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About Christian index and South-western Baptist. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1866-1871 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1870)
itflllßjlAN INDEfAND SfeTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. VOL, 49 —NO. 6. ■A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER, PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, GA THUMB.—Clubs of Four, ($3.00 each) per annum...sl2oo Clubs of Three, ($3.33 each) per annum... 10.00 Clubs of Two, (3.00 each) per annum 7.00 Single Subscriber LOO JT. J. TOON, Proprietor. The Builder*. All are of Fate, Working in tbes? walls of Time; Some with mass'.Ye deeds and great, Some with orosbionta of rhyme. Nothing useless is, or low ; Each ihing in its place is best; And wbat sterns but idle show Strengthens and supports the rest. For the structure that we raise,, •_«, # Time is with materials filled ; Our to duya and yesterdays W Are the blocks witl, which we build. mSK Truly shape and fashion these; ; ... ■ ~-**;■ ([ttHfi* "“ yawning gaps between; Think notvbocauHe rio man sees, Hueh tbingskwill remain unseen. Iu tlio fdtU>wdsjS of~STtf y, m thiXfers wrought with greater Each and unseen part; For the Gods see everywhere. Lot us do onr work as well, .Both the unseen and the seen ; Make the house, where Gods may dwell, Beautiful, entire and clean. Else our lives are incomplete, Standing in these walls of Time, Broken stairways, where the feet • Stumble as they seek to climb. Build to-day, then, strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; % And ascending and secure i ; ; jßg Shall to-morrow lind its place. Thus jtlone can we attain To fiioso turrets, where the eye Sees the world as one vast plain, And oife boundless reach of sky. LoHf/tlloW. The First and Last Draught of Fishes. —Luke v: Jr—ll; Johnxxi: 1 —23. Thre« times did our Lord make the circuit of Gal I dec in His ministry. These cases of the miraculous draughts of fishes lie, the first at the beginning of His public ministry, and the last after His resurrection from the dead. The fiist represents the work of preach ing the gospel; casting the gospel net: the se cond, the gathering of God’s people from all nations into the kingdom of glory. The place of these two draughts of fishes was the same; the sea of Gallilee, so often men tioned in the gospel. That beautiful, deep lake, surrounded by high hills,"through which the Jordan flows front North to South, Its waters are very clear and sweet, and contain various kinds of excellent fish, in great abun dance. Peter, James and John were fisher men upon this lake. Here vast crowds attended the preaching of Jesus. No house would hold them, and He was compelled to drjiw them out upon the beach. Hut as they pressed Him here, He entered Peter’s fishing boat, and prayed Him to thrust out a little from the land. Here Ilis position was grand: the heavens above Him, the. waters of the sea beneath Him, and the people on the land whose souls He came to save. Dr. Jos. An gus, in his comments on these draughts of the fishes, says: “Through Peter’s ready compliance with the request of our Lord, tie had been eAsiiied to tt&Uf.t tftc pen 1 pie, uninterrupted by the pressure of the crowd who attended to hear Him. In return, perhaps, for this civility, our Lord bade Pe ter push out into the deep water, and to lot down Iris nets fora draught; designing, as has been said, to take the fisherman in His net.” To this suggestion Peter replied that they had been all night laboring without sue cess; but, added he, with the beginning of no feeble faithjvvorking in him, “ Nevertheless, at thy word I will down the net.’’ This act of faith was immediately rewarded, for they in closed a multitude of fishes, so that the net began to break, and the boatmen were obliged to beckon to their partners to come to their help. This miraculous act (miraculous in its knowledge) became to the fishermen a sign of a higher presence than they had yet recog nized, filling them with astonishment and fear. And with other feelings, too. Peter yields freely to the impulse of the moment, and as he first saw the highest glory of his Saviour, so now he is the first to confess his own sinfulness: “Depart from me, for 1 am a sinful man, O Lord.” The alarm of God’s presence! Have you felt it? Do you feel it to day 1 Men may hear about God and feel no fear, but when they realize His presence they are alarmed. He is ever present, and sinners well may know it, and be alarmed until they recognize a loving trust in Jesus. Since the time when Adam and Eve were alarmed at the voice of God in the garden, where they had sinned, have men ieared the divine presence. It leads to conviction, a dread of deserved wrath. It was the judgment of ancient times that none could see God and live. Isaiah confessed uncleanness of lips when he saw “the King, the Lord of hosts.” When once men’s eyes see Hirn, “they either abhor themselves and repent in dust and ashes, or in despair they cry to the rocks to cover them, it is in God’s light that men see them selves and feel their guilt.” In Jesus, who fills up the distance between us and God, and veils the insupporluble glo ries of the Divine to our weak eyes, God may be seen with joy. So our Lord taught Peter. “He admits his confession of guilt, but bids him lay aside his tear; intimating that in the living manifestation of God in Christ, the near approach of the Holy One is not only supportable, but ever refreshing. ‘ Fear not,’ says He, 1 for henceforth thou shait catch men’—clothing His promise in the language of the craft with which Peter was familiar —and when they had brought the ships to land, they forsook all and followed II im.” Here was the fisherman’s farewell to His employment, and at the time when it was most prosperous, that he might engage in the higher service of Christ’s gospel king dom. He is now both converted and called to the ministry. The power of Christ upon Peter, in changing him from a fisherman to an apostle of Cod’s grace, was a greater [miracle than the strange draught of fishes. And when, by the preaching of Peter, three thousand souls