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THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. JOHN C. AGER.
Theme: Casting Out Evil Spirits.
~ Brooklyn, N. Y.—ln the Church of
the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian),
the pastor, the Rev. John Curtis Ager,
preached Sunday morning on “Cast
{ng Out Evil Spirits,” a sermon sug
zested by the Emmanuel Movement.
The text was from Matthew 10:7:
“And He called unto Him His twelve
disciples and gave them authority
over unclean spirits to cast them out.”
Mr. Ager said: ”»
The Lord’s twelve disciples were
exceptional disciples only in the sense
that they were types of representa
tives of discipleship. That is, the
outward duties and powers and privi
leges which the Lord conferred upon
these twelve men were divine types or
symbols of the spiritual duties and
powers and privileges that are con
ferred upon all true disciples of the
Lord. So this power or authority
over unclean spirits to cast them out
every true disciple of the Lord pos
sesses in the measure of his disciple
ship, that is, in the measure in which
he has come into the true order of
his life.
This great truth lies at the founda
tion of certain lines of thought that
are attracting much attention at the
present time.. These concern them
selves mainly with man’s deliverance
from physical evils, or diseases, with
only an obscure recognition of the
fact that physical evils are mainly
the effects or results of spiritual evils.
But the next step, that the spiritual
evils that beset us are caused by our
affiliation with evil spirits, as these
words plainly imply, is regarded as
an absurd superstition.
For modern Christian thought
gives the least possible space and con
sideration to the supernatural. It has
never found any place in its thinking
for an actual spiritual world, which is
the endless abode of all who have
passed out of this world through the
gate of death. It has even less re
spect for the idea that those who have
passed out of this world, wheverer
they may be, have any vital connec
tion with our experiences here.
This attitude of mind is most plain
1y out of harmony with the apparent
teaching of the Gospels, which every
where take for granted the existence
of spiritual beings, good and evil,
who hold most intimate relations to
men on the earth. So this aspect of
the Gospel teaching is something that
needs to be explained away, and the
attempts to do this are numerous and
various.
To the new church, on the other
hand, this is a vital truth, both as a
fundamental philosophical principle
and as a practical doctrine.
A century and a half ago Sweden
borg set forth with great fullness a
truth that recent philosophy has been
making a good deal of, the truth of
the solidarity of the human race.
Protestant theology rested on pure in
dividualism. But the truth that hu
manity as a whole is a one, a vital
and organic entity, has now come to
be clearly seen and its significance
recognized. Most thinkers, however,
confine this truth to the present popu
lation of this earth, while Sweden
borg makes it include all humanity,
the population of all worlds, includ
ing the spiritual world. He teaches,
furthermore, that this universal or
ganism is in the human form that is,
is a human grganism, as all its parts
and constituents are. In this organ
ism each individual soul has its place
and function, like the cells and fibres
of the human body, each one vitally
related to every other. But while it
is true that no individual soul or
spirit could exist if cut off from every
other soul or spirit, yet every human
soul is a separate individual, with
complete capability of determining
the character of its own life for itself.
Another doctrine to which Sweden
borg gives a unique importance is the
doctrine of influx.
Every judividual soul in its true
order is,4 finite imags of the infinite,
and itflhereffl“f made up of number
less fUneions and powers and parts,
rrom highest to lowest. Into this
complex organism the divine life flows
in an unceasing stream. Modern
psychology . teaches that our con
sciousness covers only a part of this
mental organism, the part that lies
next to our bodily sensations, and
therefore the lowest or outermost
part. And as consciousness is an es
sential element of all choices and de
terminations, and it is by choices and
determinations that character is de
termined, so it is only this lower or
outer conscious region of our life into
which spiritual disorder or evil can
enter.
All these regions of the human
soul, from highest to lowest, are
merely organic vessels or receptivi
ties, and are living only by virtue of
the unceasing inflow of life into them.
