Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1892-04-28
WHOLE NO. 2295
THIRD ANNIVERSARY.
FEAE FOURTH W. E. CHURCH
REf OGNaZED THE EVENT
SUNDAY.
Pastor MILLER breaches 81 Sermon
which is the beginning ota
Series ct Meetings


"Nearer Ny Col TO Thee with
| these words OF thar inspiring hymn
the services of weeks series OF re-
vival meetings we're begnn ia Fourth
M. e. Church Sunday night. Sunday
was the third anniversary Of the dedi-
cation of that ehnrch, and during the
day appropriate exercises in recogni-
tion of the day had been held
ln the morning the pastor, Rev. G. s.
Miller preached very acceptibIe SER
mon on Church Prosperity In
which he endeavored to give the sali-
ent points conducive to the spiritual
as well as the temporal growth of the
church.
The audience WAS no. very large,
but they NANTES ed their interest in
the sermon, by liberal subscription
for the ben eft of the church, at the
close of the sermon in the evening
Mr.. Miller announced that meetings
would be held in the church very even
Ing during the week except Saturday
evening, and efter making tie open
ing prayer, he gave out, as an Incen-
tive to the design of the weeks meet
ings, the hymn, Awake Jerusalem,
awake, no longer in Thy sins lie down"
He chose for his text tie words,
Awake, awake, put on thy strength
. Zion; put on thy beautiful garments,
OJerusalem. Isaiah 50 /. No prophet.
he said, had go clearly described the
life and srfferings sni death of the
Saviour as Isaiah had. The whole
j wish and Gentle world was ac.
quainted with Jerusalem, and with
Mount Zion, and their holy ;r aditions,
that all poetry of the ege was directed
largely TO it.
Issish, in his prophetic vision, sees
the comir g Ct TIE Saviour of the
world, hundreds of years before the
event, and minutelg describes his life
and characteristics.
The old dispensation under which
the prophet lived, was not antago.
nistic to the new dispensation which
was to come, nor is the new dispense
tion against the old. The old prophet
stood upon Mount Zion and saw the
dawning of the coming of the Saviour,
and he exhorts Jerusalem to awake,
and Zion to put on beautiful garmente,
to shake off their slothfullness and
give themselves to the service of the
coming King.
He charged them to put on the
strength which God had provided.
So are the people of this day to put
in the strength of God.
He urged that people were not to
waste their time in discussing unprofit-
able points of doctrine or questions of
creed, such as whether or not the dead
sleep in their graves for certain
period.
Put on that s'r-ugth and stand by
the grand old doc .rines of the teaching
OF the spirit of God. 1t is not for us
to find out some other way to get to
heaven, he said, but the doctrine that
Christ Jesus tasted death for every
man.
That is enough to rely upon the
doctrine that Jesus Christ came into
the world TO save sinners was the
doctrine to save mep, and this was
the cnly belief whereby men could be
saved
Not only are men to put on the
strength of this doctrine, but also In
the q ctrine that comes by the gift of
the Holy Ghost. This is the promise
of the Father-to send the Holy Ghost
and without it is weakness and help
lessness.
The beautiful garments were an up
right moral character, of true right
eousness and of praise. He thought
that a great deal of the success of
Methodism was due to the power of
sipging-the holy songs of the church
and the Methodist way of using 1t so
freely WAS great means of the
growth OF the church. and this coupled
with holy z-al for Christ would tend
10 still more argely build up and in
create 'he church.
He thought that if the Methodists
would use the holy zeal that he had
seen people of other denominations
using among them, the growth Of the
church would be more rapid than 1t
was.
A short revival service was held at
the close of the sermon.
Mora Tsv, na~so xUoryrs mwoo