The Lutheran visitor. (Columbia, S.C.) 1869-1904, March 15, 1872, Image 1
y
ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE B APTI81T-EPHE8IA N8 IV: 5
COLUMBIA. S. C., FRIDAY, MARCH 15. 1872
KtiW SFRIES.
OLD SERI1
in its due order, giving milk to babe* ! me by thy works ; 1 joy in the works
Religious.
yourself almost a stranger in the
world where you have lived so long.
Those who set oat in life with yoa
have nearly all |teased away. The
fxwnpanioo dearest sod best of all
others perhaps has left you, and pos
aibly yoa have buried the c hildren
you expected to carry yon to the
grave. You stand like a solitary
tree in the wiklerueaa. If added to
this adversity lowers, and bodily
sufferings come, how great is the
trial It is therefore, •
4. A period of ptrulimi solemnity.
It is appointed to all tneu once to
die, and the time ie uncertain. Hut
the old are nocemmrtiy on the borders
of eternity ; emphatically “I here is
but a step between thee and death *
Uow good it is then for old age to
offer up the prayer, ••Cast an? not
off,' ••forsake arc not.
and ment to men, iu humble do of thy hands. O Lord, how great
peudence upon “tho power from oa , are thy works, and thy thoughts axe
very deep. The brutish man know
eth not, neither doth the fowl under
stand thee.**. God makes the heart
of those rejoice in bis works, whaae
joy it is to draw near to kirn.
4. Prayer is a key, for it o|nhs
ns the dearest and most glorious
knowledge of heaven. U brings us
into spiritual harmony with the em
ployarenta and enjoyments of the
inhabitants of heaven, so that we
can understand better what is the
borne of the blessed. Oor faith is
so strengthened that «r* obtain clear
\ lews of the eternal heights and the
heavenly Arid*. No hill on earth is
Work afths Ministry."
j g ^ obviously, a vtm onuipre-
iv g phrase. The Apostle oer-
v )0 |ndes in it all the work that
ajttdoue by the apostlesjproph-
evttugelists, payors and! teach*
irlileh Jesus Christ appointed for
lifting, fostering, and perfect-
rf his church.! By the ministry
the whole official working
• of the church. The term still
jgl the whole official working
> if the church; but that force
>t hrfdsely the same that it was
^tolic times. It dot s not now
IfjhajMstles and prophets, at all
miuistry
wisdom, but in the power and do
mouatration of the Spirit" What
ever |iower logic and rhetoric and j
eloquence may have over living
reaaou in things spiritual, they can |
not reach a dead soul. It is not a
bad idea of priaiary ministerial work
that they are to bring “the sick of the
palsy,” and even the dead, and set
them down where Christ is.
Bat when sinners are converted,
is “the work of the ministry* fin
ished f Is every converted man
perfected in the moment of his
regeneration aud instifkatioaf Nay;
verily, there is yet a greater work
to do. The a|*oaUe thought that after
believers had attained faith, then they
were to begin the work of adding to it
“virtue," 4fcr. Faith does but enter
the mau into the aclMsft where ha it
When a
lurahia, 8. C\ j
•bm* •, 1871. i
to ro into effect
instant:
evestk Bat, although
m »y not be identically the same that
H tas then, the u work of the - 1 - 1 -
substantially the same.
A | way el less
old age is one of the most melan
choly spectacles preseated this tade
ot the world of dcsjuui. Happy
they who are not strangers to a
throne of grace. Most happy he
who can say with this inspired sin
grr, “O Lofd God. thou art my trust
from my youth."
Hut bow innumerable and great
are the reasons why God might “east
off" aud “forsake.' The number aud
magnitude of sms. unfaithfulness
aud forgetluliMws, how often have
we forsaken him! Where then is
the ground of hope that such a
prayer will be answered ?
