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Show REV. E. POWELL'S SERMON ON THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE UNTO LEAVEN. Th Km rend Gi-ntlrinno Vrr ached m Practical Prac-tical D ncoursB to 1111 A ir-o t t.1 v Con. g-rvgatlon III tli Halt I.k Thoatar Last Evening;. Rev. Dr. Enoch Powell of Topeka, Kan., who for the past two Sabbaths has preached to the Unitarians 01 tins city, last night took for his text: "The Kingdom of Heaven is Like unto Leaven." Dr. Powell said: "Last Sunday night I sought to warn ' you against certain dangerous tendencies tenden-cies in theology and showed that reason and conscience, these candles in our own breast, are our own guides aud our supremo authority. Tonight I would warn you agaiust certain dangerous tendencies in the popular philosophies and showothat the sources of moral and spiritual power are not the strong hand nir tho mighty brain, but the great soul. The Unitarian church, which shall bo a lasting monument of your devotion and a never-failing sourco of good to this community, must not be founded upon your opinions, opin-ions, but upon living demonstrations of the magnanimous spirit you are hereto reveal aud illustrate. "Our physical well being lies in the realm of unconsciousness. When our hearts beat with perfect rythra and when our stomachs perfectly perform their vital functions we are uucouscious of their action. "Underneath the political crust there is a vital social life. Society performs its vital functions in a rational way, even when the politicians have gone mad. There is a vital social organism, like the vital functions of tho body, which live and act independent of political poli-tical institutions. Institutions are in the race, What the intellect is to the individual. As we are unconscious of the power by which food is converted into vital force, so wo are unconscious of the forces by which knowledge is converted into wisdom. The larger life of society is supported by powers which govern its heart beats and shape its conscience. That is a secular theory which assumes that man is reformed through his intellect. The vital nature is not changed by opinions and beliefs. The springs of conduct lie in the unconscious groundwork of life itself, aud men are improved only as a change is wrought in their impulses im-pulses and affections. Out of the heart are all the issues of life. Our endeavor is not therefore to put Plato's or Herbert Spencer's head upon our fellows shoulders, but to gel Christ's heart in their bodies. It matters not what institutions or beliefs a people may have, they become civilized and religious only as they are brought to live and act in the Christly way. At tho beginning of the ministry of Jesus, the political world was open to him. The Messiah was expected to bo a king, and rule through institutions. Yet Jesus sought to found a kingdom he likened to leaven, an influence which should permeate. He soueht lo sway the heart motion of men. He depended entirely upon his personal influence. Jesus did not seek to regenerate the world by contriving a new social compact com-pact like that set forth in Looking Backward, Back-ward, or that of Mormonism. He did not believe in profoundly affecting the destiny of men by the power of abstract and impersonal ideas. He did not build his hopes upon a moral philosophy. philoso-phy. Ho proposed no new form of society. He lived in conformity with the customs of his people anil time. Hu lived out the truth, and practically illustrated his laws and maxiums and relied upon his example to convince men. Ho saw that not the strong hand, the great idea, were the commanding intellect, but the great soul is the point about which men rally, and on which all human events turn. He aspired to bo the man who, by virtue of inmate superiority, should establish a new kingdom of peaco and order within all other kingdoms. He did not try to set men in order by ( shere strength of hand and will. His kingdom was to grow by means of the natural laws and forces always at work. As leaven slowly defines itself, so did he look for his kingdom to spread from heart to heart. The Unitarian church is here to make grand God-like men and women of us, and it must depend for its growth aud power not on priestly contrivances, but upon that mysterious jwwer we call personal influence. If one holy faith is in your souls it will thin oiit and radiate. In subtle ways docs tho sacred fire of spiritual life propogate itself. By personal contact con-tact in worship we gall or from the spiritual life yon. All instrumentalities for good have their basis and support in tho power of one soul to impart to other souls its own spiritual vitality, and this church exists to rise the tides of lift!; that we, in our measure, may impart life as Jesus did. This is the only. way in which the world is to bo made really belter. We must rebuke folly and sin with a noble life and comfort the sor-rowintr sor-rowintr and despairing with a courageous courage-ous faith and illustrate our religion by a God-like pity and charity. We must strive to lie the saving heaven and not be over anxious lo be all the meal. We must be magnanimous, seeking to conquer con-quer our kingdom uot by criticism but by admiration for he who is captured is enslaved but he who is won through love and admiration is made firm. |