The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-07-08
SUNDAY SERVICES.

| THE REV MR.. GIBBS ON "TRUE MANHOOD. %
At the First Uniyersalist church the Rev.
| Mr.. Gibbs, in the morning service, delivered
| an able and impressive sermon on "True Man.
hood" founded op the words Of st. Paul, "Let
no one glory in men," The leading thought
| was that honor and glory should not be given
| to man because of his station or wealth, OF
| even because of his success il any respect but
| only to the true manhood which might be
developed in him, and which wouli make him
worthy Of the honor and respect of men. If
glory is TO be given merely on account of the
wealth Of man, it woud be unworthy of the
giver, and would be "a glory which might be
invested in stocking stuffed with gold dol
lars" He referred in eloquent words to the
great and venerable Bryant, as one whose
death had left so large a place in American
literature vacant. Happy" said the preacher
'.is the nation which has the heritage of such
life" Bryant was honored, he said, because
of his worth as a man. because of the nobility
of his life. He reminded his hearers that the
glory of God was the only true glory; that to
look to man was to look down, while to look to
God was to look up; that Christ was the divine
model. He said that it was not the successful
man who was IN all cases the true man; that
frequently men who had failed in a worldly
point of view had been deserving of the high.
est hOnors. for the qualities of true manhood of
which they had showed themselves possessed.
He closed by saying that the mission of true
religion is to fit men to truly glorify God; and
that men can best glorfy God by leading lives
of true manhood, and the man to whom the
words of Hamlet. when speaking of his father,
could truly be applied, had well lived, no mat
ter what his station in life might have been, or
what measure of success he might have at
tanned.
SECOND PARISH CHURCH.
The seventh address to young men, under the
auspices Of the Young Mems Christian Asso-
citation, was delivered at the Second Parish
church last evening by Rev. E. P. Gardner, on
I'd Corinthians, 4:2-"By manifestation of the
truth commencing ourselves to every mans
conscience in the sight of God" The funda-
mental doctrines of Christianity lie among the
deep primary munitions of the human mind.
We do not need to prove them; they carry their
own evidence. To state them is to commend
them to the conviction of every thinking man.
Among these doctrines are the existence of the
soul after death, the personal love and care of
God, human sin and guilt, the power of prayer,
Gods gift of His Son for mans redemption.
In regard to each of these there is such a COR
respondence between the Bible statements aad
mans Unborn sense of need, that instinctiyely
we accept them The revelation from without
elicits and is endorsed by the revelation from
within Heather religions also contain &C.
acknowledgements of the same fact They are
the outgrowths of the untutored human heart,
and though distorted by sin, yet in their CROP
ings after divine light and help, they betray the
very need of which Christianity is the supply.
Whom men ignorantlv worship, the gospel
declares unto them Not more surely is food
adapted to mans hunger than is the gospel to
the human SOUL. This is an argument for the
truth of the revelation. Physical instincts
have their correlation in the world about
Wherever you find an eye, there is light; where
you find an ear. there is sound; the existence
of the wing implies air for the wing to move
in. SO our spiritual instincts necesstate the
existence of realm of being 10 which they
will be satisfied. Our very hunger for God
implies that God exists
The speaker in conclusion urged the associa-
ton to press on men the teachings of the Bible
with the assurance that they would find
response in every heart. The Bible was made
for man and man was made to believe the
Bible. Men do violence to their deepest con-
vict;Ons if thew reject it,