Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-10-22
JR OPPORTUNITIES.
ERElN WE MAY OBSERVE A DIVINE
COMMANDMENT.

Nice According to His Light Expected
rom Each-A Sermon Preached in the
congregational Church at Middlebury
! pit. 90. 1897, by Rev. \. W. Dickens.
like rs To whomsoever much is given,
i'm shall much be required.
lhs quotation will Immediately call
three facts concerning itself. The
b will probably be that the idea it
tains is very familiar. The words
devoid of any trace of newness.
is partly because they are so plain,
EASILY understood, and partly because
|our lives long we have been hearing
changes rung upon them. Parents,
'bhers, preachers, friends have recited
ban over and over again for our bene-
In all imaginable ways they have
IN applied.
bur second thought is more than like
be of the importance of the pas
|e. This constant rehearsal has had its
let. We have come to see that this
lost tiresome reiteration has been
intained because the truth is one we
hit never to be allowed to forget.
teaching fits us all, and all the
L.
b the third place we shall, perhaps,
Dgnze a special prOpriety in citing
| old, worn statement, and in seeking
Emphasize it today. For many rea-
\ Is. all our American chdrches have
en- into the way of regarding the
rise of the seasons. Our climate, our
I its of life, the come and go of the
.nberShip. and various other influences
brought this to pass.
$ a society, we are, to an exceptional
rec, under the control of multiplied
ces which lead in this direction. Some
or other, almost all of our families
| c had very intimate relations with
institutions of learning. Many of
homes now contain those who are
aged in educational pursuits, either
" students or as instructors. And
refOre the notion of alternating periods
work and rest, of rest and work has
. ery strong hold in the community.
already intimated, this affects even
religious efforts. Why, | have had
4 pie offer, as an excuse for not joining
church at the July communion, the
that it would be vacation time.
+ her thin reasoning, certainly, and
revealing the idea that even the full
nent of most sacred personal obliga-
IS depends upon the progression of
months. And so at what is really
beginning of our year, in many re-
r lets, nor least of all in Christian actiyi-
it has appeared to me it might be
| to call up this old text, and review
. in the subject it presents. Hoping
We all else to make this sermon help
| devote it to consideration Of
+ privileges and requirements.
5 we think of the privileges which
front us they naturally present them
res in two classes. One, and that to
studied first, embraces all-our
noes for improvement. A mere
meration of the particulars in which
han nature and life can be bettered,
ether with the agencies at hand for
lring progress, would exhaust the
hts of a dozen discOurses. No person
DO old to learn. No person is so good
10 be incapable of further growth.
ellectual powers, social traits, moral
.Ilties, spiritual sensibilities are for
j amenable to worthy influences. In
wledge, and instinct. and taste, and
hpathy, and aspiration, and self-com.
/ d men can always be trained to high
conditions. Vanity has no right to
81 cannot be improved" Humility
no right to say, Nothing better lies
pre-" And the hope of each individu-
4 f every class, of the race depends,
kely, upon faith in the possibility of
Ter attainment or success. And by
many and how varied means is
advancement offered. Through the
dness of God blessed influences, more
ndant and constant than the dews
the rains which water the earth, fall
the lives of men. Surely the church
OF without the power to help man
! l. 1t makes unfailing use of the
ptures, which touch human need at
ry conceivable point. 1t discloses the
It exalted scheme of morals and re-
on that was ever given to the world.
PRESENTS the Hottest ideals of manhood
wOmanhood. By faithful instruc-
by earnest admonition, by united
yer, by sacred song it seeks to give
Fngth and courage to all who come
Ihin its reach.
nd an even more decisive force for
d is found in the Christian home. 1t
ks along the line of natural traits
dispositions to moral upbuilding.
converts the abstract principles of the