Into the highest or inmost region of
the soul the divine life flows directly
from the Lord. This region lies
above or within all human and an
gelic consciousness, and forms the
eternal connection between the in
finite and eternal life and the finite!
life, ensuring to the human soul its‘
erdless existence. Into all the re
gions of the soul below this highest
or inmost two streams of life flow,
one inwardly from the Lord, one out
wardly from other finite souls. And
it is this latter interflow of life from
soul to soul that bhinds all finite souls
into a single organism, the universal
man.
Thus the life of man is in no sense
=znd in no respect self-derived. The
human soul is nothing but an organic
vessel; and it is made alive solely by
what flows into it. And this inflow
. ing life enters the soul in two ways,
one directly from the Lord, the other
mediately through other souls. And
this is true of all the activities of
life, and especially of its two chief
activities, thought and feeling.
The capacities of the human 'soul
may be grouped under two heads,
namely, intellectual and emotional.
Life flowing into the intellectual ca-‘
pacities produces thought; flowing
into the emotional capacities it pro
duces feeling and willing, and all
thought and feeling and willing in
man are so produced. Thus our
thought and feeling are not, as they
appear to be, self-derived. They are
the product of these two streams of
Use that flow into us unceasingly, one]
et et et e e S e e
directly from the Lord, the other me
diately through other souls. We
know how thought and feeling are
comraunicated to us by means of what
enters the mind through the senses—
that is, by means of language and
visible and tangible objects, and we
acknowledge that such thought and
feeling are communicated, and not
self-derived. So there is no move
ment of the human mind that is not
a product of an inflow of thought or
feeling from other minds. This im
partation and reception of thought
and feeling we are wholly uncon
scious of; but it is the only explana,:
tion of many mental phenomena. i
All this may sound like mere spec
ulation; but it is, in fact, only a
somewhat elaborated way of saying
that everything good and true in hu
man life is from the Lord, and every
thing evil and false is of the devil
and from the devil. This truth the
Christian church has always recog
nized as a matter of doctrine. But to
hold it merely as a doctrine is not
sufficient. It is a primary and funda
mental principle of right living, and
we'can never make much progress in
right living until the mind has gained
so clear and firm a recognition of this
truth as will enable it to shape and
determine all our thinking and feel
ing about all our experiences with
evil and falsity and with good and
truth. For so long as we regard the
right thoughts and feelings that are
stirred in us as our own, as purely,
self-derived, we simply make of them
valued possessions of our self-life,
and so long as we regard the wrong
thoughts and feelings that are stirred
|in us as our own, we can never rid
‘| ourselves of them. 4
Thus what we find ourselves deal
|ing with in all our experience with
wrong thoughts and feelings is other
personalities. Whether they are living
in this world or the spiritual world
|we do not know, and it makes no
| difference. They are unclean spirits,
‘| incarnate or discarnate, trying to im
pose their life upon us. So far as we
| permit them to work their will in
| us they will go on stirring up in us
|all sorts of false thinking and evil
| feeling. But so far as we are striving
| to become disciples of the Lord He
| gives us authority over them to cast
'{ them out. .
! Let us note the exact meaning of
| these words, “He called unto Him His
‘| twelve disciples and gave them au
| thority over unclean spirits to cast
them out.”
' From these words we may be as
| sured in the first place that this au
| thority over unclean spirits to cast
'|them out is bestowed by the Lord
|only upon His disciples. Therefore,
| if we wish to possess this power over
| the infernal influences that are stir
| ring up wrong thoughts and feelings
'|in us we must be disciples of the
| Lord. A disciple is a learner, and a
disciple of the Lord is one who wishes
| to learn from the Lord.
