ONE LORD, ONI FAITH, ONE BAPTI8M"—EPHE8IAN8 IV
COLUMBIA. S. C„ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1870
OLD SERIES, VOL. Y.-NO. 113
actor. HU dislike to holiness and
to God should convince him how Ur
he has fallen, and lead him to seek
through the gospel, which alone
brings it, the remedy—even that
holiness “without which no man
shall see the Lord."
Holiness restores to man the true
dignity of his character, and enables
him to do his duty to hU God. It
U also in holiness that his true en
joyment U found. A grant mistake
needs to be corrected here. “God
liness,” says the Scripture, “is profit
able unto all things, having promise
of the life that now is and of that
which U to come.” But men do not
believe this. Those who admit the
truth of the Christian religion, but
who have not come under its power,
whether out of the church or in it,
believe that godliness is profitable
in the long run—that the way to be
happy hereafter is to be godly here$
but they do not believe that it is
profitable in respect of Moment
in this life. On the contrary, they
think that it stands in the way of
eiyoyment. With them, a religions
life is one in which a person must
consent to give up much enjoyment.
If they consent to live such a life,
it is with the hope—the vain hope—
that their life of constrained godliness
will render them safe hereafter. And
if they attempt such a life, you may
be sure that they will temper down
their godliness aa near to the course
of this world as they dare for fear
of the fatnre. Hence, we fear, the
carnal lives of so many profeasors of
godliness. 1
Such, whatever they profees, be
lieve the great falsehood that holi
ness and duty to God
into exercise, Into self-denial, into
sacrifice, into endurance for Christ’s
aake for a season, awl gradually
tempered into practical religious
work; mod then the gospel would
have power on the minds and hearts
of sinners. Every church ought to
have its annealing apparatus, and
keep it turning until every brittle
vessel of the Lord is tempered into
reasonable diacipleship.— Workday
Christianity, by A torse der Clark.
of the right kind of material. Borne
of these are now in a very sickly
condition, and some of them me
numbered with things that have
ventions to divide, confuse, and
destroy the unity of Christian broth
erhood. We do not urge objection
to denominational organisations, if
only they are sympathetic and sup
plemenlary in their methods. Bat
The tendency in the religious
teaching of the preeeot day is to
lose sight of the cross. Perhaps it
is the tendency of every age, as it
is the natural out-working of a cor
rupt human nature, in its pride and
M>)f sufficiency. But the oroee stands
in the centre of all thoee precious
truths that relate to oar reconcilia
tion with God and our right to the
inheritance of the saints in glory,
and as such the eye of the lost and
ruined should be constantly pointed
to it Around the cross me exhib
ited those peculiar facts and princi
ples that are distinctive of the ohria
tiau faith as a system of religious
truth for sinners. Around the cross
the disease that afflicts our ruined
race and the glorious provision of
Infinite Wisdom for our health and
healing are also exhibited. For in
stance :
(L) Tht kelpUi xnn.t qf men it ten
in the cross. “For if there had been
a law given which could have gives
life, verily righteousness should have
been by the law.” Had it been poa-
aeeumnlated and aggravated guilt
of life f If Judgment was thus ua.
