The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-05-24
SUNDAY SERVICES.
CONGRESS SQUARE CHURCH.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped
| for, the evidence of things not seem. The
| speaker first referred to the strife that the
| Christian Church have had with the world.
The Christians faith is the cause of the victory
| of the Church. We talk about faith, but know
but little about it, The text describes the exact
meaning of the word faith. 1t makes hidden
| things appear plain and dark subj scts light
| The speaker next spoke of the difference
between faith and belief. You can learn to
believe anything, but faith is from an entirely
| differently source Faith is the quality of our
| mind, which forms mental pictures By them
we see God in all His majesty and power, and
| heaven with its pearly gates wide open. The
| speaker spoke of the progress being made by
| science, and of its relation to religion. He
| closed with an earnest appeal to the congregs-
! ton to practice the Christian faith.
FIRST PARISH CHURCH.
| DIR. Hill took his texe from Romans [, 20,
but founded his discourse largely upon passages
| which he read from the gospel of Matthew, in
| which our Lord is represented as appealing to
the common objects of nature, pleading with
| men. DR.. Hill argued that the works of crea-
| ton not only clearly manifest their makers
eternal power and godhead; but that they were
designed by Him to do so. He entered into
brief analysis of the essential nature OF lam
guage, as any actions, or things, designed not
for the service of the body or making material
| products, but designed for the expression of
thought and feeling, and usually for expressing
it to some other msnd; and then went on to
prove that ex,ernal nature assumed point by
point the definitions of a language. Even the
extreme point of the arbitrary connection be-
tween the symbol and the thing signified found
its exemplficatop, as Bishop Berkeley has
clearly shown, in the various sensible proper.
ties of matter. No wit of man, at any rate,
had found any other connection between the
visible appearance of an object and its tangible,
audible, odoriferous, sapid, edible properties,
other than that of an association Of IDEAS like
that which links the human name to familiar
object. The sensible properties being thus
arbitrary symbols of the real properties, was
vertabe language through which God speaks
to man and givas him the information which
he needs, to learn truth, to tram the mind and
heart. Not, the preacher added, that any
intelligent and thoughtful man would claim
that he knew the full purposes of God; bnt
that it was evident that some purposes were
known and this among them. If eyes were
not made for seeing, ears for hearing, hands for
handling, feet for walking, then all human
knowledge was deceptive, and our boosted
reason deluson and snare.
DR.. Hill then went on to argue, that the
forms of nature not only taught US intellectual
TRUTH but impressed upon US moral lessons,
and quoted a striking passage from Emerson's
Nature, to the effect that all things with which
we deal preach to u.s. aad urge us to nobility
and virtue. He referred to the northern lights
of the preceding evening, and to the various
forms of beauty in the earth and sky, and
argued that the Infinite and Absolute Being
could not need these realizations of His thought |
for his own pleasure, since to Him Infinite and |
her created beauty vas ever present; the incar-
nation of beauty in the world was therefore for |
Gods creatures, and among them for men. 1t |
was nosmere dream of poet, but the faith of |
the saints, backed and confirmed by the high |
est philosophy, that the voice of the Lord God
is heard in the day breeze, and He walks IN the |
cool of the day, aud appeals gently but power
fully to the human heart and conscience. he |
then enumerated some of the modes in which |
this appeal was made to human hearts; suffer-
ing and bereavement in various forms, which |
come at all seasons and the sweet influence OF |
the Pleia1es which are felt now, in the flowers |
OF spring, Ju6 song VI UiruS, tut uuuuiuS VI eHO
trees felt to some extent by all. 1t was wise |
to open the heart to these divine lessons, and to |
learn from the Holy Son of God to see the
Heavenly Fathers goodness in the beauty of
the lily, in the gayety of the bird, in the lowell
ness Of the landscape. Not only was this the |
legitimate teaching of natural beauty, but nat
ural beauty las not wholly aud fully enjoyed |
until it became thus rich with religious mean
ing. One who saw the Divine love expressing |
itself in this outward beauty might indeed |
stand on Bramhall or Munjoy hill, and watch |
the spectacle of morning from day break TIL |
sunrise with emotions that an angel might |
SHARE" In this spirit one would find the
anemone of Falmouth as full OF holy lessons as
the scarlet amaryllis of Palestine
The preacher next babe us consider the
grandeur of nature. The ingenuity and labor
of ages only revealed to us the greater extent |
of the universe in space its greater antiquity in
time 1t was thus that the Almighty talked |
with us and confirmed the word spoken to us |
by the prophets, and by the Son, assuring US OF
the deathless grandeur of mans spirit, the I'M
mortality of that intellect which thus spanned
the CULTS Of infinite space, and measured the
steps of endless eternity. Then turning to the
other extremity of the scale. he called attention
to the fact that modern science is also showing
thai law, order and beauty belong as trny to
the infinitesimal, as to the infinite. Tins by
leading men to invent the microscope, spectre
scope, poariscope, and still more subtle intel
lectual instruments for dealing with the lDhn-
itely minute, the Creator would teach them TO
recognize His omnipre ence and his omnlpres'
ent providence. And, by making the least as
beautiful as the greatest, He would also teach
men to make every least word and action
radiant with the same spirit OF devoutness and
loving kindness that makes heroic actlons
great
Such were some of the lessons of nature;
which falling into the strong heart brought
forth little or no fruit. But those who had re-
ceived Jesus, and learned the truth as 1t was Ia
Him, found in nature also an fectlng and
exalting revelation of her Creators power aid
godhead.
FREE STREET CHURCH.
At the Free Street church the pastor, Rev.
James McWhinnie, preached from III.
Corinthians, chapter ", 14th and 10Th
verses The preacher commenced by stat
ing that Pauls life was not a supernatural
one; that its inspiration was not derived from
ambition, blgotry or self-kndled enthusiasm,
but that the inspiration of his life sprang from
the same source as that of all true christian
life. The ruling passion and dominant princi-
pie in Paul was the love of Christ for him.
With him the love of Christ was no mystical
influence or abstraction, but an actual practical
fact This came to be the ruling principle of
reasoning eptomized in the text, the result of
which was the personal appropriation of the
benefits of Christs DEATH And this is tho
dominant principle of all who enter theChristian
service; not mans love for Christ, bat Christss
love for man ,begetting in the heart feeling OF
gratitude to loving Redeemer. There are some
who seek to perform Christian service through
fear of bell-some on account of the advantages
it will bring them, and others because by 20
doing they hope to gain salvation. The true
Christian draws his best inspiration from The
love of Christ TO him, and the logic of ,sdat
love is that the living should live DO longer TO
themselves; and consequently the Christian
devotes his energy and consecrates his heart to
the Redeemer who has died for all.
The love of Christ for man begets Jig the heart
pure unselfishpess, and an unboupded conf
dence in what Christ has done far him. In
this way man sees Christ not in the~heavens,
nor in the earth beneath, but in Instantly and
his neigbbors about him, but most of all ia the
church, which is not e conglomeration of indi-
viduals bound together by rope of sand but is
the true body of Christ.
BASE BALL.-The base ball season in this
vicinity may be said to have commenced,
Saturday, on the horse car grounds at Deering,
| where, tempted by the splendid weather and
Af,o I,,o &c al Io,o md