/*»rot, Horn the motor* of the d»rise
fere. It ia act founded o|mni youth,
or beauty, or wealth, or power; not
apou aay earthly coumderatiwi. Its
spring m far back iu the eternal
couaaeU of Hun whose ways aud
It Is
(got that we bavi adequate
B of that work.
yt is the object of »tt The
jg gives us a very icom prehen
md at the same tinjje, clear and
|e idea of that work when he
“For tbo edifying of the body
riat (the Church), j till we all
in the unity of the faith, and
i knowledge of the Hou of God,
i perfect man. untp the rneas
t the stature of thh fullness of
t* Also he gives us a very
icsot description of the objects
iuisterial work wbieu he says,
shorn we have received grace
apostleship, for obedience to
lith among all nations for his
,* From the former of these
tores we learn that the nlti-
I object of *‘the work of the
by* is the ‘^edifting of the
[of Christ and [hat the ed
pu of tlavbodr of Christ
j bringing—**we alF—the whole
of Adaiu’s rate, that had
jgiven to ChrisW for redemp-
j “to the uuity U ; the faith,
ot' the knowledge of the Son
*1, unto a perfect man, unto
|iwisure of the /stature of the
is of Christ," Yea, the church
Ie edified. v. hen nil. from the
| to the greatest. shall kndw.
(try same things about Christ,
i)l the very thiijgs that are true
tihim—his divihity. his human-
is mediatorial offices aud rela
his vicarious works, bis rights,
lowers, aud resources, his pity,
and consequent ineflicieocy, partly,
at least, because they have not Heat
ly apprehended, in ita simplicity, the
uatnre of true religion.—Presbyterian.
iufiuit Chutcli. Atul yet tyi this un
equal couflict U had uoother weapon
than “the preachiug of the ero«s r —
that croc* which an elegant living
writer has said with equal truth and
beauty, that fur us it is almost im
Itoeaible to realize the association*
which clustered round the w old; for
as it sfNtikles hi the crowns of inou-
arch*; it is embroidered iu onr flag;
it rises over our village churches,
and surmount* out cathedral spires.
Onr dead rc|»o*e with its shadow
projected over tbeui iu the summer
evening. Tl»e very name reminds
us ot a sublime sacrifice, of a divine
•elf denial. As we bear it iqiokeu,
the ivkaw of liytnuK float sweetly
through our hearts: aud if we be
Christians iu more thau name, we
s t ice-President.
Ticket Agt.
to be educated for beavru.
mau becomes a laborer, he knows
but the a, b, e, of religion aa a
worship—a fllursa for being with sad
enjoying God. All those taste*,
those moral aud spiritual powers,
all that submission sod coosocratiua
to God which is to III s mss lor
heaven, are to be acquired sad per
fected after the new birth. Aad
this is a part uf “the work of the
miuistry :* to see alter and promote
the education of men for .brawn.
This deportment of the work com
prise* all proper paatoral work. It
embraces teaching doctrines, teach
ing practice
Uow that rude scpuldu.il uiouu
ment carries one buck into the misty
past 1 Look out over the sea to the
lonely seclusion of Patinos. The
seven churches pas* in review, as
John in ecstatic visiou looks behind
the lifted vail.- Then a little way
across the sea was Smyrna. lie had
often been there iu blessed spiritual
oominuuion with the disciples, and
Pdyearp, his bosom friend, converted
by his instrumentality, is uow the
angel or pastor of the church. And
the voice said, “To the angel of the
chorcli iu Smyrna write.’' “I know
thy works, and tnbulatiou, and pov
erty (but thou ait rich;." Heaven
estimates not trealth by earthly bal
ances. * * * “Fear none of those
things that shall come upon thee.
• • • Be thou faithful uuto death,
aud I w ill give thee a crown of life."
John realized how soou the trial was
to cotne ! Soou a violent persecution
broke oilt against the christiaus.
An outcry was raised against the
veuerable Folycarp, and he secreted
himself from those that sought his
life. Home of the prominent *ruem
bers of his church were arrested, and
were about to be pot to the torture
to force them to reveal his hiding
place. The old man oouldnot endure
to see them suffer for bis sake. He
came forth and voluntarily gave him
self np. saying: “The Lord’s will be
done." He was arraigned before the
Komau proconsul. Being urged to
curse Christ, lie replied: “Eighty
aud six years have I served him.
aud be lias done me nothing but
good, and how can I curse my I»rd
aud my Saviour! If you would
mgs; and are we not sore that ev ery
one w bo bus thin kef that of tens the
treasurr chambeis of the Must High,
must seek at his own door the blame
for his shame and hi* misery.—
M'sfc kman mod ktfoHur.