mingled with mercy, when Justice
claimed its penalty of the dearest
object of the divine compassion,
“what shall the end be of those that
obey not the gospel of God F If
the representative of the violated
law, himself bety and harmless, was
Otto, Strictly in
where shall the ungodly
anat appear,* “when God
ouam-l over L otto**. “Fanning Mill* winnows the chaff
and i,r, M .K ttom wheat s* follows. We are
r*«A <V, do „«*. to to.rtSthl "*“ OW wh “•»
1--.IT. .1 . proposes to do about it:
UuoentaUous not only of sainted
krat of rtiniria hJ yo®, Mr. K4ltor^ ptroit m€
the pity of the ascended Lord him to my m Word or two in peUtion *»
self, “The precious sons of Zion the* h*™ 1 «» important lw*r-
oomparsMe to fine gold, how ai^ iDg Upoa U * int * rwrt *
they esteemed as cartheti pitchers, reoer * 1 ' * ,K * ® hnrt * “ Pratic
the work of the heads of the Hotter f” TbO if® hot ssbuned or
I Wathdan ( hnsdoMit* *fr*id to mre yemr pro, or the pen of
i v others, to expose the moral coirap
The A L-K K ProceM **<»» that are ykl "**** high
and low places, amid the teeming
In glass manufacture them is a ihoatUimU *« this mighty city, out
{trooess called annealing, which es °* th ® church, or the defects aod
pecially interval* the visitor. Glass, »bortrComings too, within it
on suddenly cooling, acquires great Bot what have I to say about the
brittleness. A chill, after the most church sad Iter agencies, her mal-
pninataking aod successful mould P*»«Gce, her wise, or unwise mess
ing of vase or goblet, would due nrM V Ixwking over one of our
the beautifal structure to fly to religious publications the other day,
pfeeas. A slight touch of finger * - * w or two Articles in relation
nail or crumb of glam has, in • totfe home Add or miasiooaiy work,
critical moment, sometimes crushed *®d calling young men to the ftpnt
the finest specimen of artistry to The field is the world, but ss we can
dust. There is u remedy for this not cultivate this whole field, we
tendency in new made glass. By must select that part most accessible,
annealing or re heating the wave, ‘“d for which we can find the best
to a degree a little below that by qualified laborers. Borne In the
which it was melted, and gradually church would call our young men to
removing U from hot to cooler tern ‘he front aa soon as tliey leave the
but send them out two and two—the
young men, and the man in
knowledge, experience and grace.
Now I ask those who are so zeal
oos in calling young men to The
Front, what they wish to do with
the middle aged, or those whose
raven locks give place to gray? I
do not mean the snperanqated. Are
they to be ignored in our church,
and no man to be tolerated in the
pulpit with gray hairs In Ms~head f
Or is the order promulgated from
headquarters, “old mm counter-
march to the rear and take back
seats, or become drones and loiterers
at the earners of the streets.” If
such be the doctrine and policy of
Young America in toe church, I
ignore it and set it down as proof
positive of degeneracy and moral
corruption in our church, I am sure,
very sure, we do not learn this
doctrine from the great lawgiver,
Moses, under the Jewish or Theo
erotic disjtensation. Now do ws
leant it from Paul, the “aged,” of the
Christian era. It must be one of the
fashionable movements of the present
enlightened age. A vast improve
ment upon the practice and order
of the church, ss founded by Christ,
and upon the Twelve sent “To the
Front* by our Lord. These twelve
were solid men—am of matured
Judgment, and although, not im
proved and iseparoil for their gseai
att of three sq
mi of 20 per
upwards, 90 ]
—BO loved it, “that He gave Ills
only begotten Bon” to all the ha mil
iation, suffering and shame to which
Us waa subjected, “Chat whamertr
believeth In Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life !F “O the
n h depths of love divineF Who
can fathom them, or grasp the Ml
the favor of God, toe sacrifice of the
cross would not have been made.
To mao himself would have been
committed the work of restoration—
of rendering satisfaction for the past,
of working out a righteousness for a
Religions.
au eternal reward. The fact that
“we are not under the law, but se
der toe the fact that the
righteousness which secures our ac
ceptance with God is not the work
of our own bauds, but is wrought
out by another—the fart that, when
are more apt to be addree
regard to their safety than in
to their moral state; and beu
come to regard the gospel as
according to which men art
safe in view of toe future,
than as the way by which
are made holy. This is not 1
ministers and others who den
sinners undervalue the impo lance
of holiness, or deny its necessity,
but because they find men] more
easily impressed with a seise of
danger than with a sense of kinful
ness. This is well enough, if, it lead
ta concern about their sin ilness
also. But if it go so fur the than
who fare, and in the Boa who came.
Fur it waa a free-will offering of His.
No constraint waa laid upon Him.
“Ixi, I come,” He cried. “I delight
to do thy will, O my God : Yea, thy
lau is within my heart.” “He loved
us, ami yarn Himedf for ua.” And
-farm omrsMion like s God.
