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CHRISTIAN Sii AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
VOL 49-NO. 17.
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER,
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, GA
TERMS.—CIubs of Pour, ($3.00 each) per annum...sl2.oo
Clubs of Three, ($3.33 each) per annum... 10.08
Clubs of Two, (3.50 each) per annum 7.0^
J. J. TOON, Proprietor.
Man Must Die.
There was a young man fulj of mirth,
Yea, young—in morn of life;
The hue of health was on his cheek—
He then knew not of strife.
But where ia he who once was gay ?
Has he the drear road trod ?
Go to the valley’s gloomy shade—
He lies beneath the sod.
There was a man of middle age,
Had all the joys o( home;
In pleasure’s fields did flowers cull,
And there loved oft to roam.
But where is he, this man who was?
Go where the willow stands;
Tread lightly o’er the turf of green—
He fell in death's cold hands.
There was a man whose locks w#re gray,
On him ne’er fortune smiled
At bitter founts had freely drank—
Had long lived sorrow’s child.
But where is he, this man of years?
Go thou where Wild weeds wave—
He’s resting now in dreamless sleep—
He slumbers in the grave.
We, too, like those who’ve gone before,
Must ere long pass away;
The blade of Time will soon bring low
The old, the young and gay.
0 God I is this our ~common lot?”
Is this our certain doom?
Must man, poor, mortal man, at last
Lie silent in the tomb ?
John Barton Gilbert.
Stewart county, Oa., April 4th, 1870.
The Autobiography of an Old Pilgrim.
{Continued.)
4, Does conversion effect a radical change
in human nature, eradicating its evil propen
sities, etc. ?
The idea that the act of conversion effects
a radical change in human nature and totally
eradicates its evil propensities, is certainly
erroneous; and no error is innocuous. Error,
in its minutest form, is poison to the soul.
Dilute it, gild it, sugar it as you may, it is
poison still. The particular error of which I
have just spoken, works an injury, both to
saints and sinners; for, in the. first place, it
lulls the new convert into a state of false
security. It thus renders him liable to fall
an easy prey to him who goeth about as a
raging lion seeking whom he may devour.
In the second place, if he is not actually over
come with evil, he is deprived, to a greater or
less extent, of the consolations of the gospel.
He had supposed that, after he was converted,
he should never more be inclined to do evil.
The consequence is, when he feels evil incli
nations arising within him, he concludes that
religion is a myth, or that he has been de
ceived and is still in an unconverted state.
He is lead, at least, to fear that the latter
may be the case —that he is still unpardoned,
unrenewed, and unsealed, as one of the follow
ers of the Lamb.
The error is equally injurious to the sinner.
It tends to neutralize the good effects of all
that is exemplary in the lives of Christians.
When he discovers, in their aberrations from
the path of rectitude, evidence that they are
liable to be influenced by evil inclinations, as
well as other persons —and such evidence is
afforded in the lives of the best of Christians
—he hastily concludes, either that there
reality in religion, or that all Christians are
hypocrites, and the best of them the most con
summate hypocrites of all. In the one case,
they suffer to pass unheeded the piping of the
gospel minstrels, pipe they ever so sweetly,
and, in the other case, they remove beyond
the sphere of the moral influence of the most
exemplary of Christians. In illustration of
the evil effects of the error I am endeavoring to
expose, l will relate a little of the experience
of my boyhood.
The minister who sprinkled me in my child
hood, at my earlie'st recollection, always ap
peared abroad.in a suit of what appeared to
be new black broadcloth, with black silk
gloves on his hands, a clean white handker
chief around his neck, and with a measured
gait, as though he were marching in a funeral
procession. I viewed him as a supernatural
being, and supposed him to be as holy as an
angeTof heaven —entirely free from the im
perfections which characterized everybody
else that I knew. In process of time the min
ister lost his wife, and deep was the sympa
thy felt for him by his flock —even by those
who, like myself, were little boys. In ninety
days after the funeral there was a wedding in
the minister’s house. He married his house
keeper ! T.ie fountain of sympathy run dry,
the tongue of scandal ran faster than the
waters of a raceway. The minister became
angered, stormed in the pulpit, and afforded
unmistakeable evidence that he was subject
to evil passions as welj as others ! My rever
ence vanished like the morning mists. I was
like a loosened sail fluttering in the wind, till
Satan worked the windlass, tightened the
ropes, and prepared me for a cruise into the
sea of infidelity. I settled down upon the
conclusion, pro tem., that religion was like a
gilded bladder, tied up at its neck with church
rules, of men’s enacting, and inflated with—
empty air—(vain imaginings,) and—nothing
more!
The frail human nature which we brought
with us into the world we shall carry with
us to the grave, but—blessed be God !—not
beyond it. It is the same in old age that it
is in early childhood ; the same in the con
verted man that it is in the unconverted. It
was the same in Christ—while it was made
the abode of His divinity—that it is in us.
Should any be startled by this declaration, I
would remind them, that it is written of the Son
of God, He “ was in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin. I see not how
this could be true if His human nature were
not the same with ours.
Human nature is linked with, and is in
separable from, a body of flesh and blood :
hence, its propensities are designated as car
nal. They are the cravings of flesh and blood.
Now, the flesh and blood of the saint and the
sinner are composed of the same materials,
and are endowed with the same characteristic
properties or propensities. These propensi
ties are evil, and evil only, and cannot,
in the very nature of things, cease to
exist uutil the flesh and blood of which
they are characteristic properties, shall
cease to be. The original constituents,
both of the body and the mind, are the
same after conversion that they were before.
