Newspaper Page Text
CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
\ML 49-NO. 39.
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER,
; 3 iJ3LI3HED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, OA
AT $3.00 PER ANNUM,
Invariably in Advance
T. .J. TO O NT, Proprietor.
Behold, I Make all things Hew.
Rev. xxi : 5.
Messed promise! Gracious Lord, 2 Cor. i ; 20.
In our souls fulfill this word ; Luke i : OS.
Work in us to will, to do, Phil, ii: 13.
And in truth make all things new. 2 Cor. v : 17.
Give us hearts by Thee renewed, Ezek. xxxvi: 20.
(live us wills by grace subdued, Ezek. xxxvi : 27.
New desires for things above, Col. in: 2.
New obedience and new love. Rom. vn: 0.
Thou new comfort canst. impart, Zech. i: 17.
Send new joy to every heart Neh. viii: 10.
Speak new pence to every breast, John xiv: 27.
New refreshment and i-w rest. Matt, xi: 28.
Take from us our sin and shame, Ezek. xxxvi: 25.
Write upon us th.v new name : Rev. iii: 12.
(J.iese Thy love new hope to bring, Heb. vi: 19.
Teach us the new song to sing, Rev. xiv : 3.
Entrance, Lord, to us be given 2 Peter t : 11,
Into Thy new earth and heaven; Rev. xxi: 1.
There, when death our souls shall free, Phil, i: 2S.
We shall live and reign with Thee. Rev. xxii: 5.
[ Extract from the Minutes of Western Association,
Sept. I'Jt/i, 1870.—0n motion of brother S. P. Cal
laway, the following resolution was unanimously
adopted: Resolved, That brother J. H. Hall be re
quested to furnish for publication in the Index and
Baptist, a copy of the very able Missionary Ser
mon delivered by him belore this body on yester
day.”]
The Universal Publication of the Gospel.
Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall he to all people; for unto you is horn this day
in the city ol David, a Saviour, which :s Christ the
Lord.— huknii: 10,11.
Go ye into all the world and preach the gostel to
every creature. —Mark xvi: 15.
Liberation from local and national prejudices—
from circumscribed and partial charity, is one of the
marked results of the liberty with which Christ
makes us free. Then, the sphere of interest is the
world, and the object of solicitude, fallen man.
Christianity begins with the emancipation of
thought from the fetters of the carnal and selfish,
and elevating it to the moral and worthy; and follow
ing in correspondence, is enlargement of heart and
interest; and then, in place of partiality for, and
restriction to kindred and country, is love for
souls, “Jews and Greeks.’’ When we were first
freed from sin—first lost our chains at the cross
of dying Love, then and there we felt an interest
for the whole fallen earth—an interest as broad
as humanity; and then we felt and adopted and
uttered, it may be, shouted, the motto of the
Church militant: “On earth peace, good will to
ward men.”
As consonant with this unfettered benevolence,
and, if may be, to excite it, we will consider, from
the passages read, The Universal Publication ol
the Gospel. And the object will not be so much
to develop the text, as to enforce the great truth
selected. It may benefit our hearts and promote
the cause of missions, to enlarge our contempla
tion, and correct our restricted views by consider
ing the universal diffusion of the news of salva
tion.
The Gospel is to he universally published.
This is according to promise. To Abraham,
when called out of his country, and from his kin
dred, to he'the father of the nation which should
furnish the expected Seed, it is announced : “ In
thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
To the Son, in prospect of His obedience unto
death, it is said: “Ask of me, and I shall give
thee the heathen for an inheritance, and the ut
termost parts of the earth for thy possession.”
To toe disobedient lews it is declared: “ From
the rising of the sun even to ttie going down ol
the same, my name shall be great among the
Gentiles.” And, as a result of the gospel univer
sally proclaimed, it is promised: “The earth
shall bo full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea.”
It is necessary to the salvation of the chosen.
They are in every land, and the gospel must be
published throughout the earth to gather them
together in Christ. The saved are to be “ a great
multitude,” and the way of salvation must be
universally proclaimed, that they may be “out
■of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and na
tion.” Indeed, it is to be by the simple, yet pow
erful story ol the cross, borne to the utmost
bounds of sin and misery, that the great revolu
tion under the economy of recovering mercy, is
to be ended in “ the restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets sinco the world began.” And we
may add,
It is evident from its nature as good news.
News will fly. Good news is the property of all.
