The Portland daily press., 1882-05-22
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH.

| toral relation with this society yesterday Aoin
ing. The services were appropriate and i'm
pressive AT the opening of the service num-
Der of children were brought forward for bap-
tism.
The sermon (AIatt. xviii 81 had especial ref
erence to this service of baptism. After the
sermon the pastor made brief address, speak
ing as follows:
cannot close these services without attempt
ing to say few words relative to my retire.
ment from the Office which, by your invitation,
l have held for nearly five years. And yet, if
were to consult my own feelings, nay departure
would not be made the subject of apublic ref
erence. If it were possible, would not have
| the day sad one. Let Faith and Hope come
| forth and look confidently into the future
| Love stands at the chamber of memory her
hand upon the door, ready to throw it open
| that its inmates may come forth. But we must
| bid her stay her hand In the days to come,
| when the heart shall be firmer than it is to-day
| and the present shall have slipped into the past
| then doubtless the golden door shall full many
| a time be opened, and Recollection shall SIT
! down and look wistfully into faces that she
| knew.
Moreover, come to day with no record of
! nv work to unroll before you. Whatever
| through the Divine mercy, have been able to
| accomplish; whatever successes or failures may
| have attended my labors, they are to-day
| Brought to the feet of Him who alone can
| Judge of the work; and the blessing is asked
| upon them, that in some way and at some time
| they may produce q measure OF good. lay
| them down with the confession tnat tney are
| not great; and with feeling, which might. be
| disappointment, were it not that know that
| from a little, Providence may bring forth much
| good. Yet I lay them down grateful for the
| good the Lord has sent US, ana IN the
l..I, 1nalt
with us.
This is not the time, nor yet the place, to
| speak of personal friendships and the happiness
and encouragement which they have brought.
But to you as a society, may at least express
my thankfulness that we have at all times
been able to labor together In the spirit OF
brotherly love. For it is no exaggeratlon Tor
me to say, that in our relationship we nave IN
a measure realized that saying OF the Fsaimlst'
| "Behold, how good and how pleasant 1t IS 1or
brethren to dwell together in unity"
OF the future, we know nothing certainly.
Yet we may we'll believe that when the time is
ripe the Lord will do good unto Zion and build
up the walls of Jerusalem. The Lord Will
take care of His church. It is "a tabernacle
that shall not be taken down; not one OF the
stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither
shall any of the cords thereof be broken. he
member that the stability of the church IS IN
her truths, which are derived from Gods own
word. With twelve foundations under her,
the Holy City cannot easily be thrown down.
And though misconception, and prel1aice
should deter many from searching Tor Ilgnt
that is here, and that would give them glad
ness, yet, be assured that Truth must win its
way and prevail at last. We have but to be
faithful, to labor in hope and patience, to let
the light shine. For the rest, leave It with the
Lord who twill hasten it in His time.
To say that 1 win ever follow the movements
of this society with the deepest interest
were only to assure you of that which you must
already know. Our cause is common one,
and though the outward associations OF the
last few years may cease, yet would lam De-
lieve that the ties by which Christian minds
are bound together are such as neither time
nor circumstance can sunder. That the Lord
may be with you, and that "ye may stand fast
| in one spirit, striving together with one mind
for the faith of the gospel" is my prayer.
Yea, this also shall be nay supplication, In
words uttered centuries ago by the Psalmist Oh
Israel: "Peace be within thy walls, prosper
ity within thy palaces. For my brethren and
companions ssakes, will now say, peace be
within thee"
At the close of the services tho Holy Com
munion was administered.
SECOND PARISH.
ssThe Growth of Christianity was the sub
ject of Mr.. Dickinsons discourses yesterday.
The facts presented were made more impress
siye by the aid of large map of the world and
a chart.
The forenoon text was from Dan, 2; 81, 80.