Nothing is added or taken from either. They
are subjected to anew controlling power—
that is all—but the results excite surprise
throughout the universe, and fill unnumbered
hosts with “ wonder, love and praise.”
In every case of conversion there is anew
nature imparted to him who is the subject of
it—a nature that did not pretiously exist in
him : consequently, it is represented as anew
creation, and the one who receives it is rep
resented as “ anew creature”—created anew
in Christ Jesus unto good works. The old
human nature, being ever inclined to evil,
leads only to evil' works. The new nature,
being a holy one, inclines only to what is
holy, just and pure. Thus it will be seen
that the two natures are as opposite in their
characteristic properties, propensities or incli
nations as they are in their origin. One is of
the earth, earthly, and tends downward—to
_ .T .w?i7r TI ""Ter .»,» *7“ —~“rr *
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, APRIL 2$ 1870.
earthly things : the other is of heaven, hea
venly, and tends upward—to heavenly things.
These countercurrents of influence in the soul
produce the conflicts that constitute the Chris
tian’s warfare. The first battle is fought when
the Prince of Peace enters the heart,deprives
our human nature of its sway, and transfers
to the new nature which He introduced with
Him the power to reign supreme over our af
fections. The last battle will have been
fought when, with our dying breath, we shall
be able to shout, “ O Death ! where is thy
sting? O Grave! where is thy victory?”
The old human nature is chained by Divine
grace and held in restraint by the new nature,
but is not destroyed ; nor will it be until pur
fabric of flesh is overthrown by the blast of
the grave. Unhappy the consequences to any
one, to fancy that the last battle has been
fought when the first victory has been won!
Were our human natures radically changed,
and our evil propensities eradicated at the
time of one’s conversion, there would be no
truthfulness in the apostle Paul’s representa
tion, that “ the flesh lusteth against the spirit,
and the spirit against the flesh”—that he found
“ a law in his members warring against the
law of the spirit”—no propriety in represent
ing the Christian’s life as a eontinuous war
fare—no necessity for the cautions against
feelings of false security, seducing spirits, the
deceitfulness of sin, the treachery of our
hearts, the wiles of the devil, etc., nor for the
frequent admonitions to be watchful, to resist
the devil, to put on the whole armor of the
gospel, etc But surely, enough has been said
—and some will probably think much more
than was necessary—in answer to the ques
tion under consideration. Another all-impor
tant question, however, remains to be consid
ered.
5. In what consists the new nature that is
imparted to us, in the act of conversion, with
power and authority to control our human
nature, and render it subservient to the will
and purposes of God ?
That question, it appears to me, may be
answered both briefly and truly by saying,
In the indwelling of a triune God in our
hearts. It is expressly declared in the Scrip
tures, of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
that they dwell in the hearts of those who are
the children of God, and this indwelling of
the Deity in them is represented as constitu
ting a characteristic difference between them
and those who are not the children of God.
“ Know ye not your own selves,” asks the
apostle Paul, “ how that Jesus Christ is in
you, except ye be reprobates ?” 2 Cor. xiii:
5. The Saviour says of any one who keeps his
words, “ my Father will love him, and we
will come unto him, and make our abode with
him.” Speaking also of the Holy Spirit, He
says : “ whom the world cannot receive, be
cause it seeth Him not, neither knoweth
Him,*’ and adds, “ but ye know Him, for He
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
(John, xiv: 17.) Paul asks, 1 Cor. iii : 16,
“ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,
and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
Christ is represented, in Revelation, as stand
ing at the door of the sinner’s heart knocking,
or seeking admission, that He may enter and
impart the blessings of His grace. I might
cite other passages of a similar import, but
enough has already been introduced, I flatter
myself, to prove that a divinity resides in,
and reigns over, the heart of every new-born
soul. Prior tp hisaoqversi****, tko-wßuer had
but one nature—a huniau nature that had be
come defiled and rendered corrupt and de
praved by sin. At his conversion he received
a divine nature, like that which dwelt in Jesus
of Nazareth. He thus becomes assimilated
to his Lord and Saviour, in having, as he had,
two natures, a human and a divine one, but
he is unlike the Saviour in this, that while
his human nature is suffering from the bane
ful effects of sin, that of his Lord was free
from every taint of sin. In their present state,
therefore, the two are incapable of being united
or merged in one. But the time is coming
when the divine nature, imparted to us at our
conversion, will so purify, refine and perfect
our human natures, as to prepare us for a
perfect incorporation with our Lord. When
that time shall come —but not till then—the
Saviour’s memorable prayer recorded in John
xxiii, will be fully answered. We shall all
become one with Him, as He is one with the
Father. We in Him, and He in us. Oh,
what a blessed, glorious consummation will
that be of all that is promised us in Christ
Jesus ! What is all the pomp or splendor of
the world compared with the glories of that
day! What are all the joys of earth com
pared with the raptures that shall flow through
every breast, as we sit down with our victo
rious Prince and Saviour on the throne of
His glory, and share with Him all His honors
and the costly spoils taken from His van
quished foes! -A poet says—l think it is
Moore—
“ Take all the pleasures of all the spheres
Atid multiply each by endless years:—
One moment of heaven is worth them all.”
Such language may appear to us now as ex
aggerations of a fertile imagination, but it will
appear tame, indeed, when we shall receive
from the hand of our heavenly Father the
cup of life eternal, and “ drink endless pleas
ure in.” Abdikl Nekoda.