- Calling His disciples unto Him, the
' | Lord gave them this power. The Lord
calls to us in every truth about right
| living that we give heed to; and we
| listen to His call whenever we accept
| any truth as His truth, and therefore
-| as the true wisdom aof life. This de
| sire for the true wisdom of life and
| willingness to accept it in place of our
| own wisdom is what opens the mind
| for the true wisdom of life to flow in;
)t and this wisdom is all power or au
| thority over evil spirits. For no evil
»| or falsity can exist in the presence of
" | Divine wisdom. Just as effectually as
" | light dissipates darkness does truth
| dissipate falsity, and falsity is evil's
" | sole defense. The hold that anything
| has upon our life is determined solely
| by the way we think about it and feel
» | about it. The truths we profess to
| believe are so ineffective in ridding us
"| of our evils simply because of our ob
| scure and indefinite conception of
' | them, and our loose and feeble hold
‘|upon them. Our prime need, there
- | fore, is clearer conceptions of the
‘| truth; that is, clearer conceptions ot
" | the right way of looking at all the is-
L | sues and experiences of life,and of the
| right way to feel about them. The
| power or authority over unclean spir
- | its that the Lord bestows upon us is
" | the authority of law over disorder, of
*{ right over wrong, of truth over fals
ity, of light over darkness. All this is
| the power of right thought and right
| purpose. This authority no evil spirit
"|or evil influence can withstand. With
|it we can effectually cast out even the
' | most insidious invasions of evil upon
| our life.
‘ Such is the authority over unclean
| spirits that the Lord bestows upon all
| disciples. The only condition neces
' | sary to receiving it is to be a disciple
| of the Lord. The twelve disciples did
| not ask for this authority. It was a
| token, and the chief token, of disci
"| pleship. So if we do not possess this
| power it is because we are not disci
| ples, and the only way to get it is to
become a disciple. And becoming a
| disciple is simply learning how to
| think in the right way and to feel in
the right way about all the experi
| ences of life, even the most trivial,
| and compelling ourselves to think and
| to feel always in that way and to
| bring all our words and all our acts
|into harmony with that thinking and
| feeling. This is the disciple state of
mind and the way of life. All that is
| necessary to gain it is to see that this
‘| is the chief business of our life in this
| world, and to give to it the daily
| study and thought and effort it de
‘| serves. And, doing this, we shall
‘| very soon come to see that the author
|ity over unclean spirits to cast them
‘| out is a pure gift from the Lord, and
that His yoke is indeed easy and His
burden light.
Getting Even—\With What?
When one person has wronged an
other, the unjustly injured person is
always, for the time being, on a high
er plane than the one who has done
the injury. The wronged one has not
lost what the other has lost. The
only way to make the loss equal is
for the injured one to “get even.”
Then, in adition to his hurt feelings,
he has the satisfaction of knowing
that he is no better than the other
fellow.
What an ingenious tempter Satan
is, to persuade us to add injury to
insult unto ourselves! For that is
what “getting even” accomplishes; it
is lowering ourselves and our stand
ards to the level of the one who has
wronged us. How much better to
help the other to “get even” with the
higher standards which Christ alone
can enable us to hold to: love and
forgiveness.—Presbyterian Record.
Real Prayer.
In souls filled with love the ambi- I
tion to please God is real prayer. __‘l
e e
A TREE ON A TOWER.
It is the Last of a Grove of Four on
the Same Perch,
A tree growing on the top of the!
110 foot tower of the court house at |
Greensburg, Ind., is a curiosity which |
is sald by a writer in St. Nicholas to
have no duplicate in the world. :
There were formerly four trees, but |
when the court house was remodelled
in 1887 the largest iree, then about |
fifteen feet high, was removed, as its
size was thought to render the tower
unsafe. ;
Two others on the south side per
ished from the intense heat. The
tree left is found at the northwest
corner of the tower, where the re
flection of the heat of the tower is
not so intense as at the point where
the two others died.
As there is a grove of soft maples
growing in the court house yard, the
grove on the tower is supposed to
have been started by the wind blow
ing the winged maple seeds in to the
crevices where, catching root in the
sediments of dust and watered by the
rain, they sprouted.
The trees were first noticed sprout
ing more than thirty years ago.
A recent examination of the tower
shows no damage done by the spread
ing growth of the roots. The
tree is about fifteen feet in height
and three inches in diameter. 14
was found that the treees were nour- |
ished by a layer of growth a few feet |
below where the roots emerge. !
A large crack on the south side of
the tower where -one of the trees was
removed is noticeable from the
ground. Because of the lone ftree,
Greensburg is sometimes known as
the “Lone Tree City.”
