The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-12
REV, DR. RESERVES SERMON
PREA CHED ATr FIRST METIO DIST CHURCH YESTERDAY MORNING.


 CHURCH YESTERDAY MORNING. Large Audience Including Many Mem- bers of the Davenport Church-"Com- fort Ne My People Saith Your God" the Text-An Excellent Discourse.
 The Rev Dr. I. c. Meserve, now of London, Eng, preached at the First Methodist church yesterday morning before 9 large congregation. Many of the members of his former church were present and enjoyed his excellent ser mon Before announcing his text, pr. Meserve said: T beg the privilege of beginning with personal word. l Wish gratefully to acknowledge the Christian courtesy of the pastor of this church, who most unexpectedly to me asked me to preach here this morning, I also wish the privilege of saying that it seems like old times, like good old times to see so many of the well known faces" Taking for his text from Isaiah 40:1, Comfort ye my people with your God" he said, in part: I do not quite know how many prophets there were by the name of Isaiah. But after all it Is the message and not the messenger that is of importance. Yet the prophet will be the product of his age. The man who speaks in the time of Isaiah does not speak as the man in the time of Moses or ,n our time. The times are different and the message must be. The faces of the development of God have gone on changing one after an- other.
 Isaiahs message was one that the people wanted and were ready to re- ceive. Occasionally the message is given before the people want it. Alas for the messenger. For then he is com pelled to suffer. Those were strange times. But for the persistent elements in the human character we could not understand them. In the thirty ninth chapter a description is given of how the king played the fool before the spies from Babylon. The prophet tells him that he has played the fool and prophecies that the nation will pay the penalty. When the king learns that Babylonian hosts will not come until after his death he rejoices. I wish to call to your notice the mean touches of the human character. We are con- scious of that constant quality of sel- fishness. Comfort ye," says the pro- phet. Why? Because the quality is going to be overcome Not by any hu- man process, for that is impossible, but by the grace of God.
 Notice how the doing of God in the ancient times were always along the lines of life, according to the circum- stances. With our rational and logical minds we can discern even the charac- ter of God full of love, mercy, justice, majesty, sympathy and grace.
 Two men died recently In Europe alike in some respects, but yet much different in character One, Bismarck, believing in an iron government, the other, Gladstone, in heavenly forces. God has used a Bismarck for his prime minister. Conditions were such that he had to do so But not for long. As soon as he could he had a Gladstone. A king is coming who is the king of mercy to the people.
 Is there any wisdom in the world comparable to saying: Thy will be done.' The will of God is based on righteousness. Remember all it's inn 4paets are full of tenderness! Remem- Der that the will of God is to do away with all that is sad in the life of man. Remember that it means peace and righteousness for all time to come. Duty and discipline are hard, but through them We secure accomplish ment. It is accomplishment which means peace. We rejoiced in Samp- sons victory because it was the &C., complishment of victory of the nine- teenth century over the sixteenth a victory of humanity. When a soul en- ters into union with God the greatest thing of this world becomes in connec- ton with the greatest thing of the uni- verse. God shows His love for us with a constant flow of good works and sac riflces. The spiritual fellowship means the genuine sympathetic Christian fel- lowship of all denominations. The love of God is mightier than mems thoughts or feelings and 1t draws men together.