Morning journal and courier., 1882-05-15
The Churches.
DoINGs AT VARIOUS OF THE CHURCHE

Two persons, a young lady and young man, were baptized by immersion at the Davenport church last evening The pastor, Rev. Mir. Meserve, gave Q short talk before hand There was but a small audience pres- ent, there being 8 pouring rain.
 NORTH CHURCH.
 The attendance at the North church morn ing service was little if at all lessened by the bleak rain storm of the day. The first verse of the 122d Psalm was taken for the text 1T was glad when they said nnto me. let me go into the house of the Lord" The duty and important value of public united attend ance in the place consecrated to Gods wor- ship was the subject of the sermon. The pleasing and instructive picture of godly company entering place loved and conse crated for religious service as suggested in the verse was graphically drawn out by the speaker. The practice and example dating back to the creation and enforced by the commandment, '.Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," make the public observance of the day scriptural re- quirement and plain duty. Made in Gods own likeness, our very nature cries out for the living God as the very necessity of our being The history of our age repeats the lesson of the Bible. Individual and national welfare is secured by the meeting together in public of believers in religion. Those who keep away from church and sacred services yet know their value and indirectly testify to their paramount importance to the well being of society.
 The severity of the storm prevented alarge part of the congregation from attending the new order of exercises in the afternoon. It was in part a prayer and praise service. The pastor conducted it throughout in a very in- teresting and pleasant way. He read the Sunday school lesson, but refrained from re- mark and explanation to give time for three very concise addresses explanatory of the new departure from the old established methods. After the pastors detail of the new order for afternoon service on his request and in- troduction Prof. S. E. Baldwin showed the necessity of & change from three to two ser. vices for the Sabbath and the better way of giving and receiving instruction by being brought closer together and each having 8 part in the work. Judge Pardee by request and similar introduction of the pastor told in short address the reasons for his vote and approval of the change in the afternoon ser vice. Religion, he said, advances in human destiny-no stop, no going back. Superin- tendent Dutton responded in very cordial and hearty address advocating the new order for Sunday school work and Bible teaching. The present Sunday school superintendent, MT. Weld, offered the closing prayer. The singing formed an interesting and important part of the exercises.
 AT THE ST. JOHN STREET M. E. CHURCH.
 Notwithstanding the unpleasant weather last evening there was large audience at the St. John street M. E. church. The pastor, Rev. c. E. Harris, preached 8 forcible and eloquent sermon-the last of series on the New Heavens and the New Earth. Histheme was the spiritual employments of the inhabi- tants upon the new earth. The text was taken from Rev, 7th chapter. commencing at the 9th verse, where @ description is given of the great multitude around the throne, etc. There is no subject said the speaker which interests mankind so much as that of his future life There is 8 desire to draw aside the veil that hides futurity from our view, to unravel the mystery that relates to our future existence This is natural to the human mind. This is one of the strongest evidences of our immortality. The Book of Revelation throws a stream of light upon the future place of abode of the saved. Objections are raised by the skeptic that the new earth would not be large enough to contain the whole number of the saved. It may be that the fire will so change and enlarge the earth's borders that this difficulty would be overcome. But others wonld say, That Is begging the question. We'll, then, let us turn to the book. The exact measurement of the heavenly city is given us, and suppos- ing the earth to endure for 100, 900 years, with generations coming and going, yet with this allowance there would be abundant room for all Mir. Harris gave some interesting facts and figures to prove this assertion. He then referred to the great company and showed the absurdity of the recent statement of Bob Ingersoll that the prevalent belief of the Christian was that God created his chil- dren but to damn them. ''Thank God that that theology is done away with" In the opinion of the preacher the vast majority of mankind was saved. Among the number near the throne many will be present whom we never expected to see. Our lives sometimes reveal only the surface. There is an inner life. We are told that in the Arctic regions, under the snows, are beautiful plants. The most precious gems are discovered only by break ing the rock So it may be that those most esteemed of God shall be found among the most obscure of this world. Gods children shall come from all directions. There is not simply one gate but twelve, and passing through these twelve gates they enter the city from every kindred and nation and tongue. The revelation spoke of them as coming up out of great tribulation. They are not saved because of their suffering. It is the blood of Christ that saves them. The tribulation here referred to relates not to the martyrs especially, but it is an expression to designate the perplexities, tolls and sor- rows incidental to life. MT. Harris then in thrilling language pictured the scene of the multitude standing before the throne. The