The Lutheran visitor. (Columbia, S.C.) 1869-1904, December 01, 1871, Image 1
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01NB LORD, 0HE FAITH. 0HE B APTI8 M’’-E PH E81A N8 IV: 5.
COLOMBIA, S. C., FRIDAY, DECEMBER T, 1871.
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.1, ...WJ! ■“""■g! 1 " 1 !
Religious.
HjttariM to’Providence.
r«ugIiur!M
B ’ THB
BIT. JAMES
rather
BOOGS.
WBW &
there are mysteries iu the
at God, so there are mysteries
providence. While in this
of existence, w* can only ex
[ |ge through a glaw darkly,
», with reference to many
we can only eay, ‘‘Even so,
Fttkfr, far so it seemed good in thy
But faith assures us that
seemed good in bis sight be
Ne. saw that they were really
est Ah, nothing could
bettered. However dark,
land trying God’s provi-
may be, our iiearts should
I ay, “Thy will be done." “Not
[I rill, but as tbon wilt.” Sight
jiio light—light or no light—we
say of eveiy thiug, “It is for
n V
'
superficial olwiervers the intro
of sin into the universe is
ble mystery. Many have
thoughts, some of which
been uttered, becauser-God jht
our mother Eve to partake of
iddeu fruit, and to “poisou
race.* They would throw all
oosequeuces of the fall upon
regard man as an object of
than censure ; his »fall8
of his nature. Not-
^ ^ * . I* o r
g the greatness, fullness
fineness of the provisions of
which he rejects, the blood
he tramples under foot, the
calls of the Spirit, to which
deapite, and the proffered
■treugth and grace which he
or disdains, they would
it as unjust tq coudemu him,
be was involuntarily brought
a world of siu—a world into
, they think, stn has unneces-
been admitted.
it was the introduction of siu
7 Is any evil uuueces
Ik any evil productive of evil
fioes not more good than
ig from its admission f The
the truth glorions, but
not enter it. Let a few facts
instead of discussion,
would mau have been, had
•qt been jiermitted to eute* our
? He would have been holy,
but a mere heavenly
something which would
dovelopno jnt. Had siu
admitted, there would have
»«*t notbfh^ to call out and
IP. fAe man. He would have
him the gem, the diamond of
nubfc value, but there would
been nothing to cut and j>ol-
- there would have bqeii uotbiug
,W out a, »d develop those traits
““tfer whjch, in a Moses, a
and a Paul, are so
[i* wide,
Si
-l .
earth
I,
^8 John, _
t^rions, and Gud li
lftp e bad been no
•7c been well nigh destitute
$ and without trials what
Jnan be? Had there been
verily believe neither
^*h nor the heavens would
^ ^ lave j among all the created,
Ij great character. There
■g “one, in the ipany-prov-
kingdom of''our Father, to
1 sans and as stars. No Ga-
no Luther, no Calviu,
no Wesley.'
*kave reat I m y Bible aright,
geut family, iu every province of the
heavens, have experienced and been
developed by them.
One thiug is certain, Uio great
.characters of the earth have all been
tried cues. Character is not a some
thing which is not directly created
by God, but it is developed j and,
to be developed, there must be some
thing to develop it. Had it uot beeu
for siu, aud the trials conaequent
upou it, what would there have been
to reflue aud develop the man ? Ah,
many a heart will praiae God to all
eternity for trials, which while un
earth were well-nigh crushing,—
Would you be made eternally great,
• ahiuiug as amis iu the kingdom of
your Father? Then “think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial
,which is to try you, as though some
strange thiug happened unto you;
but rejoice, seeing ye are partakers
of Christ's sufferings; that, when his
glory shall be revealed, ye rosy be
glad with exceeding joy. w (I Pet. iv:
12, 13.) “Many shall be pnrifled,
aud made white, ami tried.” (Dan.
xii: 10.) Bat none are purified,
none are made white, without the
trial. Do yon pray to be purified,
aud made white ? you virtually pray
to be tried. Are you refined as the
silver, and purified as the gold, and
made fit for the Master’s use f you
must pass through intense fires.
