The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-03-22
SUNDAY SERVICES.
CHURCH NOTES.

niversary of the feast of Purim The former
was celebrated by the Catholic and Episcopal
churches, and the latter by the Jews. Palm
Sunday commentaries the entry of our LORD
into Jerusalem.
The services yesterday at the Catholic and
Episcopal churches were very interesting. A,
the Cathedral Of Immaculate Conception a
large congregation was in attendance. Father
Bradley officiated. The music was particularly
fine, Peters mass of the Holy Ghost being rem
dered ia fine style. The day was also observed
at st. Domincks church.
At the st. Luke's Cathedral the services
were conducted by Rev. Mr.. Pyne. The music
was very fine.
Services appropriate to the occasion were also
held at st. Paul's and st. Stephens churches.
wILLIsToN CHURCH.
The following is an abstract of discourse
preached at this church by the pastor yester-
day. The preacher took his text from Josh.
XIII, Is and g. AS all good things are come
upon YOU which the Lord your God promised
YOU, SO shall the Lord bring upon you evil
things, when ye nave transgresseu
the covenant of the Lord your God.
In itself, it requires no moral courage and is
not necessarily any virtue to hold out to men
assurance of good; to declare that good will be
their inevitable lot. The expectation of good
is agreeable to the nature of man. No one
wishes himself pure evil. One who convinc-
ingly promises another good can meet with no
opposition-but favor, while doing what IS
most congenial to himself.
c. ors1v hasn fri
worst foes may be (and in point of fact are)
among those who constantly assure us of good.
1t was with denial of evil consequence and as
surance of good that Satan come to Adam and
Eve. An enemy may come with kisses, the
Bible teaches. The Saviour of the world was
betrayed with kiss
When sin has once won men, then they often
rank themselves with their own foes-silenclng
apprehensions of evil and assuring themselves
of good, though continuing in sin. They take
advantage of every gracious movement for
their deliverance, on Gods part to encourage
themselves in sin. Did God grant probation
that men might be delivered from sin through
faith in Christ? Then because sentence
against an evil work is not executed speedily
the heart of man was fully set in him to do
evil.' Did God send his prophets to speak
more clearly before the ultimately evil issue OF
impenitent living? They could ridicule the re-
velation-"The time is prolonged and every
vision faileth." They sneeringly challenge
"Where is the work of the Lord? Let it come
now"
Did God speak more graciously in the Cos
pei ard threaten sin more fearfully? Men
could say, my Lord delayeth his coming"
"Where is the promise of His coming?'
Has God, by the Gospel, under the dispen-
sation of the spirit, lifted barbarous races 70
the forefront of civilization, giving US an in
heritaDce of morality, philanthropy, and nat
ural virtue far higher than that Of ancient
civilization? Men can see the good. but over
look and deny the evil demanding the regen-
Grating work of the spirit.
By nature we grasp at good. The race has
been doing so from the beginning. till sinful
men have appropriated all the good in the Cos.
pei as their own-dropping out the evil which
God has denounced.
We are our own enemies in SO doing. We
have no reasop,tO congratulate ourselves over
sneers at evangelical religion with its doctrine
of SIN and penalty-sueh as local lecturers have
uttered in this city the past winter, as reported
in the daily press.
We can only be the worse for speaking til
fingly of the unexampled work OF coos spirit
in Great Britain (atteSted by leading men in
the state church as well as among dissenters)
as some of our secular papers hippantly desig-
nate it-"Moody and Sankey's revival"
1t can only be the worse for us to rebuff as
sertions that all men are to be saved. 1t is
agreeable to sinful nature and therefore dam
gerous.
do not hesitate to say that our worst foe is
that which most p!ausibly promises final good
to every sinner. Did not Satan lead off in de-
nying ultimate evil to the sinner?
If we have friend in the world, he will be
likely to show US the inevitable evil OF sim
full, unregenerate life
The Bible is such friend. The text is one
of its most significant assertions. l have
deemed it proper to invite you to these consid :
eratiors as justification of much you hear in
this place and as preparing you to receive
what the Bible has to say to US to-day.
1t declares evil to be as certain to the unre-
generate sinner as good is to the believer in
Christ. The threats of God have precisely the
same foundation as his promises.
No man doubts that the Bible offers good to
men. 1t just as much and just as emphati-
cally denounces evil. In his providence God
realized his temporal promises to the Jews
He mracu lously delivered them from Egypt;
fed them in the wilderness: led hem through
the Jordan; gave them the land moving with
milk and honey" subdued their enemies All
the good promised came to them He now
asserts that the evil was equally sure to come
if they transgressed his covenant. They did
transgress aud the most dire OF Gods threats
cannot be proved to be unfulfilled. On the
other hand there is the most wonderful fulfill
the prophecy and history of the Jews-and
the illustration is deeply impressive.
So in the threats in Gods word which can be
made to apply to men generally in this life, we
shall find that they are DIS inexorably realized
as the promise.
If this now is true in the Providence of God
that, as far as we can trace them-down to
the grave, the threats of God are as certain of
fulflment as the promise-would it not be so
if we could trace them the other side OF the
grave? For what is beyond either of life or
death, of good or evil, we are shut up to Reve-
lation. And the Bible assures US that one is
as certain as the other.
Is there glory? There is shame and everlast,
ing contempt. Is there the New Jerusalem?
There is "the lake of fire" and ''the bottomless
pit" Is there ''life everlasting?' There is
aeverlasting punishment" As strong and de-
cisive language is used to designate the one
state as the other. The terms are as extended
in their meaning in the one case as in the 9TH