“The good tidings of great joy” cannot be re
pressed long in any heart, nor confined to any
land. It was significant that “the vail of the
temple was rent” when Jesus died! The tardy
progress of the good news through the ages past,
may involve Christians in guilt, but it is in ac
cord with His workings, whose vast plans and
purposes reach over all the ages, and ripen, and
are accomplished with years. When the churches
of Jesus shall have been finally awakened, and
shall all speak, the eruption of joyful news will
then spread over every land.
The instrumentality in the publication of the
gospel is, Christians: “Go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.” “Ye
shall be witnesses untome, both in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the utter
most part of the earth.”
The enlarged design of the gospel embraced—
Its publication among all nations according to
promise, its destiny as diffusive news, now spread
ing, and at last to fill the earth, with the instru
ments to be used in spreading it, all admitted, we
are to consider the causes which contribute to
this desired and happy end. The publication of
any truth depends upon its nature, the demand
for it, and the obligation to make it known. To
the universal publication of the gospel, we will
find that the nature of the great truth, the de
mand of the world for it, and our obligation to
furnish it to every creature, all contribute. Let
us notice,
I. The Nature of tiie Gospel to cause its
Universal Diffusion.
The gospel contains in itself elements of diffu
sion.
1. It. is a glorious Revelation. It informs us
that the expected Saviour of man is born, the
Anointed One is come, and that He is “ the Lord
from heaven,” “God manifest in the flesh.”
Hence, it is a revelation of, (1,) The Promised
Saviour. Here is “Him of whom Moses in the
law, and the prophets did write,” —the object of
deferred hope and ages of longing,—the Shiloh
for whom the anxious heart of faith is throbbing
high, and whose coming, even the nations, in
strange suspense, await. In this Saviour the typ
ical intimations and sayings of prophecy are ful
■filled Hope sees the child, Faith embraces its ob
ject, and the Heart, satisfied, adores! And now
do we hear them blessing God in Israel, and cry
ing, our “eyes have seen thy salvation, which
■thou hast prepared before the face ot all people;”
and we hear restless humanity enquiring, “where
is He that is born King of the Jews?”
(2.) A revelation of the Wonderful. This child
is “Christ the Lord." It shall be called “the
mighty God, the everlasting Father.” His name,
as foretold, should be “Emanuel, God with us.”
How great and unsearchable this mystery! How
Avondi-rftil ilus Child of hope! Before “this
.man,” whom “ the winds and the sea,” and “the
dead,” obey, the heart still importunately cries;
•“What is thy name?” We find around us a
■common looking-for of something higher, an in
stinct promising some great disclosure, our hearts
participating in the common prophecy, and here
is the fulfillment in this “ image of the invisi
ble God.”
(3) And it is a revelation of the highest glory of
-God in Character. Angels and men now see a
display of perfections unknown, or but intimated,
before. Christ reveals the highest order of wis
dom, power and love.
Wi»l ■mi. No previous discoveries of wis
dom could inform us how an infinitely just God
could save a guilty sinner—how justice and mer
cy could bo, at the same time, and harmoniously,
■exercised in the salvation of the guilty. This is
the great moral pioldcui into which the angels
desired to look, and which has pressed the anx
ious heart of guilty humanity in all ages; which
none of the wise of this world could solve. How
wan the sinner be saved ? How the guilty justi-
is3 00 HEIR.} FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1870. Is3oo A YEAR. f
fled—declared “not guilty?” The wisdom of
God, in the gospel, answers, “ through the re
demption that is in Christ Jesus.” Here is a
scheme in which sin is punished in a Holy Vic
tim, justice shines illustriously, and mercy is ex
ercised to the sinner. The troubled soul, taught
of the Holy Spirit, sees in this scheme a solution
of its difficulty, and its anxiety is set at rest for
ever by this “ wisdom of God.”
Poicer. Men are not only estranged from
God in actions, but in nature ; and salvation not
only requires an external, but internal change.
The sinner must not only be reclaimed from wan
dering, but from enmity of heart. This work
must not be by force, —then it would be subjuga
tion, not salvation—but it must be accomplished
through the sinner’s own will, and according to
his pleasure. The strong arm, the bayonet could
never do this; nay, physical omnipotence would
be insufficient for it. The power which saves the
sinner, must reach the heart and change the affec
tions, “bringing into captivity every thought, to
the obedience of Christ.” It must be moral
power—the power of goodness, love. This is re
vealed in the gospel. The great love of God in
the gospel, its SutFerer travailing in woes and
bathed in blood to redeem, has omnipotent power
over the heart. Here is power which reaches the
internal man and overcomes the heart, and that
through the sinner’s own will and pleasure Here
is power according with the highest freedom
power effecting at once, bondage and joyful de
liverance. Indeed, this is the “power of God.”
