Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-05-31

scripture reading. ~ ~.
Response. ueo' n. faimer
sermon, De- r,,,
Rened;c,inn nymh' Page 4o1, Ne. ll20
Rev. j. B. Jordan
Inc choir was very effective one, consi,t-
ing OF singers from the Congregational and
ohlversalist choirs. The sermon. delivered
by Rev. Ii. J. White, pastor OF the F;rs,
naptlst Church, was one of the best memorial
discourses ever heard here, and the conpre.
CATION gave the closest attention. Mr. White
spoke from personal experience. None of
the veterans in the church were better ar.
quainted with the horrors and hardshins If
the great war of the rebellion than he He
marched to the front when but seventeen
years of age, and served during three vears
OF the conflict. He was seriously wounded
IN one leg, and at the present time bears
rebel bullet in the limb. Mr.. White occu-
pied about an hour, and following is a synop.
sis of his discourse:
Text: Phil, 2:l2 10" Work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling, for it
God which worketh in you, both to will
s"u W w VI MS RoOO pressure.
The day and the place impart to this service
dlstlncuVely religious character, and it is
fitting that while on the morrow eloauepce
and affection will pay their tribute to our
patriotic dead and to the glory of the republic
saved by their blood; that on this day we
should recognize Him whose guiding hand
and gracious help gave us the victory. The
text already named is chosen because it deals
with fundamental principle or law OF life,
which 1t Is we'll for men and nations to I'M
derstand and obey. "Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is
God which worketh in you, both to will and
to do of His good pleasure" Notice the two
lines of working spoken of in the text :
First, The working out; this is ours, and
refers to the practical duties and activities
of lite in all its various depart
ments. Second, The working within. Thi.
is of God, and refers to his renewing and
sanctifying and enabling work wrought in
the hearts of men by the power of the Holy
Ghost through His word and Providence by
which they are inspired and enabled to work
out in life Gods will concerning them.
Hence our theme, THE true life consists
in working out what God works within. u
First, we shall ask you to consider this Law
in its bearings on the individual, and second
in its wider application to the nation l. Con.
slider the duty enjoined, "work out your own
salvation" This exhortation is not to sin.
ners, telling them what they must do to be
| saved, but to the saved. telling them what
to do with their salvation. "Work it out" De.
velop in exercise its highest possibilities of
good, and it utters fundamental law, which
everywhere obtains. A man may be
born with the genius of paint
er. but that alone does not make him ar
artist This comes from sitting down before
the canvass and with brush and paint work
| ing out the Unborn genius. This is the mean
| ing of the text in regard to spiritual things
the inner life worked ont in thought, words
and deeds. 2. tice Tire spirit in which THU
is to be done, "Fear and trembling;" that Il
with services born of deep sense of the is
sues at stake which are eternal. 3 The en-
enlargement, ''for it is God which worketh il
you both to will and to do of his good pleas
ure." The purpose, plan, and power of true
life is of God
We come now to the application Of thi
truth to the national life. True national lif,
| consists in working out what God works with
| in. We commence with the statement tina
! God does work in nations as in individuals
both to will and to do of his good pleasure ,
Take three views of our history calculated to
enforce this truth. l. Our ante-war history
When we consider that the foundations o.
our republic were laid in prayer, down deel
on the rock basis of unwavering faith in God
that our nation was born amid the throes of
| war that could not have succeeded without
| Gods blessing, when we read our declara
ton of principles, that all men are alike en-
titled to life, liberty and the pursuit of hap
piness, and that the mission of government il
to secure these to all its sub
<tn ,ob,a
that our national life is of Goo
and that we are under the law of our text
How have we yielded to it =? We protested
one thing and practiced another. We pro.
claimed all men entitled to freedom, then
held race in bondage, using the power OF
government to rivet their chains. This, God
abhorred and worked In US to correct. Hence
these wears of agitation and compromise
creating gulf so wide and deep between the
two sections as tc make war inevitable, in
whose fierce heat God had decreed the melt
ing of every shackle. 2. Look at our war
history, how plainly the hand of God appears.
When on our knees imploring Gods help,
we we're blind to His leadings. We would
have accepted peace, or the surrender of the
South without a shsckle broken, but God was
working in us for something better.
Peace on the terms we would ac-
cept could not De. Inc nag VI treasou
floated in triumph onto many fields, go we
were kept in the flames until that glad hour
when the angels must have sung for JOY,
when he whom God had pat at the wheel, by
one stroke of his pen, changed her course and
brought the old Ship of State around into the
channel of Gods eternal decree; then the
winds of heaven filled her sails. 3. Look at
the results of the war never appearing so sat
isfactory to all as to-day. The triumph of the
North was equally the success OF the South,
for no section of our land is reaping larger
benefits from the issue of the war than the
South itself Never was the union between the
States so close and real as now. Our flnan-
cial credit is unsurpassed; taxation is a
burden no more; twenty years of peace have
added 20, 900, 600 to our population; our flag:
once a Haunting lie, is now an emblem OF
truth. and our declarations of faith, constr
tutional law. "Did ever people hear the
voice of God out of the midst of the fire, as
thou hast heard, and live"
These are the facts with their lessons that
come M to us out of the past l. Not work.
inc out our salvation as God worked in us,weil
niyh cost us our life; it did cost halt mil
lion lives and filled the land with weeping;
Q. When we were purged of our sin and tell
in line with Gods purpose, heaven smiied