The Portland daily press., 1882-12-04
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.

Inc Rev. L. a. King delivered the closing
lecture is his series on the doctrines of the
New Church, last evening, in the New
Church on New High street. The subject of
the lecture was "Prayer and the reason for
it,"
he began with the statement that God is
life, and that all life was from Him; that the
different manifestations of life grew ont of the
recipient conditions Of different organisms,
and not to differ ent kind of life. He said,
according to this position we can see that o
Tree Is tree, an animal an animal, and man
man because of the organism peculiar to EACH
Man is the highest created organism and is,
therefore, capable of higher order of influx
from God. When the Lord is regarded as the
centre of the life forces which pervade the uni
verse; and all the forms of creation, including
man, are considered as organs of life from
Him, then the relation that exists between
the Lerd and man is seen to be a relation like
the eye sustains to the light or the ear TO
| SOUND. Prayer is condition of soul in
which we are brought which enables the LORD
to do for US that which He is in the constant
| effort to do. 1t is the human soul openine its
windows to the Lord, and receiving the bless
ings God is ever seeking to beetow." He said
the position had been assumed by some, that
II God is love He would give us what wa
needed without the mere asking on our mart
Mr. King said that the above was one-sided
statement. Our prayers are not for the pur-
pose OF changing the Lord They are for the I
purpose OF bringing US into new relations to |
HIM. The Lords attitude towards man is q |
olVlnely positive one, and prayer exists as the |
means OF bringing us into negative state to |
tnis diviDely positive life. The sun makes a |
positive effort to find access to our rooms and |
II we open the doors and windows it enters
put the act of opening them does not create in
one sun any greater ss disposition to shine, So
His knowledge concerning us AS ship is
az. drawn to land by the exertion of those within
the ship, so the effect OF prayer, when rightly
understood, will not be TO dag the Lord down
10 our state TO do our will, but to lift us up TO
Him and inspire MS with desire to do his will.
This IS the whole meaning and philosophy OF
prayer"
Mr. King said 'Not only does prayer work
THESE changes in US, but it is a source of good |
10 those Tor whom We pray Every human
soul IS surrounded by sphere generated from
the moral principles which control it: and the
soul lives ia the spiritual world where it is
free from the limitations which time and space
impose upon the body, therefore, when we
pray Tor one another our souls meet in the
spiritual world, and By definite psychological
laws the sphere of our minds affect the one for
whom we pray, and thus enables the Lord TO
draw near aud bless" He said: ''This truth
explained many phenomena in the science of
the soul without which it would remain laex-
plicsble to eternity. The sphere of our souls
brought in contact with the souls of those for
whom We make sincere prayer, prepares the
way for the Lord and the angels to draw near
and impart health to the spiritually sick and
life TO the spiritually dead"
He closed by saying prayer had and could
avail Tor the cure OF physical disease. He
claimed that all disease was from hell, and
that II the suffering ones of earth could be
brought under the immediate spere of heaven
they could be cured now as we'll as in the days
OF the apostles. Ii the germ theory of disease
IS true, then, the living creature can be re-
moved by a strong spiritual sphere. When
we come to have more positive faith in the
reality and power of spiritual influences and
10 irn to manipulate the laws which bind IL
correspondence the spiritual and the natural
world, prayer will become common and efic-
lent remedial agent In the cure OF disease"
CONGRESS SQUARE.
"The origin of the church and four ways Of
Joining it" was the subject upon which the
Rev. Henry Blanchard preached at the Con-
gress Square Church yesterday morning He
took his text from Matthew xvi:1S In OPEN
ing his discourse, the speaker depicted the
scene at C9sarea Philippi, when Jesus asked
his disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the
Son of Man, ann" and when impulsive Peter
declsred, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
Living God" To this Jesus made the great
reply, Upon this rock''-viz: the confession
that 1 the Christ-"I will build my
church." Here then we have the origin of
Christ's church.
The confession that he was the Christ was
the foundation stone. Upon this he has built
through all the ages. The declaration is in
elusive and exclusive. 1t includes the belief
that Jesus is the Amounted of God, sent TO be
the Teacher, Master and Saviour of men. It
excludes all doctrines of unity and trinity, of
universal or partial salvation. From His
teaching, the church has turned away It has
made pope ana hierarchy, doctrines of heaven
and hell, of plenary inspiration and atoning
blood essential to membership in CHESTS
church. In SO doing it has ignored the teach
ings of the Master. He built his church upon
the one rock-the confession that he is the
Christ There are four ways then Of joining
the church. First, the recognition of the
greatness of Christs character and Of
Christ's mission. 1t is individual, in
ternal, soiritual. Whenever man sees
that Jesns is the Christ loves him, honors
him, he joins His church. 1t may be in his
parlor, in his store, in the railway car, aboard
the ship, that, suddenly, as the result of hear
ing and talking and thinking, there flashes
upon him the revelation of the greatness of
Christ, and there comes the desire to do Him
honor. In that moment he joins the church
But there are three other ways derivstive
from this first. For, in accordance with hui
man nature, it is certainly true, that all deep
inward conviction seeks expression in some
outward act. There are at least three out
ward methods of joining the church resulting
from this strong conviction that Jesus is the
Christ. may hire a seat in Christian
church with he inward declaration to God,
81 do this because by this act wish TO show
myself disciple of Jesus Christi He may
come to the Lords Supper, joining his hreth-
rem there, making inward declaration again to
God II do this because l wish to show myself
disciple of Jesus Christ" he may stand
up before his brethren and, on profession of
his acceptance of Jesus Christ as his Master
and Teacher and Saviour to whose life he de-
sires to conform his own, be baptized, receive
the right hand of fellowship of some individ-
ual church and, through this, of the church
universal.
The first two methods are good in the iudg-
ment of the speaker, the last is best. In slab
Grating these points Mr.. Blanchard spoke at
some length of the great difference between
comingto church as custom, or for the sake
of respectability and the coming to church as
the outward act expressing the inward convic-
ton that Jesus is the Christ.
He dwelt in detail upon the Lords supper as
a memorial service, OF the ordinary dbjec-
tions, OF false theological views which hinder
men from coming to the communion In adj
vocating the third method as the best he spoke
with great earnestness of the beauty, the help
fulness and the reasonabless of making public
confession that Jesus is the Christ of God.
Rescued.
The bark Daring of this city, at New York