Only the most intense fires will oon
sume the dross and purify the
gold.
Had not siu, or at least tempting
devils, beeu permitted to enter our
world, man would have beeu good,
holy, and happy, but earth would
have had uo great characters. Man
would have had to have been ere
ated a very different being from
what he was, to have been truly
great without the trials which are
consequent upou the introduction of
siu. Had there been uo sin, in all
that constitutes true moral greatness
earth would have been peopled by a
race of dwarfs. The whole company
of the redeemed will have cause to
thank Hod for the introduction of
sin, and for their sore, sad trials.
The Apostle kaew the necessity
of trials to develop the mau, sod fit
him for the throne, aud therefore he
exhorts us to count it all |oy, when
we fall iuto divers temptations or
trials. (Janies t: 3.) 8o necessary
are trials, aud so absolutely sure is
it that God will try his children,
that Ue authorises us to regard our
selves as bastards, aud not sous, if
we are without chastisements. (Heb.
xii; &) Evan the Bou of God, when
incarnate, in order to be perfected
as a mau, must be sorely tried—
“made perfect through sufferings.'*
(Heb. U: 10.) No one is accounted
worthy to reigu, or to be a oo-heir
with Christ, who does not suffer
with Him. .(Bow. vtti: 17; 2Tim.
ii: 12.)
The Bible, and the whole history
of the past, show os that the holiest,
the meekest, the purest, the best,
sod the greatest in the sight of God,
have beeu those who have beeu most
sorely triad. Trials, under God, pre
pared Enoch for tcaaslatioo. Trials
developed Moses, making him the
meekest and greatest man on earth,
and fit to bs a ruler and guide of
Israel Trials developed David, aud
fitted him for the thruae. Even
Pfeil), with all hia labors, faith and
grace, must have a thorn in the
flesh, a messenger of Baton to buffet
him. aud other trials of every kind,
which would have crushed aa ordi
nary man. Take the history of the
redeemed, aad it is a Idstuty of trials
by which God has prepared them
for the throne. Indeed, the w*y to
that throue is through a vale of
tpars. No inhabitant of an unis lien
world will reach it. The great ooeu
paute of the throne will be those
who have “come up out of gnat
tribulation.” But whence could come
the sad trials of earth, the crushing
of hearts, and tile burdens which
can only be east off iu God, bad
it uot beeu for the introduction of
sin ?
I have drank deeply from earth’s
latter cups of sgrrow ; I have passed
the most of my days oo the “shady
sideI have known what it is to
euvy the inanimate and the brute,
aud to wish 1 had not been; but
with the Book of books in my band,
and the assurances which it con
tains, I have also rejoiced that I am
one of the fkllen—a sinner, sad a
sinner saved by grace. I would
have been afraid to have had any
thing different from what it has been
and is. Ah, though I have them,
yet I am afraid to have a wish. I
know that uo chastisement is joyoas,
bat grievous, but it works the
mfj-rnrtmmsm
(But
xii t 11.) They may wsU nigh erwah
us, hut compared with the wfight ef
gluey sod eternity, they am light,
and but for a moment. (3 Cor. hr j
17.)
It is only the most presinus met sis
that can endure the hunt of ike
refiner's fire; aud they, iaefoad of
being consumed, urn only periled.
The buaei metals are
to inch nrdsnli, for it
them perfectly melon, or utterly
destroy them. Bo Urn great moral
Befiaer known who wUI stand the
looms out guM periled,
meld bo sue—inf by the
id Ho treat!
iagty.. To be fit lor
use, every one meet g
fires; but the greet Kefinrr always
proportions the firm to the precious
ness of the metals Though Ue will
use, ami not oast aweqr aa useless,
the baeer metals, yet He will not
subject them to the fires which are
necessary to petrtfy gold. But, on
the other baud, those who can etaad
no trials, or are subjected to none ia
this lifr, being unfit for the HoffbuS
use in the world to come, shall be
utterly consumed. That mau who
has few or no trials in this life,
instead of comforting himself, has
cease to tremble, lest he may uot
ev en be a baser metal, aad bis end
will offty be “to be burned.” We
cun only see a little of the sarfoce,
but the “Lord kauweth the hart*—
what a man ia—and He tream every
one accordingly.