THE MODERN WAY.
Host—*Have you seen the wedding
gifts old man?”
Guest—“No, not yet.”
“Well, wait a moment, I'll get one
of the detectives 4o escort Yyou
through.”—Life.
NOo NEED TO CUT CORNS,
Just paint them with ABBOTT’S EAST IN
pIAN CORN PAINT, following directions on
the bottle, and you’ll have no more corns.
It eures hard corns on top of the toes, soft
oorns between them, bunions or sore, cal
lous spots on the feet without cutting, burn
ing or leaving any soreness. 25c. at drug
stores or by mail from Tas Asmsorr Co.,
Savannah, Ga.
Most of our joys, as well as most
of our sorrows, are due to ignorance.
AR TTR TAPTT TT T A P R LD Yl e B Yo o NAT
‘
Our worries would ;
wasn't for the things
pen,
Ask Yo;anr Al
A powder. It rests the fé .
Bunions, Swollen, Sore, Ho|
Sweating Feet and Ingrov
Foot-Ease makesnew or tig
all Druggists and Shoe sto
cejn no sabstitute. Samyp
Address Allen 8. Olmsted ;
And the fool with 1
may drive an ash cart
HAD ECZEMA 15
Myzs. Thomas Thompson,
Ga.. writes, under date of A
suffered 15 years with torm
had the best dootors to pres
ing did me aay good uatill
It oured me. I am
Thousands of others oan te;
ouras. TeTTERINE is sold
gsent by mail for 60c. by J.
Dept. A, Savannah, Ga. :
Some people are purs
cause they haven’t anyth ole
be proud of.
Garfield Tea is of particular :
those subject to rheumatism and
purifies the blood, cleanses the sy
aradicates disease. Drink before :
Hints for Husbands.
Men should take women as
are, and not expect them to be
gels. If a man truly loves a won
he ought not to complain of her fe
ine shortcomings, but have patience
with her whims and try to understand |
her. It is not so very difficult.—Ham- |
burg Familien Zeitung. f‘
COMPLAINTS ABOUT PAINT.
The time to complain about paint 1
s before the painter applies it. The
man who puts up the money should
not shirk the responsibility of choos
ing the paint. True, the painter
ought to know paint better than the
banker, the professional man or the
merchant. The trouble is, the house
owner too often deliberately bars the
competent and honest painter from
the job by accepting a bid which he
ought to know would make an Lkonest
job impossible.
Secure your bids on the basis of
National Lead Company’s pure White
Lead and pure Linseed Oil and see
that you get these materials. §
No one need be fooled by adulter
ated white lead. A blowpipe testing
outfit will be mailed to anyone inter
ested in paint.
Address, National Lead Company,
Woodbridge Building, New York City.
Men who pretend to understand wo- '
men are only pretenders. St
Truth and |
Quality
!appcal to the Well-Informed in every |
| walk of life and are essential to permanent |
| success and creditable standing. Accor
ingly, it is not claimed that Syrup of Figs |
| and Elixir of Senna is the only remedy of |
known value, but one of many reasons‘f
| why it is the best of personal and family
laxatives is the fact that it cleanses, |
; sweetens and relieves the internal organs
| on which it acts without any debilitating
after effects and without having to increase
the quantity from time to time. |
| It acts pleasantly and naturally and
| truly as a laxative, and its component
parts are known to and approved by
physicians, as it is free from all objection
| able substances. To get its beneficial
i | effects always purchase the genuine—
| manufactured by the California Fig Syrup
| Co., only, and for sale by all leading drug
| gists.
1 S e L e L
| While the Belgian electric street
| railway lines in Tien-Tsin, China, do
" not as yet pay much, the Chinese are
| riding on the cars in ever Increas
f | ing numbers, and in a rew years the
| company expects to make handsome
* | profits.
| . ———————————————————— e . - ——
| Deafness Cannot Be Cured
| dylocal applications as theycannot reachthe
Wiseased portion of theear. Thereis only one
way tocure deafness, and that is by consti
tutional remedies. Deafness iscaused byan
inflamed condition of the mucous lining of
the Bustachian Tube. When thistubeisin
damed you have a rumbling sound or irager
| sect hearing, and when it 13 entirely closed
Deafness is the result, and unless the inflam
mation can be taken out and this tube re
stored to its normal condition, hearing will
bedestroyed forever. Nine cases out of ten
' arecaused bycatarrh, which isnothingbutan
inflamed condition of the mucous surfaces.
