The Newtown bee., 1889-10-11
Lessons for Autumn.


 Sketch of a sermon by Rev Nelson l.. Porter, pastor of the Methodist Episco- pal church at Nichols, delivered last Sunday and published by request:
 \ We all do fade as leaf. Isaiah LXIv,e. There are certain portions of the word of God which are specially calculated, at certain seasons of the year, to arouse in many minds an interest in eternal things and stir up Christian people to greater activity in the work of God. Among them the above passage may be chased. The God of Nature and revelation has great and important truths in the other ! and has thus instituted what may prop erly be called object teaching, or through the eye to the heart. Christ made use of this mode of teaching in his earthly min istry. For example: When he would ex- plain to Nicodemus the necessity of the new birth, he compared the operations of the transforming spirit to the ''Wind that blows where it listeth, "( John III, S), and by this comparison made plain the fact that, while person may be cer- tain that their sins are forgiven, yet they may not be able to explain how the Holy Spirit brought about the change.
 Again, when he taught the doctrine of an overriding Providence and directed his disciples to trust in God for all nec- essary things, he illustrated the subject by referring to the lilies of the field and birds of the air (Matthew VI, 24-34). And so when God would teach us the brevity and uncertainty of life, He com pares it to the most fleeting objects in Nature, such as the flower of the field, which buds, blossoms and fades in rapid succession; to the grass which groweth up, "In the morning it fiourisheth and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth." And again, ''We all do fade as a leaf.''
 There are several lessons God would teach us by the fading leaf. One is that life here is short in duration. The leaf has but d limited time to grow and de- velop; beyond its bounds it cannot pass. The law of Nature necessitates the change that is now taking place in the ] leaf realm. The same is true of man. The time given him to develop his pow CTS and accomplish the object of his ere ation is short in duration. It is true, three score years and ten may seem long to a young man just entering Life's path way. But when he considers the work to be done, the cloud of ignorance to be | lIipra11oI ha cipS tp h1 l Isa development of a true and holy charac- ter, he will find that he has no time to waste. Man is born into this world with a nature that it will not do to live by. It must be changed. The heart, which by nature is sinful, must be cleansed and made holy, flor 'without holiness no man can see the Lord" And this must be attended to in this short and uncertain life, if we would be saved. 1 Another lesson Gcd would teach us by the fading leaf is, Life is fleeting in it's progress. The months pass swiftly; six months ago and the leaf was but bud :; three months ago and it waved in all it's beauty in the Summer breeze. Three months more have passed and what a change has come! This is but picture of man, as he looks back to his childhood days and calls up the associations of youth; the doings of riper years :; when he recalls the day he entered busi- ness for himself; the day he was mar ried; the day his father and mother died |; 1 the days in which his children were born, some of whom are men and women now and, perhaps, one or more have been called to Heaven and shine to-day re- splendent around the throne of God. As memory reproduces these "reminiscences, he is aware that facts in his past life sub stantiate the teaching of the fading leaf, that Life is fleeting in it's progress.
 | A third lesson God would teach us by the fading leaf is The uncertainty of a continuance of life. Two leaves may 1 come forth from the bud at the same time, but one may fade before the other. This is very clearly seen in the leaf realm to-day. There may have been some defect in the leaf that caused pre- mature decay, but, however this may be | HI RSSaiu eo IAlS Acais WIG kuoW bAaI l1 ls true in regard to man. How few people live to see their three score years and ten? There are more who die at 30 than at 60; still more die at B than at 70. All along through the period of life, men are falling. And ''we all do fade as the leaf" Soon, like the falling leaves, this generation will all pass away. What we do, must be done quickly. Therefore, ''Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus" for peace, purity and Heaven.
 WoODBURY.