The Lutheran visitor. (Columbia, S.C.) 1869-1904, October 27, 1871, Image 1
8. CU M« lx * i,
l>4< *'- couuec :
ONE LORD, ONE FAITH. ONE B A P T18M"—EPHE8IAN8 IVj 5.
COLUMBIA, S.C., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1871
OLD SERIES, VOL. V.-NO. 164
alternative bat to withdraw, lent
they should become partakers of her
sins. They began to see that the
Pope was the “man of sin* of whom
St. Panl tells, and that the greet
“falliug away,* or apostacy, of which
he also speaks, was plainly discerni
ble in that church. They felt that
by remaining in her coinmanion,
they endorsed her errors, and thus
became partakers of her sins, and
might consequently expect to share
in her plagues. So you see fhis
little band constituted the true
church in reality, and had organised
no new one whatever. They taught
no novel doctrines, but those that
were as old as the Bible and Chris
tianity themselves, which they sim
ply disinterred from under the su
perstitions and errors beneath which
they were buried
technical bishop, professors, doctors,
lawyers, and all sorts of people; our
sermou lay quietly in the open Bible ;
but as much beyond oar natural sight
almost as the moons of Jupiter, and
our glasses In fragments and utterly
useless. In popular phraseology, you
can imagine our feelings better than
we can describe them.
We art* always somewhat nervous
before preaching. But here was
something so out of our usuil line,
and so embarrassing, that our whole
frame quivered with excitement. If
ever we cried out of the deep to God
for help it was then. We felt, if ever,
we must uow claim the promise:
“As thy day, no shall thy streugth
be." We caught a momentary iuspi
ration from the promise of our as
eended Lord
of God I have been able to make it
a well. But, my friend,* she con
tioued “I have been happy only since
I oeaaed to strain after what was be
yond my reach, and resolved no
longer to hog to my boeotn my grief*
and disappointments, but to take
them all to God, and leave these with
Him, content to be what be wishes,
and only that.*—Christ**a Weekly.
Our religion, iu distinction from
all others, has mainly to do with our
character aud demeanor before God
and before men, aud very little corn
paratively with ceremonial obeerv
slices. We are, however, creatures
of sense, and may be graciously im
pressed by religious symbols as well
as by word forms of truth.
It is doubtless iu part, to meet this
susceptibility of impressiou, that the
great fact fnftu which all that is real
in christaiu life is derived, is author
itatively set forth by surb sensible
images as are offered to us in the
bread aud the wine of the sacrament.
It may also be true, that God w ho
gave virtue to the waters of Jordan,
aud of the pool of Hilouiu, and to the
presbyterial anointing of the sick,
has chosen to oouvey through the
sacrament a grace iudtqieudeuUy of,
or at least far beyond, any merely
moral impression. The operation of
the Spirit we know to be a mystery;
and we also have reason to suppose,
IS PUBLISHED
“ An angel now;
lii- treads the aapphire floors of Paradise;
All darkness wiped from his refulgent
brow,
8ta, sorrow, suffering banished from hit
«*yes;
Victorious over dt-ath, to him appears
Tlir vista’d joys of Heaven's eternal
Rifl'd Aff
amenable to ('iirist It Is possible to
hope for salvation and yet live in sin,
to expect heaven while lust, hatred,
euvy, detraction, or idleuess or world
ly living, are like cancers in the vitals.
The nearer, however, a nominal din
clple is brought to his Master, the
smaller this possibility becomes. Call
him from time to time to tut act of
formal fellowship with Christ; let
him handle and (tut to his mouth the
bread aud wiue of such s solemnity,
and you diminish the danger that bis
impurity, his infidelity to his oaths,
his frauduleut gains, or any other
iniquity, will go anrebuked. You
makoJt less easy for blut to live him
self. And more particularly, there is
In the supper solemnities a wonderful
constraint to good punwaea, an in
spiration to do, sod bear, and nufft-r,
and wait for Christy aud a marvelous
impulse to s self forgettiug aud Christ
like life.