We will give One Hundred Dollars for any
case of Deafness (caused bycatarrh)thatcan
~ notbe curedby Hall's Catarrh Cure. Send for
~ tircularsfree. F.J.CHENEY & Co.,Toledo,O.
| Sold by Druggists, 75c.
| Take Hall’s Family Pills for constipation.
< The New York tunnel system, as
planned, looks to a facilitation of the
' commerce of the world, remarks the
. Boston Post. Let us hope it will
~ prove its promise.
o Railways are issuing or
' | profanity among emp
sengers can contrg
t suggest the Was
~ ‘Way men sy
lceland Wants to Go it Alone.
Autonomy for Iceland is again be
goming a prominent topic between that
island and Denmark. That the Ice
landers ardently long for the inde- |
ipendent management of their own as- ;
fairs has long heen known, and the i
trecent visit paid by the members of [
their Legislature to Copenhagen has ‘
‘pushed the question once more promi- |
'nently to the front. Icelands claim !
iis for an organic instrument between |
| the two States, under which the com- ‘
mon sovereign would assume the |
| style of King of Denmark and Ice- |
'Jand. The island’s formula is as fol- |
lows: One King, one flag—union with !
| Denmark, but with freedom to man- |
age our own affairs.’—London Globe. }‘
LICKY: |
“T always was lucky,” saild Saunter- I
ing Sim, !
“I don’t see,” Teplied Ruffled Rube, ;
| “how you can say dat, Here you are |
| all run down, sick wit de ague,and ]
| not knowin' where your next meal's |
comin’ from.” ; f
“Dot’s wot I tell you. It's just |
plain good luck. Wot it I was heal |
thy, end had a big appetite?’—Chi- |
cago Record-Herald, 3
FITS,St. Vitus'Dance:Nervous Diseases per- {
manently cured by Dr. Kline's Great Nerve |
Restorer. $2 trial bottle and treatise free. |
‘ Dr. H. R. Kline, Ld..931 Arch St., Phila., Pa. i
Be up and doing if you would not|
be down and done. |
Capudine Cures Indigestion Pains, |
Balchinfi, Sour Stomach, and Heartburn,
| from whatever cause. It's Liquid. Effects |
; ll)tpmedxately. Doctors proscr‘}hc it Ase
| 25¢., and 50c., at drug stores. |
: Some people are toco polite —to
i | themselves.
. Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrupfor Children
. | teething,softens thegums,reducesinflamma- 3
} tion, allays pain,cures wind colic, 25ca bottla ‘
1 A BARREL FULL.
; “If an empty barrel wei
" pounds what can you fill
r make it weigh seven
4 “Have to give d
: “PFill it full
Heart Revi
P
Py
e
) RS PR
g @ ol
i, T\ P
A y PooEEE
- =
L >
| This woman says that sicle’
| women should not fail to try
| Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable
| Compound as she did.
| Mus. A. Gregory, of 2355 Lawrence
;St;., Denver, Col, writes to Mrs.
| Pinkham:
|~ I was practically an invalid for six
| years, on account of female troubles.
| T underwent an operation by the
| doctor’s advice, but in a few months L
| was worse than before. A friend ad
| vised Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable
| Compound 2nd it restored me to perfect
| health, such as I have not enjoyed in
| many years. Any woman suffering as
| 1 did with backache, bearing-down
| pains,and periodic pains,should not fail
| to use Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable
Compound.” -
FACTS FOR SICK WOMEN.
For thirty years Lydia E. Pink.
ham’s Vegetable Compound, m:
from roots and herbs, has
standard remedy
and has posifay.
women v
displa
| tio
