brute world. Then
obedience, which enables him to cul-
ivate the qualities of the ruler, that
ie may be self-possessed and strong.
hen love, which leads 10 gratitude
God. and the help OF his fellow
man. These things are supreme
values in the revelation OF Jesus
Christ. He has little to say about
birth A man may have been born
in a hovel, or the heir to a throne
II matters not so as his work Is well
done. A man may be worth much
money, or none: he may be very
wise. or not very wise; he may be cul-
tiYated and refined. or coarse and
rough-none OF these things are TAX
en- into consideration by Ipsna ha-