Year: 1879

PLYMOUTH CHURCH.


BE YE ANGRY AND SIN NoT-sERMON Dy REV.


HENRY WARD BEEcHER.


At Plymouth Church yesterday forenoon Mr.
Beecher selected for his text Ephesians iv.. a6Be
ye angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon
your wrath" 1t would seem. said the preacher.
that this was the last thing in the human economy
that needs to be commanded Men arc commanded
to be angry. though they were not by nature too
easily angered. but the grace Of anger is to be
held 30 ~ not to degenerate into sin. When
think of man in his primitive state per-
haps in savage life. left to himself. with
out any agency to protect him, at
once see how fatal it would have been to tho
race IL he had no idea OF defending himself. With
out the power of instant elfdefence the would
be destroyed before he got ready to resent an
sault or defend himself. and to primitive man
there was given power supreme against peril. He
didn't wait to obtain Judgment for wrong indicted
on him. but his instinct flying out quicker than
thought or will opposed tho wrong. This is COM
batveness. of which anger is the expression. 1t
aprime necessity and morciful power that men
given the instinct to strike. 1t was not until
society formed governments and commopwealths
that the necessity for mans right to resent all
wrongs offered to him seems to have passed away.
The individual was then taken of by society
and ITS laws We are occasionally thrown back
self-defence. but not ordinarily.


JUsrIFIABLlI CoMBATIvENEss


Combativeness gives to the unders tanding energy,
but under moral culture it becomes auxiliary in
the functions OF the brain. There are many things
to demand anges. Sudden personal assault by
night by day. Is to be repeed. and to repel it
not against religion IL you are smitten on one
cheek you can turn the other. fguratively. Now il
am in the act OF turning street corner and man
suddenly strikes me III knock him down--and then
perhaps argue with him for tell you that in such
argument 1t makes quite o difference whether the
man Is under you you under him. 1t is the
duty OF every man to defend his house at all hazards
much so as for soldier to defend his
post. Where the law does not afford protection or
the officers OF the law absent lie il thrown back
again Oh Ais right Of sef-defence. He is bound to
defend his lite. his house. his wife or his children.
1t brute should be beating child on the
street. or misleading. to their injury. stranger or
grossly insu. ting defenceless woman, there IL
opportunity for the display Of chivary; and the
man who would not step in and assert his manhood
on such an occasion is hardly worthy the namc of
man. II p, rson should be seen going into pow
der magazine TO drop light. not only anger but an
expression Of it would be justinoi. There
nothing is effective the fash Of the lightning
of anger. III life there happening every day
things 80 odious, destructive to morality that
somebody should rebuke thein like thunder. In
business frequently men perform actions so esscn-
TALLY mean and contemplate that tor the sake OF
truth. justice anu honor somebody's tongue ought
to cut iike sword. The rebuke OF one honest man
the tongue the hand or the foot is most salutary in
community. Ono who hates evil and won't
allow 1t to go unrebuked in his presence Is often
effective for good than all the churches and all
the preachers in his neighborhood.


But do not let your anger serve the purpose or
revenge. or DO the warcndog OF your selashness.
Above ALL don't let 1t lengthen itself out LET not
the sun 80 down upon your wrath. DO not rake
up anger after tho day is or reserve 1t to
kindlc tho fire with the next morning. Let 1t como
quick. strike and DO doue with it. There is no hand
that strike 30 hard the hand OF true benevo-
lence. There is no other one feeling in the world
that knows how to be angry as quickly as love- l
expressibly beautiful and pure in love; but how
awtuly intense IL the meaning of the wrath of God
Although do not believe that the Bible has settled
fbo Of m t1Yiis shpian here ~
nothing clearer than that sin carries suffering with
1t into eternity.


SPRING ST. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
SERMON By REV. ALFRED MOMENT ON THE


PEnMAxENcY OF ACTION, BOTH HUMAN AND


DIVINE.


At the Spring Street Presbyterian Church. the
pastor. Rev. Alfred Moment, preached. taking his
text from Ecclesiastes ill.,, 15-"That which hath
been is now; and that which is to be hath already
been: and God requireth that which is past" The
real subject Of tho discourse the "Pormanency OF
Action, Both Human and Divine" In beginning,
Mr.. Moment said that the purpose Of tho book OF
Ecclesiastes was to show the vanity OF human life
without God. In following out this subject the writer
constantly cjaculates into his discourse expressions
that contain thoughts above his main theme. This
text is Therefore we take il away from the
connection in the chapter with Solomon and
slider 1t in suggestive sense. First the acts of God
permanent. In the beginning He made promise
to Adam that tho seed of the woman should bruise
the head Of tho serpent. This promise founded
upon act OF God. and this was tho providing
of Saviour for lost and SHINING world. This has
never been changed. Any attempt to add to take
away from II has met with comp plete failure The
wheels OF divine judgment, more crushing than the
Of Juggernaut. have rolled over the author Of
any such attempt The antediluvians tried IL and
were swept away. The Babel founders and even
Of our own day have attempted 1t, but they all
failed II would be saved we snust honor this
eternal act of God by accepting tho Saviour He has
provided for Then. again. Gods promises all
eternal. Like children need companion and
need some one to provide for us. We are often in
trouble, In great weakness and We need one to say
to our Sea OF Gaeo peace, DO STILL" Let the text
admonish to-day that that which has been IL
lie with Job in his Affections. Ho was with Da-i
vid In the hour of his great fall He with Daniel
In Babylon aud lie Is with us this very hour. As
father pitieth his children SO tho Lord picth them
that fear Him.