Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-04-27

would seem quite impossible for apy man Ia
serve SO large district in a manner wholly
satisfactory to himself or to the church. By
Uon blessings. never withheld. the uniform
kindness OF preachers and their wives. and
tne considerable and charitable demeanor OF
the people, we have been enabled to do what
we could with cneerfulness and with degree
vi contentment Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES j. CLARK.
| Inc characters of the preachers in the
rortiand district were passed. and the amount
collected taken during the year announced
AFTERNOON
In the afternoon the church was crowded.
many people of all denominations being
present. Rev. 6. d. Lindsay of Portland
read the 9l9th hymn
| Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
| Does his successive journes run"
Ihe theme Of the service was Missions.
Rev. A. Hekeown, ID. d., of Portland, read
the last half Of the LIST chapter of Romans and
the first part of the I'd chapter Rev. W. S.
Jones OF Bath offered most earnest PRAYER.
The 923d hymn was sung:
Behold the heather wait to know
| Inc Joy the Gospel will bestow;
| The exied captive to receive
| The freedom Jesus has to give"
Kew. A. Mckeown of the Chestnut street
church, Portland, delivered the annual mis-
sionary sermon, taking his text from Ro-
mans III. IL: "For as many as have sinned
without law shall perish without law" |
shall deal this afternoon with the heathens'
chances of salvation, without the light of the
Gospel. This verse ought to burn itself into
our very souls it conveys startling thought
We are peremptorily commanded to ''go in
to the world and preach the Gospel to every
| creature" No matter what our ideas NAV
be about the possibility of the heather be-
ing saved by the light of nature, our duty is
plain We must preach the Gospel to
every creature. The principles of common
humanity should prompt us to send them the
Gospel, because it will lift them from degra-
dation and misery, and ennoble and benefit
them here on earth. But the real principle
which should animate us to send them the
Gospel is the danger of their eternal death
without it, Our zeal in the cause of missions
must depend largely upon our belief that
without the Gospel the heather must perish
If there is lack of earnestness in this mat
ter in the Christian church it arises from the
lax views in regard to future punishment
which are too often held, especially the sur
misses that perhaps there may be a state of
probation for the heather after death.
! submit the question whether these views NAV
not be connected with the abatement of
missionary zeal. The points the preacher
presented as the arguments of Paul
were: !. Salvation is provided for all !;
all may be saved through Christ. 2.
The whole human family, because of their
depraved condition. need a Saviour The
Gospel is adapted to the whole human family.
;. The heather have sinned against the in
born light which they possess as well as the
light that comes from without. The works of
God convince them that there is God, and re-
veal to them something of His divine charac-
ter. They realize that they should serve Him.
But they are not only wicked, but they take
pleasure IN their wickedness. 4. The Apostle
plainly proves that they are inexcusable in
their wickedness. If these arguments do not
prove the responsibility AMI culpability OF
human nature. l don't know what can.
Judged from the law written on their
hearts and the light of nature, the heather
are in danger of eternal death. They do not
have sufficiently clear idea of future life
and judgment day in their present con.
dition to hold them up to the performance
of those duties which they feel obligatory
upon them. Not all heather perish for some
obey the light they have and are saved. The
claims of the heather arise from the fact that
they have light enough to make salvation
possible, but not enough to render their sal
walton certain. The description given by St.
Paul of the heather world Is centuries ago
holds true to-day Six hundred millions pass
every 80 years into eternity. Where do they
go? The whole heather world is mass
of corruption and suffering. The whole ad-
dress was one of the most mastery and logi-
cal ever delivered in the church. The rev.
erend Doctor proved conclusively tie imper-
alive need of missionary work. In conclud-
| ing he electrified the great company BY his
eloquent recapitulaton of the triumphs of
| the Gospel in this 10th century, and pictured
| the time when the banner of the cross shall
float over all the world and the waste places
of the earth shall be reclaimed for Christ.
The last fifteen minutes of his address was
punctuated by perfect storm of "Amens,
GLORY to Cod" aud "Bless the Lord ~
which the enthusiastic apostles of Wesley
could not keep back.
After the sermon the Preachers Aid Soeie-
tv assembled in the church. The Society
was called to order by Rev. f. W. Hutchin-
son. vice president. PRAYER was offered by
Rev. John Cobb. The treasurer's repor,
showed that the Society had fund of 5000
invested. The amount of money disbursed
during the past year was s2sO.57. Officers
were elected for the ensuing year as follows
President-E. W. Hutchinson
Vice President-Parker Jaques.
Secretary-Israel Luce.
Treasurer-C. J. Clark.
AUDITOR. B. Coyle.
IL