were converted in one day and added to the church, then the type of this great draught of fishes was abundantly fulfilled. It was a great and joy ful day when Peter and the others left all to follow* Jesus. After eighteen hundred years in heaven, it is still an increasing joy. You may say that the world, to them, was not much; they had but little. True, but they had worldly affections, and that, to them, was as much and as hard to forsake as it can be to you. O, there is a blessedness in leaving ail worldly affections for the love and service of Christ! Such was the power of our Lord’s first showing of Himself on the L ike of Tiberias, that Peter, James and John left, all to follow Him. 11. W e now turn to llis last miracle on this sea—John xxi: 1-23. Here, again, He is said to have shown Himself to His disci pies: revealed to them His spiritual invisi bility. In Christ Jesus was the fullness of Divinity, and llis miracles were an unveiling of His glory; a “ showing of Himself.” FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE/ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, JB7O. i This last draught of fishes was also on the sea of Gallilee, and the same disciples, with others, were present. After our Lord’s crucifixion, the disciples went to Gallilee ; first, because lie had prom ised to meet them there; and, second, be cause it was their early home. Here they returned to their former employment for the present. f'ur wants are to be supplied through our own voluntary and active em ployment. When rtghtif employed iri secu lar business, men are serving God as really as when employed in religious duties, and ■vill-equally meet His approbation. There are many, points of resemblance be tween this oecasTon and the former one. Here, again, they had a night of fruitless toil. “At the early dawn Jesus stood on the shore •s&d fisked alter their success.” They confess theirfailure. The first step towards being blessed, is self-helplessness. Then said He, “ Cast the net on the right side df the ship and ye shall find.” And so they did find ; “a multitude of fishes”—of great, fishes, “a hnndred and fifty-three.” “On the former occasion some of the fish were lost,” say a Dr. Angus; “here all There, Ifii T mirli Dei 'm not fwfct Us, arid were taken were both good and badhere, everything is fixed, and the fish that were taken were all preserved.” This repre sents the glorious ingathering of the redeemed into the kingdom of the Father, while the first represented the gathering of the good and bad into the gospel net. Here, iu the, last miracle after the labor, “a meal of thq. Lord’s preparing, and symbolical, probably,’ of the great festival in heaven, with which he' will refresh His servants when they sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.” When Jesus thus “showed Himself,” His disciples knew “that it was the Lord.” Min isters must know Christ Jesus before they can testify to others ; and when they follow His directions, they will have abundant evi dence of the truth of His word. Then tbpy can speak to others, on the great eoncerngkif salvation, of what they know, and testify to what they have seen of the manifestations of His power and grace. From these Scriptures we rnav conclude: First. That the work of the church is com pared to fishing. She is a spiritual fishing union. Her work is to cast the gospel net for ail sorts of sinners—the very wicked and the moral, the rich and poor, the young and old. Her great aim is the souls of men for the glory of Jesus. This she seeks by all proper means; prayer, preaching, ordinances, Sunday schools, missions, individual effort, personal consecration and personal appeal. She is to gather and welcome all to her wor ship, and still ever reaching out for more from the great sea of human beings. She is a receiver, but more a dispenser of good things. Nut a combination of stockholders for their own benefit alone; not merely*a charitable institution, to dispense aims, tor comfort or pleasure; but a working society, a fishing establishment. The law of mem borship is, if any will not work, neither should he eat. Second. Ministers are the, chief fishermen, but having the cooperation of all the crew*. They may, when stern necessity demands, do, temporarily,other things; as farming,trading, teaching* labor;, but. without. necessity, they must give themselves “con tinually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” They must study to show them selves approved unto God. Sometimes they must endure discourage ments, toiling all night and taking nothing, but they must not despond ; holding them selves ever ready to obey : “ Nevertheless, at thy word we will let down the net.” Then in His own time ihe great multitude shall be gathered. We may trust the “net,” for since Jestis rose it is unbroken. When the toil is past, then comes the feast in glory with the redeemed of all ages. Will you (is the personal application) be one of that definite number drawn up to heaven 1 The “net” of redeeming love is spread; enter it now ! S. Landrum. Centralization and Southern Baptists. I regard the recent tendency among Bap tists to concentrate and simplify our machine ry for doing good, as a favorable omen. But 1 am by no means sure that the suggestion of H. E. TANARUS., in your issue of 13th January, that the Baptists of the United States should have but “one Board of Missions, Domestic and Foreign,” is a wise one. Is centralization in itself, and under all circumstances, a blessing'? And does it afford, always, the best means for promoting tho cause of Christ? If yea, then it strikes me that the Baptists should not only do away the D. M. Board, and For eign Mission Board of the S. B. Convention, but with the Convention itself, and all the State Conventions, Associations and churches of the South. Nor stop here, but blot out the Missionary Union with its appliances, the State Conventions, Associations and churches at the North. Nor stop at this, but pursue the work of demolition throughout the world, and on these ruins erect a great Baptist Cath olic organization, (l will not say church,) that shall cover the earth, whose “one Board of Missions, Domestic and Foreign,” shall be located in some vast central city of the world. Now, I think I know brother 11. E. T. well enough to be assured that he, as well as every other Baptist, would shrink in dismay from the legitimate tendency of his own sugges tion. That .Jesus established separate, inde pendent churches, is, to my mind, suggestive. Why should He have done this, if a mam moth organization were better? Centraliza tion, to a certain extent, is useful. To a greater extent, dangerous. Carried far enough, it breaks down under its own weight. 