The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1910-11-15
AT THE BAPTIST CHURCH

church Sunday was well attended, at
least 80 1t appeared looking at it from
the rear, but we have been given to
understand that there were some seats
in front on which a sign Ito let" might
have been hung. Strange that the
| back seats OF the church temple are
| the ones first occupied. while at anoth-
er temple in the city the front seats
never go begging.
There were nearly 800 scholars and
teachers at the Sunday school exercis-
es, but very large number went out
between the close Of the school and
the beginning Of church service, pre-
sumably to get the fresh air. II that
was their object they must have gone a
long way to hunt 1t. as they haven't
tainly lost an opportunity to hear a
beautiful discourse delivered with
spirit and fervor by the pastor, Rev.
H. E. Gabby.
His discourse was founded on sew
eral verses in End Peter End chapter
and while the text contained such
words as faith. virtue, knowledge,
temperance. patience. brotherly kind
ness and charity, any one Of which
would furnish q text for an able SER
mon, taken together they formed a
chain Of exquisite gems. whose light
and beauty, as they were held a1oft
and described by the preacher, seemed
to permeate every corner Ct the house.
Speaking OF people having various
talents he said that one talent we'll
used was better than five talents lying
dormant, even as q field Of corn we'll
cultivated was better and more profita-
BILE than two fields not we'll cared for.
The expectation Of Jesus Christ when
he planted a soul In his vineyard was
that they bring in another redeemed
soul as fruit Of their work, and that
they were not disciples in the full
meaning Of the word unless they did.
We were not to glorify our own works
but the works Of God. That public
opinion as to our own merits, even tho
it should be against us, would have
but little weight II our conduct was
seemly with golden deeds done for the
masters service. All talents have to
be cultivated whether they be good or
bad: drink and tobacco never taste
good to the boy at first, but step by
have to be cultivated till the habit
takes sole possession OF the man, and
that only eternal vigilance Is the price
OF soul liberty. stagnation is death to
all virtue-like a river in Arizona wide
and shallow across which any one can
walk IL they keep moving, but the
moment they stop they commence to
sink in the quicksand and are lost.
Virtues grow in proportion as they are
used, but not according to ordinary
rules of proportion. thus a diamond Of
one karat is worth q certain sum but
a diamond OF nine karats is not worth
nine times that amount but one hun
dred and nine times greater.
In speaking Of temperance he said
the proper meaning Of the word was
self control and that the American
people were somewhat lacking In that
virtue. though they are now studying
and learning its meaning.
Brotherly love he designated as an
absence of self. or a spirit of unselfish-
ness. and that the late election was an
Illustration OF it needing to be more
widely cultivated even in our churches,
for in one precinct il which there were
but Is votes who were not church
members they gave a majority Of two
to one against the amendment. while
on the other hand in a precinct In
which there were but a few church
| members a large majority was given
/ for the amendment, showing that un-
selnshness in this case was more wide
| ly cultivated by the non-church men,
| bers.
| At the close Of the service a Mr..
Burnett from Tampa. and Mr.. and Mrs.
Bryan from Daytona Joined the Ocala
church by letters from their former
church homes.