The Portland daily press., 1874-04-27

secular, and he is bound as the servant of Christ
to have his word of truth ready. The Christian
life is the whole and perfect life The religious
aim is the all inclusive aim. 1t stands not aside
from others, bu over and above all others.
In the sixteenth century the little country
of Holland was subject to the tyranny of King
Philip OF Spain. Then it was that God raised
up great man for the crisis in the person of
country seized him and he devoted his life to
her cause. He knew nothing but his country
and her liberties. That is, his country was the
ceutre of his thought. His skill, his wealth,
his influence were all subservient to his love of
Fatherlapd. Such was the power in great
man Of mighty love. just so with the preach
ing of Christ. The preacher sees Him as the
centre of all history, the soul of all religion.
He sees His life as the one ideal life, His per-
son as the one revelation of the Father.
figure as its centre and includes all things. 1t
deepens away from Him and embraces all
truth. 1t rises away from Him and ascends in
to all mystery. There is pothing foreign to
Christ and Him crucifed, for we see everything
in relation to Him. 1t is never, therefore, words
to be won.
-, We come now to the last important question
"how Shall the preacher proceed? With this
breadth Of field how shall he know what to
teach? His one simple rule is to teach as much
and as far only as he sees himself. He can
dare to preach nothing that is not real to him.
self. Thus only can he be honest. Thus only
can he preserve at the same time that spirit of
liberty and progressive development which is
the characteristic of christian truth, and that
proper conservatism which always knows its
ground. Woe to the preacher whe cannot look
every hearer in the face and say II believe"
Woe to the preacher in these days of ours whs
can give no weighty arguments for his faith.
Woe too, to the preacher who aares not an
swer 81 do not know" where vet he is waiting
for liOht 10 IA dOofh xu,n cLo1l In rf
the doctrine" is the one promise and hope for
the preacher. The soul and centre of his
preaching must be Jesus Christ "His aim is
the salvation of the world into the great king
tration of truth must be his sympathy with
the actual needs of his people. The one canon
OF his teaching must ever be the honest un-
folding of that TRUTH and that only, which God
has given him. But his hope shall always be,
as he tries, with the help of your forbearance,
and the power of your prayers to do Gods
service, that he shall, while standing more
firmly at the centre, see wider and with purer
eyes into the great realms of truth that God
is unfolding; that he shall ever have new and
disclose.
We believe that the Gospel of Christ is the
very power of God unto salvation. We be-
lieve that so far as we use it as our instrument
there is no possibility of failure for our church.
1t it is as impossible for us to live it out and to
save mems souls, as it is impossible for the sun
to shine and not warm the earth.
INDIA STREET.
Rev. A. II. Sweetser, of Rockland, occupied
the pulpit at this church yesterday In the
evening he delivered a temperance lecture He
began with recital of che part of Bunyan's
Pilgrims Progress. where Christiana becoming
weary took spiritual drink. He showed that Bun
yam was in favor of such refreshments for the
weary christian. Such teachings are contrary
to the Bible, and to all who are interested in
the work of reform. The desire for life is the
cause of men drinking. They desire to live
more and to live faster. They want excitement
and take to drink to find it. There IS kind of
intemperance as bad, if not worse than the in
temperance caused By rum the love of books,
the very sight of which should make young
lady or gentleman blush. But still these books
are read by the daughters of our best families.
There should be a law against their sale that
would prevent such a wide circulation as is
given them to-day. I would rather that man
would sell my boy glass of liquor than that
my daughter should read book that she would
not be willing for me to see. Another kind of
intemperance is the love of opium. True, an
opium eater does not beat his family when un-
der its influence but he is slave to his appe-
tite.
The speaker was satisfied that license law
would not keep rum away from men; prohibito-
ry law will, and it car be enforced if it Is desir
ed to do it. If it is not enforced then let the
people rise as one man and take it in their
own hands. The praying bands were well
spoken OF, and he thought they did good. A
rpaDS inst What he fora Olu of
liquor he drinks he must pay price.
He gave recital from the life of Cough,
where he decided to reform, and then took to
drink again. 1t is said that drunkenness is on
The time is coming when it will be popular to
come out against those who dare sell intoxicat-
ing drink. The lecturer closed with a warm
appeal for the cause.
FREE STREET.
Rev. j. N. Murdock, d. D., of Boston,
preached at this church yesterday morning and
evening In the morning he took his text
from Philippians iii, IA 81 press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God
in Christ Jesus
The preacher explained the words of the
text as referring to those who practiced in run
ming race for prize. 1t is used to illustrate
the race in the divine life. There are too man y
heed this injunction. Every christian should
keep advancing; we should know little more
each day than we did the day before.
We do not read the bible enongh. We ought
to know more of the trnths of the bible each
succeeding year than we did the year before.
1t is impossible to make this progress in mo-
ment; it must be gradual; what some people
call sanctifcation is merely fanaticism. To
progress you have got to labor and toll con-
stantly. To make any progress you must cut
away from all former habits, leave behind all
that binds you and press forward to the work.
The bands that hold us to our former life are
what prevent us from being christians. If you
can't cut yourselves loose from these bands you
can't make any progress. You must fight and
press forward, straining every nerve, for the
prize, and must continue to press until you
reach the mark: The men of one idea are the
men that prosper, in that one thing they are
striving for. The christian should have but
one purpose, to reach the mark that he has
started for, and he should subject everything
else to that. 1t you are engaged in politics put
your religion into your politics. for if there ever
was tina when there was need of religion in
politics it is to-day, when fraud is creeping into
high places; when knaves rule instead of hon
est men. Garry your religion into your busi-
ness and let men see that you carry on your
business on christian principles. Garry your
religion everywhere and let it be known that
you are pressing forward
The preacher closed his discourse with an
earnest appeal to christians to press forward to
the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ .TeSl1s