Notes of a Sermon preached by the Rey. C. E. Darwen Union Church, Tientsi 1, on Sunday Morning, February 17 ext: St. John, VI 28 and 29: "They say therefore, unto him, What must we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answer: ed. and said unto them, This is the work of that ye heliewe on Him whom He hath sen!
Dr. Van Dyke isan eminent Acorican, He is an excellent Preacher as well as the writer of number of charming books that have had a Jarge sale. Ife is man of many parts; a student of bird loro, and, I believe, a writer on birds! he is also a fisherman ho has also served his country in its "diplomatic service. Altogethor he has had a good time of it, and isa man, who knows human nature, which piece of knowledge is almost as important for 1 minister a6 knowledge of the divine nature. Our Lord "knew what was in man,"
Dr. Van Dyke has been much 1 troubled at what ig: called "the prevailing unbelief," as to what the Gospel is, and' the unsettle-mont of faith, and the evorlastingly, digcuased state "of the churches." "I do sngt_ believe things are half ax bad as people
are ensily seared and unbelievers say they "are, Christian people far too apt to. crow over. the spread of unbelief, when they have mo reason to do we. The church ought to have been extinct conta ago if half the things thi say are true, They only they wore. Various reasons are given for what is called the "decay Of religion," as if it was a choos old timbers thal Bund One reason is that ministers cannot preach, and that if they do, they are dry'or behind the times, Some may be, but so are some business men, Te not, why did the Prince of Wales once et applauded "for teling the one business: ea wake for not one proposed to give: paid ind the vy. uP all bupincan beewue sows Busi Fiacdior's behind the time Tt is Tecause people in the churches are cold. 1 don't know; but are we expected to _—-Lal-on-the necks of the odd drop pers int? Then there is the music, The tunes, the" times of service. Everything would be Fight fall those things were altered.
However, it appears, that the really dreadful handicap in the way of the auccoss of the churches is that all churches have spoiled the Gospel by their creeds. They are the monsters that scare away all the really religious and pious people from the house of God, and compel them reluctantly to
golf course, ey are really sorry spend Sunday morning on the to have to shoulder their clubs, or make a coolie shoulder them. 'They would love to sit in church, or help the choir, if it were not for those awful reeds. When the Into Lord Shorbrooke was the Famous "Robert Lowe, a3 Glad: Stone's Chanerltor "of the, Excheger he trough i' match ax The prospect of this to got on the rnovean of one of those men the tse up their matches quicker than they smoke their tobareo, thay he omvaftied suicide and left a note explaining how he came to do if, SAig ral along of Bob Lo." 'And'so it appear that all the Aoglose of religion, and of church atlndance, is "all along Sremins" "Get rid of them: Hotter Side pot have any ut all; save lly no. dogmas' then th Beppy day will "dawn and. Gulekly. to "noontide "splendour, Than the: pews will all "be. full; Tail enlargement of churches will take the contractors Duky.
Drenirriow oF "REED
Te seoras a bit queer, docs all this, though we are ssxared. chat the eases Creeda have such Mocking tad name" that "one hat ity Hes to ase what the word Teoma Tf however, we do win:
fron ip courage to, inquire aso Themgasters meaning, we find tne" there fs quite senso sort idea in ie" Temcans, 2 a of ona' on: any mubect. That in" Ottord Dictonary's ian of less we belong to the tot tts Te in nomethings we
Peles groughgoing. philosophic sce. cui who doubt every walieie own foolish solves ther existence, there doest anything very terrible about it We all have creeds. 'There are the fresh-air people, who will sleep on verandahs; there are the men who bathe in the Serpentine all the winter and are cold wat believers. They have' the creeds of fresh air and cold water, There in the Shanghai Municipal Cour:
used" to read its beulah creed every summer. Tt was quite along and very. intimate docu: nent! "Don't wear a. cholera belt. Never cat uncooked. veget ables. See that your spouts have ho standing water in thew." shout" ie that "thie Pmiodern mit, You have a lot of things iene has a whole lot of dogmas
the health reed, Heman na-week, Tt docs not always syrup"
Health ere think," the orders, but it admira that this article of the creed is good, There is physical science. At the preseat day actually boast, that no prece: had xo many truths in creed as has om gravity, the con energy, the undulatory theory of light, ' the electric nature of matter, I don't find. that storms of objections ure raised again: those articles of the creed science. We. believe them, and are proud to hi If We have scientific live on them. There moral creeds. 1f Smith owes you money and will not pay, your creed is that an honest snan'ought to pay. 'There are fixed moral canons ax well as fived physical facts. Why then should there be '10 much pother about the creeds of the. Christian Church? Of courte, it has a creed and requires all its' members to. believe it. What would have been the sense in the Apostles setting out to tell the world that they had nothing to tell it. Absurd! The fact is that they were simply bursting with the wealth of glorious truths that God had revealed to, them in Jesus Christ, If there is one thing that ix certain, at is that it wane the Chi orced turned the world upside down, and as the late Mr. Grant Duff finely anid, "with its fact towards God," whom it fay "in the face of Jesus Eh "The Aposti wore absolutely contain of their ground; men eagerly accepted the truth they taught and so we have B. 0. and A.D. to mark our chronology. That creeds are 3 reasonable and necessary and natural clement in the re-Tigious life of man. is further shown by the plain fact that the churches which have the most definite Chrirstian are the most successful, while the one which has whittled its beliefs down to nothing or next to pothiog has not a missionary to its name, for the obvious reason that it has no divine Saviour to preach. It is a fool ide, if any hold it, that the Jdhurch is going to win the world
hubbard"" with a cupboard that being am "Old Mother hasn't. a single bone in it for the poor hungry sinner.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.