Year: 1869

Sermon Before the Young Mems Christian


Association.


Rev. Mark Hopkins, DID,. LID, President Of Will
liams College, Massachusetts,, delivered one OF q
series OF sermons which have been In progress for
the last few Sundays before the Young Mems Chris
tian Association In the Reformed Dutch church, cor
Der OF Fifth avenue and Twenty-ninth street. last
evening" large and fashionable audience being pro-
sent. The reverend gentleman said the passage Of
Word OF God to which he invited their attention
might be found In the first chapter OF the Acts and
the twenty fifth versc-that "He nigh, 60 TO his
placer BY his own place was commonly meant
place which a man owned; but that was not the
meaning here. Judas did not own the place to
which he went Probably he did not wish 10 own 1t.
The meaning OF the phrase he supposed TO be that
owned a place In that world corresponding to his
character and deserts. In that sense we fire.
Sf q house goes In It's own place when it goes TO the
place for which II was fitted, so that the lemons OF
it.n And that Is what they might expect from the
God OF righteousness and the God or order In other
our 81 or en s,Ste avn was as
thing, and that every being and every thing should
be IN its place. And this was confirmed by the
Scriptures II was said by our Saviour that "there
are many mansions In my Fathers house." We
were told that one star differed from another star
I'm glory. We were told that overy man would be
rewarded according to his works, which implied
precisely that doctrine. The assertion in the text
bce bu e was that Of
kiso should 20 to his own place. Did they say that
fhe case of Judas was peculiar ones Did they say
shat there never was another such man as Judasf
0 remark sMy friend, there never was an
multltudes that God had made from the beginning
endless as they were-it was one OF the marvels OF
ar You are. Now. in the first place, he observed
that the surroundings OF men In this world CORE
sponded TO their Characters a. nearly as Is was pos
together here. The courses OF men and their lives
sfrered. The course OF the Apostle Paul and that OF
Napoleon Bonaparte were different They were diff
ferent In their principles and In their results. One
had for his object to turn men from darkness into
light and from the power OF Satan into good, and
nc spent his life In single aim that great END and
died az witness to the truth OF Gods Gospel. Ma
toeon BoDsparte spen, mt, his % ie with N reference to to
men were brought to premature graves, he using
them as instruments TO his own selfish ambition
IL did not at one time seem to him possible that
every thing that occurred should be engraved upon
the human soul; but there were facts now well
known which seemed to render II almost certain.
Men went 70 their own places In this wor.d-that IS
ns far as they could Every man Thought he would


IKE e 60 70 gs S g Inv Was as ss n pae
not be happy there, aud would nee, II he could, as
with Adam, when he found the Lord God IN the
garden after he had sinned The character or God
would seem TO be necessity for heaven, for what
was heaven but the smile OF God. Was II not true
OF some Of them that they had betrayed the sgn OF
the crossl Was 1t not true that they had sold their
birthrlc for mess OF potages Were they not doing
now was absolutely rs necessary n ,ns, eS .ners



have O motive for any Fixed course OF conduct
unless there lay back OF him something that was
nxed and settled. The duration OF punishment I
would be just long as the wicked character OF a
man continued They saw what religious supersti-
Sion was. Everything religious superstition
by which q man supposed he was friendly with
God without change OF character from hrs evil
ways. Sometimes what men DID In the name of
religion consisted 81 something OF that kind That
might exist In the Romish Church, and 80 II did
The poor people were led to believe that BY going
through certain penances.s which had nothing to
10 With character, they ihay be saved. The same
might take place In the Protestant Church
forth and believe that that would do; but let him
tell them that everything that was not change Of
character was superstition. He observed, ~ con.
clusion how rational the Bible was In e atyle "
did not seek 10 save men except by change Of cha
racter Never. The Bible did not say "Do PEN
nnce;n but II said Repent And now let him say
10 the young men around him that they were build
ing house for eternity. II the foundations were
deep and II was built upon rock they could dwell
IN IL for all eternity. The reverend gentleman then
concluded his ADDRESS with an eloquent prayer