The trials, or the prosperity, uf
some imbridnsls may be permitted,
not for their own oaken, but bemuse
of those who are ia tome way ooa
nected with them. The trials of
some who reject Christ stay be
designed by an all wise God to rearh
and bless some member of the foaoi
ly, some relative, or some acquaint
auce. They may not bs seat for the
ussls ewe sake, but for others. Or
the mao's trials amj be the natural
sod u it men nr result of his own
Mas. ' |h
God's children ar
Lord
to
to a
r—
of His
of Himself,
Id all
would not, as
if there had beau aa sin,
bear the Apostle saying, (Kph. til:
10), “To the latent that now unto the
God.”
that the
llvttfo
ia net
da 1 holiere
which ooght to ha
only sspeeds with
tbo Word, hut *
if we supply the word
iu the Holy Book, wo
by the ehureh (literally,
la, by menus of what ha hee
for the cherub iu
earing her, Gad has
to all heavily
is ao doubt
but the infinite lore af God in giving
his Boa, aad all ths wonders of Goth
Ivory—tbo cross and
oat to the
of Jehovah's
tire
It is
U
Well might John say,
Mve
(Unbare:
% MG
la view of a great maaj
uf the Word of God, I foe
free ta saying, the universe would
not have knows whal a God they
ksve, had it not hrou for the admie
man of siu. ‘The Bore of Christ,
would
lied Christ
*V!fc
Upon
Fltt AMD UYCAMOILK.
in tbo East,
of Olivos the fig-
so prrfoetly have
smay are there still. Fig-tree ia
Hebrew may ba read yri^hw, “from
prickliness of the
of its leaf” When the
Kobcoi,
xiiis 23, they brought figs
also, as samples of the fruit of Ca
naan. Of the nature aad character
of this tree wo read, “It hath a
milky, or fat, oily liquor; it is very
fruitfoi, but becomes barren, either
defect of the above men-
ffior, which the hu
and
b
by
juice to
an a spoiler ot this tree,
i; hr hath
if it dam
chap. i| 7; “gnawed off the
ef it, stripped it of ita
fruit, aad mat ii away,
at all the jaaoe they could, for
> «**, ail
the gresaiieas aad verdure of them
dried op.-—Gfo It had grmt med
foH properties.
1 The sycamore is the KgyytUa fig,
or
Bug of the nature of each to
treee, of the mulberry in ita
•••f the fig ia its fruits; is is a wtid
but edible kind of fig, the fore of the
It was a sycamore
xxi: 14, which
os was always ( savory, plentiful ia
(doubtfoss with leaves); it i nothing ia <|aalitv.
in the year,
viewing it at almost
it has fruit
u K or not, which very well ee-
br the “•/ perkmpo” of Mark,
advancing of J
kind of
fruit on it while it
the kinds neasily <wltiv*
paths meet, just where Zaocheos
found it*
That the fig-tree rets forth iu scrip
ture the graces of the church we
learn from Cant, ii: 18, “The fig-tree
putteth forth her green figs, and the
vines with the tender grapes give a
good smell.” Vines and fig trees are
often uamed together, aad the lilaek
fig has been milled for tutor of Hu
tone. Let us look at it iu ita analogy
to the Church of God. In the origi
nal, fig-tree made ynef trae; no pre
is necessary to explain the likeness
he two here; the skirtings
——
Wi; have now in mind one special
hardship involved in this state ai
things—the condition of a nriufotrr
in old #ge. Take a ease which is
the type of thousands. A man of
fair ability, and devoted to bis work,
has gives the whole strength of his
manhood to the ministry. To live,
and to support aad eduoale his fami
ly, has not only exhausted your by
year his salary of a four bandied
dollars, hut lias drained every other
resource be could reach. Any little
inheritance be or his wife may have
had was long ago
of iu leaves are priekly aud rough, Help from friends has barely bridged
however smooth at may appear; and
have we not our thorns about nst
Do we not too often give them as
well as get them, aad wbeu we com
plain of the' rough urns of another
are we never rough ourselves ? The
freiu of the Spirit may be set forth
by that milky, oily liquor, which
gives to the fruit trie Us bearing.