There is little danger of making too
The merit of his blood—the excel
lency of his righteousness, the glory
of hut priesthood; mil this summed
up iu one word—“a day’sman," one
who can lay his hands on both par
ties, great and pure enough to speak
to God, kind and meek enough to
speak to man, and by the merit of
his life and death able to bring both
together—this is the Christ that is
daily preached among you, and if
any of you have received by faith
the testimony that God has given of
his 8on in this respect, oh! if the
load of guilt has gone off your mind,
oh! if you have gone to a throne of
grace and seen the face ef a tender
pareut, oh! if you have ever tasted
matchless mercy and redeeming love
—love that shuts hell-love that
opens heaveh—love that calms a
reproaching conscience—love that
sets all the soul at ease aud says,
“Peace, be of good cheer, thy sins
are forgiven”’ O God! shall we,
after all this, rise up aud say, we are
not obliged to love Christ T Who
loved ns iu the garden ? Who
loved ns upon the cross f And who
said there, “It is finished T* Shall
we, alter all this profusion of good
ness, shall we say we are not obliged
to love Himf Christ has laid us
under obligations to love Him by
teaching ns a body of comfortable
knowledge. He has obliged ns to
love Him, by giving His life, His
blood, a ransom for our souls. He
has obliged us to love Him by giving
us His laws, and giving ns the means
to obey them; so that I think oar
first part is sufficiently clear—Chris
tians are bound to love Jesus Christ
»ap*r decisions.
a who takes a paper reg-
a post otli*«—whether th
aw or another’s, or whether
xxl or nol—U responsible
t.
n orders his paper discon-
*t pay aU arrearage*, or
may eonttnuo to send it
is made, and collect the
t, whether the paper is
office or
i have d<
;2
»f ^ p at
* «pln
/ am srilh pom;
and in bia uarne we went to our work,
preaching what we ooahl recall of the
aermou, and a great deal that was
not in it, and never would have Ucn
in It but for this occasion.
The next evening, walking with a
number of clergymen on the beach,
tin* conversation drilled as was
natural, to preaching. After telling
them our )»aiaJul experience on the
preceding Maldiath, one of them.
They had no
right to Introduce doctrines not
taught in the Bible, and they did
not evett wish to make any innova
tions upon the mode of
that refu-
*ud periodicals
>moe, or removnnt and
ailed for* is prima\fade
itional fraud,
cents per quarter,
land communications to
Hj
A R. RI DE. D.D., *
Columbia, 8. C.
orship or
customs of the church, which expe
rience had not demonstrated to be
injurious. M. E: S.
-f f*o be Continued.)
Religious
?pr the Lutheran Visitor,
hi Church —For the Young.
nothing anvtug iu the ordinance, nor
any secretly coramuuicated grace, ex
cept as the partaker ia iu ocudiliou
to appreciate, aud is affected by, the
scenes in which he formally share*.
It is, therefore, quite impossible to
over estimate the neoeaidtj ef taking
into the tuiud, as food for thought
and feeling, those ideas which the
material, and acta, and declarations
of the ordinance are designed to con
vey, ami of responding, if we may so
aay, to the ;i|»fireNMdi and greettug of
God to us. Believe as we may, aud
as our standards teach, that the sac
met it ia a “seal* as well a “sign* of
grace, we have the assurance of the
aiMistle, that he wbo eateth and drink
etb unworthily, instead of receiving
a secret grace, eateth ami drinketh
condetunation to himself. It the ay in-
boltst*—or those who regard the aac
a merely
An eminent divine
wrote, long
Ago, that “there ia no greater mis
take thou to suppose that Christians
can impress the world by agreeing
with It.* The experience of all who
have
much o/ ceremonial observance* in
the Presbyterian Church. We have
wisely preferred the utmost aimplici
ty in worship, and have wisely pot
honor on the preachag of the word,
as the every day instrumentality for
converting and sanctifying men. We
might, however, make more of our
sacramental occasions to our profit.