) they
plan
made
lie in oue
direction, and happiness in another.
Tliey believe that the commandim uts
of God are grievous—their state of
mi ml thus contradicting the plain
statement of God by his apostle,
that “hie commandments are not fries-
otm.” It is the venom ot the old
serpent yet rankling within them,
who induced the beads of the human
raw to believe that some great good
would be gained by breaking the
commandment of God. Divine grace
alone can cure ik But thoee of
whom we speak have not experi
enced its healing power. If they
had, they would know that holiness
and happioesa are to be found to
gether. Holiness is the fluty of man,
and it is the great interest of man.
roers
of our substitute, we art exhortid
to look away from ourselves even
fur the strength needful to lay hold
of the offered blessing—the fart that
we are not to dwell upon the wound
that is bringing death and destine
tion to ns, but to turn our eyes to
Him who is lifted up, as the serpent
in the wilderness, for our healing—
all this teaches as oar Ir^lwusi
We are totally ntiard aad unflsue
“without God and without bopeu."
(A) 21s asaymty of Gate law it
•indicated in the arum. It waa mag
nified and made hnasrehls through
Him who died there, both as to Ha
precepts sad its penalties. He ©b
them forth with only their A. B. O.
knowledge, taught them by their
Professor*. I once heard ooe of the
most pkms and aide expounders of
God’s Word that ever filled the chair
of a tbeotogirhl professor, say to a
class about to leave the Seminary,
“Young gentlemen, you may think
you now have a vast store of theo
logical loro, with which to combat
the enemies of truth; but you are
mistaken. You hare only the general
principles or marks laid down in this
vast field before yofe as your guide
in working out the specific truth best
adapted to your great work of preach
ing the Gospel. The filling up will
require years of hard study, close
observation, and earnest and humble
to produce a desire to be i tie in
view of threatened punishmei j, it is
purely selfish. Such convict on is
not thorough enough to be fu lowed
by true conversion.
True conviction most apprehend
the real stole of the case. £ mklea
the mere alarm because graft has
exposed us to puuishment, | there
most be the conviction thqjt toe
soul has fallen out of harmony with
God; that in its present condition,
without a change, it must *ct in
contrariety to the will of Godf that
there is in us neither the will n k toe
power to make the needed el sage;
that this condition of the I njnan
sonl involves all that is evi, and
can attain the perfection of Us being
—iu point of duty, in paint of dig
nity, raid in point of o^joymeat
Let its necessity, then, be urged
upon sinners, sod it* nature ex
plained. Withal, show them how to
obtain it, for no more can their own
efforts make them holy than their
In proportion ss the inner life
is vivid, the outer life will be af
fective. St. Paul was naturally a
man of vigor. His yefy faults were
those of energy. When he appre
hended, or rather was apprehended
by Christ, he did not lose vigor;
he became mote intense, mote earn
est, more executive than ever. The
inward life does not distract, it con
centrates—-does not enervate, it em
phasizes—the outward. While it
calms it stirs, while it gives repose
it also gives force.
You have seen the invigorating
influence of a human pamkm, You
have observed how love will make
a timid woman courageous; how it
gives rush and flow to a desulto
ry, purposeless man, to have within
himself the consciousness of a vir
tuous affection, for the sake of which
it is worth while to be brave, and
necessary to be pore. T You have
said sometimes of one and
Young men, now called to The
Front, arc comparatively ignorant of
the world, and-of the pastoral duties
of the ministry; and they will find,
that some or many of the rales laid
down in our Theological'schools will
not aid them much, when they come
in contact with scoffers, or men who
tell them they believe only that
which they learn for no reason.