Intemperance.
The celebrated essayist,-Macauley, once
said that the people of London occasionally
had a fit of virtuous indignation, when some
unfortunate delinquent must be sacrificed for
the good of society. This remark was made
in a sarcastic vein, while that great author
was endeavoring to vindicate the fame of one
who is now numbered amongst the proudest
of English poets. Now, to wage a spasmodic
and desultory war against great and grow
ing evils, may not be the best method for
ridding society of them; but even this is
preferable to leaving them to work out their
ruinous effects upon mankind, without any
attempt to counteract them.
There are admitted evils which men choose
to bear rather than incur the disquietude and
risk of assailing them ; but others are found
so dangerous to the interests of society, .hat
it would be madness to endure them. There
is one evil »>f this kind, which is now weighing
like a night-mare upon society, an evil so
prevalent that all true philanthropists are
called upon to unite in a grand effort to put
it down. Intemperance is the evil of which
complaint is made, and at no time have its
mischievous effects been more sorely felt than
at the present. Years ago, the evil was
deemed so intolerable that many of the
purest and best men in the land arose with
the determination to thrust it out of society,
if found a possible achievement.
Associations were formed, numerous dis
tinguished orators took the field, the power of
the press was invoked, the popular feeling
was aroused, and it was fondly hoped by the
friends of reform that this monstrous vice
would be driven from the world. At that
time the temperanoe reformation became the
most popular movement that had been at
tempted in several centuries, and all classes
of society vied with eaoh other in the fixed
determination to make it a oomplete success.
But the effort, alas! proved to be one of
those huge periodical spasms of society which
serve as examples of what might have been
accomplished, had the advantages gained by
the friends of temperance been followed up
to their logical results. But, after- a vast
amount of speaking had been done, floods of
printers’ ink had been shed, an immense
number of temperance devices had been in
vented, beautiftd and costly regalia had been
manufactured and worn, vast processions had
been witnessed, after oceans of pump-water
had been guzzled by men, women and chil
dren, the mighty reformation was in
mid-career; King Alcohol again quietly as
cended his throne and issued his fiery edicts,
fragrant with the fumes of good brandy, in
different gin and bad whiskey. The virtuous
indignation of society was appeased, and men
began gravely to whisper doubts as to whether
the whole popular movement were not, after
all, an ebullition of that wild fanaticism which
sometimes threatens to carry all before it,
and whether one might not be a good man
and yet mix a little brandy with his insipid
pump-water.
When the popular reaction came, it was as
irresistible as the temperance reformation
had promised to be, and now we have the
fearful results in the wide-spread evil of social
drinking. Such are some of the facts re
gard ng the temperance cause, and every one
can see that the present aspects of the case
are by no means encouraging to the friends
of religion and social order. At such times,
it is easier to ask, what is to be done ? than
to answer the inquiry in a satisfactory man
ner. But the mere asking of such questions
implies that something ought to be done to
correct the dreadful evil of intemperance,
though the means by which the work is to be
accomplished are not so apparent. There can
be little risk of error in saying, however, that
the church is the hope of the world as far as
moral and social conservatism is concerned.
Temperance organizations may do much to
check the evil of drinking ardent spirits, as a
beverage ; but it can never be eradicated while
the people of God give countenance to, or
connive at it.
If the people of God, in their united ca
pacity, are the light of the world, as Christ
predicated of His disciples, then they should
take the lead in assaulting all moral evils,,
however strongly they may be entrenched in
the affections and habits of the people. Should
they undertake to correct the evil of intem
perance, the first thing to be done will be to
put away the thing from amongst themselves ;
for it is a notorious fact that many who wear
the insignia of heaven’s great King, indulge
in this social vice, to the grievous injury of
their own piety, and to the burning disgrace
of the cause which they have espoused.
A drunken Christian is a moral paradox;
for the word of God declares “ No drunkard
shall inherit the kingdom of God.” The
people who profess to belong to Christ,
should, in this matter, adopt as their motto,
“touch not, taste not, handle not.” More
anon. H. C. H.
Mammon.
“ The love of money is the root of all evil.”
So intimately are all enterprises connected
with money, that there can be very little
progress or comfort without it. To say that
it is not good in its place, is to deny the cor
rectness of the judgment of mankind. That
the love of it should engross the minds, hearts,
bodies and time of so many good men and
women, is lamentable.
We do not assert. £s srqne do that the
world is worse than it was in the days of the
flood, or of Sodom. Wickedness has always
been predominant among the nations. It
may be that there is a tide of it which ebbs
and flows regularly or irregularly, in certain
places and among certain people; but the
average amount over all the earth, perhaps
does not materially vary.
That evil produces evil is quite evident;
and so, the more numerous the parentage, the
more numerous, also, the offspring,
When the wicked rule, the righteous mourn.
The wicked have ruled, and do rule. That
they rule in obedience to all the vile passiops
of fallen human nature, no one can doubt
who observes their conduct; but that they
are more influenced by the love of money
than anything else, may be seen both by the
secret and legalized robberies which they are
committing every day, without fear or shame.
Among these human monsters, oaths are
without sanctity or force, and theft and op
pression a business and a pastime.
Such a state of things is to be expected,
while this side of fortune’s wheel is up; but
that fatal wheel is constantly revolving. Its
victims are lifted high, that they may be the
qiore effectually crushed, when they descend
to the bottom.
“ The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole
disposing thereof is of the Lord.” “He
setteth up one and putteth down another.”
