IMPROVING OUR HEARTS AND ENLARGING OUR SOULS

SERMON AT CHERRY STREET MEETING,

PHILADELPHIA, 9TH MONTH 16, 1849

It is for the purpose of improving our hearts, and enlarging our souls that we come here, [that] we may spend this hour profitably. We may feel desirous of having a devout heart, and the effect of endeavouring to acquire this, is the enlarging of the understanding in the fear of the Lord.

We behold the commandments of the Lord to be exceedingly broad. The mind that is accustomed to approach unto the Highest, in prayer and praise, cultivates the feeling of veneration, and adoration. Difference of religious opinion need not prevent us from seeing the magnitude of the works of the Lord and feeling that our duty is not limited to our own particular sphere. The liberal mind is often led to take a view of the world as it is.

I have remembered in this meeting the language of one who may well be venerated by those who are accustomed to acknowledge, as saints, the apostles and such as have fulfilled their duty in their day—one who might well be ranked with these—the Sainted Channing.

In the view he took of the world, of the state of society as he says: "Mighty powers are at work in the world, and who shall stay them. God’s word has gone forth and it will not return unto him void." A new comprehension of the Christian spirit, a new reverence for humanity, a new feeling of brotherhood, and of all men’s relations to the common Father, this is among the signs of our times.

Amid all the commotions, the jarrings, the marrings, and the bloodshed in the earth, and these are mournfully prevalent in various portions of the world, still there is to some extent, truth in the sentiment he offered. Would that it were more general, that it were more immediately felt!

There is need of prayers to the Lord to increase our faith in the sufficiency and efficiency of this divine world, that it may be exalted high above everything of human contrivance; that in obedience to it, we may go forth and labour in the great harvest field. Oh that there might be an increasing number of labourers going forth to arrest the evils and miseries that are in the world, and to aid the progress of knowledge and virtue. It needs that the people should be awakened, that they should be aroused to a sense of their condition, and be brought to the disposition to come into the pure walk of righteousness, peace, and love.

There is need of this in order to effect a change so desirable, so greatly to be coveted, to be prayed for and laboured for. We have cause to rejoice, that there are already so many labourers in this field, that there are enlightened minds, and purified hearts going forth at the command of the Highest, to turn the feet of those, who have gone far in the broad way that leadeth to destruction, into the way of peace and love.

We may be glad that the voice of peace is being proclaimed not only in our midst, but afar off among the nations of the earth; that the spirit of war is being held up in just abhorrence, and the benign and pure principles of the blessed Messiah, of all who have known the truth are spreading, leading the people to turn away from these destructive practices, from an indulgence in every spirit which engenders [them,] and to bring forth in their place the beautiful, the divine principles of the blessed son of God.

Truly this is cause of rejoicing and well may we say in reference to these and other great movements, having the good of man for their object, and the removal of oppression and injustice for their end that ‘mighty powers are at work in the world and who shall stay them? God’s word has gone forth and it shall not return unto him void."

We behold Divinity, not in differences of religious opinion but in the increasing regard for the right, which arises from this "new comprehension of the Christian spirit," this "new feeling of brotherhood, this new reverence for humanity." There are many who are viewing it in such light as to lead them to make sacrifices for the purpose of bettering the condition of the world; of effecting a more united brotherhood, where the relations which man sustains to man shall be acknowledged, and where there shall not be continued monopolies and the facilities for oppression and grinding the face of the poor, which are now existing, not only in our own country, but in various parts of the world.

"A new feeling of brotherhood and of all men’s relation to the common Father," is beginning to be manifested, tending to modify mere sectarian preferences and bring us to acknowledge one universal test of righteousness and love. This is apparent not only in one society or two, but it is being professed and acted out in a way that is cheering to every observer of signs of the times.

Let us hope that this spirit will spread and show man his true relation to his fellow beings. Then will be overthrown systems of oppression which have been conformed to so long, and which still are upheld by the corrupt and selfish, as well as by many in the ignorance under which unfavourable circumstances may have placed them.

But these evils are not the less afflicting to humanity, they cause not less misery in the world, because acted out through ignorance or thoughtlessness; or as some may claim by the peculiar circumstances of their situation. They are nevertheless, evils most deeply to be deplored; sins to which countenance should be given; no, not for an hour; sins which require the united action of the good, the benevolent, the truly virtuous, to overthrow.

Let all these go forth in their might—in the might which heaven will bestow upon them, for God blesses these with his gracious name. He is ever ready to aid the efforts of those who are rightly exercised for the good of humanity. Their confidence will be thus strengthened, and they cannot fail of success. Then there will be that growth in the earth of good principles, which will make her wilderness as Eden, her desert the garden of the Lord, joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Can we not believe my friends that it is the design of our Heavenly Father, that these things should be so that our millennium should be now at hand, that we should enter the kingdom of heaven now? The language of Jesus was "the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It corneth not by observation or observances but behold it is within you."

Much as we say of this fundamental doctrine of our profession, we need greater faith in it. There is need of spreading this truth, that the kingdom of heaven is within man, that it is a kingdom not of mysteries or miracles but of righteousness, peace and joy in a holy spirit. Were we not overlooking the simplicity of the truth as it is in Jesus, and seeking some greater display of the divine power than is manifested, we should acknowledge the divinity of this religion in the simplicity of its coming. We should prove it to be a power, mighty in deed yet having connection with our everyday conduct one with another.

Were we to carry out our principles in practice, our religious society might be instrumental in impressing the divinity of this truth, in offering more enlarged views for the people’s consideration, as well as spreading and promoting more virtuous practices. Blessings even rest upon those who practise mercy, love, benevolence and goodness, and who are continually hungering after righteousness. If there is anything that our souls should aspire to above all earthly considerations, it should be for greater purity of heart and the growth of more practical righteousness among men.

The author introduced to your notice and whose life has been present with me in this meeting has done much to direct the religious world from erroneous creeds and to the pursuit of truth and the right. Why may we not as profitably contemplate the life of such a man as Channing, and offer his views for consideration, so far as they are in accordance with the truth, as those of any minister of the Gospel in Christendom? Why not indeed, as profitably as the life and practice of Abraham and Isaac and David of old, or even of the Apostles of a later age?

It is interesting and instructive to review the life of this great and good man, in so far as he was faithful to the work assigned him. He proclaimed unpopular truths, at variance with the theology of his sect, and adopted a more liberal creed, submitting i to the people’s consideration and urged a life and practice more in accordance with the doctrine of Christ and the spirit of Christianity, than had obtained in the religious sects. He was not appreciated by the believers in a dark and gloomy theology and the worshipers in the timeworn ceremonies of their church. But standing fast in his liberty, he was an instrument of good to many.

This generation is indebted to such as Worcester and Channing and Elias Hicks, as well as other honorable men and women, not a few. Let me name Hannah Barnard who came forth amid the darkness and error that prevailed and in this country as well as in England, bore a noble testimony to truth, as opposed to superstition and tradition. She exposed the benighted reliance on Jewish authority, which led the people to find sanction for war and other evils and abuses; rebuking them for their Sin and great wrongs, sustained by an unwarrantable use of the Scriptures. Her name was cast out as evil and trampled upon by those high in authority, both in England and in this country.

But she lived to see the spread of true principles in the ministry of Elias Hicks and others, and could say "now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." In view of these and other laborers in the vineyard of truth, we may well say that, "Mighty powers are at work in the world, and who shall stay them?"

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