The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-09-27
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
The beautiful weather yesterday filled the
several churches:

STATE STREET.
Rev. DR.. w. e. Merriman, who has supplied
the pulpit of State street church for the past
six months, during the absence of the pastor,
who has now returned, closed his labors yes
terday. Large and deeply interested audiences
were in attendance both morning and evening.
The sermons were able, spiritual, scriptural
and characteristics which have
marked all his preaching here. 1t is but just
to say that the pulpit and pastoral offices of
this gifted preacher among this people have
been acceptable, helpful and fruitful of good
to not few. Many kind wishes will follow
him and his in their departure fer other fields
OF service. In the morning Rev. Dr. Merri-
man preached from tine text in Matt. 8, 12--
"Rejoce and be exceeding glad for great is
your reward in heaven
1t sounds strange to hear the word reward
spoken of in connection with the work of sin
ners saved by grace, whose entire and devoted
service is due to the God who has saved them
But God has seen fit to promise salvation to
sinners on condition of repentance, and also re-
ward to the saved on condition of service.
This gospel Of rewards needs to be preached to
the world; for in every human heart there is
an instructive desire for a reward for service
a reward that shall be each individuals own
and peculiar recompense; and Christ in the
text appeals to that aspiration.
The gospel of rewards should be preached to
the church, for it is a noble desire to wish and
work for the heavenly glory which is revealed
as the reward of faithful service What is the
reward? 1t is the inner consciousness of work
ing for noble cause in association with Christ
and all in heaven and earth who are in sympa-
thy with Him. 1t is the assurance of having
inscribed on the pages of Gods book OF re-
membrance all the record of what divine
grace shall enable us to do or suffer for the
cause and name of our blessed Lord. 1t will
be in the character-marks that we shall be per-
mitted to engrave upon our own being by asso-
ciated labor with the Lord Jesus. 1t will be
in all those blessed accompaniment of the
heavenly life that God has promised to the
faithful. In the heavenly world there will not
be one dull uniformity of character and en-
joyment. Station and reward will be appor-
toned to the faithful labor and devoted SER
vice that the earthly life has presented. Where
shall we look for this service on earth? All
about us we find the suffering meeting relief:
the Ignorant seeking instruction. the lost and
benighted asking for the way of life; and as
our Master went about doing good and seeking
to save, so we are to follow in His steps, in
sympathy with His life and toll, His ST ffering
duu uedtn 90 snail we become more ana
more like Him, and be prepared by our faith
full work on earth for that great and blessed
reward in heaven.
SECOND PARISH.
Rev. c. A. Dickinson, pastor of the Second
Parish church, noticed the first anniversary of
his settlement yesterday afternoon by preach
ing discourse from Ps. 60 :11-"Thou crown
est the year with thy goodness"
h,c hoo e
to myself; it has been to me largely year of
investigation; when 1 came to you year ago
l was obliged 10 speak to you almost entirely
from theory. AS pastor and people we know
each other better than we did year ago, and
this more intimate acquaintance has, doubt
less. resulted in some disappointments; but I
cannot help hoping that these disappointments
have been offset by an increased confidence in
each others sincerity and!devotion to the cause
of our Lord. With the novelty of our new
relations gone, and with better understand
ing OF each others faults and virtues, we shall,
perhaps, be enabled to do far more efficient
work in the upbuilding of the church and the
salvation of men. When L accepted your call
you were burdened with debt of $14 800
with no prospect of its immediate removal;
only 1857 remains upaid. Now that the bur-
den has fallen from you, will you not see to it
that the strength and faithfulness with which
you have SO long carried it shall now be devot-
ed to the bearing of ether burdens in the
Lords service? Think for moment what an
amount OF good could be accomplished for
God and the world should the devotion and
zeal and energy which have been exhibited in
the erection of this house of worship be now
turned with undiminished force into the chan
nels of benevolent and phianthrophic effort
God has struck the shackles from our hands.
Let us use those hands in doing his work He
has delivered us from an Egyptian bondage.
Let us be careful lest by using our liberty for
selfish ends and by forgetting his goodness we,
like the children of Israel, soon find ourselves
wandering in the wilderness. Reference was
then made to the gift of the bell and the addi-
ton OF large number of strangers to our con-
gregation. We cannot Over-estimate the i'm
portance OF Christian cordiality and courtesy.
The word OF welcome, the warm grasp o the
hand and other similar kindnesses go a great
way towards making the stranger feel at home.
We should not be oficious or obtrusive, but
manifest genuine Christian tact and Kindness
this may require some little sacrifice of ease
and convenience Allusion was then made to
what had been done for the poor. A
church without its poor is like a lake
without an outlet-lifeless. Examples
OF great restitution were mentioned, and
it was recommended that a sewing school
be established and that special provision be
made for the poor in the sittiDgs of the church.
The great object of our organization is to save
the lost and to edify the saved. Forty-nine
persons have been added during the year,
twenty by profession the present membership
is 425; seven have been removed by death:
twenty -four have died in the parish, fourteen
OF whom were under twenty years of age and
one had reached the age of eighty-eight. And
now, my dear friends, let us make this past
year which God has so kindly given US and
crowned with his goodness stepping stone to
higher and better things the year to come.
In the afternoon Rev. Mr.. Anderson preach
Cd from the text in John xvii, 20, 81. :'Neith-
er pray for these alone"
Christ, our Lord, seems never to have lost
sight of the exalted nature and glorious result
Of his mission. At the hour of his death he
looked forward to the conviction of an I'M
believing world of the divine mission of Jesus;
and also at the final unity Of all believers in
himself. Christianity does not rest solely up
on arguments addressed to reason Infidels at
times, have denied every great truth of Christ
ianty, but Christ tells us that there is to be an
argument against this infidelity, and that ar
gument is the visible unity of all believers.
Religion has to do not alone with individual
experience. 1t has to do with the collective
character of all believers. And so we learn
tnat the character OF the church is to be an
argument against infidelity. Hence we are
each to ask if our ow II individual character is
such as to strengthen that argument. We
! may ask how this character is to be manifest
ed. There is to be unity Not merely an out.
side Or formal unity. We may suppose that
each denomination presents some special
truth, and each one has some excelences
But we need not be in too much haste to do
away with all these denominations Do not
let us seek for unity of body before there is
unity of spirit. This unity permits diversity
We are not to seek for uniformity, but for
| unity. We are not all made alike, and the
| world will always have dissimular people; and
| God made people unlike, and so they will look
| at the truth from different standpoints There
will not be uniformity of operation, but there
will be, under all forms and all operations, one
controlling spirit and this will produce essen
tial unity. This unity is now seen in few in
dividuals only, but the time is to come when
the fruits of the spirit shall be seen in all the
members OF the church of Christ And the
work for us to do is directly hereto have the
unity of the spirit as the controlling influence
of our lives. 1t was Christ's parting PRAYER
that all His followers might be one in Him,
and thus shall we most glorify Him if we are
| becoming more and more united in Him. In
each church there should be unity of pur-
| pose, spirit, prayer and earnest work