RAILROAD.
Ine Ridge Railroad
ys excepted:
-4 to p m
>* •**■-;• ••...7 00 pm
4......8 so sm
it.... ..... • 15am
reproving, rebuking,
admonishing, with all long suffering
and doctrine " All that belongs to
edifleatiou j watching over the In k,
instructing them, show ing (hem w hat
ia right and what wrong in faith and
in practice, encouraging, comforting,
strengthening, ruling or disciplining
them—erasing traces of error and
superstition, and writing in their
stead, in a Hear, full copy, the per
ccpts tti Christian ethic*.
From this hasty sketch, though
very limited, ae see that the work
of the ministry is a great aork.
Nehemiali thought when he was
building up the broken down walls
of Jerusalem, that the work was
too great to be left for useless cun
ferriwr a Uh Sanballat ami Gas hem.
Is not this a much greater work!
Why should those engaged iu it
leave it, aud conic down to the
pursuits, entertain ment* and pos
times uf th« world ? Is it light that
loved thee with an everlasting lore,
therefore with loving kindness have
1 drawn thee."
.sm*md, from rjMmpUo ntordrd im
tmriptmte. b<ui at the death bed
areocs of Jacob, uf llsnd, of Hi
moon and others. Ilea* the tri
ad! lar them to procure as *oou aa
thr> e.,u. # It Is a small volume fall
of rich lootnirUun. Is it not proper
at this opening of jfe yeei to devote
a few thoughts Acielly suited to
the enodlHoii whom God
ho* spoirel -dow n to old age V And
aha! brllrr guide to our thoughts
rat* br *ngge*tr»l than (he prayer of
the l*nslmuu? lie say* in P sal in
Ixii: ft, “C W me trd «»jf im the tiar
*ff mid opr f ftronlr me not ok* * my
strength fo*l*iA."
These aunU aetv tvukotl^v aril*
ten when h« was tar advanced in life.
This ia |dsiu ftont the text itaelf, but
•till more so from the l*th terse,
where he says, “I am old and gray
beaded.' We hive uo meaus of
knowing precisely what his age was
at this tune; bis death did not take
p!a« e till he had ouuplet**! more
than three score years amt tea.
What an eveutfiil life he bod passed
through! Ha|q>y are they who
w lieu the shadow* of death are fall
ing ttpou them, may And their souls
thus resting upon the eternal (tick!
lie give* us a delightful view of his
piety, of the exerrises of his mind,
of his rum tuning trust in God, as he
felt buniteif drawing near the reali
ties of an eternal world. The a bole
Psalm may lie railed the proper of
rdd opr, ami in full of precious truth.
How many reflect ious gather
around that expression, “old age."
It i* a very obtioa* tiuth that
their are two kmd* of professor* of
Christianity. The ten virgin* uf our
Saviour** fumble rrpreweut those
who an* professedly waiting for the
coming of onr !s*nl ami of his bride,
the glorified chnrrh, and hoping to
go iu with him to sit down at the
marriage supper of the Lamb ia
heaven. They were all waiting with
lighted lamp* for the returning pro
erasiori, when they should .join the
lwide and bridegroom ; but by the
time the bridegroom came, - their
lamps needed trimming aud replen
ishing. It then appeared that there
was a difference between the virgin*;
five had brought oil in their vessel*,
and now, refilling their lani|*s. were
ready to meet the marriage party;
the other five now j»oreeived that
their lnm|*s were going ont. (not pone
owt f ) hot no oil canid then be ob
tained in time,
oould not Kelp them
moff.
dition in the cbnreh; wheu there
Mkall be no more' need for a polo-
gstica; but all that are ordained to
know shall nnUerstHiid, and appreci
ate, and approve Christianity as a
fond as a worship, and as a life;
and wheu all sha 1 have the same
living, working g ith, ruling them
to a glorious conformity', in the
whole man, to tie image of Jesus
Christ; wheu Christian men and
womtn shall be in t^eir heads and
in their faith and practice,
like Christ—.then indeed shall
the church “look jTorth a* the tnom-
hg, fair as the ifioou, clear as the
■on, land terrible as an army with
FiimuJ.D. K. Skiwtit, Pii-Uivlenan
mniurr »»f IbihfhaHow. Hkfiwswl.