How frequently in our fruitlemoem
do we need the visits of the Hus
bandman to eocue with his bitter aud
sweet, to take away all that is super
fluous and fructify our souls! Often
indeed has the spoiler come to gnaw
off the bark and strip us of leaves,
Joel 1: 7, but the healing will follow.
The husbandman will do Hia work
in His own way. and Sfipiy the rem
edy for the disease.
The sycamore may represent the
professor, growing by the wayside
sad not ia the vineyard, deceiving
the looker ou with its largo leaves
sad small fruit, sickly aud aawbole-
quaafeity. but
that
e\«
of wi
to drew
of God, oj
hare; •
to put a
a. 11
all hearts to
to the (alltag
is the
Upou One page in Calami Urn wri
ter (baud pasted a faded piece of
paper, (bearing dale 1*06), upon
which was written iu pale ink, dear
fly, intelligently aad neatly, the foi
i trees of the Lord’s pUat-
1x1:3, we remember our
it ensue have srofbr
however richly we
may hare deserved the axe, it has
always beeu «* retied towards us,
through the gracious intereoasioos of
Mediator, our rii
who wbeu he
before the world began,
her responsible Head,
says, ia effect, to Hia Father, 1
it, / mm rspaanBlf for it.
strange,
its
every
about it
place; cv
■ary to
purpose of i
about it is perfect.
is right, |
right, aad in
haul It
However
all
of ita
ing, it
of ita
Were the
Be it la with
but
^ Ve uot eoufiued to oue
I BffjfcfffWig devils have uot _
toonc - >M*Ui aMe^nuU Qf yghteo^g^u jo Um>
akl M b.
would ssar the whole,
the grand, gloriou
perfect, aad perfectly
rhiuery of Providence. Everything
is perfect, everything Is for the best.
The least alteration would have
marred Um whole. Every maa Is ia
the right piece to carry out the
great purposes of the heuovoleut
God. Every thing and every event
will prove to be for the vary best
good of the universe.
W» can net sen through the whole;
we can not begin to comprehend it,
any more than we oaa infinity, but
eternity will make it ail plain. Eu-x
nity will naive the mystery, aud show
that not ooe event, uot oue thing,
bat wan overruled for the beat; that
la everythiag God made the
possible choice of
ments, events, Urn
As well might we
est iusect to frilly comprehend all our
ways aad purposes, as for us to as
pect to com prebend all the mighty,
mysterious, and glorious ill slings of
the all-wise aud infinite God. Aa
well might we expect, by oar on
sided strength, to compress the
ocean into a drop, or the finite to
compreheod infinity,
expect to comprehend
dors of Providence;
everywhere behold tl
infinity. Bat faith
ia right, aad revelation
“What thou knowe«t not
shalt know hereafter.*
see enough to eauee
that the Lard feigns.
in mnenqnrnoe of tbi introdocttoo
of sin. God has m^de
withstood the drawings ef that tola
Me lev*
The Bible, in
•onto the God
keystone of the arch of the uaiverer.
Ail worlds depend un him. AM
worlds stand toother with and by
him. With the Bible in my
I have no hemfanrv in
Having girt and
! but when aai
but nil
>1
Urn cress. 1
My hearts oaa aa heartily
€ the Lamb that uu
beaten* have sar
1
foe
i, >oo and I are dying eia-
W« can not live always. Ba
ng ws shall be tying in our
hear are see
They may wed mal
But cheer ap. Dave you braid the
good nows?
The good news is this: God has
provided a g lor too* Saviour for uc
His dear Boo Jesus Christ died upon
the cross for Manors. By his death
be made atonement for transgression
s fell forgiveness for
the ungodly, la •'
dam all, paid all,
Christ has
all that
aa toOod.
of right
He has provided a
m—mu to clothe us.
n fountain of living water to
us. He has removed
between us and God _ «,
token ovary obstacle out of the way,
and made a road by which the vilest
may return. AH things are now
ready on God’s part A complete
salvation has bean provided.