The gospel reveals the amazing love of God.
Here we see that He lias “no pleasure in the
death of him that dietb.” Here is disclosed the
secret purposes of grace, here the bosom is bared
that we may see its pulsations of infinite love.
This love is
New. It is for enemies the ungodly.
Men do not love such; they cannot. The gos
pel’s is anew love. “God commendeth His love
toward us in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.”
Changeless. Its high source is the good
pleasure of God—His unchanging nature. He
loves according to innate, immutable motives, and
His love must be changeless as Himself. With
men, love arises from its object, and fails with its
decay; the object is the cause of love. Not so
here. God’s love arises in Himself; it is indige
nous, and independent of its objects: “I, even 1,
am He that blotteth out thy transgressions, for
mine own sake." “According to thine own heart
hast Thou done all these.things.” “Having pre
destinated us unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good
pleasure of Ilis will." In a world like this, in
natures like ours, how precious the changeless
love which Shiloh reveals. Indeed,
“ Every human tie may perish;
Friend to friend unlaithful prove;
Mothers cease their own to cherish ;
Heaven and earth at last remove;
But no changes
Can attend Jehovah’s love.”
It is Actual love. Not on the lips, and in pro
fessions, but indeed. It is a peculiarity of the
gospel, that it appeals to us for its “ works’ sake ”
Here love is expressed nv suffering—a bleeding
Victim is its illustrious proof. “Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends.” The world, alienated and
embittered, will not come to God. It attributes
to Him malevolence and wrath, which repulse.
By some great,'illustrious, overwhelming, deed it
must be corrected. This is given in the death of
Christ for the ungodly. This is the great expedi
ent of Infinite Wisdom—the highest, most glori
ous proof which could he submitted to a rebellious,
gainsaying world. With the Cross before us
with trie devoted Victim, the Holy Sufferer, lifted
up before us, vve'see love indeed 1 There voice
lessly, inJfis blood, God pleads with the world!
This is the gospel’s unique way ! Love’s over
powering logic! Here are the premises —devotion
and blood —of John's conclusion, that “God is
lov.v ”
Now, if the gospel be such a revelation, can it
be provincial ? Can such glorious discoveries be
concealed ? Can such news be kept from the ends
of the earth ? Will not the wonderful spread?
If the wisdom of Solomon reached the ends of
the earth, will not the wisdom of God be known ?
if the military arm of David was shuoted for slay
ing bodies, will not the Power which conquers
multitudes of souls, subdues wills and thoughts,
be proclaimed? If exhibitions of human devo
tion become household themes over the world,
will not the revelation of the “riches of grace”
in Christ, the story of dying love, be known
abroad ? Such a gospel will go from the rising of
the sun to the going down thereof.
As another element of diffusion in the gospel,
let us notice.
2. It is a great joy. “ I bring you good
tidings of great joy,” is the announcement of the
gospel. A Saviour from sin and death—pardon
and peace for the condemned and miserable, is
news of highest joy.
(1.) It is great joy to its recipients. “ Blessed
is the people who hear and know the joyful
sound.” These were lost, condemned, miserable,
dead: now they are reclaimed, justified, blessed,
alive. Rescued from ttic pit, and established in
eternal life, no wonder they sing! The great joy
is in the change from bondage to liberty ; from
wretchedness to an exalted hope. When brought
to life—this higher life of the spiritual man—
when delivered, and looking back into the dread
ful pit—when the amazing contrast of life and
death is before us, and we live, what soul is not
surcharged with joy ? And the full soul must
speak. The joy of salvation will out: “I will
declaro what He hath done for my soul.”
(2) It is great joy as the hope of a lost world.
The world must feel the gospel even under the
probability of its truth. It reveals fully the sad
story of sin and death; and then announces that
sin is put aw T ay, death dethroned, and life and
immortality brought to light through Christ.
There is joy in its great hopes. The lost enjoy
the existence of this remedy for a fallen world.
They go to hear it; and many of them pay to
have it spread abroad.