There ia nothing so imposing in our
religion as the dmplc rite of the sap
per. We have no preacher so elo
quent as the clement* ou the table of
the Lord. |p u not to be a|»proaehed
without previous knowledge of the
nearness of the ro user rated hour. It
ought not to be the burred, ami
rnervJy formal euarluaioa of other,
and (irrhape wearisome serv ice*. It
ought not to be desecrated with glib
ness of apreeli, nor be used aa a
embarrassment, and thought that
the ex tern port* was our usual method
of preaching; another, who ia an old
friend, remarked that it was a good
thing the glasses were broken. We
suspeet our fttcrnl bad read the
anecdote told of Dr. Guise. The
doctor was a very close and mono!
on on* reader of sermon*.
undertaken to convert the
world by conforming to it—by com
promising religions principle—veri
flea the truth of this saying. Chris
tian power is frittered away in
attempts to meet the world half
way; for there is nothing that.so
commends itself even to the nnsauc
titled as a life conforming to the
faith and doctrine pne professes to
hold. There is aj general under
standing among tfle ungodly as to
what a Bible Christian, and Bible
[F HEY GOODS!
Wt/.y
l~eaa .Charge*. .
lynht & sons.
In (tie
latter part of his life, from Ions of
sight, be was obliged to preach
w ithout not*-*, ami was more natural
and animated. One day. as he was
going out of church, an <4d lady
grasped hi* baud, and, with much
feeling, eirlainiod: “Doctor I wish
r to nfceu i«»e wants
sioniejk a, a distance.
hi ' -
IBV’JtXAW,
fV.iOtl':
Sc tuple i oJ toe New-
•!iio;». ’>1e 0oodv- oi
wd Dauvik ILop-
u? ptjfll dmeviosell
y.icetL ijlian sjv house
. <"
> from die Urgwiaud
i; .»r in the
Er.trvh. *».id i.u
S • duvr*, tO C. Ivimoie.
i ti.neV pioin.i !y srp-
ebie* o? xtr Loudon
Fell 6 iht y>.*er*7>. rud
efierReiw 1 willing
rument of the supper
commemorative ordinance, a kind of
religious drama- do not go Cur enough,
it ia certainly true that no adequate
idea of the supper can be formed
without including ita »Uatmctivel>
1. I believe in God the Father.
2. I believe iu Jesus Christ *
3. I believe in the Holy Spirit.
4. I believe in God’s Kingdom.
5. I believe in Christ’s gospel.
6. I believe the gospel will tri
umph.
The last is the logical sequence of
the preceding five declarations; and
each belief has a sequence of Its
own.
Believing in God, tbe Father, I
pray.
Believing in Jesus Christ, I hope.
Believing in the Holy Spirit, I am
helped.
Believing in God’s kingdom. I aid
its extension. .
‘ Believing in Christ’s gospel, I aid
its proclamation.
Believing the gospel will triumph,
I do all iu my power to hasten its
triumph.
?i ox Tex o Fiftes*
:orrr than we &«>ve
t> teeijp i>>* binds
We Keep u»e best
as dr poods i.Oiu the
‘Only.
h : t ihe rash wiU.
Whole-ale Lutsss
^ce. d.oek i-ior,
y© Der». Ad-
K1/STER & SONS
We:«i Bi-l.inso.eS-
t Bi'Kimoiti lid.
48—ly
< otutuemoralive design
of the gospel, but by a reverse line
of action—by bringing the church
down to a level with tbe aspirations
of unsauctitied nature.