1 do believe that more than one good rea son can be given for having “ more than one Board of Missions, Domestic and Foreign, in the United States.” 1 do think the Board of the. S. B. Convention can, at this time, ac complish more good in the South, and through Southern Baptists, than one Board that shall cover the United States. The time may come, (I doubt it, however,) when H. E. T.’s suggestion would be wise; but that time is not yet. Nor can it be hastened without danger of defeating the object sought. I would not say a word or raise a finger to prevent the growth of Christian affection and fraternal union between Baptists North and South. I rejoice to see, as l t .ink 1 do, pro gress in that direction. But there is such a thing as healing a wound too speedily, and therefore not soundly. Give time. Let remedies already applied and working well, accomplish their results. Apply not undue and untimely pressure. It is because lam anxious that the wound shall be soundly— thoroughly healed, that I thus write. And when that shall be done, as I trust it will be, then shall we be better able to judge of the wisdom of having only “ one Board of Mis sions, Domestic and Foreign in'the United States.” i am slow to believe that any Baptist heart pleads “ for sectional effort ” for merely sec tional feeling; or “ would keep up the old geographical bounds ” for unholy purposes, Ido not know such. I can understand that some hearts may conscientiously believe it to be for the glory of God, for the present, at least, to have more than “ one Board, Dom. and For., in the United States;” and, so believing, can look with complacency on the pity with which 11. E. T. may regard them, and upon the numbering of their days. Baptists, in olden time, were used to having their days numbered for conscience’ sake. The old martyr spirit is not entirely dead. Brother H. E. T. might have spared that threat. It did not strengthen his suggestion. It did not scare anybody. D. G. D. Deaconesses. “ I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant, (deaconess,) of the church which js at Cenchrea,” Rom. 16: 1. “Even so must their wives, (the women,) be grave, not slanderers, sobeg, faithful in all things.” I Tim. 3: 11, 12. I have not hitherto allud ed to outside testimony, but it may not be amiss to say that Pliny, the Roman procura tor, in his celebrated letter to the emperor Trajan, mentions deaconesses, as specially prominent Christians in his province. “Among the persons named in the saluta tions,” at the close of the Epistle tq the, Ro man’s, “we find a large proportion of women ; PrisciU&jMftrx, Trvphena, Trypiiora r Persia, Julia, and perhaps J uni*. The circumstances mentioned in connection with them, as well as with ff*ha»be, show the important part Which women took in the labors of the prim itive church.” “ I beseech you, brethren, (yte.know the household of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) that ye submit yourselves unto Astieh, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboreth.” 1 Cor. 16: 15, 16. There is no absolutely unquestionable proof, in either of the above paragraphs, of such ari office as that of deaconess; yet the intimations, especially in the first, are of con siderable force. In 1 Tim. 3, we have, in order, the qualifications of a bishop, then of a deacon, then, in an entirely similar way, of “ their wives,” as our version has it literally, of the women. These women were require! to have qualifications very like those of the deacon. Phoebe, the “servant” or deaconess of the church dt Cenchrea, may have been nothing more than a woman remarkable for ordinary Christian virtues and services. Still, the connection in which sho is mentioned, very naturally suggests something more. Upon the whole, I am pursuaded, that there were, in the primitive churches a recognized class, chosen to aid the deacons in their work of ministering to the poor, and in all the de tails of their duties. The class of persons mentioned in the sec ond paragraph, if distinguishable from those named in the first, were nevertheless a body approved by the Apostle, as deserving spe cial consideration and deferenoe for their work’s sake. I pen this short article for the purpose of pointing out inspired authority for invoking and organizing a body of female assistants to deacons and pastors, such as we sometimes see spontaneously spring up in our modern churches. We all know their value. Might not careful selection and designation, increase their efficiency, by dignifying them with the special endorsement of the church ? This selection need not discourage others. The pastors and deacons of our churches, constant ly accept the aid of any of the membership who -may -have the be in position to render them assistance. So it might be with these deaconesses. Organi zation and system are among the grand desi derata of our Baptist churches. The household of Stephanas are mentioned as addicting themselves to the ministry of the saints. What a lovely picture of a family ! What a large amount of good such families accomplish ! How many wayworn heralds have had occasion to say, ‘they have beensuecorers of rmifiy and of me!’ How many pastors have been cheered by such delicate of fices as a devoted Christian family know so well how to perform! May God multiply the number of them. And may this unpre tending paragraph cognfort all such dear fam ilies that may read it, and call forth others who may emulate them. E. B. Teague. Mercer University, again. The location of Mercer University, never did receive the cordial sanotion of the entire Baptist denomination in Georgia. It is not now satisfactory. No ten years have passed since 1840, without some stir on this subject. Its founders lived in Eastern Geo. Thirty five years ago, the een re of population in the State was east of the Ocmulgee River, and the thoughts of the Baptists lay between the Oconee, and Savannah Rivers, down to the seaboard. In that day, it was natural to build near to those doing the work, and to be ben efited. The Convention sat in Milledgeville the year Penfield’s legacy was received, and an equal amount there raised, to start Mercer Institute, —a manual labor school. In 1834, the fathers metin Washington, Wilkes county, to say where the Baptists of the Slate would locate their College. The conference was in teresting and is now historical. The result of it was, a compromise, not a place acceptable to all. The reason was, neither Washington, or Whitehall, now West End of Atlanta, could get it. After that meeting, the Baptists rested for a while; and supported the Uni versity at Penfield, because they respected and loved the good and great nmn, who laid its foundations there. Their money, time, labors and prayers established it. And to prevent a division, or an attempt to build another, very many friends then, and since, have simply acquiesced. But acquiescence did not prevent agitation, nor efforts to build rival institutions. A few years before the late war, the Bap tists of upper Georgia, began to build a College at Cassville. They succeeded and had gathered students, strength and popular ity, when the army of the invader burned it down. Another enterprise was attempted in the city of Griffin. While the brethren in these sections of the State were thus engaged, and before half of the fathers were dead, many of their friends, and friends to learning too, would, and did agitate, “in those days,” the removal of Mercer University. So that, up to the war, the denomination was not quiet on the sub ject, and since 1865, the agitation has been greater than ever. If these things are so, and I believe them to be substantially true, the enquiry very naturally arises, What ought to be done now, with Mercer Univeasity ? Since the war, the situation oWmairs in the South is changed. It is from the sur roundings of the present, and the probable wants of the future, that the answer is to be obtained. As in 1834, the question of loca tion must be considered. The brethren in Eastern Georgia, and espe cially the Georgia Association, last October, and at other times before, have said, “Let re moval alone, and forever cease to agitate, etc.” And these same brethren obtained action, very much like that, in the Convention at Augusta. Doubtless many of them say so still. But, as we have seen this agitation began many years ago, and in the nature of things must continue until arrested by force, or a satisfac tory result is obtained. The Baptists have no earthly masters yet. They must think, speak and act. Let them, as many as will, for and against removal, speak and write as becomes Christians until they oOP® to some conclu sion, acceptable at least a large majority. are not afraidJp Investigation. To whom does the thuVersky belong ? Certainly not to the etteens ol Penfield Greencdunty—nor to the Georgia Association. They do have an interest^ ll 80 ar ils they are members of the gre^'Baptist family in Georgia ; but they have i?Tgreater right over its control, than Baptist* ill the Central As sociation, or elsewhere-iifM® State. In this regard they have tights,” and they ought to, and they are giving expression to their opinions w*hich none catftnistake. Brother Stocks’ opposition to retina! in the Georgia Association, last October was like hirn, open bold, manly. Would th|l he could call back forty years of his life, afid view this question now, with his mind at fa* age of forty. I would then sit at his ‘fiajfr listen like a son, and accept his verdict wftout an appeal. Opposition from this barter is to be ex pected. Let it come, mher sections of the State must took at thSsubject from their point of observation, Ajicaccordingly decide. The University to the heirs at Jaw of the fathers, o?4j»*>f the good people who in that day money lo build and endow it. If, create rights for them, those rights e!f» be made to appear, and when shown, ought* to be, and will be awarded to them. Forpis very reason, the investigation ought to be made. Examine the finances, compare now and before the war. What is lelYof the Original gifts, oould not be very large sums. But, if this view is wrong, and it turus out that the heirs at law, can recover all the donations ever made, let the fact be k£Swn, and prompt ac tion be bad. Again : in the Board*>f Trustees is found the legal title. In it is, the right, “to hold, sell, Sue and be sued, eq*.” The act creating a University, places th;*>wner*faip there, and no power can rightly tike it away. There is a power behind ft;, wjJeh may once in three years remove the members and give toothers their places, and by that means ohange the administration. Both these bodies have exercised their rights Jot speaking on this subject. The Board of Trustees two years ago, de termined that Mercer University ought to be moved. That action reported to the. Convention. The Convention considered the subject and refuse* to concur. Each, in their legitimate sphere*exercised their rights, and no one question-/that. The Board has not rescinded its act'oe, but the Convention in April last, reelected nearly all of the old members, and instructed them to appoint an agent to raise funds tor the increase of the endowment at PenfiSd. The Board ha 9 obeyed. Brother W.