The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-12-31
SUNDAY SERVICES.
SECOND PARISH CHURCH.


Rev. E. P. Gardner began his labors yester-
day with the Second Parish church, preaching
to large and attentive audiences forenoon and
afternoon. His subject 10 the morning was
PauPs declaration in LIST Cor, ii: 2, ST deter
mined not to know anything among you. save
Jesus Christ" In that senten you have the
purpose of Pauls life. 1t was no vague and
huctuating desire. but mighty and permanent
master passion. To know Christ fully, to live
in close personal union with Him, to find in
Him his Saviour, Master, Helper and Guide
and then TO hold Him up before men, meeting
them ia their sin with His warnings, in their
guilt with His grace, and in their weakness
with His power to help. to be given up to Christ
both in thought and service. that was the sum
ming up of Paul's life purpose, And that
which was PauPs purpose was the secret Of his
power. Because Paul had lost himself in
Christ, therefore Christ wrought in men through
Paul. According to the measure of the grace
given me, the purpose of Paul is the purpose
which sets itself before my own thought as
come among you. 1 am determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus. | have come
here not at your bidding bat at His; AM to
fulfill here His behests; am to speak to you
His messages; what He wills am to say and
do. Because He mas bought me with His blood,
l am wholly His, and yield all up to Him ia
glad, deep self surrender. My audience divides
into two classes, the saved aud the unsaved.
aud | propose to hold up Christ as the object of
thought for both. shall preach Christ as CIV
ing the Christian present and a certain saliva
ton. Brethren, you are to do more than nope
that you Will be saved; you are to know thai
you are now saved, and you are to know this
not as as an inference from certain feelings and
experiences. but by faith. While you are in
doubt on this first of all questions, your Chris
tan life Can be neither joy to- yourself or a
help to others. Therefore shall hold up not
experiences. not huctuating frames of feeling,
but Christ In HIS finished work on the cross
Preaching Christ is a practical matter Oar
relation to Him is not confiued to the closet
and the church; it extends to every relation of
life. domestic, social, commercial, moral and
political.
But to those as yet upsayed. / shall also
preach nothing but Christ. He who is the sat
istier Tor the one class is the Saviour for the
other. Men try with education and art and re.
form OF outward conduct to lift themselves
from sin. They are seeking peace in their mo-
rality and in their vague theories of Gods
mercifulpess; and SO human virtues are EN-.
phas'zed; the glores of humanity are descant-
ed on. stand by the cross of Christ and / see
men by nature only as Gods word has de-
scribed them; that tells me that there is but
one thing that an onsaved man can do that il
pleasing to God, and that is to believe on His
son. shall not seek to say smooth things;
shall not sttempt to cover over, but rather lay
bare the real Outlines of the heart before God
l shall seek to show men that they are lost and
ruined, and that there is no hope of salvation
Tor them but in Christ. l shall press Him OF
the I'm for immediate acceptance.
Such, God helping me, shall be the substance
of my preaching. shall indeed use what eul
ture aud learning l may have, but not depend
on those. l shall not give you essays to analyze
nor theories to discuss. l shall hold up Chris
Himself as meeting your need and as giving
you salvation. | shall teach the certainties O
Gods words. So shall I carry out the purpose
which the Lord has set before me to know moth
ing among you save Jesus Christ and hin
crucifed.
In the afternoon he spoke of the work of the
church, taking his text from 81 John, 9Th
"That we might be fellow-helpers to the truth.
You can be such by believing the truth your
self, by living il and by spsskingit