The record-union., 1897-11-08
RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT.
INAUGURAL SERMON BY REV.
r. j. JOHNSTON.
Introduces Himself to the West
minister Presbyterian Churcn
Congregation.

Rey. r. J. Johnston's recent inaugural
sermon at the Westminster FrespS eei-
Ian Church was as follows:
"The Lord hath done great things
whereof we are glad.''-Ps. cxxvi., 5.
..Sneak unto the children of Israel
that thew 90 forward'-Ex. xiv, 10.
Brethren we stand to-day on the
Threshold of a new world; the old lie
stretches away far behind US anu a
new life unfolds itself before us. we
have reached another thinking pace III
the history of our church ana cohsre-
gation--another crisis in Chrlstiah WORK
that may be big with blessing or may
be freighted with disaster ana ruin.
There are times in the life OF every IN
dividual every church. every nation, III
which one false step may LEAD TO lllih-
ite sorrow, failure and dissrace-liines
when a wave of the hand, hash OF the
eye Or a stroke of the pen may wreck
human lives, blast human hopes anu
sweep many hearts with ude OF ms
ery-tirres when a thoughtless Wofd OF
q careless act may have tremendous
influence ON an unborn generation NO
man can fortell the consequences OF
individual action at such times. None
of us liveth unto himself" we are
part of everything that exists, whether
in the natural or in the spiritual world.
In times of change, therefore, When
great interests are at stake, we need
supernatural wisdom and divine guld-
ance, so that we may make no mis-
takes. Such time is with us this
morning. We have climbed to the top
of the mountain. 1t has been hard
struggle through the brush and over
the rocks and up the sleeps, but, al
though many of US are cut and bruised
and bleeding, we have reached the sum-
nit in safety and stand painting and
tired surveying the scene. Let us look
back in retrospect at the path we have
Travelled and gather inspiration for the
still higher hills which we have yet
to climb. The past is a part of every
man. and no human being has ever
been able to cut the cords that blnd
him 10 it. The days and months and
years that are gone. are part and parcel
of the present moment. The history OF
the human race is so inseparably con-
nected with the throbbing life of to-
day that it has given to that life its
character 1t is unnecessary for me to
say to you, Never forget the past OF
your lives" for you never can forget it.
There are thousands of men who would
give their right ann if they could dis
solve partnership with the past, but
they cannot do it. It is a tremendous
fact that we never forget anything we
have ever known. The subjective mind
holds 1t with a grip like steel wise,
and only divine interposition can tear
il from it's grasp. But it is only the
wicked who are haunted by the ghosts
Of the past. It is only the unsaved
sinner who is crushed to the earth by
the burden of the past. Gods people
fear no phantoms of the dead days.
They are not afraid to go back into
the past and gather up its sunbeams to
brighten the present and glorify the
future. When we carefully and calm
ly go back in thought over the track
Of our life as a nation, as church, and
as individuals, we win sing with the
psalmist "The Lord hath done great
things for us whereof we are glad"
The Jews had great reason to thank
God for past deliverances. Their enc
mics had been defeated in battle; their
storehouses were full of the products
of field and forest: their nation was the
greatest of ali the nations of the earth.
\ powerful prince sat upon the throne
and swayed the scepter with justice
and righteousness. A magnificent tenn
pie had been built on Mount Zion for
the Worship of Coda temple which
was the pride Of every Hebrew heart
and the envy of the world. Is it any
wonder. then. that the Jews as they
swarmed up the temple hills, sang this
joyous song, THE Lord hath done great
things for us whereof we are glad"
We, too, must raise our voices in the
self same song. The country in which
we live is paradise of beauty: there
is no grander land beneath the sky than
California. We are under the protec-
tion Of a nation that has no superior
in wealth or in arms; the war clouds
of the revolution that were so black
and threatening have passed away: the
bloody days OF the rebellion, when faith
er met son and brother faced brother
on the field Of war. have developed into
peace and plenty, protection and pros
perity.
The inventions and improvements of
the last hundred years have changed
the very face Of nature The wonders
Of the world are no longer the hang
ing gardens Of Babylon or the Colossus
at Rhodes or the Pyramids of Egypt.
but the telegraph the phonograph.
electric driving energy, steam power
and floating steel palaces. A thousand
new ideas have developed into as many
new appliances for saving time and
appliances that make life
longer, sweeter and happier The ed
ncation OF to-day is more thorough and
more extensive than it ever has been
In the long history of humanity The
earth is bigger to-day than ii was a
hundred years ago and enormously big
ger than ii was at the beginning of the
CHRISTIAN era. New lands have been
added to our maps. New rivers. new
mountains, new seas never dreamed Of
by our fathers are now our most prec-
fous possessions. The heavens are no
longer a sealed book, for the seal has
been broken by the telescope and we
can read the handwriting Of the AL
mighty and think his thoughts after
Him. The very ocean has been forced
TO give up its secrets and has been
compelled to minister to the comfort
OF men. The conqueSgs of the past
few hundred years have been innumer-
able. We have gained victories IN the
realms Of history. ART. philosophy. IT.
eratuTe. science and re!lg50n-yictorie
more splendid than Waterloo or Get
tysburg. and more decisive than Ira
falgar CT the Beyne Victories whose
glory shall never fade. Surely God has
been kind to us as a nation in preserv-
ing US amid the tenapestS that nave
swept the land from ocean to ocean.
Surely God has been good 10 Us as a
II