Upon the wicked He will rain fire and brim
stone; but the righteous shall be in everlast
ing remembrance.”
The unlawful love—the lust of money is the
root of all evil. “ Lust, when it is conceived,
bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is fin
ished, bringeth forth death.”
Mammon has always been a very popular
God.’ All nations have worshipped him; and
they worship him as faithfully and devotedly
to day, as Israel worshipped the golden calf
of Aaron.
The rites and ceremonies—the ritualism of
this worship is considerably varied.
1. It may be heard in the thousand forms
,of language that it uses. Sometimes it
speaks the vile slang of Billingsgate, and the
curses of Pandemonium, when these are
agreeable to the god, on this side. Again, its
words are shaped by the chaste artist of poe
sy and the sweet *muse of song, if by them
the God is moved to liberality, on that side.
The measured tones of the orator, the
shrewd logic of the philosopher, and the sa
cred and solemn harmonies of theology are
employed to move the giving hand of this
many-sided god. The penny magazine, the
little Express, the large Daily and larger
Weekly ; the tiny Manual, the humble Quar
to, the mammoth Folio, the illustrated News
and the illuminated World, are all beggars at
the golden or greenback shrine of Mammon.
They hardly ever go forth in a single issue
without calling lustily upon the god—their
god, for another, and still another offering.
The swindler's note, the speculator’s notice,
the lawyer’s fee, the doctor’s bill, the bank
er’s draft, the merchants invoice, the auction
eer’s cry, the actor’s hand-bijl and the legis
lator’s pay, all often speak in the language of
mammon. The buncombe sermon, the col
lector’s announcement, the plauditory notice
of a church’s beneficence, a minister’s flatter
ing offer and a Hebe’s liberality, sometimes
speak or lisp with the same adoring tongue.
The soft, mellow whispers of feigned love,
that would tempt the unsuspecting maiden to
sign away her meagre patrimony, and the
great swelling words that would break the
will of a millionaire and claim a nation’s
treasury, are but like forms of speech, giving
glory, nonor and majesty to the god of gold.
2. It may be seen in dress—not only in
the latest, but in the oldest fashion. He is
no more a devotee, who prostrates himself
before the image of to day, than he who con
tinues to bow at the ghost of yesterday.
There is as much real, genuine mammon
worship in the coat cut after the pattern of
John Wesley, as there is in the imitation of
the last gorgeous robe of the Empress Eu
genie. When Diogenes trampled upon the
pride of Plato, iq the form of a carpet, he
was only reviling jthe same god that he had
been worshipping hi his own great tub_
3. It may be r’oticed in buildings, tents,
huts, houses, martions, palaces and temples.
Mammon no resides in the money that
builds the one, tfan that which is withheld
from enlarging aid beautifying the other.
He is as potent fu an iron safe, as he is on
the dome of St.iPeters. The poor little
miser that squeezes out a three cent piece to
build a mud hovi'j is as truly an idoiator as
was Nebuchadnezzar, who gloried in the great
Babylon that he had builded.
“JVo man can st*ve tioo masters: for either
he will hate tne on?Sind love the other / or else
he will hold to the pne and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve if"’! and mammon.
T. B. C.
Why Dos Zion Languish?
In a recent nutnitr of the Index appears a
short article frori i th? pen qf “ A Sister in
Christ, upon “ of Woman in the
Churches.” She sterns to think one cause of
the sad and declfn|£y state of Zion, is the fail
ure, on the pari c/ the deacons, to come up
to their duties ; ! V.d furthermore, is of the
opinion, that if sifters were invested with a
little more power, many duties now wholly
neglected in the cfefches would be attended
to, and pastors not so often starved out of
their salaries. In ?be concluding paragraph
of her article she says, show her a church in
which the deacons are alive to a sense of their
duties, and it woulo be a pleasure to visit it,
as a wonder. I have been thinking of the
various churches o£ which I have been a privi
leged member since commencing to tread the
ways of Zion, and my observation with each
and all of them has been, that the deacons
were amongst the most energetic, thorough
going, God-fearing • f the members. In two
cases they were tue main dependence In
regard to the pastor’s salary, and all other
expenses of the church. The fault does not
lie so much at the door of the deacons, and,
were some of them disposed to speak in their
own behalf, we would* find that, in keeping
house for God, th#y‘ are subject, often, to
trials of which this other members know
nothing at all. It is a very easy matter for a
church to resqlve through some
members, vvho seem to think all they have to
do is to vote, that thl deacons shall'go around,
and by nextiMeetingVeport what they have col
lected in the way of/iyids; but it is altogether
a different thing when the task is attempted,
and this o#e and that one begin making ex
cuses. Let us have* some charity for the dea
cons. To what degree the sisters are culpa
ble for the cold, dreary, languishing state of
the Lord’s vineyard", remains to be seen, and
can perhaps be madtf more apparent by other
pens. The difficulty life in another direction.
Upon the same page of the same number of
the Index, the reader will find nine maxims,
or propositions, Upon the “vexed” subject of
“ Pastors and they’ Support.” In those pro
positions, particularly the 2d, 4th, sth and
oth, will be found the. Rey to all our troubles.