-C. VV likes, agent, is in the field. Notwithstanding al! this, it is understood, that at Newnan, in Appl next, by some means the question is to he again examined and some judgment had. all the interests in volved, can be represented there, it is wisdom to consider the subject. It ought, to be acted upon. If the Convention reaffirms the action in Augusta, such is u£*perfect right. Should the Augusta judgment be reversed, that also, will be the exerciser of its unquestioned power. • X There is much to be said, but not now. Asfck | There is no division, or Urtcliar itableness in the conduct of this investigation. The University at this hour, is a heritage worthy of our fatheis, and of us too. The present is an emergency in its history. We are equal to the exigency. Every one has a right to speak. Give time and space to all, until the subject is exhausted. Occupy two columns if need be, you will only increase your circulation. Brethren, speak out. The end, when we shall r*ach it, will be far more satisfactory. D. E. Butler. The Autobiography of an Old Pilgrim. ( Continued .) I suppose my mother’s will had something to do with fixing the time and place of my first birth, but as she died some six or seven years before I was born again, it evidently could have had nothing to do in fixing the time and place of my second birth. Had her will been consulted in the matter, it is most probable my second birth would have occur red, as did my first, in a Southern latitude, and long before her translation to a world of glory; but God, in His inscrutable providence, (doubtless for wise and benevolent purposes,) thought proper to ordain that my spiritual birth should occur n a Northern region. It occurred in a sea town in New England. The college spire in that town was blown down while 1 was o» my way to it, and the ship on board of which I was a passenger, was wrecked on the Jersey shore. The year after, the steeple of pride, which sin and Satan had reared in my heart, was blown down by the breath of the Almighty, and the oross of Christ erected in the plaoe thereof. God’s decrees art a sealed book. It does not become frail mortals to pry into what God has not thought proper to reveal, or to demand a reason %hy He ordains this or that. “Not Gabriel Asks the reason why, Nor God tbs reason gives; Nor dares the tallest angel pry Between tiv* folded leaves.” Yet God often unfolds more or less of His purposes in the dispensations of His provi dence. His will linns inseparably cause and effect, means and ends. By noting carefully, therefore, the results of events, we may fre quently, without bffiKg chargeable with sinful presumption, infer something of the purpose, or purposes of God, in bringing about certain events. Reasoning, therefore, in this way*-* from cause to effect, and vice versa —l infer that one of the merciful purposes of God in locating the place of my spiritual birth in a Northern latitude, was that I might be pre served from that sectional spirit that contracts the hearts of many and confines their sympa thies and Christian affections within the nar row limits of a particular section of country. I thank God that He has given me a heart to feel a brother’s love for all who love the Sa viour, and to feel t lively interest in the spir itual welfare of all the children of my Heav enly Father, whether their lots be cast in a Northern or a Southern clime, in a crowded mart of commerce, or amid the sandy plains of Araby, or the dark and wild recesses of the Rocky Mountains of our own continent. If this be an effect of my spiritual birth oc curring where it did, I shall have cause to bless God through eternity, that I was born a second time in a New England town. There are several things connected with my second birth, that appear to me more or less remarkable. The first that I shall notice, is the fact that my conviction of sin was not produced under the preaching of the gospel, nor by any bodily afflictions, or re markable events in the providence of God. It was induced, by my own reflections, in my quiet chamber, while busily engaged in my college studies —or, rather, by the special influences of the Holy Spirit leading me to reflect upon the mercy of God and my long and oft-repeated abuse of that mercy. But how came that Spirit to move upon my heart? 1 sought not its influences. The Spirit, I think I am authorized by the word of God to say, is communicated only in an swer to special prayer. In answer to whose prayers was that Spirit sent to move upon the heart of a thoughtless sinner—yea, a har dened hypocrite ? (I had made a profession of religion some two or three years before; but of my antecedents I shall write hereafter, if God permits.) In answer to the preceding query, I will say, in answer to a deceased mother’s prayers, and the prayers of Chris tian strangers around me. As to my deceased mother, 1 know that she often agonized in prayer for me. I have seen her when she knew not that an) eye but God’s was upon her, upon her bended knee, with tears streaming down her cheeks, wrest ling with God in prayer for the son whom she found it necessaiy to correct for his mis conduct. 1 have good reason to believe, also, that the last prayer she offered on earth was offered iu behalf of her ungodly, undutiful, ungrateful son. I remember, as though it had occurred but yesterday, the last closing scene iu the drama of her life. There she lay upon her dying bed, with weeping friends around to witness her last struggle with the so called “ king of terrors.” I was standing weeping at the foot of her bed. She called me by name. My name was the last audible sound that escaped her lips. I went to her side. She turned her eyes to heaven. There was a motion of her lips as if in prayer. I felt certaiu it was a last prayer for the son who had so often grieved her pious soul. Her lips ceased to move. One gasp she gave, and her spirit winged its flight up to the throne of God. That prayer was bottled up in heaven, and now God’s set time to answer it had come. The prayers of strangers around me were ascending to God for special dis plays of Divine power in the conviction and conversion of souls. Many meetings were held in town, and the Reviving influences of the Spirit were abundantly manifested at them; though Ido not remember attending but one of them—the one at which it pleased the Lord to speak peace to my trou bled conscience. Are not the circumstances related sufficient to justify the opinion ex pressed, that the Spirit that moved upon my heart was sent in special answer to prayer ? This brief record should encourage parents to ooutinue unceasing in their prayers for their unconverted children. As the Saviour said to Martha, I would say to them : “ Be not