This was what the king, Nebuchadnezzar saw
in his Sdream, and it symbolized the final
triumph of Ethe Messiah's kingdom over the
kingdom of darkness The stone cut out with
out hands not only broke the image. in pieces,
but itself increased in size till it became
great mountain which filed the whole earth.
The babe which was Graded in the manger at
Bethlehem was to be Lord Of Lords and King
of Kings The religion of the despised Naz-
arine was destined to make its way against all
difficulties and to become the religion of every
nation, tribe and tongue.
DESPITE the ominous predictions of the
skeptic, and the pressmist; despite the fears
| and forebodings of those who see only the evil
| which exists within the narrow sphere of their
| daily experience, christianity is making giant
| strides towards the conquest of the whole
world. The light which first arose to view as
Pickering taper has grown into the blazing
sun whose beams are passing over the whole
| earth
| The most advanced nations of the world are
| Christian nations; by following the course of
| civilization we can trace the extension and
| growth of the kingdom of Christ. During the
| last two hundred years, Notwithstanding the
| prevalent unbeiief there has been growing
religious spirit. Unbelief though still critical
| and sneering, is not SO openly oyerbearing and
| blasphemous as 1t once was. The image OF
unbelief is assuredly crumbling under the force
| of the gospel resistance. Rationalism like the
| defunctisms which preceded it has run its
| course. Pantheon is losing its hold on the
| cultured mind. Materialisnl is already being
| suspected and criticised by its friends. Spirit
| ism is being strangled by the hand of the para
| fine ghost which it has coniured up. Iugersoll-
| ism is disgusting everybody who is capable oil
| blushing at vulgarty and blasphemy.
| There has been not only an increase OF faith
| and religious spirit, but in the last few years
| marvellous Capitalization OF this spirit INTO con
| crete activities
| The vast philanthropc organizations are the
| legitimate offspring OF that charity which
| Christ came to establish in the hearts OF men,
| Other evidences of growth are: The develop
ment of the lay element in the work of colport-
| age; the Young Mems Christian Association
| and city missions; the increased generosity OF
| the people; the establishment OF hospitals and
schools and the humanizng of penal institu-
| tions.
| In the year 1000 there were but some fifty
millions of christians; now there are 4l0, 900,-
| 600. In the last eighty years christianity has
| gained as much as in the eighteen previous
| centuries.
| Yes the stone is fast becoming the great
4 mountain. God grant that it may grow apace
till it shall be exalted above the hills, and all
! nations shall flow unto it.
In the afternoon Mr.. Dickinson preached
| from the text found in Phil. 2: 29,30.
"Receive him therefore in the Lord with all
| gladneSs, and hold such in reputation. Be
| cause for the work of Christ he was nigh unto
| death not regarding HE life to supply his lack
of service towards me-" AS Epaphroditus was
the agent of the Philippians in his ministra-.
| tions to the apostle, SO is the American Board
the agent which acts for us in behalf OF the
| missionaries of to-day. And from this thought
| the preacher proceeded to draw several reasons
| why the citizens of our city should receive the
| strangers who are coming to us next Fall Be
cause of the cause which the Board represents,
| and because what it has done and what it is,
| we should welcome it to our hearts and homes.
/ MAINE BIBLE SOCIETY.
The I'D anniversary of the Maine Bible So
ciety was held at the Second Parish church
last evening Mr.. S. w. Larrabee, the presi-
dent of the society, very briefly stated the OBJ
ject of organization, after which the Scriptures
were read by Rev. Mr.. Dickinson. from the
| 10th Psalm, follow ed by prayer by Rev. A.
| I'll. Wright of the St. Lawrence street church.
The report of the trustees was presented by
Rev. Mr.. Anderson, and from it we gather the
following statistics
Out of 5 ,658 families visited, 81 were found
destitute of Bibles, and supplied during the
past ten months by Mr. e. B. Stlson. In Bath
y out OF Ill families were without the Bible.
- | n A. x or r1or half