Bat what ia it that God sake for
on the part of aunt How are the
privileges of this great saltation to
bs mad* the Game's own T What Is
the means by which you and 1 are to
obtain aa interest Is JssasChrist?
Ths answer to all these qaestfom
Is short aud simple t “Bsltovs on the
Lord Jesus Christ end thos ehelt bs
caved.” This is the good aewx
Hx
io la too bnn to find
for prispar Is burner torn God
him to bs, and tbs abe fruit of
fig tree busr fruit,
tuckrd up your
taken so exr or
Im tree with re
in cut it down,
m* come to you ami
tbr rusting of it, at if
• fnhtre crop, seem to
to spore the tree, aad
boar fruit ia fntare.” There
in an Arabic writer thus:
armed with aa axr, ap
the tree with an attend
> s, “i will cut down this tree
it bears oo fruit” Abstain,
I prey you, says tbe other, it will
produce fruit this year. The mas
tor, indeed, without delay strikes it,
but with the axe inverted; but the
other, preventing him, nqn, tparr it,
1 prep, l am rmjontiUt for it. Then
tbe tree becomes fruitful
The prophet Amos, the berdtunau
of Tekoa, was a gatherer of these
wild figs, chap, vii: 14, “a dresser, or
scretcber, or picker of them. It is
•aid to bear trait seven times a year,
but ripen* oo other way than by
scratching it with iron books end its
wood cut down aud cast into water,
which befog dry sinks, but when
thoroughly wet will swim.” Its roots
stretch out with great rapidity iuto
tbe earth. It was of this tree the
Lord Jesus mid, “If y e had faith as
a grain of mustard seed, ye aught
say onto this sycamore Uee, be thou
plucked up by the root and be thou
planted ia the sea, and it should
obey yon,* Luke xvii: 6. “Where Is
our frith I" We may say, wbeu ww
think of these wonderful words, hers
was faith that could move the deep
est sod widest roots implanted in the
earth, and plant a tree in the midst
of the sea, where tinea never grow!
What Uwarfo and pigmies wo seem
to ourselves when we look upon our
owa nothingness; nay, low than
nothingness? Isa. xii: 2*. A grain
is but a tiny
measure, but as regards faith,
feel it is larger than what ire
It was ap into * sycamore tree that
Zacchcoa climbed and got a saving
view ef Jeans. Led by curiosity,
but arrested by grace, he went op a
caws down a aafot Dr.
tolls ua, “This tree is gen
.nil* pkoted tg U* *wnU»> and
*.?*• 9"2
The tapper! of Aged Ministers
The average salary of a Christian
minister in this country is cruelly
smalt. We use the ptifase consider
•U-ly. Tbe statistics of any one of
oor denomination* will amply justify
it. They will show that the average
salary among tbe whole body of
;»astors is a sum low down in the
hundreds. Remembering that to
raise this average we have the com
|*aretavely large amount* paid in
many city churches, it is evident
that there is a vast number of work
ing minister* who receive but a mere
pittance.
We call this state of things cruel.
Its cruelty affects more thau the
mere comfort of tbe minister. His
intellectual growth is cramped by it.
Want of means deprives him of the
books, the periodicals, the mental
food which in many forms ia neces
sary to his development and strength.
Even his spirituality is often lowered
by the worldly cares which of ae
ceasity harass him continually. The
hours in which be should be left
free to quiet meditottou are invaded
by a thouaaod worryiug questions
ws to how he is to “make both ends
meet." His strength, of which tbe
w hole is needed for his profostion, is
wasted in finding ways aud means
to eke out a support. Tbe liberal
education be longs to give his chil
dren is often too dear a luxary. If,
with utmost effort, he can make
each year “dear itself," it Is almost
a hopeless undertaking to lay up
aoything for old age, or for his fami
ly after his death.
