The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-09-14
PRICE THREE CENTS.
AT THE CHURCHES.

At the Methodist church the pastor
preached to good and attentive audience
from Paul's Epistle to Titus, iii, 7th;
"For we ourselves also were some
times foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving divers lusts and pleasures, living
in malice and envy, hateful and hating
one another. But after that the kind
ness and love of God, our Saviour, toward
man appeared. Not by works of right
eousness which we have done but ac-
cording to his mercy he saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost. Which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Sa-
viour. That being justified by his grace
we should be made heirs according to
the hope of eternal life"
We give few of the more positive
thoughts embodied in the discourse:
A Christian reading the first part of
our text stops and says how true that is.
He sees therein picture of himself when
far away from fathers house without
God and hope in the world. He possibly
shudders as he recalls to mind the dan
gerous position he then occupied and his
heart sends up to God a prayer of thanks
giving for his deliverance. He feels
the safety of his present position and
pit from which he has been taken and, as
he compares his present enjoyment with
the pleasure received when stranger to
God, he understands the words of the
psalmist when he said, 81 had rather be
a door keeper in the house of my God
than to dwell in tents of wickedness."
are pleasant to the different senses of
man, He may plunge into them and for
the time being be lost in their enjoy
ment. A party of young men seated at a
table with wine and cards may think
thar they are having good time but the
day following sunh dissipation strips the
conviviality of the night before of all it's
pleasure and reveals grinning skeleton.
The theatre pleases the eye and eXcites
the Imagination only for brief time,
leaving emptiness behind because it is
not food, nothing but husks. The dance
only gives pleasure to the senses for a
short time but the pleasure it gives soon
disappears, like dew before the rising
sun. These things which so many seek
after give pleasure only for few pass
ing moments but the religion of Jesus
Christ offers to every individual not mo-
mentary enjoyment but steady, lifelong
and genuine, not ending when the burden
of life is laid down but reaching into
eternity. Surely
there is something more lasting for man
and true it is that the pleasures of this
world are dreams and shadows and hoth-
ing more. But the enjoyment offered by
the religion of Jesus Christ to all is not
a dream neither is it a creature of the
imagination. There is fullness in it
that is not found elsewhere. There is a
satisfaction in it that the world cannot
give and at the foot of the cross true en-
joyment is found and not in the pomp
and glory of this world.
No one can truly enjoy the things of God
end have in his heart malice, envy or hate.
These sore spots must be healed. The
heart is not large enough to hold these
and Christ at the same time. Satan
laughs but angels weep when man falls
and so angels weep but Satan laughs
when he can prick your heart or mine
with envy, malice or hate and cause a
fostering sore for when this occurs
Christ can no longer remain and while
the form of religion is lert the spirit has
fled.