Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1884-04-07
New Members Added.
Another Large Accession at Calvary BaP-
HTeH

New Members Added.
Another Large Accession mt Calvary BaP-
tfst Church.
At Calvary Baptist church yesterday morn
ing twenty-eight new members were received
into the church, making near one hundred
new members added since January 1st at this
place of worship. Next Sunday services ap'
propriate to Easter will be held morning AND
evening. Rev. Mr.. Samson's evening ser
mon was from John, 2; IA: ST have written
unto young men because ye are strong, and
the word of God abideth in you and ye have
| overcome the wicked one.m
There is nothing of which men are more
inclined to boast orr of which they may more
reasonably boast than of their strength.
Successful men are strong men. The Apos,
tie John, who wrote these words, is an old
man now, lonely exile upon the sea-girt isle
of Patmos But his thoughts concern them
| selves with the generation that is coming
after him and he writes unto them because
| they are strong not in bedy and mind, but in
| spirit We have in the text the nature, the
source and the result of this strength.
As to the nature of this strength, when we
say of man that he is strong, one naturally
thinks of the employment in which he is en-
gagged If we say of the smith standing at
the forge that he is strong man, we think of
his muscles of iron and sinews of steel.
And when we say of Christian
young man that he is strong, we
think of the service in which he is engaged.
We find that this service has two elements, a
negative and positive. There is an evil to
be avoided and a good to be done. This is in
the apostles mind, for he says Immediately
after the text, Glove not the world, neither
the things that are. in the world" He is
speaking of the love of the world as con-
trasted with the love of God, and it is the
love of the world as absorbing, controlling
and excluding the love of God which he COM
dennis. In the next verse he is still more
specific and analyses the love of the world
into the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes
and pride of life. Now crafty these lusts
the full and tell me if you are strong. Is
the drunkard a strong man? The ibertinef
The slave of fashion? Nay, but he is strong
who controls these lusts and he is weak who
is controlled by them. He is strong who is
the master and he weak who is the slave.
Emancipation from this servitude is the
liberty wherewith Christ makes free. But
there is positive aspect to this spiritual
strength, and we may say in general that il
consists in the formation of right habits.
Take the habit of self-control. If il
be important that an engineer should be able
| to control his engine for the security of hi
own life and the lives of the passengers en-.
trusted to his skill and vigilance, how much
more important that man, who is entrusted
with the care of himself, should be able t.
govern himself. He that ruleth his owl
spirit is greater than he that taketh city
| Take the habit of industry, of honesty, AnC
yet these and other habits which We nigh
mention are not, strictly speaking religion
habits. Religious habits and moral habit
differ in this; religious duty is love to Coz
and man from motives other than sci
fish and human. Lift your morality to tn
high plane of love to God and duty to CO.
and it becomes Christian service, and whel
you do this you are strong men and womel
in the highest and best sense.
word as to the source of this spiritus
strength. The apostle indicates it in th
text, 1.-THE word of God abideth in you" Thi
is not the first time or place in the scripture
that our attention is directed to the fact ths
the source of spiritual strength is to be foun
of the word abideth. It is not momentarJ
transient impression of the truth, not q
occasional careless and Indifferent readin
of the scripture, but persevering, persis
tent searching of the truth that produce
strength. The word of God then becomes
law, a rule of conduct, incorporate in th
life and determining all its acts.
We have in the text also the results of thi
spiritual strength indicated in the words, ''Y
have overcome the wicked one." There ar
some who believe that the evil which is in tn
world is the result of mans evil nature. Blu
the apostle speaks of the wicked one VIII
appeared in Eden, to Job, and our Lord i
the wilderness He is an idle spirit. Their
is no evil that he does not incite. He entere
into the heart of Judas, of Annaniss an
Sapphira, he enters your heart and mine, hi
circuit is the world. He passes up an
down these thoroughfares of travel, enter
the shops of these tradesmen, tempts Their
to deceive with false weights and.short meas
ures, to adulterate articles of me1
theft, suicide, he enters peace
full homes and sows the seeds of discord
he enters the church, provokes alienation
and embroiIs Christians in bitter quarrels
There is no place too sacred for his invasion
and no one, not even the Son of God, tina
he may not assail. But the apostle speaks o
a conquest as well as an enemy. He says ''Y'
have overcome the wicked one." conquered
him whom your Lord conquered.
Let me caution you against the mistake
that you may be strong without possessing
| this strength. How many men of strong
minds and souls have lacked the one thing
needful. Take Mirabeau or CoIeridse ever
| as samples. 1t is with us very much as it ii
with children learning to walk, who stand
| only so long as they are held by the hand
If God does not hold us continually by the
hand we fall. Let me exhort you, then, tc
have practical conviction that the posses
sion of this spiritual strength, the enjoyment
of an implicit faith in Jesus Christ, will
confer the greatest power. You may be
tempted to think and to say sometimes
that religion is for weak minds. It is some
times said that Christians are a simple and
credulous folk. It is contemptuously
declared that the strong minds of the world,
the men of big brain and af1uent learning
are unbelievers in christianity This il
unfair. The intellect of the world, with
| now and then brilliant exception, is on the
side of God and his truth. There is more
| religious conviction in man like Byron than
| we are apt to think. In every age of history
men of the strongest minds have been the
humble and consistent followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ Against Rousseau put bod
| bridge Compare their lives and tell me
which was the better. Against Voltaire and
MirabeAu and Paine and Hobbies put Pau
| the apostle, Luther the reformer Calvin thu
theologian, Corey the missionary. Compare
their lives and tell me which was the better
| Seek first the kingdom of God and his right
eousness and all these things shall be added
unto you. You shall have power power tt
| choose the right and refuse the wrong, power
to do good and communicate. If you are
weak you shall be strong; if ignorant, en-
lightened; if doubling, assured; if cast
down, lifted up; if despairing, hopeful il
oppressed. delivered Let the word Of
God abide in you and you shall be strong
you shall over come the wicked one.