faithless, but believing, and ye shall see the glory of God.” If in this world you witness not their conversion, be assured you shall witness it, in due time, from the heights of glory, if your prayers are offered in faith. “Whatsoever ye desire whe*n ye pray, be lieve that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” So says the Saviour. Believe Him. Neither men, nor angels, nor devils will ever be able justly to charge Him with failing to fulfill a promise. But remember the de claration of Paul: We have need of pa tience after we have done the will of God, that we may receive the promise.” Christians generally should be encouraged to unite in prayer for the convicting and con verting power ot the Holy Spirit, not only in behalf of those who attend their meetings, but in behalf of those also who wilfully stay away from them. Prayer has power, under God*, to send the Spirit through granite walls into the palaces of kings, the cottages of the poor, the cell of the convict, over seas and mountains, to the dwellers in remote regions As weii-HS? to those residing amoqg us. As true as it is trite is the saying, “Praying* breath was never spent in vain.” Abdiel Nekoda. “The Coining of Christ in His Kingdom.” In the first article under this caption, from the per. of brother Hillyer, there is, to my mind, a mistake in one of the fundamen tal doctrines of the gospel as believed by the apostles and taught by both them and the Saviour. The mistake is in supposing that the second personal coming of Christ is, as Jinal Judge , while His coming in His king dom, says brother Hillyer, is the kingdom of the gospel which we now enjoy. (These are not his words, but his theory.) Brother Hillyer bases his principal argu ment against the personal coming and reign of Christ over His people, upon the two declarations, “I will set my King upon my holy hill of Zion;” and, “Verily 1 say unto you, there be some standing here who shall not taste of death till they shall see the Son of man coming in His kingdom.” Both of these quotations, as well as any others to which he may refer, are unfortunate ones to prove his favorite theory, or that other one, no better sustained, in which His coming is supposed tr be a universal reign of grace. As to the first, if the context is observed, it must be clear that the allusions to an event yet in the future, for by common consent, as well as the plain teaching of the word, the counselling together of the Jongs and rulers for the purpose of breaking the bands of Christ, God’s laughing at them, and having them in derision, followed by the setting up of the King, and then this King breaking them with a rod of iron, and dashing them in pieces as a potter breaketh his vessols, is descriptive of that scene when the love of the Lamb shall be turned into wrath, and He cometh, bringing II s reward for His faithful followers, and to avenge His elect upon those persecuting branches of the vine of the earth, as well as the vine, when her grapes are fully ripe. It is then that Christ comes forth with the name written upon His thigh and vesture, “ King of Kings.” As to the second passage, brother Hillyer seems to think that if Christ’s kingdom be not this gospel dispensation, then there was a failure to fulfill the prediction, and our faith in Christ must fail. I am one that believes as firmly in the second coming of Chris! to Christ to receive His kingdom, and universal sway in a literal government, of which His capital at Jerusalem is the grand centre, as that He came the first time in humiliation ; and yet my faith in the literal fulfillment of the prediction, is not shaken, neither that there were of the number then present, those who saw Him in His glory. Two of the gospel writers, after stating the predic tion, show that, in a few days after, He went up into the mount, and was transfigured be fore Peter, James and John, when such was the brilliancy of the display that it deprived them, for the time being, of proper discre tion. Peter, in his second epistle, puts the brethren again in remembrance of the second personal coming of Christ, of which He had often told them before, and says, that coming is no cunningly devised fable, for he had been an eye witness of the truthfulness of it, at this transfiguration. How different that view was from the one brother Hillyer has! I have not yet seen “No. 2,” in which he proposed to allude to his supposed proofs from Matt. xxiv. I admit that, if you take the account given by Matthew alone, there would be some reason to suppose his theory sustained ; for Christ passes from the scenes attending the destruction of Jerusalem to His coming, by using the words “immedi ately after the tribulation of those days;” and says, also, “This generation shall not pass till all these things shall be fulfilled.” To understand a Bible subject well, we must take what each one of the writers says upon the subject. Pursuing this plan, we find a very important link in Luke’s account, omit ted by Matthew, which shows how long “ that tribulation ” was to last. Look at Luke xxi : 24, and the tribulation continues during the Jewish captivity, and until the fullness of the Gentiles has been gathered; and then begin the signs ushering in Ghrist’s coming in His kingdom. Has this fullness of the Gentiles yet been reaohod 1 Have tike Jews been re turned from their captivity ? If not, then Christ has not yet oome in His kingdom. As* to the word “generation,” it more frequently means a class, or race, in the New Testament, than the people living at one time upon the earth. Such is evidently the meaning here, (though I shall not attempt, in this article, to prove it,) and how literally fulfilled ! 