Those who go to the Front, to the
new and rather dangerous or unor
ganized parts of our land, will meet
there men of intelligence and power,
who will atm to mould society to
their own anti Christian aims, men
who hate all moral or religions re
straint—and call all Bible religion
priestcraft. Sorely, to cope with
snch an dement tome ought to be
materia], well furnished and well
balanced minds, and men who have
selfreliance, and reliance from past
experience. Was it the young men
sent to The Front who established
kingdoms, and laid the foundations
of great cities, and organized society,
out of hetrogeneous materials in our
own and other lands f Were the
Pilgrim pioneers, young men, sent
to Hie Front, to found and organize
a colony that was to extend and
perpetuate a new and religious influ
ence which would reach, and be felt
for good to the uttermost border of
our land ! Do our skillftil and brave
generals send young men from the
school of the drill squad, when a
strong position of the enemy is to bs
stormed, or when the centre line is
to be broken and thrown back on
the wings! I think not Men of
tried oourage and of steady purpose,
—men who have seen the bayonets
and heard the clang of the sabre in
deadly conflict, are the main reliance.
It is no very easy task to organize a
church on Bible principles, and lay a
foundation that can not he moved by
every moral earthquake that may
shake its foundation, or be changed
or blown away by every wind of
doctrine that may rage against it
Many churches have boon organized
in haste tot want of improved judg
ment, and the selection of toe right
dqaft nod piocdj and the employment
m and glaze, and
dmripleabip, brittle
that in this, condition of eonti iriety
to God happiness is impo isible.
Such a conviction must cans deep
concern and a desire for ha inees,
which is the opposite conflitiou.
Without a conviction of tb* true
state of the case, the gospel, is its
remedy, wilj not be uiKlersto| i nor
embraced. If men are only sq isible
of danger, the gospel, if at* nded
Both are equally the result of free
grace, and faith in Christ puts in
possession of the one ss well ss of
the other. While the meri to of Christ
have procured pardon, so have tocy
procured the good offices at the Holy
Spirit to make of sinners holy per
sons.—United Presbyterian.
ss the Scriptures teach, “He was
wounded for oar transgressions; He
was braised for oar iniquities.* “He
bore omr tins in Hit awn body on the
tree.” Bo God can he Just aod the
justifler of him that bsUewath in
Jesns. The way to a fall aad for*
pardon is open to the transgressor
of God's law, through the atonement
of the gracious Saviour. Thoee who
are in rebellion have bat to lay down
their arms, acre;* of pardoa through
the provision made by the crucified
Son pf God, ami be at once admitted
into the family of God, with all the
righto and privileges incident to the
new relation. i
(A) The most powerful nppsah ta
By prayer and patience the new
convert must be disciplined to daily
duty, advanced by carefal degrees
Into Christian work, sad ooroe by
time and regularity into strength.
And there an* some old Christians
who have never been annealed. They
may have been converted years ago,
bat not being needed particularly,
being more ornamental than nsefal,
they hare, like blown bat unannealed
glass wan*, been on the shelf and
hidden. Their names are on the
church register, and that is about
their greatest achievement in reli
gion. They are never in net*. They
have become so accustomed to the
shelf sod the shade that yon never
miss them. They keep in rear plaoes
and dark corners. - They have the
form of Christianity; they rasy have
tone enough to pray; they may look
solemn and behave respectably in
God’* Omnipotence
He commands. the light to go
forth, and it goes, bounding along
the horizons in silver sandals swifter
tlian a fleet-footed hart on the moun
tains. He recalls it, and it obeys
in the tremblings of eventide. The
stftrs give light in"th*»ir midnight
watches, and sing. When they are
called out as sentinris to keep vigil
in the solemn silences, they answer,
“Here we are!” Thii stupendous
machine which God has erected is
subordinate to bis will in every atom
of its substance. When the captives
were led out of Egypt toward Ca
naan, the sea saw the approaching
host and parted its billows before
their weary feet Before the children
of God, Jordan rolled backward its
currents and stood still. That the
sons of Israel might prevail in battle,
the sun halted in bis march across
the heavens. The Almighty touched
the great orb with his finger, as a
jeweler would touch the spring-wheel
of a chronometer to drop a moment
from its conut. He who created
absolutely controls. The miracles of
Jesns attest this truth.
I A .. -« *1
"When God came down from heaven, the
living God,
What signs and wonders marked his
Itoliness will not be sough
desired.