The writer knows a church situated within
visiting range of fiv * Baptist preachers. The
minister in charge makes the sixth, and he
gives to this membeishigone regular monthly
service, including (“uiturday or Conference
day. Can any oneAuKnfc to a church more
advantageously for moans whereby (
she may grow in ;yace, in wisdom and in
knowledge, than this ? And yet, this church,
which ought to be a bright and shining light
in the denomination, is so meagerly, so
scantily fed, that her membership areas poor,
spiritually, as Pharao ? s lean kine mentioned,
of old. Excepting a protracted meeting, or
when some wandering missionary of the cross
happens along, the doors of the meeting house
are never unclosed for night service, or Sab
bath afternoon lecture ; and, no matter how
hard the sisters may plead for extra preach
ing on fifth Sabbaths, or Christmas day, no
herald of Jesus is ready to come forth and
speak in His name. Six watchmen upon the
walls of this one little part of God’s Zion
called to preach the unsearchable riches of
Christ, and yet sitting in idleness, while num
bers are famishing for the bread of life. The
Sabbath school connected with this church, and
which, rightly conducted, would prove a pow
erful auxiliary for doing good, never has had,
but at one time, the active, hearty coope
ration of the minister in charge. Carried on
mainly by the exertions of a few sisters and
one or two brethren,At has struggled on for
existence, some times almost dying out, not
for want of material, but for a leader. This
same Sabbath school had a celebration—one
to stimulate and encourage the little ones, and
when the occasion ca.ne round, the acting
committee had to call upon a Methodist min
ister present for a lecture. If proposition
two of the Index, above referred to, is true,
—and who doubts it?—then all of these
preachers called to preach the word are unfit
for the proper discharge of their duties, be
cause all are engaged in secular employment,
making preaching a secondary work only. If
proposition four is true, then they are not
performing their bounden duty ; they are not
laboring to feed the flock of Christ, and con'
sequently the churches under their ministra
tions cannot possibly thrive. But enough for
this time. Perhaps some third sister in Christ
may like to carry on this subject. For the
present, then, I will sign myself
A Sister in Christ, No. 2.
Weekly Contributions.
I have but little hope of permanent pros
perity in the churches of Christ till they place
themselves, in all things, upon the “ founda
tion of the apostles/’ Among the many
neglects of apostolic usage, we find a depart
ure from the law of weekly contributions,
which runs thus:
“Upon the first day of the week let
every one of you lay by him in store, as
God hath prospered him. Every man ac
cording as he purposeth in his heart, so let
him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity :
for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
Upon this law note a few things.
1. The disciples met together on every
Lord’s day. Baptists, in most of their
churches, meet once a month. Such Baptist
churches are not acting Scripturally.
2. The disciples were commanded to lay
by in store as God had prospered them du
ring the week, and contribute on the “ first
day of the week.” Monthly meeting Bap
tists cannot obey to the letter of the law, if
they were disposed; nor have they troubled
themselves on the giving law. Are they
loyal to the King?
3. The law says, “ God loveth a cheerful
giver.” Wonder what he thinks of a stingy
Baptist who never obeys that law ? Wonder
what He thinks of a Baptist church that never
puts itself in a position to obey that law 1
To place itself in position, it must meet
“ upon the first day of the week.”
But it will not do to run the analogy too
severe between Apostolic churches and Bap
tist churches, lest some one may ory, “ Trea
son J Treason!" All 1 wish, is to drop a
hint occasionally, to let our people know that
they are not yet perfect,”
A man nor a church are not more than
half converted till they are a9 ready to give
as to pray, and to love the privilege of the
one, as well as the other. H. E. T.
Church Edifices.
During the month of December, I think,
the Editor of the Index had occasion to write
upon the subject of Reverence for Church
Edifices. He alluded to a distinguished son
of Georgia, who never, it was said, passed a
church [edifice] without taking off hjs hat
and walking by bareheaded; and added :
“ Better even this than the light, trilling, ir
reverent spirit which looks on the church
[edifice] with no thought of the God whom it
declares as the avenger of sin, or of the
Christ whom it offers as the Savidur of sin
ners.” It is not necessary, however, to go
to either of these extremes. If these edifices
were properly constructed, and the churches
which meet within their halls were wise
enough to adopt Scripture names instead of
the names of streets, squares, or avenues,
which, whenever a removal takes place, must
be changed to be appropriate, we should see
more reverence bestowed upon the house of
God and the walls of our Zion. Can we feel
ihe same reverence for the First Baptist
church that we would for the Calvary Baptist
church? Or cherish the same affection for the
Madison Avenue Baptist church, (made up
out of the union of the Oliver street dnd
Lexington Avenue churches,) that we would
for the never-changing, ever-sacred name of
the Bethany Baptist church? I think not.
The Episcopalian and Romanist, while they
overstep the mark, have been much wiser in
this respect than we. There are names enough
in Scripture for us without our adopting a
Saint John or SaiDfc Mary for our churches.
And we should, at the same time, make a
suitable distinction between the churoh and
the church edifice —the brick and mortar, or
wood and glass of the ’latter, and the living
stones, the immortal souls that compose the
former.
Old Trinity and Saint Haul’s, and Saint
George’s Chapel, in Beekman street, (the lat
ter has recently been torn down,) have re
mained unchanged for scores of years, and
have seen a hundred other neighboring church
es change their names—some three or five
times, owing to successive removals—as they
followed the tide of domestic life into the
upper part of New York city. Take, for ex
am pie, an old Christian of one of these churches.
He joined the Broad street church, fifty years
ago; but it soon moved up to Beekman
street, and became the Beekman street church.
A dozen years later, and it moved to Canal
street, and became the Canal street church.