Compromises of truth with error
are always hurtful, and they are
especially so in spiritual things. We
have no warrant to abate one jot or
tittle of God’s truth ; “it Ls written,’’
aud no authority is given us to
change it to meet the chaugiug eon
Liberals’’ mav
We have just read I*ruf. Park’s ar
tide in the Itibliothem Smarm on
Preaching. It is ia hi* usual classic
and winsome style, without telling us
anything new, or suggesting aay new
line of thought or methods in the ho
miletical art. Among other things be
says: “There is a small class of
preachers wbo will be more useful if
they rend their sermon*." So we
tfitnk, and we, fortunately or other
wise, belong to that class.
He thinks it best that the three
fundamental methods—tbe reading,
tbe aemoritrr, sod the extempore
'The change
amine* himself, aud discern* tbe
Ijor*T» body* This telf-exaanning
or self arraigning, and discerning, in
clude dl that is requisite ou our part
to a suitable use of the ordinance.
But these two terms include a great
deal. >
The self-arraigning covers the qure
tion of ouresfieiitial loyalty to Christ,
of our docility aa disciple* am! fidel
ity aa servants, aud our right rela
tion to our fellow meu. When it is
truly done, we are in a thoroughly
penitent condition; we abhor oar
sins and turn from them, and, what
ever infirmities may beset us, neither
allow nor desire any forbidden thing.
Ou tbe contrary, we purpose not
to allow or desire anything disallowed
by tbe law of tbe Master. We are
in an estate of good will toward men,
aud forgive our enemies as we hope to
be forgiven of God.
The “discerning the Ixml's body"
includes a knowledge, intellectual
fusion. A woman, who chanced to
be there, noticed that he w as dee|4y
agitated, and inquired: “Pray, sir,
what is the matter with you f* He
replied : “I have not brought a err
non with me." Putting her hand
upon bia shoulder, she said: “is
that all V ('aa not you trust God
for u sermon T “That question,"
says Wesley, “had such an effect
upon me that 1 ascended the pulpit
aud preached extempore with great
freedom to myself and acceptance to
the people, and I have never since
taken a written sermon into the
pulpit."
This was, uo doubt, the beat thing
for John Wealey ; it might not be
for every minister. “There are di
versities of operation, but it is the
same God who worketh all in alL"
Let every minister find out what bis
(irculiar gilt is, aud do the very best
be can with it for Christ aud his
kingdom. We believe with Prof.
Park, that “there is s small class of
preachers who will be more uaeful if
they read their tenuous." We be
long to this class. Let every minis
ter tlud out what is his best way of
preaching; how he can liest pro
claim the unsearchable riches of
Christ to dying meu. And, then,
let ua put our very liest into our
sermon*, as Christ did when he
preached to tbe ungentle woman by
the well of Samaria; as God did
when be made the song of tbe lark,
aud taught the bees to murmur
among flower*.
utiou
! Think of This!!
:cess !!! 30,000
K
listory of the Franro-
3ret ao days. It now
rv of die flea Rebel-
ag nearly 600 mgw
trations, and wiJlse'l
n heretofore. _ Price,
let© works, written in
rish and French, are
4d illustrations, and,
Iniming to he official,
uch. Brockett’s, in
Ikat all should rejoice
<!<: ge of the tfuth aa he
i e influence upon their
so ho^ lect ared, and
wrote,, 4id his teach-
t initiated fin and wide;
; Spirit sc! operated
ditions of mankind
sneer at this as the “old theology,"
and may demand that it shall be
altered
in every generation ; but
those whose npchor is the word of
God will always take a different
view of duty, and decline to be
swayed from the true path by every
One of the advo-
the heattw of the p eople, that
ruth wa^feceived with joy.
d had bee a prepariu f the way
ia( truth tt> be iisse niuated iu
lirectioui; by the diksovery pf
h g, that j lad taken ^lace some
* prior tfr that, and $o printed
s could iow, be pis iuto the
8 of th j people. jjPbey had
p been i ble to rea4 the Bible
selves, b <ause ijt wa^i in a lan-
® that th *; r did hot understand,
lor it wai translate^ iuto the
by Ldther and jhis assist
ed this |reat work of refoinia-
s {read te kiany otheri countries,
tie tru 1 was received with
id afte i while the jieople iu
5 Jountriisl also, had the Bible
rir nativi > ongu^L ■
ttjtbe chqr|li that h
ftom the jt<ue faith <
‘hi going oc calmlv,
ry—lie intermingled
from one method to another gives to
tbe preacher elasticity and complete
ueua, and relieve his pulpit from a
most deadening evil—monotony."