Their companions
; and virile they
sought to repair their mistake, the
procession passed into tlm (Hut, qnd
the door was shut.
It might be bettor, porh:»|»s to say
that then* are two kinds of religion
called Christian, or two kinds of
hope, than to speak of two kind* of
^irofesKor*. For it is uot meant that
the professors of «me kind are sin
rarefy professing Christianity, and
jhe other kind insincere*. There* are
two classes, both sincere* in their
profession of a religion and a liope,-
wtrite one class only has the good
ho|»c and the christiau religion. It
is meant that in a Christian commu
nity and a Christian chnrch. one may
have a religion and a hope that win
puss for Christian, and at length find
ont that lii» religion is unable to
shield him from the condemnation of
Owl’s law. and his hope is a de
lusion.
No one will nwd auy proof that
this is the teaching of Scriptnro who
remember* the parable of the sower
and his seed, some of which grew
among thorns, aud some iu stony
places, and brought uo fruit; or the
parable of the wheat and the tares;
or that of the drag net, with onr
Saviour’s explanation: “So shall it
be at the end of the world; the
angels shall eotnc forth and sever
the wicked from among the jnst, and
cast them into the furnace of fire
or his command, “Strive to euter iu
at the strait gate; for many, I say
unto yon, will seek to cuter in, and
shall not be able. • When once the
Master of the house is risen up, and
hath shut to the door, and ye begin
to stand without aud to knock at the
door, saying. Lord, Lord, open to us;
and he shall answer and say nnto
you, I know ye not whence ye are;
then shall ye begin to say, >Ve
have eaten ami drunk in thy
presence, and thou bast taught iu
oq;grata; but be sliajl »yUtell
the world's history." Iu ttye contem
plation <»f his most |*erfect life, as of
his mysterious death, the advancing
science ot our days as well as ita
erudite skepticism, has to confess,
not without humiliation. Unit it must
silently stand as before au eternal
proltlem." Not soch the attitude of
those who know iu whom they have
believed. Not no have they leumed
Christ. For iu them from Mours to
■tetimes wImjii I look at this
te of the e< lifted church, and
look at it is it is now—with
iHclj ignoranjee; so much error
taperstitigp ; so much strife and
:ntion; so ii;tle faith and self-
" an d consecration to Go<l and
css; so little brotherly love, and-
teh sin and failure; so much inor-
formity; so nauy more dwarfs
caricatures of Christian life—I
hnost ready to despair. Homc-
when I go forth into the great
^ays of the world, and see
ihient professors of religion
in S to and frp ilike drunken
or hear them boasting and
’S> or it btf swearing, or
Iging in Togr, dirty, filthy lau-
©; when f go into tho court
e a, ‘d see a brother contending
brother, “before the unjust,*
ID & *t great coat, to do a palpu-
rr °ng; when I listen to the dis-
uqu.s. and often false pretexts
hicb profess'd Christians excuse
'■elves for shirking their duty;
‘times when the report comes
1(1 a disgraceful row between
[>artie« in the church, and I am
of how they raved, and cursed,
swore at one another; or that
°r that man had wantonly pro-
^ the Sabbath, or was intoxi-
l> or in some other flagrant man-
iad com prom ised his profession
given the enemy occasion^ to
mrrirr, foot over any assembly, 1
aud how few okl persons ore to tie
seen. Oor fact shown by the census
of 1480, ( we have not a later at hand,
but it would be substantially the
same,) is that of the whole number
born in the country, one third die
before the age of ten years. Notice
also some other feels derived from
the same source. The number of
those in the Failed Bute* at the
date mentioned, who hod passed TO
years, was only one in 84. Only one
in 390 bad passed 80 years; only one
In 2,331 bad paaacd 90 years; ami
only one in 24,143 had passed 100
years. The whole white pojKilatioa
of Virginia was set down at 894,000.
Out of those, the number who bad
reached 70 was 11.462; those 90
years of age were 3,307; those at 90
were 517 ; while those at 100 were 63.