1800 years have passed, and the seed of Abraham are yet umnixed with the Gentilos ! Can the shadow of a parallel be found elsewhere? Oh, Jesus! truthful Prophet! and sympathiz ing High Priest! Christ, in His personal ministry, was our Prophet. In His sufferings and death, our sacrifice and officiating Priest. In His ascen sion, our High Priest, entering into the Holi est of All, bearing His own precious blood, sprinkling the everlasting mercy-seat, before which He stands, ever making intercession for us at the right hand of the Majesty on high. When He leaves there, it will be to put on the robes of royalty, coming forth the Great Kmg to ruUover llis people, and share with them His glory, amidst, the very scenes t that witnessed His and their humiliation. This scene ends in the general judgment and conquest of all His foes, when He will sur render the kingdom into the hands of the Father. - Geo. E. Brewer. Rockford, Ala. An Agent’s Experience—Lights and Shad ows. The pastor has his “sunny side” and “shady side;” and that the life of an “ evan gelist and agent” has also its alternate light and shade, 1 propose to show, not by argu ment, or assertion ; but simply by narrating facts and observations ; —facts experienced and communicated, and personal observa tions. I urged a brother who had a large and growing family, to take the Index. '1 he miserable farce of an excuse given was, “ it’s too high.” He was both a farmer and mer chant, and knew well that he realized double the price for everything he sold, that he used to. How distressing! A man professing to be a Christian, to wrong his own soul, to wrong his family, to neglect his own denomi national paper, for a dollar or two. Speaking, only a few days after, of this occurrence, at the residence of a pious, read ing widow lady, she remarked, about in these words, “I do not think I know enough about it to raise any objection, or have any opin ion.” How much lighter this event than the above? That widow lady might have raised the objection, “the paper is too high.” But she thought that was managed by those who knew belter than she did, and she knew she derived from her paper ten times its sub scription price. When, after rebuffs that give him the heartache, a minister meets with a reading, intelligent Christian, what, a relief it is! Wm. N. Chaudoin. January , 1870. Let it Pass. Be not swift to take offence ; Lot it pass I Aeger is a foe to sense; Let it pass 1 Brood not darkly o’er a wrong Which will disappear ere long; Bather sing this cheery song- Let it pass! Let it pass I Strife oorrodes the purest mind; Let it pass! As the unregarded wind, Let it pass! Any vulgar souls that tire May condemn without reprieve; ’Tis the nobl* who forgive. Let it pass! Let it pass I Echo not an angry word; Let it pass! Think how often you have erred; Let it pass I Since our joys must pass away Like the dew drops on the spray, Wherefore should our sorrows stay ? Let them pass I Let them pass I If for good you’ve taken ill, Let it pass! Oh ! be kiud and gentle still; Let it pass I Time at last makes all things straight; Let us not resent, but wait, And our triumph shall be great; Let it pass! Let it pass I Bid your anger to depart, Let it pass I Lay these homely words to heart, “Let it pass!” Follow not the giddy throDg; Better to be wronged than wrong; Therefore sing this cheery song— Let it pass I Let it pass! Hum is Poison. It will rob the head of sense, It will rob the purse of pence, It will rob the mouth ot food, And the soul of hsavenly good. It will sear the tender heart; Make the young from good depart; Change the honest into knaves ; Dig for sots untimely graves. Variations of Episcopal Pedobaptism, Rev. Dr. Andrews, of Shepher.lstown, Va., gives the following, as the seven theories adopted, in the Episcopal church, for the in terpretation of the baptismal service for in fants. It will be seen that he adopts the last: 1. “ Tne Opus Operatum theory, viz.: in virtue of the act of baptism every child un dergoes that spiritual change on which salva tion depends, irrespective of the spiritual state of any of the parties concerned.” “ This is the baldest view of baptismal regeneration and has at least the benefit of being easily understood. And although, with the excep tion of the Bishop of Exete", and a few nore of the bolder sort, it is avowed by no party in terms , it is virtually held by no inconsid erable number.” 11. “ The Seed of Grace theory, viz.: eve ry child receives in baptism speh a seed—or germ of the new life. This germ may per ish by neglect, or by proper culture be so developed that nothing properly called reno vation or conversion need necessarily take place thereafter in order to eternal life,” “This is the theory now commonly held by High- Churchmen. They claim that this is the lit eral and obvious sense of the service, and charge Low-Churchmen with making up a theory contrary to the plain meaning of the words. But do not they themselves begin by making up a theory ’ as remote as possible from the natural sense of the ser vice ?” 111. “The ecclesiastial or cuanoe of state theory, i, e. t by baptism the child is brought into a visible covenant relationship to God.” “ This was the theory held by Bishop Hobart. ‘ln the sacrament of baptism we arc taken from the world where we had no tide to the favor of God, and placed in a state of salva tion in the Christian church,’ etc. ‘ln this sense as it respects a change of state, bap tized persons are regenerated,' etc. ‘Bishop H. limited the idea of regeneration to the merely outward change of a visible covenant effected through water baptism.’ But the necessity of an internal change he fully ad mitted.” IY. “ The Charitable Hope theory, i. e., WHOLE NO. 2476. in view of the prayers offered and the faith supposed, we are warranted iu using the lan guage of the service in the charitable hope that regeneration does actually take place, without pretending to affirm it absolutely of all or of any.” “ This theory lakes the word regeneration in its true sense, and might be harmless enough in itself if it could be at all reconciled with the service. What can char ity have to do with the child’s affirmation in the Catechism made in the past tense of what was actually done for him in baptism 1 This once popular view seems little ‘accounted of at present.” V. “The conditional, or Pkeveniknt Grace theory—e., though the terms ot the service in most places are geueral and absolute, yet they are in some places conditioned by the word ‘worthily,’ whioh word must always be supposed, before it can be affirmed posi tively that the grace signified by baptism is actually conveyed.” “ This is the view which was pronounced lawful, by the highest eccle siastical court of England in the suit institu ted by Mr. Gorham against the Bishop of Exeter.” Vi. “The Sacramental, or typical, or figu rative, or representative theory—these terms being held as meaning the same thing, or ex planatory of each other, i.e., baptism has the name of the thing which it signifies. The \ idvoc.ites of this theory explain it most in telligibly thus. We give the bread to a com municant and call it the body of our Lord Jesus Christ because it represents His body. We give baptism to a child and call it re generation, because it represents regeneration.” “This view also takes the word regeneration iu its right sense, is free from all doctrinal unsoundness and relieves the post-baptismal service from an interpretation alike obnox ious to Scripture, observation and common sense.” VII. “The Htpothtical theory, i. e., as|lho profession of faith made by the child previ ous to its baptism, though made in absolute terms is confessedly a hypothesis, or a thing supposed and not actual and present: so the regeneration declared after the baptism, though in like absolute terms, must also be hypothetical, or in like manner as the faith supposed.” “This theory takes the word regeneration in its true sense, and like the Bible and the Prayer-Booi, it liuks faith and regeneration together, whereas the High- Church theory separates what both the Bible and the baptismal servico join together.” The Doctrine of Baptism. In h‘l9 sermon at the recent dedication of the Clarendon street Baptist church, Boston, the pastor, Rev. A. J. Gordon, said : The doctrine of baptism that will here be set forth is not so much the cofitradiction of all others, as the epitome, of all others. Do any see in the rite a symbol of spirit ual cleansing * We more. Eor in making it a submersion into the death of Christ we but confess, and emphasize the confession, that all streams of spiritual cleansing flow down from the cross; that God’s method with the guilty soul is precisely the same as with the old guilty world, —the overwhelming iu the floods of death that which is hopelessly corrupt,— that as iu Noah anew race was begun, even so we, having died to sin, may be begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. As saith St. Peter, “A like figure whereunto even baptism doth now save.” Do any see in the rite a sign of repentance and renunciation of the woild with its lusts and vanities'? We more. For what can show forth so significantly our renunciation of the world as our putting between ourselves and our former life the waters of death and separation 1 ? And as the children of Israel stood upon the banks of the sea which divi ded them from their bondage, while its en gulfing waves rolled over their Egyptian pursuers, so, here, let many an emancipated believer stand looking over these waters, see ing in them the Red Sea flood of Christ’s death, in which all his sins have been over whelmed forever. “Our fathers were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;” then let the children bo baptized into Christ. Do any see in this rite a lineal and appoint ed successor of circumcision] We more. It takes the place of circumcision as Chris tianity takes the place of Judaism. Judaism was a trial of men in the flesh, whether in their carnal state they could be cleansed and enabled to keep God’s law. Hence circum cision, the typical rite of the purification of the flesh. Christianity starts upon the axiom, “The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” “ flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” Hence bap tism, the typical rite of the&una/of the flesh, that the believer may rise a new creature in Christ. Circumcision is “ the putting away of the filth of the flesh,"— baptism, “the put ting off of the body of the sins of the flesh." So, then, whatever partial views of the meaning of this initial rite of Christianity men may hold, wo will here show how all are but single rays from that central sun “Christ crucified,” which mirrors itself in luminous fullness in these mystical waters. We shall expect no applause from the world as this distinctive ordinance of the gospel shall be repeated here. Why should we? It is the cross translated into symbol; and the cross gets little human approbation ; the old offence and ignominy lurk even in its shadow. The famous worldly maxim of Chesterfjeld, “If you would have men pleased with you, make them pleased with themselves,” can never be adopted by the ministers of Christ. They hold up the cross, and the, cross is meant al ways and everywhere to make men displeased with themselves, to abase them and make them fall as dead men at the feet of Jesus. But O what joy and triumph will here come to those who have been inducted into the hidden mystery of redemption, as from time to time they shall see converts emerging from the opening sepulchre of Jesus; from the womb of the resurrection morning, their locks glistening with the dew of regenerated youth. Visitation by Women. —ln the recent Illi nois Christian Convention, Jacksonville, one of the speakers, a Presbyterian, said that in •the church of which he was pastor the sisters had been organized into a Board for religious visitation. Though some were poorly quali fied, yet all were encouraged to place their names on the roll. The visitors usually weut two and two, or three and three, visiting as signed sections of the town, leaving tracts, in quiring into the temporal condition of the fam ily, extending invitations to attend church and Sunday school, ar.d in some instances offering prayer. Monthly reports were made in a general meeting, of which the pastor acted as president. In three months’ time the attendance on public worship had be n nearly doubled. “ I feel certain,” said the speaker, “ that any church adopting the plan will reap liberally from it.” Consistency. —The elder Edwards made a rule for himself never to acoepfc a proposi tion as true, every fair inference from which he could not accept and reduce to practice. “The Boy” in us. —When the boy has died out of a man, he is old, and it is about time for him to die. I*
