The Portland daily press., 1888-04-09
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
coNGREss SQUARE cnuRcm


ed at the morning services of this church,
taking for his text clause of the 25th verse
of the 4th chapter of Ephesians, 1--WE are
members one of another" He said: I'm all
our interests we are members one of another.
in all lawful things we are memhers one OF
another More broadly still, every person
and every thing in the universe of God stands
essentially related to every other person and
every other thing. These relations may vary
in Importance. 1t is not an idle fact that the
law of cohesion that holds the particles of
this structure together is a permanent and
abiding law. You shall place a block of iron
on a block of granite. That same power
holds the particles of each of these blocks
solidly in their place. not so solidly that they
cannot be overcome, but they will have no
power between themselves to overcome it.
They will have simply the pressure Of CRAWL
ty of the one block upon the other. But If
you place lump of salt upon block OF ice
you have an entirely different state of affairs.
When brought together new appetite, if
you will allow me to say it. is developed, and
: SO eager is the salt for the moisture that the
Ice may furnish, that it makes its way through
it, dissolves the bonds of cohesion and we
have a solution called salt water But if you
take the genial air of this room necessary to
the support of life, the life giving element in
it, by mingling in large quantities with the
other modifying element, is salubrious, health
giving, life promoting. But let these two
causes, not visible as they are, be joined by
chemical union, and you have a destructive
compound that will dsintegrate the texture
of your garment, nay, of our flesh as well,
and prove itself an agent in the importance
of which life can no more be preserved than
in an absolute vacuum. The qualities are
entirely changed, and yet the chemist will
decompose that compound and restore you
| the elements IN their original condition:
| and when / look out on humanity corrupted
| by sin, men ordained by God to be helpful 10
| each other, who have become mutually de-
| structive of each other, can God forget their
| enmity to himself and crilinality against his
laws? | ask why not? Greater things are
| done in this material universe right under
| our eyes. Who are we that should limit the
power of the Almighty even in the invisible?
| What are the forces that accomplish these
results ? They are not forces that you can han
| die, they are not powers that you can weigh
| or measure, or sell in the market place, they
| are invisible as effective agencies which ex-
| press the primary law of God under given
| condition. In a like manner every living
er man and woman that lives or has ever
| lived or ever shall live. Bound to them by
| like invisible bonds equally effective, as
permanent, as continuously an expression of
! the Divine pleasure of the law as seen in any
of these forces that exist in the material
world about us.
1t is not chiefly, friends, on the material
aud physical side of things that we stand re-
lated to each other; chiefly on the invisible
and the material side of things The suffer-
ing man though at the farthest pole is our
neighbor still, and our heart goes out ten
derby to him. These sentiments that lie so
sweetly aud easily in our SOULS and which
seem to US of little moment day by day,
which we call sympathy, pity or by what
ever other name you may employ, these are
the fundamental principles of our consttu-
ton which, themselves, relate US one to an
other.
God is our father. This is no rheoteric.
this is no courtesy, much more is
God our father than any earthly father.
1t Is rhetoric when you apply it to our
earthly parent.
Our material interests are unity. When
| you look out upon the worlds enterprises
they seem to be very. separate things. 1t
seems to the casual observer that he may
prosper in his enterprise and everything
else 60 to the wall and it will be all the same
to him. Very far from being true NJ mat
ter what your investments are they depend on
other investments.
Perhaps you are engaged in the great lum-
Der interests of the Northwest. What are
they worth to you without the railroads that
bear your products to the eastern coast?
knowledge is power. knowledge tends to
universally in the individual Every fact
gained tends to diffusion. A scholar or man
Of science writes book. The book goes
forth and the contents become the common
possession of mankind at once and they are
elevated by it.
Our eyes are open to the evils that are
about US. You may say, Il believe in evolu-
tion, l have studied that subject great deal
and | have made up my mind that you can
not hurry things; that society evolves one
phase of blessing after another and that in
due time we shall escape from these evils"
But look here, friends, If we believe in evo-
luton, and IL we say to the man within that
here are great evils weighing us down, why
are not the elements all ready for a step in
ev0lutlon?"
STATE STREET CHURCH.
very delightful service of sacred song
took place at State street church last eve-
ming before very large congregation There
was select choir of twelve voices under the
direction of Mr.. Harvey S. Murray the or
ganist, and sang the following programme
grandy:
Organ voluntary-Chorus Of Priests. Wagner
Anthem-The radiant morn had passed away;
Hymn-W Waterman, what of the night Sullivan
Responsive chant and Gloria Patri. Schillng
Female trlo-Here as the night. .......C onc0ue
Hymn-The Lord of glory is my light. Gounod
Organ voluntary, Postlude in D............ Archer
A number of congregational hymns were
also sung with interesting remarks upon their
history interspersed by the pastor, Rev. Mr..
Bayley.
ST. LAWRENCE STREET CHURCH.
Mr.. S. M. Sayford, the eminent evangelist
from Massachusetts, will assist in special
services in the ST. Lawrence street church.
commencing Friday, the 18th inst Prepare
tory meetings will be held each evening this
week. On Thursday evening the pastor will
deliver lecture to the young people. All
are invited.
REFORM CLUB.
A largely attended temperance meeting
was held at Reform Club Hall last evening
I. A. Cakes, presided, and George Facey, G.
III. Skillings, N. Murcb, Mrs. L. Partington,
Capt. c. ii. Choate and w. w. Crook spoke
NOTES.
Prof. Taylor, of Andover. drew two large
congregations to High street church yester-
day.
Rev. Mr.. James Read of Boston, preached
strong doctrinal sermon at New Jerusalem
Temple last evening ON "The Life and
Teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg"
Rev. Mr. Paine preached his last sermon
at Pine street church yesterday
The Stevedores' Strike.