The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-02

year to his congregation ana 10 the people of Montgomery.
 Dr. Patterson Is one of the most scholarly. one of the most earnest and one of the most resourceful ministers of the State. and his sermons invari- ably appeal to all classes of the peo- pie.
 The sermon yesterday was an appeal for higher ideals. more righteous lives and a better understanding and closer application of religion to our daily duties
 The text was from Philipiaus i'll. IS. 14, Forgetting those things which are behind. and reaching forth unto those things that are before. press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus"
 We have reached the season for taking stock" said pr. Patterson. 'The merchant counts carefully the articles on his shelves. and figures their cost and present market value: the manufacturer notes his supply of raw material. and his store of manu- factured articles: the planter counts his bales of cotton still remaining un- sold, estimates his supply of corn and hay, figures out his supply of avail able assets. The world of business. Of barter and sale. Is very busy just now determining it's financial condition.
 Tt is not remarkable that this should also be a time of spiritual and moral stock taking Indeed, one might do vastly worse than to serious ly spend some moments. or even hours. in a spiritual and moral retrospect.
 What has been the record of the past year? What results in the develop ment of character, in effective zeal for God? What has been the plane of thought and motive occupied during
 the past twelve months? Have any
 wanderers been brought to Christi Have any struggling, tempted dis ciples been strengthened and helped?
 What has been the work done for God during the past and now dead yearf These are questions that need to be asked, that press for their answer.
 No merchant, however, persists In
 stock taking The task once com pleted, he leaves 1t alone till another season for it arrives. Behind it there
 is a definite purpose. He must know
 where he stands, in order to intelli- gently plan and project his business for another year. If he finds he has
 made money, he lays out the plan of his next years activity on similar lines. If he finds he has lost money he reorganizes his business that such an experience may not be repeated The essence of his purpose in taking stock Is that he may provide for the future. He lets the past alone. Un- fortunately, the disciples of Christ are
 not always so wise. Too many mar
 the efficiency of their lines by an un-
 due dwelling In the past. Each day they persist in turning the pages backward, either to gloat over suc-
 cesses, or to weep again over mis- takes and failures. The Japanese have prcverb which aptly describes the H@ | followers of Christ. Thus 1t runs:
 My sleeve with tears is always wet:
 have forgotten to forget"
 "Our text, I am convinced. contains
 a message for every one of us. The Apostle in describing his own atti-
 tude and habit. draws the picture of
 an ideal, the thoughtful contempla-
 tion of which can not fail to stimulate
 and help. Let ours be the effort, with sincere and candid eye, to discern this
 ideal of the Apostle drawing. The Duty of Forgetting. The first emphasis of the text is laid on the important and too often neg lected duty of forgetting. Perhaps we | have never thought of this as a duty.
 Possibly our conception has been that | the binding obligation upon us was to
 remember. To us the highest wisdom
 may have seemed to lie in the constant | recall of the events and experiences of | life Only by persistent reference to the past has 1t seemed possible for us | to plan our course wisely for the | future. Is there not such a thing as q
 lamp of experience?' some one may | ask. Does not that mean that we are continually to look backward for | information as to the difficulties and dangers of the way? The Apostle evidently thought differently. Recall | l not to carry 1t with him It was of the | things which were behind, and he for got it.
 Tn three connections the duty of for getting needs to be emphasized. We are to forget the guilt and misery of | confessed sin. This Is just what many | of us are not doing. Instead of en- tering into the blessed experience of | the truth that if we confess our sins
 He is faithful and just to forgive us
 our sins many an earnest child of God
 is carrying an ever increasing burden of, guilt and misery which should have
 been left behind long ago. With keen sense of the reality of righteous | ness. and a deep conception of the in- | effable holiness of God: with profound | sorrow for shortcomings and trans gressions. he lays each days sins in humble confession before the cross, only to assume the same burden with
 another days dawning. And so he
 walks In sadness. He has forgotten l to forget
 Wiser far was Christian in Bunyan's dream, who when he saw the cross, felt his burden slip from his shoulders,
 and saw 1t fall into the open sepulchre,
 to trouble him no more. The sin truly confessed is the sin forgiven. and 1t
 should be forgotten. This is just what God does. His forgiveness Is the sea of oblivion in which he sinks the sins of his repentant people. never to lift
 them again from its depths. The guilt and misery of confessed sin Is to be forgotten.
 We are to forget our successes. Memories of past songs in the night
 there may be to brighten the darkness and cheer the soul in a present and pressing woe. Memories of mighty
 helpings from the hand of the Lord in the past there may be. to nerve the spirit for a present conflict: as when
 David. hearing the blasphemous boasts
 of the Philistine giant. recalled the day when the Lord had delivered him out of the paw of the lion. and out of the mouth of the bear and so went in couraQe against his 1IUantic foe. huf