This is sound doctrine. It is well for
tbe preacher to accustom himself to
tbe three different methods referred
to, for there may happen occasions
when the memoriter or extemporary
method will be tbe only available one
left him. It so happened to n* du
ring our summer sojourn at the sea
side, which memorable incident we
now proceed to relate and explain.
We had promised to preach in tbe
Presbyterian church on a certain
Sunday in July. The Sabbath came,
serene and beautiful, such as we im
agine that Lord’s day to have been
when John walked the lonely beach
of bis Tatmoa, and had those visions
of Heavenly Jerusalem. The church,
as ia cotnmou in the height of the
season, was crowded with people of
all professions, aud from all sections
of the country. We had our written
seruiou with us, and all weut on well
until the singing of the hymn imme
diately preceding tbe sermon. We
had placed our glasses ou the sofa
during the preliminary worship, and
lo, when*we reached for them, they
were literally crushed. A somewhat
corpulent, good natured Presbyterian
brother sat near by, and we had our
suspicion that in returning to bis
seat be had carelessly done this eviL
We say carelessly or accidentally, for
though he wax against reading ser
mons, we cau hardly tbiuk he would
do such a thing with malioe-q/brt-
thought. However, here we wore in
a most painful crisis. Before us was
a large audience, made up of one
German, is tbe
reliable, cheap so®
;tant. Look to yo? r
wind of doctrine
cates of flie continued remodeling of
the theology of the Bible to suit
circumstances, recently said : “What
might have answered for the igtio
ranee of tbe early a|>ostolic ages,
what may have satislied later peri
ods, and cveu the ignorant now, will
not answer for educated
Truth.—“Truth is God’s baptism
on the hills. First, in the little dew-
drops silently descending through a
cloud of mist and vapor to keep the
petals of some drooping flow er. Theu
it is a little pool, gathered in some
tiny ba$iu in a fraternal embrace of
atoms. Then it is a rill that goes
cutting its channel way through the
green moss, and down the sloping
hill side, hastening to the meeting of
the waters below. Theu it is a stream,
hurrying over precipices and down
cascades rocks, turning the great
wheel of manufacture, grinding the
grain and working the spindles and
shuttles of man. Then it is the river,
slowly rolling ouward through the
mighty channel, upon which great
barges rock, and tbe paddles of tbe
steamboats beat. And then—then H
is tbe broad sweep of the ocean, on
which is borne from land to land, the
products of tbe industry of tbe en
tire world. And that’s the way-
truth comes, and that’s tbe way truth
acts.”
The Secret of Happiness
One of my neighbors, in tom u and
chnrrli, is an old lady whose drees is
of a style belonging to no period of
fashion. I wonder, sometimes, if, for
forty years, the cost of it has exceed
ed as many dollars. Her step is light
as a girl's, her manner bright and.
cheery, and over her otherwise
homely face spreads the glow of a
heart at peace with God. Her youth
was spent in a struggle for daily-
bread, aud scarcely was this pressure
removed before sbe was called upon
to mocni tbe loss of first one and
then another loved member of her
family, nntil she has outlived every
relative. Her home is plain, almost
bare of tbe luxuries considered as in*
dispensable to comfort, yet there is
not ooe to whom I so much enjoy a
visit as to this solitary woman, ever
•o warm in greeting, ao cheerfully
companionable.
