Morning journal and courier., 1881-04-16
Fast Day Services.
Am Interesting Discourse by Rev. Charles H. .WiIIiams-Christ's Offering of Him- seIE-R em eKaa berfnR Our Faults.

An Interesting Discourse by Rev. Charles
 H. WfIIiams-Christ's Offering of Him. se1fRem membering Our Faults.
 The observance of Fast day in the l churches yesterday was general in the Episcopal. Catholic, Congregational and
 Methodist churches. Rev. Mir. Williams preached at the united service in the North
 church, the services being attended by mem bers of the Center, North, Third and Church
 of the Redeemer The sermon was preached l by Rev. Mr. Williams, formerly of the How l ard avenue Congregational church.
 The opening exercises were in the usual form, the singing, under the direction of Pro-
 lessor Ensign, being of superior merit. On
 the conclusion of this Rev. MT. Williams spoke as follows:
 Complying with venerable usage, de- lived by pious ancestry from the teachings of Gods word and the habit of his ancient people, our honored Chief Magistrate has 1 summoned the people of this Commonwealth
 to religious observance of this day, and l calls upon us to humble ourselves before AL
 mighty God, confessing our sins private and
 public, and seeking forgiveness of the same
 through Him whose offering of Himself for
 us all will on this day be especially remem
 bered and celebrated blythe. Christian world" While our presence in this sanctuary IS recognition of the fitness of the observance, it will avail little unless there shall be found 1 in us the ''humble and contrite spirit''-the 1 sole condition on which pardon can be be- slowed and blessings secured. As helping to produce such disposition, I invite your at l tention to some thoughts suggested by l the words of the chief butler to l Pharoah, which are written in the forty first chapter of the book of Genesis and the ninth verse: '1 do remember my faults, this day, Gen. 41:9." Probably the
 reference in these words is not to the | 'sfault" of ingratitude to Joseph, who had shown him kindness but rather to the of
 fences against the king which led to his iEl- prisonment. There is another ruler, more powerful and worthy of respect than Pharoah, and it were well for us, his sub- I jects, to remember our faults to- day; for are | there not with us, even with us, sins against the Lord our God?
 To treat them exhaustively, or even to
 enumerate them, would be impossible so many are they. We must be content with
 brief allusion to few which, in the church,
 the community or the commonwealth, are at
 this time especially prominent and threaten ing Looking, first at the body of believ-
 CTS, the so-called faithful in Christ Jesus,' l and scrutinizing their lives, we at once dis cover the sin of unbeief Is it not true, | brethren, that there exists in the church to- day-to a large extent, too-a spirit of unbe- | lief? do not now refer to that speculative
 unrest manifesting itself here and there in | the defection of individual professors of re-
 igion, whether in the pulpit or the pew,
 who, with a pride of learning contrast | ing strongly with the humility of the l Great Teacher, aim to be wise above what is
 written and rush boldly in 'where angels | fear to tread" Nor shall I delay over that | wider unsettlement of faith occasioned by the | sophistries of lecturer and pamphleteer, or the
 covert attacks of scientist and philosopher.
 I desire, rather, to fix your thought upon
 those, too many, alas, in every company of
 disciples, who practically deny what they as-
 sent to in theory. Take any one of the
 truths which the church holds and see to
 what extent it affects the life. Thus, @. g.,
 we believe, or profess to, that there is to be | a nnal JuQBul0nG, DdSeu upon the llI6 n6fo, l where every idle word must be accounted
 for and every thought laid bare. How far does this operate to check the evil thought or re- press the word rising to the lip? So we hold
 in theory that as soon as we admit the fact of 1 Gods claim and yield ourselves to him. we | cease to be our own but are pledged hence
 forth to glorify God in our voices and spirits, | which are Gods How far does this belief influence our conduct, prompting to self
 sacrifice, cross-bearing, the imitation of him
 who pleased not himself?" We accept as
 true also the declaration of Scrip
 ture that except a man be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God"
 but must have his home forever in the "outer
 darkness" How much of earnest, strenu-
 ous, persistent endeavor we make to turn men from their evil ways before 1t is too
 late It is needless to multiply illustrations. | Brief rebection and observation will cou
 vince us that unbelief holds a prominent place among the sins which Gods people
 have to confess to-day. A second, growing 1 out of this in a measure and equally blame l worthy, is neglect of duty. The Christian life is not designed to be life of inaction, of passive enjoyment. Confessing Christ does
 not release from duty. Far from it. Their
 are duties toward God acquainting ourselves
 with, honoring, loving, thanking, obeying him. To each is affixed promise in case of per formance, threatening in the event of fail l ure. There are duties to ourselves, of watch
 fulness against temptation, and the cultiva- tion of all the Christian graces For this work also we have ample pledges of divine | aid if we will seek it; while neglect here l too, is threatened with corresponding evils l Again, there are duties toward our fellow | men, the members of our families, of the | church, and others whom we may and do in- fuence for good or i'll. We are required to
 be kindly affectioned to them, to comfort, ad- l monish, encourage, ands in every way we can, l benefit these, our brethren. Here, too, simi- ] lar promises of help from above are given, 1 and similar evils threatened, according as we
 are found true or false to our trust. Now | select some particular and see if the people l of God are not justly chargeable with neglect of duty. Thus we are enjoined to grow in ! the knowledge well as love of God and of l Christ Jesus our Lord. right discharge of
 this duty evidently involves some effort on
 our part, prayerful, systematic investiga- l ton of the scriptures, as well as of Gods 1 works and ways elsewhere disclosed. How | much of such study, think you, is there in
 the part of Christian? How many of you give yourselves thus, daily, to the
 reading of Gods word and to prayer for this end, searching the scriptures because they l testify of him, and seeking to get from thsm
 that testimony? Take one of the duties to fel-
 low disciples, that, @. g., of loving the breth- ren. Need I remind you how this is empha-
 sized in scripture? :? "A new commandment I
 give unto you" said the Master, ''that ye
 love one another" And again, 'tBy
 this shall all men know that ye
 are my disciples, if ye have love one to
 another" ''See that ye love one another with 1 pure heart, fervently,'' writes Peter. ''We
 know that we have passed from death unto life'' John affirms, because we love the
 brethren" And PauPs prayer for the Thessa- lonian Christians is, '"The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another" This is plain duty and most important one, for Che that loveth not his
 brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?" Brethren, do you give this evidence that you have passed from death unto life" ? Are you seeking, with divine help, to fulfill this duty? There are duties also to those not in the fold. ''Let him that heareth say come" You who have heard these glad tidings, heard to the saving of your souls, as you trust, how often and with what urgency do you say to others come? ''Ye are my witnesses saith the Lord. How effective testimony are you bearing to Christ and the blessedness of the Christian life? If all, or any considerable l