The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-25

spired words of praise which the church | has ever since offered unto God as a sacrifice of thanksgiving, our glorious l benediction: "Blessed be the Lord God 1 of Israel, for He hath visited and re- deemed His people, and hath raised up l horn of salvation for us in the house | of His servant, David.
 | Then fell the fear of a wondering, an- | ticipating amazement upon all that l dwelt round about; and the news of this new conception of humanity spread throughout all the hill country of Judea, and "all they that heard these
 sayings laid them up in their hearts saying, what manner of child shall this be?"
 The new name John, standing for new
 and greater possibilities, for the Chris tian conception of humanity, Zacharias
 had received from the angel who ap-
 peared unto him in vision, while per-
 forming his priests office, Burning in
 cense in the temple of the Lord *" while the whole multitude of the peo-
 pie were praying without at the time of
 incense.
 Here we have pointed out to us the
 5OuICG OL lulS llcW anu SldAtSi SOllCCp-
 tion of human life. It comes from
 heaven. It is a revelations. It comes
 in vision, through the channel of relig
 ious contemplation, through dwelling
 upon the religious purposes of life. It
 is not the result of our experience of
 man as he always it, but it is the revel-
 ation of what man may be.
 As Zacharias of old received this wis.,
 jon while having in his hand the sacred
 vessel with it's burning incense, the
 symbol of prayer, he himself being as
 consecrated priest, in the spirit of
 prayer while the people without the veil were praying; so to-day does this grand revelation of the possibilities of human life take hold of us and help shape us; only as we are in the spirit of prayer.
 Again, as the vision came to Zacha- rias in the temple, so to-day is this rev elation of the possible nobility of man, of every human creature, in Christ Jesus, revealed to the world through the church. It is the great message which the Church of Christ is forever declaring, Man is something nobler than you now see him, or than he has been, with the exception of Jesus Christ"
 Every man may enter into and par take of the truth of this vision.
 The doctrine of inheritance is saved from fatalism through this Christian of birth as the embodiment of new possibilities in every infant Christ, both in His teachings and by | pf he nc t1I ci n ners, gave His seal of truth to this con ception.
 Every man may enter into and par take of the comfort and inspiration of this revelation that we are not simply l what we have been, but that we are also what we may be. We need not be, i as we have been. a slave to evil habit | or to the lower self-we can even rise above the nobility of our ancestors. 1 This is a Christian revelation, and our American life and history has empha | sized and illustrated this truth, that | man is something more than his inher | itance, for from obscurity of ancestry | many have here risen to the highest of | fees of state.
 What more inspiring gospel message | for all our life can we have than this? | Birth" it has been wisely said, "is but :! one moment in the process of exist ance." Every period of life, every year, as it comes to us, is a new birth. The | future need not be what the past has | been; for we bear with us always not | simply the inheritance of the past, but | also infinite possibilities of advance nent, of becoming better and nobler. Sod in Christ: the Holy Spirit; the ,hurch with her spiritual environment. Ter sacraments, her table of grace spread for your reception; the Bible; 1rayer--all these are stretching out 1 heir arms of welcome to you, to help ,ou to be what. through the power of he vision of perfect humanity in Jesus, 'ou can be, 8. new man in Christ Jesus.
 Oh, my dear friends, may the future ,ring to you, as of old 1t was revealed o Zacharias, the realization of our ruth and show to you the marvellous mysteries of the possibilities of your lature and the divine help through which they may be fully realized in Shrist Jesus.