The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-02-16

NO ooWoiuo ioSAoeihS ouO oSSNe-S~~ 1870 Wv
bondage of the grave, and this they did at the
bidding of voice that never spoke in vain and
never commanded even his worst enemies,
without being instantly obeyed So, in other
instances. (Which were severally adduced)
We are by nature morally dead. Sin has de
stroyed every germ of spiritual vitality WITHIN
us. 1t has rendered US as insensible to things
divine and heavenly, as are the tenants OF the
tomb to the objects that surround them
We NAV know much-but we do not know the
things that are freely given us of God" We
NAV indnloe all the affections of earthly rela-
tionship. and feel keenly all the sensibilites Of
nature; but we are destitute of love to God
our carnal minds are emnity against Him, and
are not subject to His law, neither indeed can
be- till the moral miracle of grace is wrought
upon us by the creative and quickening power
of the Almighty. Eph. 2, Ii.
II we are alive in Christ Jesus, it is our duty
and privilege to ask what he would have us do,
as preparatory to his own work of giving life
to the spiritually dead When means are with
in our reach, every motive which sanctitied hui
mainly can feel, should invite and urge us to
employ them.
1. There are those amongst us and around
us who need to learn what be the hrst prlncl-
pies of the oracles of God, and are perishing
for lack of that knowledge which maketh wise
| unto salvation. Here then, is an obstacle in
| the way of their spiritual resurrection which
| we can and should remove. Ignorance of the
| truth as it is in Jesus stands like stone in
| front of that moral sepulchre in which precious
souls lie dead in trespasses and sins. The
preachers must inculcate that truth with all
diligence and assiduity. Christian parents are
| such only as they teach their children the way
| of life. The one great object of sabbath school
instruction is to teach the pupils the need of re-
| pentance, forgiveness and salvation through
! the atonement of Emmanuel. Christian friend.
shipcan best show its It's intensity and strength
by enlightening the beloved object in the
| knowledge of the Saviour. Christian patriot
| ism can have no loftier ambition than to spread
| throughout the land the gospel OF the grace of
God What are all the efforts put forth for the
| evangelization of the world but endeavors-
prompted and sustained by Christian philan
thropy to take dsoay the stone from the place
| aohere the dead are laid. Whilst asking and ex-
pecting that Christ may raise the dead, let us,
at his command, remove the strong obstruc
| ton.
2. Error is, in this respect as great an evil
as blank ignorance. The man who builds his
house upon the sand,i is in as great danger as he
who does not build at all. In the spirit of the
gospel, with the mind that was in Christ
| in the exercise of that true charity that
'rejoiceth in the truth, we must endeavor to per
| suade the erring to abandon whatever would de-
| feat the object-or mar toe fair proportions, or
deface the SURPRISING beauty of that edifice of
| grace and truth which is built on the founda-
ton of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ
| himself being the chief corner stone.
8. 1t rests with Christians. truly such, to re
move the prejudice against religion, occasioned
| by the real or alleged Inconsistencies of its pro-
| fessors. Men know this to be but pretext
! which never for moment deceives their own
conscience. They know that the treachery of
| Judas does not invalidate the loyalty of
the eleven disciples. They know that counter
| feits of any kind do not lessen the reality and
value of the genuine. Meet, however, the
prejudice and overcome it by holy life.
4. Another prejudice extensively prevails as
| to the melanchOlic and morOse tendency of vital
| piety. Live~dOwn the egregious folly of such
prejudice. Show that the world which drags
others at its heels is overcome by faith-that
the putId streams of merely sensuous enjoy
ment are not to be compared with the fountain
of living water to which you have always
and everywhere access.
g. There is one kind of practical oickedness
prevailing in our land, in our State and in our
city, which lies like an insuperable obstacle to
the spiritual resurrection of thousands of our
population. Can we do nothing towards COR
recting the great evil OF intemperance? or
limiting the range of its desolating influence?
| or preventing the destruction of multitudes not
yet beyond the reach of Christian charity aud
hope? Shall we silently and inactively stand
by, and see this most terrible of plaques ex-
hausting the resources, enfeebling the bodies,
and running the souls of its miserable victims?
Are there no means by which the moral
power of our christian churches can be made
to bear on the execution and enforcement Of
our sanitary laws? May not those holding
civil offices amongst us-or aspiring to them
| b. made to feel that the suffrages of Chris
tians are not to be gained, otherwise than by
scrupnlous and strict fidelity? May not faith
Torrance of their duty? May not many, now
| drawn into those haunts of vice which so
largely nfest our city, be thus rescued from their
degradation and prospective ruin, brought
back to the paths OF sobrety and virtue, intro
duced into the circle of Christian society, led
into the the sanctuary and by divine grace
earnestly besought in their behalf-become
partakers OF that new existence which comes,
and can only come, from him who is the
Resurrection and the Life.''
The preacher closed by reference to the ne
cessty OF prayer. Prayer without practice is
| hyDocrisy-practica without prayer is pre-
sumption. True and vital godliness combines
the two. This at once devout ard digent-
humbly dependent on heavenly grace, yet
heartily devoted to the work given it by
divine authority to do. All wisdom Of de-
sign, all capacity for action, all opportunities
OF usefulness, all disposition and courage to i'm
prove them must come from God. Let us
wait on him, and work while it is called to-
day.
PARK STREET.
At Park Street Church Rev, Mr.. Buck de-
livered the fourth and last sermon of a series
on Biblical Inspiration. After announcing
that in connection with this series he would
give next Sunday sermon on the Bible in the
public schools, he proceeded to define the
spiritual theory of Biblical Inspiration, and
to compare it in practical application with the
mechanical theory of Biblical Infallibility.
The text was -"Not of the letter but of the
Spirit; for the letter killeth but the Spirit
giveth life." Biblical inspiration is the Word
hat IokI,
the soul of some ancient worshipper, i'm
parted by him in words, aud through that
broken, imperfect communication. reaching,
to thrill with ennobling impulse, the heart of
the reader In the absence of any proof or
probability that God did ever dictate the
words of the Bible we are limited inexorably
to this single criterion of Inspiration
Whatever breathes the Word of God is inspired
| by the Word of God.
According to this theory all words of wisdom
and power, all words that are profitable for
instruction in righteousness, and to furnish
man unto good works are God inspired But
all GOd-breathed words are not on the same
level. One star differeth from another star in
glory, through the glory of each is from the
Almighty. The word Of Plato differs from
the word of Paul in the power and wisdom
that are given above There is one glory of
inspiration in Socrates and another in Jesus
And it IS quite just to say that one word is
above another, more powerful, more wise,
more inspiring, giving impulse and guidance
over larger range of experience, and reaching
to deeper sources Of feeling and action. But
that is not to say that one inspired
word is better than another because of the
place in which it is found, or because of the
date which is assigned to it, or for other facti-
tious reason. Such superiority cannot be i'm
posed by accident; it is intrinsic. 1t is there
fore no sufficient warrant of inspiration to say
that the words are from the Bible; nor is it a
sufficient refutation of claims to inspiration to
say that the words are not in the Bible
The speaker proceeded to show in what man.
ner the theory of Biblical Instability is injuri-
GUS both to the Bible and to the reader, and
maintained that those who are led to exchange
this theory for the other, instead of bemoanng
q roi.i in, moi