The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-09-28
AT THE CHURCHES.

AL the MetnOulSJ Cnurcn Ine pastor
preached to large congregation from
Mark lst chapter 14th and 18th verses.
"Now after that John was put in pris-
on Jesus came into Galilee preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God and saying,
The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of
God is at hand repent We and believe the
gospel"
The speaker said that he wished to call
attention to six words found in the last
part of the text, viz: "Repent We and be-
lieve the gospel" for in them we see two
steps to be taken before man can enjoy
the things of God here below and possess
the peace which passeth all understand
ing. After further introducing his sub
ject he went on to say, "The subject of
personal salvation ought to be an inter-
esting subject to every individual who
has discovered through the agency of the
gospel of Christ some of the glories of
another life, a city which hath founda-
tions whose builder and maker is God. If
there is no state of existence other than
the present, then the world has been
greatly deceived, and religion is mock
alton of God is true which we find in his
word then it is of the greatest import
ance that we seek to reach that lev vel
which will permit us to enter, through the
gates, into the city of jasper walls and
golden streets. | have never seen this city
it is true, but / know that the Bible de-
some extent by John the Revelator.
have never seen the city of London or the
city of Paris yet, l read and am told that
one is in England and the other in France.
| If purposed to visit either one of these
cities | should first be interested in the
route leading to it.. How to get there
would be an important question and so
| when | read in the word of God that
there is something better further OLA
city to come, l am interested in studying
the route leading to it. What require
| ments must meet? What conditions must
| fulfill? What steps must | take? These
are subjects of Importance and interest
and, as a traveller consults maps and rail
road guides in search of knowledge, so
take the only map and guide find and
seek for knowledge therein
The speaker then discoursed on re-
tba Hrct sta Nnt in tho ne
ual way of exhortation but noting its ma
ture necessity and means and said
''The nature of repentance may be con-
sidered both as the gift of God and the
duty of man. That it is the gift of God
is clearly taught in scripture by such
passages as Acts Ills and Acts 5-31. But
we are not to suppose that we have moth
ing to do in the matter for the gift is to
all men to exercise. We
note that repentance includes reformation
plainly taught in Isaiah 55-7, in Ezekiel
l4-6, by the words of John the Baptist
and of the Lord Jesus. Its necessity is
seen in the words of our text In fact
all through the Bible. In the old Testa-
ment by such passages as Ezekiel 1880
| and in the new by Christ and the Apos-
| ties and also in the very nature of true
| religion. Its means must
be serious consideration, study of divine
law, attendance on the ministry of the
gospel and prayer for divine aid.'
! The preacher took up faith and defined
| it as "a firm persuasion of the truth of
proposition on the ground of evidence"
and said
knowledge is gained by different kinds
of evidence. We have the evidence of
sense of reason, of consciousness and of
| testimony. Faith as applied to religion
may not be produced by either one of the
first three but is based on the evidence of
testimony. We find this evidence in such
passages as John 20-30-31 Heb. 2-S-4,
I'd Peter 1-16-17. If the testimony of the
i gospel writer's and many other ancient
writer's also be not true then we have no
need of inquiring further into the plan of
salvation. But if it is true then surely
we have sufficient evidence to found a
rational faith. Faith
toward God implies obedience, as we see
in the case of the young man who went
away sorrowful because he was not will
ing to comply with the terms which
Christ proposed. Again. faith also inn
plies an mistaken trust in God. The
faith of Abraham laid Isaac upon the al
tar and the faith of job was of the kind
that babe him cry out, while suffering in
describable agony, Though he slay me
yet will trust in him." We note also
that faith is progressive, for Jesus told
the disciples to have faith like grain of
mustard seed. This implies its growth.
Then we hear the diciples saying, "Lord