The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-12-04

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Of all good things to men. But they
must search further and deeper. They
must not be content to receive: they
must give. The poor widow gave her
two mites and received a higher com
mendation than the rich who poured
their gold into the treasury. II was
the motive which earned the praise.
Some persons cannot forget themselves
even when they are ministering to the
wants of others. Others take all from
the giver and do not even givesthe
mite, for thinking of themselves. 1t is
for such as these TO pray that they may
be enabled by the grace of God TO east
away the works Of darkness.
Beloved, the time has come when we.
Of these favored isles, shall be COM
PEELED TO adopt more system in our Civ
ing, when We must become. if you
please. more businesslike in our char
ity. More Of us must give. and our
gifts, both of personal service and of
our purse. must be larger. if we would
see the church increase and prosper.
that more souls shall see the salvation
Of God. The question for every one
Of us today, the first day of the
church's year. is what am | doing for
Christ and His church. and how can
prove a more profitable servant? We
do not want our candlestick removed:
let it then be replenished and kept well
trimmed. Let not one of MS who pro-
fess to be preparing TO celebrate the
coming of our God in our flesh, and
who wishes that birthday TO bring to
him the glow of peace and happiness.
be forced to say that he has not
strained every nerve in Gods service.
that he has not done his best to de-
serve so great a sacrifice as that which
required the incarnation. sufferingS and
death of the Son of God. So will the
church be the living brotherhood the
Lord ordained it TO be. with its light
not hid under a bushel but set on a
hill, a sure guide to all who behold its
effulgence to walk in the way of truth.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The Rev. G. l.. Pearson of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church took for his
theme last night Gods Holiness
Shown in His Works" His text was.
Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord of Hosts
and the Earth Is Full of His Glory"
lsa. Wis. The following is an outline
of his discourse.
Correct views of God are the basis
of true religion. A true conception Of
Gods holiness is ever helpful to man.
God never disappoints; the better our
knowledge of Him the more ready we
are to love and serve Him. The eff
fects of viewing Gods holiness are
many. 1t intensities our knowledge of
our own weakness and sin. We cry
out as did Isaiah in this vision, Behold
| am a man of unclean lips" or, with
Peter when he had a sense of the Di-
vine presence in the person of Jesus,
Depart from me for | am an unclean
man 1t gives us great confidence in
God. We might we'll stand in fear of
a God all-wise and all-powerful, who
was not also intensely holy. Were His
heart influenced by sin, did passion
rule in His breast we could have no
hope of justice, no assurance of mercy.
Our knowledge of Gods holiness leads
us to eXclaim with one of old, Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do
right?"
The seraphim who proclaimed these
words considered Gods holiness to be
more than nature which knew no sin.
They saw Gods nature and His work
and recognized His glory as being ev-
erywhere. There is a desperate pessi-
mism at present affecting our age,
which finds in creation no proof of the
goodness of God. Not so the Bible.
The Psalmist exclaims, "All thy works
shall praise Thee" THE Lord is right
eous in all His ways and holy in all
His works. The apostle John hears
all nature saying, Holy, holy, holy
Lord, God, Almighty"
The language of the text shows an
conception of Gods Won
drous plan. The discoveries in astron-
omy reveal a great plan, perfect and
worthy of the Creator. The morning
stars not only sang together at the ere
alton of this earth, but are singing |
now
For ever singing as they shine, the |
hand that made us is divine" The |
earth and its inhabitants in their mar
velous adaptation, in the abundance
Of peace and happiness, all speak of the |
holiness of God, which disposed Him |
to do good. The Bible holds, and we |
are coming to understand, that this |
system is on the whole the best pos
sible. The permission of some evils |
and the partial production of some |
natural evils are but measures and |
means of producing a higher result |
han could have existed without them. |
Gods plan for the race shows His
divine holiness. History is not intel
igible if all thought of Gods presence
md power be eliminated. God re-
,pects mans will He gives him lib
erty and yet he so influences his mind
md heart and so orders the course of
events that His own sovereign design
S being thought out. Note Gods
,hoice and use Of the Hebrews for the
good of the race. Historians like Ma
;aulay note the providence of God in
operating the English people from the
Continent, giving them their great
Charter, developing their nature and
n using them for the worlds better
nent The same may be said of
America The hand of Providence was
manifest in our late war and the fruits
If it count nightly today for the peace
# the world God will carry on His
york in the world until His power and
shall be recognized by all and
lis beneficent plan shall end in right
BUSINESS and peace.