Morning journal and courier., 1885-07-13
CHURCH NOTES.

Rw. pr Pentecost at the United
 "Fiery FurRace,o
 The services at the United church yester-
 day were conducted by the Rev. G. F. Pen
 tecost, D. D., and were full of interest The
 church was filled to overfowing. The sing ing was especially fine and animated, the
 congregation joining fervently in singing the second and the last hymn as usual The words of the text, the speaker said are indeed, most remarkable. Strange, too, that they were spoken to perverse and rebellious people. They are found in Zephaniah, third
 chapter and seventeenth verse: "The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will
 joy over thee with singing" The noarness, intimacy and companionship of God to the sincere believer were dwelt upon. Not for the angels, not for the great universe around us |sDOt for all created spirits, but solely for man, created in his image, does he bow the heavens
 and come down to earth, partake of our na-
 ture and make us one with him in Christ
 We have nothing to do with our redemption,
 said the speaker; it is all done for us. We
 have only to accept and believe. God, as
 shown by his word, was made very clear to
 humanity, and not less clearly by his provi- dence. He cares for us so much that only
 by him we live and move and have our be-
 dent in his ministry in the city of Hartford showing how one of the hasest of men who came from New York on purpose to break up the meetings and injure the gospel work was brought to see and to renounce his sins, and humbly to seek and
 find Christ to be his saviour. This was made aptly to illustrate the subject of the sermon. The closing appeal of MT. Pentecost to the unconverted was powerful and irresis 5ible.
 The text of the evening discourse was from Paul's epistle to the Corinthians: "No other foundation than that is laid in Christ Jesus," etc., and the parable of building upon it gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay and stubble All are to be tried by fire. The sermon was eloquent. The singing by the quartette choir was fine.
 CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH.
 Yesterday morning at the Church of the Messiah the Rev Dr. Gilbert preached very eloquent sermon, taking for his subject 'FThe fiery furnace;' text Daniel, 3, 21-23. The text, he said is presentation of one of the many incidents recorded in the Bible that no independent mind can possibly accept as 8 literal statement of fact. It is a law of God that combustibIe matter will be con
  The hardest granite even is reduced by in tense heat; and while individuals may try to make themselves think that all this was an actual occurrence, made possible by the presence of an angel of God, yet in our strongest moments we know that it could not have taken place.
 And yet when I make this broad statement I do not wish to be understood as saying that the many incidents alluded to might as we'll be set aside and ignored. By no means. Every one of them has deep meaning. And it is that deep meaning, and not the incidents that we ought to accept.
 There can be no doubt with respect to the point of those incidents recorded in Daniel. ! They were intended to show the superiority | of Israels God, and in accordance with the | thought and spirit of the age his direct and I personal interposition is emphasized and en- :orced.
 In all ages of the world men have been | placed at times in fiery furnace. l mean low by the fiery furnace the hard experi- ! ,nces through which individuals are some | imes called to pass. And there is some ] hing that can make us strong enough to ! ise above them, and even transform them | nto blessings. All night long Jacob wrestled | with the angel He suffered but did not 4 ,ield And at day-b break he said, q will not | ct thee go except thou bless me-"
 This spirit has characterized the strong | nen and women of all time. The Christian | world fairly sparkles with the crowns of hose who have passed through the fiery urnace strengthened and blessed. Jesus, he Christ, is the grandest character of his ory. And through what a fiery furnace he passed. No wonder he sweat drops of blood n Gethsemane. We can become strongest ,nly as we rise up to our best. And so with Christ God thrilled the great teacher and ave him additional strength with every ,ulsatiou of his great heart. The cts of the early martyrs and of the noble nen and women of the day have brought to hem a strength corresponding to that which esus enjoyed. There has been no change in 1od's dealings with us. There never can be. lalileo and Copernicus exhibited the true 1artyr spirit. And, indeed, all leaders of bought are cast into burning, fiery fur ace.
 And this is true with respect 10 us all in 1e everyday experiences of life. We cannot Iways tell why we are placed in such trying ositions. But the smile of heaven will be yer us when we rise up to the level of our cry best