And lastly, it moved to Madison Square,and
became the Madison Square church; and as
he lingers on the verge of the grave, waiting
to go home to the Zion that is immovable and
unchangeable, he is surprised to hear that the
church intends to make one more move—to
settle down finally in a fashionable location
opposite the Central Park, and become the
Central Park church. Now, my dear readers,
this is no fancy sketch. The thing has been
done in large cities—especially Boston and
New York, and Brooklyn—for years; and is
constantly taking place there at the present
day. Saint George’s church, however, has
moved and removed, but it is .to-day “ old ’'
Saint George’s, for through more than half a
century it has carried its original name with
its moving tabernacle; and it mattered not
where .the edifice of stone and mortar was
erected, or how often removed, the church
■ sanvi.'-fe’-name xtiaA up ’it. This is as
it 'jhouiu be with every churoh of Christ.
Although I may draw this article out to
such a length that it will finally reach the
editor’s waste paper basket, I cannot forbear
touching upon another point. I refer to the sad
results which follow bad taste and rash expe
riments in building church edifices. Now in
the city of New York, for example, there is
a very beautiful white marble church edifice,
situated on Fifth Avenue, corner of Twenty
ninth street, the steeple, of which is surmount
ed by a huge gilded Shanghai Rooster, which
serves as a weather vane. The edifice is, in
<“>nsequence, called the Shanghai church. In
Fourth Avenue, corner of thirtieth street,
stands the church of which Dr. Bellows is
pastor, and which is known as 11 All Souls
Church .” The building is a most singular
affair, (the walls being built of layers of red
brick and white marble, one above the other,
alternately,) and has become widely celebra
ted as the Church of the Holy Zebra. Yet
the congregations of these two churches are
composed of the wealthiest and most cultiva
ted classes, who, by failing to exercise a little
practical good sense in the construction of
their church edifices, have secured to them
irreverent appellations, the use of which can
not but destroy all reverence for them as the
house of God and the gate to heaven. Again,
in Philadelphia they have an edifice known as
“ Church of James the Less," which is vul
garly called the Church of Little Jimmy.
The less such names are used, the better it
will bp for the sanctity of our churches.
Why, with so many more appropriate Scrip
ture names at hand, such an appellation was
selected, I fail to comprehend. Brethren,
make your church edifice a house of God in
name as well as deed. Do not secularize it
by the use of the name of streets, avenues,
squares or towns. Rather let It bear a name
t hat shall ever keep in mind some great event
or chosen place of resort in the life of Christ,
the great Head of the Church.
Sidney Herbert.
A Brief Argument.
Christianity is an institute for creating and
nurturing a divine life in the soul of man, and
needs no human instrument except a teacher
of the truth. All who have been made par
takers of this divine life are divinely called to
diffuse it among their fellow-men. Their ob
ligation is measured by their ability and op
portunity to speak for Christ, privately or
publicly, in conversation or exhortation, or
formal discourse. The notion that to excite
or to sustain this divine life, something else
is needed, in the way of priestly or sacramen
tal intervention, is—ritualism.
The sharers in this divine life, in each
neighborhood, are bound to associate together
in a form —a church—under a divine l#w,
which designates its officers and prescribes
their rights and duties. A union of persons
—even of those who are partakers of this
divine life—is not a church, unless its form
corresponds to the requirements of the divine
law, nor have its officers any Scriptural au
thority. Hence, as a church can know noth
ing beyond the directions of the word of God,
it can not recognize the existence of such an
abnormal union, even of believers, nor sanc
tion the acts of its officers. This is —not rit
ualism. The believer —in whom the divine
Spirit dwells—is an organism, having life in
himself; the church is only an organization,
having none, but deriving its efficiency solely
from the life inherent in its several members.
Actual Christianity manifests itself as a life
and as a form. The life is not dependent on
the form, nor does the form contain any por«
tion of the life. These are essentially differ
ent, and reciprocally independent; yet, both
are prescribed by divine authority, and shoulj
be gratefully accepted and oarefully main
tained. Protestant churches, generally, lie
between the extreme of Quakerism —which is
all spirit—-and Popery, which is all form.
The normal ohurch accepts both in their Scrip
tural adjustment and harmony.
All Christians, in that they partake of this
common life, are one, and may unite in wbat-
ever is simply the expression of this life, as
prayer, praise and other spiritual exercises,
extra-ecclesiastical societies, etc. But where
the expression of this life is permeated, or
touched, by the form, there can be neither
union nor mutual recognition, either as to ex
istence or acts, except among those who ad
here to a church, formed according to the pat
tern given in the New Testament. R.
Columbia, S. C. ’
Mint Tytheing.
I am truly glad that the mint tytheing
question, “ whether the Divinity suffered
with the Humanity,” is dropped —settled
it could not be. The mountain labored a
good while, but did not bring forth even a
mouse. It is amazing that sensible men can
interest themselves on questions not worth
the snap of one’s finger, while great practical
subjects are left untouched. But so goes the
world. Jehu.
God. .
Is there a God ?
The birds’ sweet anthems, warbled from the trees,
The gentle whispers of the summer’s breeze,
The rippling brook—their voices join and sing,
“There is * God. a great, Eternal King.”
Is there a God ?
The lightning’s flash, the thunder’s mighty roar,
The-oeean’s waves that burst upon the shore,
Revolving earth-harmonious answer bring,
“There is a God, a great, Eternal King."
Is there a God ?
The earth, the sea, the universe proclaim
The majesty of His eternal name,
And angels join the mighty song and sing,
“ There is a God, a great, ®lternal Kiag ”
#*##***
Life is Beautiful.
