The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1893-03-21
REV. PowfhK,s RETURN.
Co mencing His Third Year Under
Favorable Auspices.

Com menoing His Third Year Under
Favorable Auspices.
The pastor Of the Methodist Episcopal
church was greeted on Sunday by large con-
gregations who cordially welcomed him for
another year of service among them. AS he
entered the aisle he was welcomed by burst
af song by the choir After expressing his
qualification at being returned by the con-
ference for third year and expressing the
hope that it might be the best and most sue
cessful Of his ministry he announced as his
text Cor 6.1.
owe then as workers together with Him
beseech you also that ye receive not the grace
of God in vain" The text expresses the
solicitude which the christian pastor nat
urally feels for the results Of his labors.
This solicitude arises from the relation in
which he stands to God a. an Ambassador
representing God among men-and as a
worker in the vineyard Of the Lord yoked in
fellowship with Christ, His conscious re-
sponsibility for representing God in such a
way as to win mans loving allegiance to he
Saviour intensifes His solicitude for the per-
formance Of His work. The salvation Of man
is the end and aim of Gods administration
in mans affairs; and the ministry, either
human or divine, which fails at this point
fails in the most important particular. As it
is the chief glory Of a lawyer to carry the
jury and win his case, and Of the physician
to heal his patients and restore them to their
l., 10, 81, he fbn HIGHEST
aim of the gospel minister so to present the
truths of the gospel as to persuade men to
become reconciled to God. The crowning
glory of God will never be realized until the
church is presented at last without spot OF
wrinkle or any such thing.
The text shows shat we may enjoy the
highest advantages to little or no purpose.
''The grace of God which bringeth salvation
hath appeared unto all men," but we arc
confronted with the solemn truth that it may
be received in vain The sacrifcial offering
Of Jesus Christ and the ministry of reconcil-
iation are in vain so far as the spiritual vel
fare of many is concerned. There are mul
titudea who live under the shadow Of the
sanctuary and the sound Of the gospel who
are not apparently profted by either. And
grace is sometimes denied the right Of way
in hearts that receive it so that it fails to
accomplish all that it might. Corinth en-
joyed the ministry Of st. Paul for one and "a
half years, and Of Appollos for an unknown
period yet see from Paul's letters how much
of evil survived. 1t is not the advantages
one has but the use he makes of them that
determines his value in the scale Of either
learning or morals. The cooling draught
will do as much for the thirsty soul if con
veyed in tin cup as it would if poured from
golden chalice, so the grace of God-regard-
less of the special vehicle in which it may be
conveyed-depends in great measure for its
efficacy upon the spirit with which it is re-
celved and the heartiness with which the re-
cipient cooperates With The parable of the
sower brings this truth out clearly. The
sower sowed the same seed in the stony and
thorny ground as in the good ground. The
differences in the result was owing to the
differences in the soil and not to differences
in the seed. The seed which fell by the way
side was as good as that which fell into the
ground. To the differences which result from
the operations of divine grace upon the
hearts of men are owing TO the manner in
which it is received. Let me entreat you
uot only to be 1econciled to God, but being
reconciled and made actual posessors Of Gods
saving grace, to let the graces Of the spirit
abound in your life that all may see that you
"r aeive not the grace Of God in vain" The
past year was a. good one but the present one
upon which we now enter may be better
one if, instead Of feeling flushed with victory
and resting upon our laurels, we "forget the
steps already trod, and onward urge our way