Morning journal and courier., 1884-09-22
CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION.

Its HandsOme New Dress-The Re-
 opening For Worship Yesterday-
 Appropriate ServfceN-Sermons Ely
 the Pastor.
 Services have not been held in the Church of the Ascension for the last six weeks. In the interval workmen have been engaged in beautifying the interior of the structure. What before was nothing more than bare walls has been transformed by the hands of the frescoers into objects and surfaces of beauty. The ceiling is done off in panels. The woodwork dividing the panels is stained and vanished. The side walls are also fres- coed. Over the altar the ceiling is painted a sky blue, studded with bright stars. The chandeliers have all been newly gilded. AL together it is great improvement and re- fleets great credit upon those who have labored to bring the church to it's present tasteful appearance.
 Yesterday morning at the opening service the Rev. Charles E. Woodcock, pastor of the church, preached an excellent sermon, taking for his subject, "But certain man named Ananias, with Sapphire, his wife, sold pos session and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought 8 certain part and laid it at the apostles feet, :" Acts 1, 2. What guilt would attach itself to the action of Ansnias and Sapphira or why they should have suffered so severely are questions which frequently arise as we recall the history of this man and his wife. Is it to be understood that law had been laid down in the early chapter which demanded of every man all that he possessed? By no means. If not, why then were this husband and wife culpable! Could they not do as they wished with their owna Most certainly Did not St. Peter put the same questions to others that he asked Ananias. But Peter said to Ananias: esWhy hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land2 While it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou thus conceived? Thou hast not lied unto me but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost" Three hours after wards his wife, not knowing what was done, came in and "Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? and she said, Yea, for much Then Pe- ter said unto her: How is it ye have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord? Be- hold the feet of them who have buried thine husband are at the door and shall carry thee out.' Then fell she down straightway at his feet and yielded up the ghost" We shall find the ground for this criminality in the immediate context, which tells that the apostles and the multitude of them that believed formed an association for protection and support. The pastor showed how they had violated the laws of the association, pointing to the penalty they had encountered and the punishment they endured, proving their supposed gain to be a most terrible loss. There is parish with out one or more Ananiases or Sapphiras. Suffer me then to speak to you of, first, re- servation in real devotion, and second, reservation in church life. One paramount thing which this age needs above most all others is genuine practical devotion. Devo- ] ton is not opinion, it is not impulse, neither is it inclination. These may all appear incidentally and occasionally where devotion abides, but they can never take the place of devotion Devotion we shall dis cover upon acquaintance has it's two-fold phase, (a) personal sacrifice and (b) regular itY. Personal devotion is one of the first tests of real devotion The patriot has his devotion, which is even unto death in his espoused cause. Alexander, as well as Ma poleon, had his devotion; Wolsey had his devotion; Voltaire and Hume were not with out their order of devotion, but what sacri- fee do they make compared to the personal ooSAAtAOO AAhNAo Oy O1oAAOP GAc Pacific Islands, or Charles Lowder in the slums of London. (b) Regularity means in other words reliability.
 Preservation in church life" We find in every parish either devotion with it's per sonal sacrifice and regularity, or on the other hand the discouraging fact of reservation, retention of something essential to vigor and prosperity of the parish and necessary to the welfare of the individual. My dear fellow members and parishioners, we need not look into other peoples windows to see what is going on there. We shall see only repetition of the lust of human nature; that stubborn, impulsive nature, quick to offend but slow to forget, that nature which Christ came to teach us to subdue, not by force of the will, but by the grace of God. If we have erred let us ask our God and man forgiveness, but better still, let us forgive. Forgiveness ''is the ardor which flowers breathe when tramp1ed upon" Are our own lives odor- lessa No, surely. But like our divine exem- plar let us live a life which shall not be a spectacle to view, but @ life sincere before Gcd.