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VOL. LXXXVn. * RICHMOl
"Mending Old C
"And, he spake also a parable unto them: No
man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an
old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent
and the piece that was taken out of the new agrceth
not with the old. And no man putteth new wine
into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the
bottles and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
But new urine must be put into new bottles, and
both are preserved."?Luke 5:36-38.
Our Lord Jesus uttered these brief parables to
warn us against two of the most insidious delusions
of Satan. The first concerns the relation the
Gospel sustains to the law, and the
second concerns the unique and dis- -l-l-l-l-i-i-h
tinctive work done by the Holy Spirit -jj
in fhp hfllipvor'a Lonrf J
The Gospel of Christ is not a mere
suffix to the law of Moses, but it is the
law's gracious fulfillment. The Son of ;; Et
God did not come to earth to supple- ;; reme
ment the teachings of Moses and the ;; Lord
prophets, but to fulfill and to energize ;; and
all of the divine truth which had been *| fort
revealed before him. He would have all ;I all oi
men to understand that his mission love
was not that of a reformer, but that II porti
of a redeemer, and his death on Cal- II labor
vary was not that of a glorious mar- II clear
tyr, but a gracious sacrifice. II for <
Again, he would have us see that his allotl
^ i. _ .11 _ ? x # T*
tuuueweui, ib uii-sumcieni ior our com- j out
plete redemption, and, having provided ;; crow
it 'objectively, he has sent the Holy ;; of
Spirit to apply it to our hearts in such ;; year'
a way as to make it our own priceless * With
possession. The Spirit, then, has not ;; purp<
been sent to revive us, but to regenerate ;; deny
us. He has not called us back to re- I! thy \
sume the old order of life as did those prese
whdm Jesus brought back to life; he " tion
Koo 1 i-"'-?J i? *1*
uoo vancu uo iiilu uwjiuai iiiu ana iius |4-| are c
imparted unto us the divine nature. II Lord
Let us consider these great doctrines II tiona
so strikingly presented in the parables II
before us, and we shall discover that Ih-H-I-I-1"
"the gospel is not a new patch on
AN OLD GARMENT."
"No man putteth a piece of a new garment
upon an old." If you had an old coat and should
discover that a hole had been worn in each sleeve,
would you take the sleeves out of your new coat
and sew them in that old coat?
A few days ago I saw a man on Main street in
our town who was wearing an old. worn and faded
coat, the sleeves of which had been replaced by
new ones made of a light blue material. The combination
was ridiculous and served to emphasize
his poverty more strongly than the tattered sleeves
could possibly have done. Would one of our fashionably
dressed ladies cut a piece off that new coat
she has purchased this season and sew it on to that
* mna \um
g>
*D, NEW ORLE^ ATLANTA, DECEMBER
<sv
Jlothes And Fillii
? By Rev. S. B. Lander ?
short coat she wore several seasons back? If she
did so her costume would be grotesque indeed. To
do that would be to ruin the new without improving
the appearance of the old. Jesus would have
the world understand that he came not to sew a
new paten on an old garment. The Gospel is the
end, the fulfillment of the law, and Jesus is that
divine substance of which Moses was but a shadow.
He is that true light that lighteth every
man that cometh into the world.
Now, there are two dangers confronting us?
dangers which have betrayed many into serious
l-I-I ! I I I I 1-1-I-I--I-1 ! -M&
Jleto gear's draper
ernal God, in whom is the hope of all our ye)
mber us in thy mercy also in this new year of i
. Reveal thy glory in the experience of its j
sorrows. Forestall its tears with the abiding ci
of thy presence. Make us strong rightly to meas
ur gains and to endure with patience every loss
allows. Show us thy meaning in the gifts and
inities of each new day. Assure us of thy help
thy delight in our joys. Quicken efiK minds
vision and our hearts to cheerful content. Pro\
>ur bodies such vigor as shall be needful /or
ted service on the earth. Gome tho*?-as r^harer
home delights, companion of our fkll^dsh^, .
n of all rejoicing, the hope of endurancvWys pfei
/ercoming. We leave to thee the mystwsfhf'
s events, assured that thou wilt guide our w
hold from us all gifts which would prevent
ose for our growth in wisdom and in service. 0
us not thyself?thy Spirit to instruct our hea
vork to share, thy peace to still our restlessness, i
ince to resolve our doubts. In the sifting of temj
grant that our faith fail not, and when our ye
mded bring us to thyself, through Jesus Christ <
Amen.?Isaac Ogden Rankin, in The Congre
list.
error. The first is, a too light respect for the
moral law upon which rests the moral government
of God. There are some who effect to believe that
the Goatiel has renealed thp law This inn in
spite of Paul's argument in his epistle to the Romans,
made in support of the law. Our Lord himself
said: "Think not that I am come to destroy
the law and the prophets; for I came not to destroy,
but to fulfill." Again we hear him say:
"Till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled."
These and many similar passages should
convince us of the law's dominion over us. It is
not designed as tt means of salvation, and was
never intended to serve that purpose, for "by deeds
W?STERNPfPESBYTEPiAt^i
>AL PRESBYTER/AN
mE8N PPESBYTEJftAtf
i 1, 1913. ' No. "
ncr OIH ajJ
i. xv* xyv 1/L1VU
of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight,"
but the law is, and has ever been, a schoolmaster,
a disciplining agent to bring men to Christ. And
then we should remember that God's moral government
is founded upon and sustained by his
moral law, which is but the expression of his
righteous character and his holy will. If that
government is to be maintained in its stability as
well as in its integrity it cannot be done except by
the persistence of the law's authority. The moral
law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments.
Those are not the whole of moml
law, but they contain the fundamental
M-I-I-M principles of the entire system. If we
can apprehend our Lord's attitude toward
the heart of system we can no
;; longer remain in doubt concerning his
;; relation to system in its entirety,
irs, *; Instead of our Lord annulling the
our " law we find him revealing more peroys
I! fectly the broad sweep of its judgments,
om- I] The law extends from the act of sin to
ure *! its inspiring motive. It is not necesthy
J sary to kill in order to commit mnr
op- der, for he that hateth his brother is a
i in murderer.
to It is not necessary to commit the
lde deed in order to be an adulterer. "He
our that looketh upon a woman to lust afof
ter her hath committed adultery with
the her already in his heart." Again he
Ige ;; said: "Ye have heard it said by them
the 11 of old time, Thou shalt not forswear
ay. " thyself, hut shalt perform unto the
thy Lord thine oath, but I say unto you,
niy T l^et your communication be yea, yea
rts, II and nay, nay, for whatsoever is more
thy II than these cometh of evil."
>ta- The law applies to our purposes as
ars II well as to our performances, and no
our * man can escape his own responsibility,
ga- *' The second is, a too rigid adherence
"! to the ceremonialism of the old economy.
Our Saviour did not come to
K-t-I-i-b establish his Church on earth. The
Church was a flourishing institution in
the days of Moses, and just as we have certain
means of grace appointed for our growth in grace,
so had our ancient brethren. The Church was not
called by that particular name, of course, but except
for the name and the precise forms of service
there is no essential difference between the
Church in the old and in the new dispensations.
While our Lord did not establish the Church
during his life on earth, he has introduced eer+oin
changes which would enable the Church to become
more efficient in fulfilling her world-wide mission
and more serviceable under the added blessing of
his gracious presence.
The modern Church has no further need for the
many forms and ceremonies which characterized