The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1890-02-28
A Sunday Sermon.

n 'otkllNStS tScEIIlO!Is
Rev. Mr.. Atkinson preached 'i,o fol-
lowing sermon at lhe M. \. t..urch
yesterday from Romans viii, 2S.
The letter to the Romans is a mar
yelous production. The apostle when
he wrote it must have been more than
ordinarily under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. Especially must this
eighth chapter have been written from
the very mountain top. The apostle
seems to have made the Holy Spirit
his intimate companion and talks to
him as a man to his friend. In his
conception there is no interest of his
that is too insignificant to secure the
ready attention of the divine One. He
does not write as though he thought
he was saying anything strange, but
that which to him at least had become
matter of fact. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus" A necessary re-
suit of the relation existing between
them. CAS- many as are led by the
Spirit Of God they are the Sons of
God" "The Spirit itself beareth wit
ness with our spirit that we are the
children of God"
81 reckon that the sutferings of this
present time are not worthy to be COM
pared with the glory that shall be re-
vealed in us We need not worry
about our surroundings for 1--WE know
that all things work together for good
to them that loye Cod
What are the apostles all things !?
Certainly everything outside of our
selves. He is not now considering our
| personal conduct. He does not admit
the possibility of our engaging in sin
full conduct. That would not be what
he would naturally expect from one
| who loves God He must of necessity
refer to our surrounding and perhaps
| to the mistakes which as mortals we
are sure to make. But In this outside
realm there must be no limitation.
| When the apostle says 'All things
we must not attribute the statement
to a burst of enthusiasm, justihable
by the elevated state of his mind, but
nevertheless to be taken with good
deal of allowance. He certainly means
that Gods law is such and his wisdom
such that however impossible these
things may be to man they are entire
ly possible and practicable with God.
But Paul says we know this. Now
how do we know it? Is it by naked
faith? Undoubtedly this is one of
those questions into which the element
OF faith enters very fully. But faith
is not presumption. We cannot say
we know when there is no foundation
| for knowledge. Faith must rest upon
fact, and the facts in this case must be
the nature of man and the character
Of Gods government.
First-The first principle that we
must recognize is that our existence
here is merely preparatory to our real
life. AS in this life we have our in
fancy, preparatory to rational exist
ence, so this whole life is but period
Of infancy, preparatory to a rational
existence by and by. We set tasks OF
various kinds for our children to do
and thus train all their powers. II
does not follow that we do not desire
the happiness of our children that we
set them tasks not easy of accomplish
ment. 1t does not follow that Goo
does not desire our happiness because
sometimes he lays upon us heavy bur
dens. God wants men and women O
strength. There is something for u
to do after while that will call int,
play all the strength we can command
and God is developing us here ant
, now. Heaven will doubtless not be
J place of rest in the sense of inactivit,
but place and state of intense activ
ity where God will be able to use al
the power he has enabled us to acquire
< 1t does not follow that God doe
everything, but he permits it to be don
and "All things work together 70