The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-30
SPECIAL VEsPER SERVICE.
Rev. Dr.. M. H. Harris Delivers An In
teresting Sermon.

| At All Souls church, last evening,
there was a special vesper service.
Rev. DR.. M. H. Harris preached an
interesting sermon from the subject,
do it now.' His text was from II
Corinthians. viz. Now is the day of
salvation"
He said in part; The careful reader
of the New Testament will observe that
where duty or privilege of man is con
| cerned, it recognizes only one time
-now-and it's few illusions to the flu
ture are but incidental, all having a
bearing on the all-important now. If
we sit down to the study of the New
Testament, applying the rules of gram
mar and analysing the verbs, we shall
| find such monotony of construction that
| we shall rise up with the conviction
| that the whole book is in the indica-
| tive mood, present tense. The more we
study, the more we observe the world
around us; the more we think upon
the conditions of our life, the more that
word NOW" gathers emphasis. The
| present moment only is ours in which
| to live or work The past is forever
gone; the future is uncertain and un-
known. If we do not improve the pass
| ing moment, all our ability and oppor-
tunity are wasted, Regretting the
| past or dreaming of the future, is only
| idly squandering the present. While we
procrastinate, the opportunity of a life
time may pass us by. While we hes
| itate or idly parley, the mistake of a
| lifetime may be committed We gain
wisdom only by improving in study
moment after moment, as it comes.
| We acquire wealth only by diligence
in business and economy in life per-
sisted in day by day. In each hour the
work of that hour must be accom-
| plished or it will be forever neglected.
| There is no such thing as making up
| lost time. To each moment and day
belong its own duties and work; all
that the diligent and faithful worker
| can possibly accomplish in the time. If
we occupy today in doing the work of
| yesterday then today's duties are neg
lected, and thus we find that now is
the emphatic word of all successful,
practical life. We all know how the
temptation to neglect the duty of the
hour steals upon us. work that for
a hundred reasons ought to be done,
and that for as many reasons ought
| not to be neglected, is postponed to a
more convenient season. We know,
too, how the sin of postponement dis
guises itself, and suggests some easier
and pleasanter thing than the plain
duty of the hour. So we read a worth
less book, that does not tax the men
tai powers, when we ought to be read
ing a good one, that will exercise the
mind. We solace our most entertain
ing friends with social visits, because
friends must not be neglected, when we
ought to be visiting the sick or looking
after the wants of the needy We EN-
ploy our time with ornamental work
when a useful thing is ,imperatively
needed. We let important business or
social interests suffer because we can
as well attend to them another day as
now, and the convenient season comes
not until the delay has done untold
harm. We let churches. schools and
reformatory work languish, because we
cannot very well attend to them lust
now. How ready we are to fancy our
selves tired How we fiatter ourselves
that tomorrow we shall be differently
situated. and all these things we are
neglecting now will be attended to
What high hopes we have of tomorrow
and how different we mean to be when
it comes! Excuses are of no avail
Good reasons for unfulf1llment of pledge
and duty are but mockery The truth
stands inflexible and absolute. Now
is the day Of salvation" II we mean