(3) There is joy in its unrestricted and impar
tial offers of salvation. Its offers are to “ who
soever believeth.” Its platform is as broad as the
race, and w r ide as the world. There is salvation
in that word, “ whosoever,” for the remote, the
near, the high, the low, the bond, the free. Who
touches the hem of that word shall live. An
exclusive gospel might linger and die out; but a
gospel for “everyone that thirsteth,” sent “to
all people,” will flourish and spread. It is the
glory of the gospel of Christ that none are exclu
ded from its offers. It has rent the vail of dis
tinction, and Jew and Greek may alike come.
“ Sinners ” are its objects, and “ salvation to the
ends of the earth,” is its mission. The hearts of
the redeemed derive additional joy and impulse
from this feature. It commands greater love, and
emboldens them in their efforts for the salvation
of a lost race. And the dark hopes of the be
nighted find encouragement here. A stray light
and joy flits across the dark soul under the invi
tation, “ whosoever will, let him .come.” This
single feature of universality in the offers of mer
cy, betrays a destiny to ho attained, sooner or
later.
The joy of the gospel will propagate it. It is
so great, it must be told; it is so free, it must be
had. Both impulsion and freedom combine in
its diffusion. You had as well attempt to keep
hack the dews of heaven from the parching earth,
or to confine the free air, as obstruct the gospel
of joyful news.
3. And the gospel is irrepressible news. A
glorious revelation of great joy, must be irre
pressible. Grand discoveries in morals or phys
ics, will be published; and when of great inter
est to the race, they spread irresistibly, like the
winds. Here is God manifested in the flesh—
“the King eternal, immortal, invisible,” discov
ered to us, and that to inaugurate the reign of
life in the realms of death. This is wonderful,
amazing in itself, and of unspeakable interest to
a lost world. This discovery of God incarnate
moved the highest heavens, and it could not con
tain it;
“The theme, (he song, the joy was new,
’l’was more than heaven could hold --
and “a multitude of the heavenly host” de
scended “praising God.” Previous revelations
ot the Divine Character,*prepared jhe way for
this last and highest disclosure; and when this
is made —when Christ is born, the glorious un
precedented revelation is attended with the ascrip
tion of highest praise, and the burst of millennial
prophecy : “ Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men.” In the gos
pel, God is unbosomed to the world ! Jesus is a
revelation of the heart of God! Here, hared, we
look upon its throbbings.under Redeeming Love!
The love of the gospel is the news which is irre-
pressible. When the Apostles were forbidden to
preach Jesus, they answered: “We cannot but
speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
“And as He went, they spread their clothes in His
way. And when He was come nigh, even now at the
descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multi
tude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise
God with a loud voice, saying: Blessed be the
King that cometh in the name of the Lord; peace
in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some
of the Pharisees among the multitude said unto
Him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And He an
swered and said unto them, I tell you that, if
these should hold their peace, the stones would
immediately cry out.” The glorious news must
be told, or stones will speak. As stones cannot
speak, it is impossible for Christians to be silent.
It is recorded by Dr. Evans, that a deaf and dumb
man, twenty years of age, was attending a pro
tracted meeting, and became apparently the sub
ject of deep conviction. (You know the dumb
cannot speak ) lie went often to the altar for
prayer. At length he sprang to his feet, with a
heavenly joy depicted upon his countenance, and
striking upon his breast, and pointing toward
heaven, seemed full of rapturous bliss. The
minister approached him, around whose neck he
threw his arms, and exclaimed, in a loud voice:
“ Glory to God,” —the only words he ever uttered.
It is such news that the dumb speak it. It is
written that .“ the tongue of the dumb shall sing.”
Indeed, every Unchanged sinner is dumb; and in
every conversion we hear the. dumb speaking the
irrepressible news of salvation. It may be asked,
Wherefore the apathy of so many Christians, if
the gospel be thus irrepressible ? This is a diffi
culty, a sad one, but it does not disprove the truth
before us. The gospel is irrepressible news, and
as proof of it, somebody, somewhere, is shouting
it—nay, thousands through Christendom are tell
ing it—eighteen hundred missionaries, and eight
thousand native preachers, are proclaiming it
through the benighted nations, and it spreads to
fill the earth. Here, then, are the gospel’s inter
nal elements of diffusion; its glorious, joyful
and irrepressible nature. Such a truth: must
have a universal destiny. Let us consider
IL T he Demand of a Perishing World for the
Gospel, will cause its Universal Publica
tion.
