The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-04-17
SUNDAY MORNING.

Fine weather prevailed throughout
Sunday and everything was favorable to
large congregations. 1t has been esti-
mated that the total attendance at the
several meetings in the different churches
was not far from $1,000, equal in numbers
to nearly twice the population of the
city. All wished to hear Bishop Ninde
and the Methodist church was packed
half an hour before the hour for his SER
mon. Overflow meetings were held in
the other churches of the city and those
who could not gain admittance at the
Methodist church Joined the congrega-
lions in those churches.
The first exercise of the morning was
the love feast, conducted by Rev. G. R.
Palmer These exercises were followed
by the sermon by the bishop. A great
sermon was expected from this distin-
pushed Methodist and none had cause
for disappointment. It was mastery
talk.
Bishop Mindless Sermon.
The bishop took for his sermon ST.
John 1910, ''The thief cometh notB but
to kill and destroy; / am come that they
might have life and that they might have
it more abundantly." The subject of the
discourse was the new birth in Christ.
The bishop began giving vivid picture of
the vanity of worldly life and the awful
ness of death in sin. He then said that
as this text stated, Jesus came that they
might have life and that they might have
it more abundantly. He then spoke of
the change rendered by the new spiritual
birth.
He spoke of his own experience in the
new spiritual birth, when it seemed
to him that the whole texture of his soul
was changed, and the whole current of
his affectional nature reversed.
He continued by saying that he had
known men who seemed to be totally de-
PRAYED, who never had decent Thought
in their lives, whose family dreaded the
sound of their footsteps They were the
scourges of society and the pest of the
community in which they lived, and he
had known such men to be suddenly ar
rested in their wild career, and to have
had such vision of Christ upon the
cross, that q wave of cleansing swept
through their soul and they were brought
back to life of great usefulness. He
called this miracle of grace,a more stu
pendous miracle than that of changing
water into Wine, or restoring the blind to
sight, or raising the widows son. What
we want, said the bishop, is Divine DOW
er to raise men out of the death Of sin
into life OF righteousness. He then
pointed out some of the practical effects
OF this new life in Jesus. 1t will awak- |
en- a new class of feelings and strengthen
others. He said the regenerated vel |
coined the new life, although it's meaning
is accompanied with great perplexities
and pains as new life into the restored |
paralyzed limb is accompanied with
great physical suffering, yet the use of
the valuable limb is to result from this |
change.
1t awaiens the sympathies of men, and !
he illustrated by the conduct of the good I
Samaritan toward the Jew who was not
content to temporarily relieve his suffer-
ing, but provided for his future com
fort. He saw the mans case through.
and this is true of all Christian sympa,
thy. Then the new life will revive and
strengthen our natural affections, He
said that people who were not protested
Christians think that they love their
children, foraexample, but he commended
that their love is not SO deep and holy as
that Of those born in Christ,
At the close of the sermon the follow
ing were ordained deacons: William b.
Dukeshire, Franklin W. Shell, Henry A.
Pearle, George F. Millward, Ernest A.
Porter, Alphonso A. Bryant, William
Wood and Wilmont P. Lord.
Those who attended the afternoon
services were disappointed to learn that
Rev. DR.. E. N. Smith of Kent's Fill, who
was advertised to deliver sermon, was
detained by sickness in his family but
his place was ably filed by DR.. Byler, J