“There is so much heart-ease about
you," I once said to her, “that it re
freshes me to meet you. Why, you
are the youngest aud happiest per
son I have seen to-day P
“Oh, yes," she replied, smiliugly,
“I have stopped growing old, for
each day brings me nearer the i►os-
session of endless youth, in my bet
ter home. And bow can I be unhap
py in this beautiful world where my
heavenly Father has placed me T*
“Still you have had your frill share
of trials and sorrows.*
“Yes, I have sorely passed through
tbe valley of Baca, but by the gtaefe
reason.
The theology of the Jews and of the
primitive Christians needs to be re
modeled to meet the demands of
this progressive age. Reason will
no longer submit to tbe dogmas of
two thousand ago." With such,
Reason is God, and its creations
gospel; therefore there is aud can
be no stability in their faith or doc
trines; they must preseut as many
differeut phases as tbe changing
moon, for they have no abidiug
foundation; they must couforni to
the world as it progresses or de
dines, aud as human reasou is
dwarfed or enlarged, or distorted, so
will be the dogmas which they call
religion.
True christiau {lower cau aloue
be preserved by a strict loyalty to
God’s word ; by adhering as closely
us it is possible for humanity to do
to his truth, as revealed iu the gos
pel. That man, or that church, or
that denomination, which exhibits
tbe most marked fidelity in this
res{>ect, will always exert the great
est influence upon the world. This
is not theory, but fact, preseut aud
.historical;
LL FOUND®?
IN 1837. Superior
>*, schools, Ac-, m .
ETAL-Copper «g
1, and mounted witn
koVED BOTABJ
fohistn»tedcaj*Mf
V ANDUZEN L Tir
hr^et, Cincinnati.D*
i in Prio**-
r'juot
a,.
"i platform
it rockaWHVB.
4 apostal-
id not see
i i.
without an
•other was the
eugeince, but
“Around tbe statute-law of Moses
there aroa* a traditional law, over
shadowing tbe primitive Mosaic In
stitute. It was ruled that grass
should not be trodden on the Sab
bath, for tbe bruisiug of it was a
species of harvest work ; that shoe*
with nails should not be worn, as
that was carry ing a burden; that a
tailor must not go out with his needle
near dusk or ou tbe eve of the Sab
bath, lest he should forget and carry
it with him on tbe Sabbath. In all
this there was not only a wrong ren
dering of tbe Mosaic precept, but
beyond, aud much worse than that,
there was the erection of a false
standard of duty, a false test of piety—
the elevation of the out warn, the
positive, the ceremonial, over the
inward, tbe moral, the spiritual; the
puttiug of the letter that killeth
above the spirit which maketii alive.
rotestauts, as they
ause thejj protested
kTobIekf-^
i * —-r~
P STEVEWi
$. Stevins & 8?
(e to ensltye them,
m of 4 all the benefits
I by a knowledge of
ii at a Dipt of Spire
plso made to suffer
jamiy| It | had been
ito leave klie church
i for 8chi^ux seemed
dug, laud ithey knew
was taught in her
is ofily 4ioir in ten
her from the error
. in and 'totally ob-
th. But this could
paving so long be-
FUfrlly blihd church
4e to see an 4 accept
he reformer^ had uo
Slothful Heart.—Is not the
soul more than raiment, more than
friends, more than life, yea, more
than all! Then why do you not
labor to enrich your soul I Twere
better to have a rich soul under a
threadbare coat,. than a threadbare
soul under a golden garment. If be
be a monster among men, who make*
liberal provision for bis servant or
bis slave, aud starves his wife, what
a monster is he who makes much pro-
.
vision for his baser part, but none for
hi* noble uature f Ah, fronds, a
never; whatever may be rooted out
of bis experience, never this—that he
is bought with tbe precious Mood
of Christ. Whatever may be newly
suggested to him as bfilongiug to the
law of life, it must in some way at
tach itself to tbe death of Jesus as
“cleansiug from all sin." And into
STT
SlO>
slothful heart uTtliu thin,
Is g vefjp b«gvy judgmeaf.