In view of soch feels bow slender is
the proapecl that the young will live
t o be old
Blind Factory,
und jicceptance of mau. Hence, it
is a fundamental “work of the min
istry,” preparatory, it is true, bnt
nevertheless a vital |»art of tbe work
to go, uot only to colleges and semi
naries, and by diligent, and laborion*
study to ask science, to ask philoao
pby, to ask logic, to ask rhetoric,
how shall I vindicate Christianity,
and recommend it to my fellow man f
but to Jesus Christ, the Great
Teacher come from God, and ask
him, by humility, by prayer, by
implicit faith, to teach ns to know
what Christianity is, aud to givens
a mouth aud wisdom for its defence,
that all our adversaries shall not be
able to gainsay or resist. The power
by which the ministry are to do their
work, is “power from <hi high.” By
far the most important part of min
isterial work is “tarrying at Jerusa
lem till they are endued with" this
“power from on high"—till they “re
ceive the promise of tbe Father."
But when the ministry have done
this preparatory work, what next f
Iu the very strong aud significant
• '*t _
Messiah is slowly drawn, until s
cross rises dimly from tbe mist of
age*. One bangs thereon with
pierced hands aud feet, smitten by
some mysterious wrath, and wailing
out some unimaginable sorrow. The
story of that sorrow, the preaching
of that cross, has changed the face
of the world. And those who are
most reluctant to admit it, are at tho
same time most unable to deny it.
“We can learn,” says Theodore l*gr
ker, “but few feet* about Jesus.
But measure him by the shadow be
has cast into tho world, and by tbe
light be ha* shed upou it, and shall
we be told that such a man never
lived—that the whole story is s
falsehood f Suppose that Plato and
Newton never lived, that their story
Is a lie; but who did their works aud
thought their thoughts? It takes a
Newton to forge a Newton. What
mau oould have fabricated a Jesus ?
None but a Jesus?" The historic
reality of the life »od death of Jeans
are thus seen to be arrested by the
monumental character of their result.
Christendom ia a great feet. The
Who Enjoy Church.—It takes
good people to have good 'meetings.
Christians who serve God at home
have little difficulty in worshiping
him when assembled. But men who
live iu sin at home are not changed
by going to church. A man who had
rather talk, and joke, aud smoke
thau pray, or one who prefers a
newspaper or a novel to his Bible
when at home, is not changed in
heart or nature by stepping into a
prayonneeting, or luingUng with
people who love the Lord. He was
dead out of meeting, and he is dead
when in it.
The responsiblities of a christiau
profession, so often feared and shnnu
ed as intolerable burdens, under tbe
pressure of which we are likely to
make a disgraceful fell, ought rather
to be invited as safeguards aud helps
iu tto working wt of our cultural.
haBd iS
in th«
special
-- and
Cannon
. P. 0*.
k kept on
xmlitry trade
r own factory
proprietors i
List. Factory
K- oppo"^ v C
jity railway*,'
to know
mine eud, aud the measure of ray
days, what it is; that I may know
how frail I am."
2. It ia a time of trmknem mod m
Jtrmitiem. This ia strikingly express
ed in the 90th Psalm, 9th and 10th
verses. Solomon also has given ns a
moat vivid piclare of old age ia the
12th chapter of Ecdewtaste*.
inland, France.
,1 Fftlea of Enroj£
and from the E }££
un New York.
tended to aid rein'
t-uent. _ •
& CO.. Banters,
r., Charleston, »•
ailing
remit us »*y bfP«JJ
r. and they will
jtl> attended to. *
•eeth thee,” says Job; “wherefore
l abhor myself and repent iu dust
and ashes."
3. Prayer opens to the soul the
glory of the natural world. A preyer-
lese man does not know one in aj
thousand of the liesnties of nature;
and what be sees not, that he can
not enjoy, aa the spiritual man en*
josh jfc “Fur, hoed, *****
language of ouc of tbe Great Teach
er’s most instructive parables, they
are then to “go out to the highways
and hedges aud compel men to
by carefnlly plying them
»nu siiung down m j coiue m" by carefnlly plying them
But upon second thought | with the creed, wjtb tfe* whole oeed,'
U ff ij m