Life is beautiful—its duties
Cluster round each passing day,
White their sweet and solemn voices,
Warn to work, to watch, to pray;
They alone, its blessing forfeit
Who by sin their spirits cheat,
Or to slothful stupor yielding,
Let the rust their armor eat.
Life is beautiful— affection
Round its roots, with ardor clings,
’Mid its opening blossoms nestle,
Birdlike, in its branches sing,
Smiling lull its cradle slumbers,
Guard with pride its youthful bloom,
Fendly kiss its snow-white temples,
Dew the turf-mound o’er its tomb.
Life is beautiful with promise
Os a joy that cannot, fn.de,
Life is tearful, with the threating
Os an everlasting shade.
May no thoughtless wanderer scorn it,
Blindly lost in folly’s maze,
Duty, love, and hope adorn it,
Let its latest breath be praise.
The Greek Church. ’ •
It is the most abject example of degenera
tion, formalism and puerility in Christendom.
It is worse than Rome itself, except in politi
cal abuses, and in these it fails only by rea
son of local, accidental circumstances. Trav
ellers find nowhere in the civilized, or semi
civilized world more mental or moral decrep
itude than in Eastern Christianity, more ignor
ance in the priesthood, more superstition and
puerility among the ascetics more degradation
and demoralization among the people. Greek
Christianity holds as tenaciously to tradition
as Rome does; like her, it has seven sacra
ments, and it holds the acceptance of its dog
mas to be necessary to salvation. In the
matters of its difference from Rome and other
portions of Christendom, its variations are
chiefly marked by their logical puerility and
absurdity. JFi Winamp!**, »c wfoWs- iu«»r» fog.
to its lower clergy, but prohibits it among
the higher, and never allows second marriage
to ecclesiastics, the. widowed priest being not
permitted to retain his charge, but must re
tire into monastic life; it denies purgatory,
but allows prayers for thq.dead; it teaches
baptismal regeneration, but makes it depen
dent on a trine immersion or aspersion; it
denies the worship of statues or carved ima
ges, but allows that of pictures or painted
ones. It holds tenaciously to the invocation
of saints; Mariolatry everywhere abounds;
transulistantiation, crosses, relics, and almost
every medieval barbarism, prevail. The in
tellectual condition of the priesthood is so
low that it cannot be trusted in the pulpit;
preaching is almost unknown, except when
performed by the higher clergy; in Russia
the Czar Alexis actually prohibited preaching
on account of the evils which attended the
barbarous homilies of the clergy; and in
Turkey, where no law interferes, it is tacitly
repudiated on account of the incompetency of
the ignorant priesthood.
Such is the Church which English High-
Churchmen and Ritualists prefer to the en
lightened Protestantism of their own Dissent
ing countrymen ! We favor genuine religious
“unification;” but who can help despising
these pharisaic, meretricious schemes for it?
Better moral unity, we repeat, must precede
any desirable ecclesiastical unification, and
there can be no better moral unity, as re
spects the Greek or Latin Church, till these
are regenerated by interior evangelical purifi
cation.
Pure Membership.
The two General Assemblies of the Pres
byterian church in the United States appoint
ed a committee to answer the Pope, and as
sign reasons why they could not comply with
his invitation to the Ecumenical Council. In
that answer, defending themselves against the
charge of being “ schismatics,” they say :
“We believe in true Catholic unity. We
cordially recognize as members of Christ’s
visible church on earth, all who profess the
true religion, together with their children .”
Nor has this statement escaped the notice of
a writer in the Catholic World. He says:
“ The clergy of the Presbyterian church in
America number about five thousand, having,
we believe, somewhere near half a million of
communicants, and three or four times as
many members in a looser sense.’ ? The criti
cism bestowed upon this letter in the Catholic
World is, of course, exceedingly lame as a
whole, but these “ member s in a looser sense,”
embracing the children of the adult members
of Presbyterian churches, expose our Presby
terian brethren to well directed arrows from
the enemy. It savors quite too much of the
Roman Catholic mode of church building.
The Romanist may say, “ While you charge
us with receiving and retaining thousands of
men utterly godless, destitute of piety, look
at the thousands of ungodly children and
youth whom you count as members of your
church on the ground of infant baptism.”
What answer can be returned 1 ? It does not
become Baptists to boast, but we feel con
scious of ability to meet Romanists on a more
Scriptural basis, touching the nature of a New
Testament church, and thus save ourselves
from the charge of practicing what we con
demn in them.
Is Jesus On your Gross?
A young lady entered the church of God
with a saddened heart, bowed down with the
thought of a cross which lay in her pathway
—-a cross which seemed too heavy, too griev
ous to be borne.
Lost in her own reflections, trying to think
of some other path she might take, and avoid
the cross which she saw before her, rather
than press onward in the path of duty marked
out, she was suddenly startled as a little boy
by her side whispered in her ear, “Is Jesus
on your cross f*
She felt that his voice was from above, and
she needed the reproof which the question
brought to her, and resolved to go home, and
WHOLE NO. 2487.
although, to her, it seemed so terrible,
she would now take it up for His sake. The
little boy, all unconscious of the depth of the
meaning of his words, had simply referred to
a gold cross worn by a stranger.
We all have some cross to bear. Our
pathway looks dark some times, and we are
wearv of the sombre clouds; but if Jesus,
our blessed Saviour, be near, and we know
he has marked out the path for us, shall we
not seek Divine guidance, and press forward
with eagerness to do our Master’s will ? If
we cheerfully take up the cross in the strength
of Christ, we shall find; instead expect
ed burden to terrify and crush us, it will be
lustrous with the smiles of our approving
Lord.
