The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-18
Second Service at Central Presbyter
 ian Church.

 The second sermon in the series Of ser vices to be held in the Central Presby- terian Church, was preached last night by Dr. G. w. Patterson to a good sized congregation, considering the inclemency of the weather. .. Dr. Patterson read as the lesson for the evening a part of the Second chapter of Paul's Second Epistle to the Timothy. and preached from the text Thou. therefore. endure hardships as good soldier of Jesus Christ"
 He spoke of his preaching to the Central" congregation last night as be- ing a privilege which he appreciated and enjoyed as 1t was the first time since his residence in Montgomery that he had preached there, except in union meet ings.
 pr. Patterson said that his text was suggestive of military spirit and quoted passages of scripture. showing that the spirit of God makes use of military forms to enforce spiritual truth. That every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is a soldier and sustains to the Lord the | relation of military commander; that along the line of military obligations, every believer is a soldier. and he urged the ambition to be good soldiers. Ambition" said Dr. Patterson. lis God given force, and when directed along proper lines, is an excellent quality" i Dr. Patterson presented three thoughts brought out in connection with his text, facts. by which a good soldier may al- ways be known.
 First. Unswerving loyalty to his com mander. In this thought, he compared Jesus as a commander. as a great leader. with the great leaders that have been known on earth.
 l Second. That the good soldier Is obe- dient The good soldier does not stop l to consider his orders, he does not en- Quire into the circumstances or the req | son why Issued, but it Is sufficient for him that he has received the orders. He does not stop to have a perfectly clear understan nding of such orders, but goes | about at once. executing the command. l Third. That the characteristic of a good soldier Is his undertaking hostility to Christ's enemies. There is always and in everything, opposition, but the place of every good soldier ie on Christs side A good soldier is always a disciplined soldier. The church Is the tender foster mother, whose duty 1t Is to train and feed those who are not strong, to teach them to endure hardships.
 pr. Patterson spoke of the luxuries of | to-day which we. as a people, enjoy, which were totally unknown to our fore fathers of 8 few generations ago. The poor of to-day, enjoy luxuries that the rich of few generations past, knew nothing. We have been effected by their luxpries. he said The spirit has crept into our churches, and we want every thing made smooth, easy. attractive and comfortable and do not want to endure the hardships that are necessary in the service of the Lord.
 Very forcibly and clearly did Dr. Pat | terson bring out the great truth in thA lesson, that to be an effective soldier, one ] must endure some hardships, and some sacrifices must be made for the sake of the great Commander. the Lord Jesus Christ.
 Dr. J. A. Rice, pastor of the Court Street Methodist Church, will conduct the services this evening at o'clock