Now, may it not be that
ll «der the partial kind of awa)
to whicii we liave referred,
profess their acceptance of til
pd, and become members c
visible eh arch, while all the I
they desire and look for is exe*
from punishment in the future
May not this help to account J
low grade of piety so common
church f May not this be the|
zhy so many seem to be stjj;
ho|r closely they can conform^
ed the great facto connected with
the birth, toe life and the death of
the Bon of God. The monger in
Bethlehem, with its touching story
of human privation and suffering;
the scenes of poverty aod want, of
reproach and ingratitude, of love
and mercy, through which too Di
vine Saviour passed daring the weary
years of His pilgrimage on earth;
the garden of Gethsemane, with its
tale of ioexpreseible anguish ; the
judgment hall of Pilate with its
mockery and insult, its cruelty and
shame, its falsehood and peijnry;
the hill of Calvary, with its last act
in the dark and bloody tragedy, at
which the earth shook to its founda
tions and the sun withdrew in hor
ror—all these are at once suggested
by the cross.
And they ask us, with the most
awfal solemnity: “If they do these
things in the green tree, what shaft
be (lone in thodxyF “If God spared
not His own Son, bat freely deliver
sd 'Him np for •• all,* “how shall
ws escape, if we asgtsst so groat
salvation F If these awfal ssmtitoea
and yon have found toe explana
tion afterwards in some secret kin
dling on the altar of hie soul of a
fire of human devotion. So it is
in that one higher region still—
the hidden life, that death to the
world, of which St Paul tells. ; If
yon wish to move hearts, if yon
wish to influenoe mind—if yon wish
to be a statesman where before you
have been a politician, an orator
where before you were a rhetori
cian—if you wish to warn where
before you shone, to kindle where
before you dazzled—leant to live
the, life unseen, to oome forth from
God’s presence into the communion
and oontaet of men. “The life hid
den with Christ in God*wpl show
itself in an elevation a dignity, a
nobleness of sfairit, due to a pres
ence inwardly felt and munifestod,
without pretense or parade, in the
words and in the notions of the
possessor. “They were not able
the empty forme of religion, while
they deny tile power. They are
earthen pitchers, the work of the
I letter's hands. Not the gospel of
too Bon of God, not the Holy Spirit,
but treaties on theology have made
them what they are. Custom has
fashionM thorn, and not the blessed
Christ.
Many of oar popular churches
“our church," “our minister,” “our
doctrines.” But all the while they
have never been annealed. A end
den temptation and their temper
fifes. Invito them to the prayer
meeting, ask them for missionary
money, suggest a few hoars' earnest
work for Jesus, and snap! they go
to pieoee! They may have been
converted, bat they were pot on the
sbelf before they were annealed, and
they are worthless ware I have
seen so Might a thing as * bit of
wooden pencil, dropped from the
hand Into aa unannealed glass gob
let on the workman’s table, shiver
It to atoms. But no matter how
long a piece of glass-ware has lain
idle aod unnoticed on the shelf, it
may still be annealed as easily ss s
new-blown specimen warm from the
God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and Unrighteousness
of men” Warn them, urge%tlunn.
teaeech them to “flee from the Mjrath
to come.” Offer them, in God’s name,
a free pardon through the blood of
Christ. But by no means leaup them
‘gimrant that pardon, great as the
might have place and power, are
nothing more than spiritual potter
ies, where toe sum and substance
of all religion are ran in elay, tamed,
backed, and finished in fancy styles
far exhibition. It Is pretty, and so
ts a pitcher; aad as a pitcher is
hollow, so is this pious pottery of the
rhumb**. 1 Bat the fleet Was*of the
is only a «tep ;
to the higher benefit of hoik
»ouW be of little value wi
The great idea of the giwqx
yft°g of sinners saints. V
rnaQ M! Holiness—the ei
“ofl nobility of this being,
in likeness to God.
tom. His prefer
Worldly or spiritual enjoyme
l*oves the debasement ot 1
tally alear aod prematurely cold pro
feasors should be put into discipline,