Delay Wrong.
Dr. Addison Alexander, in .some records
of his own religious experience, which are too
brief for the satisfaction of those who would
like to know more of the inner life of one so
great and good, makes the following confes-.
sion: “ When my conscience has.been wound
ed by relapses into sin, I have always b*een
tempted to sink down into sullen apathy, or
else to wait a day or two before approaching
God again. It has seemed to me, on such
occasions, that it would be awfully presump
tuous and insolent to ask God to forgive me
on the spot''
Robert Murray McCheynej writing on the
same subject, says: “ I feel, when I have
sinned, an immediate reluctance to go to
Christ. I am ashamed to go. I feel that it
would do no good to go—as if it were making
Christ a minister of sin to go straight from
the swine-trough to the best robe, and a thou
sand other excuses ; but I am persuaded that
they are all lies, direct from hell. ... I
am persuaded that there is neither peace nor
safety from deeper sin, but in going directly
to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God’s way
of peace and holiness.”
A feature of Christian experience is here
unveiled which is not new, but which always
demands attention. Reluctance to trust Christ
—to trust Him fully, absolutely, and implic
itly, is a sin which pursues us far into the
Christian life. It separates us from Christ,
and draws a veil between us and the light of
His countenance. It leaves us with burdens
on our consciences, which rest there with
heavy weight, and prevent all cheerful ser
vice. It keeps stains on the heart, which
Bhould be washed away at once, and forever.
These men of God, from whom we have quo
ted, felt this unbelieving reluctance, but they
condemned it. They strove to overcome it,
as a temptation of the evil one; and they
found the way of peace in going instantly to
the Fountain, with the stain upon them, that
washing there they might be clean. W e
commend their words to all tempted in this
point as they were. “ There is neither peace,
nor safety from deeper sin, but in going
directly to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
. Which is the Sect?
The Baptist churches do not claim any pre
eminence in numbers, but are content to rank •
with the smaller branches of the church of
Christ; yet, in America and this country, the
Baptist churches number about one million
and a quarter of members. We ask the ques
tion for information, and inquire,"had all the
ole-lastics of the. P<wi AugbaahJSlynod any *
thing like this number of constant, regular
communicants under their care ? We gravely
doubt it. Be it remembered, also, that in
Baptist churches watchful and stringent.dis- .
cipline is maintained ; the door to the Lord’s
supper is jealously guarded, and any known
immorality at once excludes a man from
membership. No such discipline exists in
the Episcopal church in England ; the merest
mockery of such a thing may survive, but for
all practical purposes, discipline in Episcopal
membership is dead and buried. Yet it is a
matter open to fair question, whether the en
tire body of such lax and necessarily corrupt
membership would be found to equal the
membership of the Baptist community. The
next time the Episcopalian'feels inclined to
look down with contempt upon the mere sect
of Baptists, let him seek some retired spot,
where he may give his judgment a reason for
the pride that is in him.— Spurgeon, in Sword
and Trowel.
Hints for Daily Practice.
1. Come by faith to the blood of Christ,
that all your sins may be forgiven.
2. Seek, by earnest and humble prayer, the
help of the Holy Spirit.
3. Live upon Christ as the life-giving root
of all holiness.
4. Keep in constant remembrance the fact
that God is ever present with you, knowing
every thought, hearing every word, and ob
serving everything you do.
5. Before you speak in company, ask your
heart to answer these questions : Is what I
am going to say strictly true ? Is it useful 1
Is it kind ?
6. Under all circumstances in life, pray for
a calm and thoughtful state of mind, trusting
always in the Lord, and feeling that he doeth
all things well.
7. Remember that if religion has done
nothing for your temper, it has done little for
your soul.
&. Work while it is called day for the glory
of God and the good of mankind.
9. Be clothed with humility, and pray with
out ceasing.
10. Let me continually bear in mind that
I am a dying creature ; and O my soul, think,
and think again and again, what it is to die—
what it is to enter upon the thrilling realities
of eternity !
Items.
A Hair’s Breadth.” —“ Whon the be
liever in Calvinism states his doctrinal senti
ments in terms most favorable to Arminian
ism, and when the Aminian sets forth his in
terms most favorable to Calvinism, then there
is but a hair’s breadth between us.”— Wesley.
The Old Struggle.— Vinetsays: “Under
different names, the authority of the Church
and the merit bf works were old-world preju
dices, that Jesus Christ came to dispel; and
anti-Reformationism reconnects itself over the
cross with the doctrines of Egypt, Rome and
Athens.”
The Ministry. —“ What are you doing?”
said a London D.D. to a visitor from the
Country. “O, sir, lam in the ministry now,”
was the somewhat exulting reply. “Ah, but
my brother,” said the querist again, “ is the
ministry in you ?” Rather an important
question that.
The Apostles. —The Church Union makes
out the Apostle Peter to have been a Meth
odist, John an Episcopalian, and adds, there
are reasons for believing that Apoltos was a
Baptist, James an Orthodox “Unitarian,”
Timothy a Presbyterian, and Paul an Inde
pendent, whose adaptation of himself to all
men was an occasion of frequent jealousy.—
Central Baptist.
Romish Baptism. —A correspondent of the
United Presbyterian thinks that baptism ad
ministered by Catholics should not be held
valid by Presbyterian churches. On the con
trary, the Congregationalist thinks that they
hould be received as valid by churches of its
order.