To too many of our ministerial
readers, these words will recall bit
ter experiences, at whioh we have
hardly hinted. And if their labor
ws* noP oue of love, they would
either send up a cry that would com
pel attention, or abandon tbe field.
We sometimes bear it said of those
who suffer thus, “Why don’t they
assert their rights as men ? Why
do they not shame the stinginess of
those who starve them, by leaving
their service outright and seeking
other employment V* They do uot
do it because above tbeir own com
fort or their own lives they set tbe
service of God and tbeir feifow-men.
Ami as duty keeps fibem in their
place, so delicacy prevents the loud
remonstrance which might better
their condition. More is written of
late thau formerly about this injns-
tfcxx but not nearly enough baa been
said to rouse tbe ley mau of the
him.over the hardest
now he is growing old. The natural
abatement of his powers begins to
manifest itself. Stinted in literary
resources, he has fallen somewhat
behind the thought of tbe time. He
is still able and willing to work.
But it grows harder and harder to
find a place. Parishes like young
men for tbeir ministers. As old age
is falling upon him, be appears
before many a congregation, and Ur
passed by for a more youthful and
attractive candidate. What shall
be do? He must live. He has
nothing to fall back ou, and bis ooe
resource fails him more and more
with advancing years. Is he to sink
into alpect and degrading poverty—
or to seek sufferance in the bouse
holds of friends, if such can be found
—or trkat shall be do ?
. This is tbe problem which is at
this very time forcing itself eu bun
deeds of such tueo. Having given
tbeir best and their all to a Mfialaog
service of unselfish devotion, at ito
end, with tbe infirmities of age upou
them, there ia nothing for them bat
utter penury
ence.
It is a shame to
siich things should be, Tbe country
petitions the soldiers wont out in Uu
service. Shall tbe church off ito
best ami brightest to a work ef self
sacrificing labor, and when tbeir
work is done neglect them utterly? *
Duty ef
The perfection of Christian
ter implies patient as well i
traded labor. A y<
not a folly developed, model chris
tiaa in auy respect, except it may be
la complete submiatioo to Christ.
The height ef that Joy that arises
nut uf experience is reached only
after a toilfol nseenlt It is not Uy a
single bound that one can stand ou
Pisgah’s top. This never dkl oocui .
aud it probably never wilL It weald
be contrary to the very plans and
purposes of God to arranging for
our ealvaitioo. Btop by step this
eminence is to bo attained, often un
der a pressure of difficulties aad di*
couragements that nothing but pa
tient and protracted effort cau over
come.
Would s pastor see the fruits of
toil? Then ho must be patient, as
well as active aud solicitous. The
conduct of his parishiooers is not
always of the most satisfactory sort
He may be disturbed by rumors,
and grieved by actual charges, but
the pure conscience is sure to vindi
cate-Itself in the end. Would the
church see tbe resnH* that every
Christian body can property expect?
Then let it be patient as well, not
forgetting to be active, leaning upon
the arm of the promise* which will
be continually lifting it forward.
No success ft worth much that
isn’t earned. It might be added that
be is unworthy of success who shows
himself unable to earn it Tbe
church has now a fine opportunity
to prove its frith in these statements.
The terrible flood of skepticism that
seems to be settling in upon ns cau
not possibly drown the Bible if that
book is the perfect life preserver that
we have always believed it to be.
Neither will any church or people be
overwhelmed who frithfaHv dfogto
that Bible. If its doctrines are all
yea and amen, then there is need of
only a little patient practice of; and
belief in, those doctrine*, when we
^haQ see even the radicals them
selves struggling iu the wave and
crying out to the faithful for help.
The Slkki* of DkArgv—Bleep ft
not tbe destruction, it is only a su*
pension of the conscious exercise of
the faculties, which is followed by
au awakeuiug, when the will again
takes command of the body• And
so a time ft coming when the tuoru-
iug of eternity will chase away the
night of the grove, and the bodies
of all saints will awake from tbe
dust to a vital rerufoou and bartno
ntoufi co-oparatfou with theft re aui
matins soul*.