A perishing world demands the Word of Life,
and it will be supplied. The call, whether made
directly, formally, or given through the utterances
of destitution and misery, is equally imperative.
And when we consider it as made upon a diffusive
truth, in benevolent hearts, the result is evident.
A re idy truth and willing hearts must respond to
the appeals of the lost. The demand of the world
arises,
1. From the common-right of the gospel.
Truth is common property. He is an enemy of
his kind who conceals it, and he is a benefactor
who makes it known. Exclusive claim to any
truth is criminal assumption, and exclusive ap
propriation is moral embezzlement. The Gospel
of Christ, the news of mercy and life, is for the
world. When the work of salvation was finished
•on the cross, the vail of the temple was rent, the
temporary exclusiveness of the Jewish economy,
instituted for wise purposes, was abolished, and
the gospel became the common property of fallen
man. The right to hear the news of salvation, is
in “all people,” all may alike lay claim to hear
ing it jure divino —by divine right. And any ex
clusive pretensions or restrictions now are a viola
tion of the law of Calvary, and a shameful deten
tion of a common heritage of good news. This
common right appears
(1) From the unlimited call of the gospel.
“The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken
and called the earth from the rising of the sun to
the going down thereof.” God “coinmandeth
all men everywhere to repent.”
(2) From its*free offers. “Look unto me and
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." “Go yc
into all ihe world and preach the gospel to ee■ ry
creator!. ”
(3.) From express gift. “ God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
bc.lieveth on Him should not perish, but have ever
lasting life.” “ Behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy r , which shall be to all people." Hence,
we see that the right to hear the gospel is com
mon—given to all people.
And we may add, that the benevolence which the
gospel inspires, is an evidence that it belongs to the
world. The prophet, under its influence, cries to
“every one that thirsteth.” And it does not stop
here, but extends to “ whosoever will.” And
with this enlarged desire is “great heaviness and
continual sorrow ” for a ruined race. Why should
hearts be inspired with this enlarged benevolence,
if the world has no right to the Word of Life ?
Why should there be hearts, grasping in their
mammoth charity, the whole fallen earth, and
stirred with a sympathy as broad as its misery,
if the earih has no interest in the joyful news ?
The record of Christianity affords many and illus
trious examples of this inspiration of heart— this
enlarged benevolence. Indeed, wherever Chris-
tianity has gone, it has had more or less of these
“burning and shining lights”—men who have
carried the world in their hearts, and travailed
under its mighty misery ! With souls under ex
orbitant love, like Knox, who cried, “Lord, give
me Scotland, or I die!” they yearn for the king
doms of this world to become the kingdoms of
our Lord, and of his Christ.
The demand of the world is in,
2. Its necessity for the gospel. The heathen
world is perishing, and the gospel is the great
remedy, and hence, they demand it. Is there no
demand in want? Ts there no speech in misery ?
They perish, and is there not in the dying of souls
an awful language? a crying demand? And
does not the fact that Jesus only can save, add
fearfulness to the case ? and does not our knowl
edge of Him bring their case home to our hearts,
and interpret their necessity into a loud and im
perative, “ help us ?” Let us notice,
(1) The state of the heathen world. We are
not left to reason nor supposition upon this sub
ject. If we were, our sympathy might rule us,
and shape our conclusion. The Word of God
clearly informs us. It teaches us the heathen are
lost. The inspired Apostle, referring to this peo
ple, writes : “ For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unright
eousness of men, who hold the truth in unright
eousness. Because that which may be known of
God is manifest in them. For the invisible
things of him from the creation of"the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even his eternal power and Godhead ;
so that they are without excuse. Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools, and
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into
an image made like to corruptible man, and to
birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.”
Here it is clearly stated that the heathens' ignor
ance of God is a sin, for which they have no ex
cuse ; and that their abominable idolatry is the
result of their conceit and folly. After dwelling
upon the abomination of the heathen, fho same
writer announces that God will render, “ tribula
tion and anguish upon every soul of man that
doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gen
tile.” And that theye might be no argument iq
favor of the heathen’s salvation, drawn from his
ignorance—that there might be no grounds for
the high assumption, that, as the heathen are
not to blame for their ignorance, it would be un
just to damn them—the same Apostle declares :
“For as many as have sinned without law, shall
also perish without law.” lie repeats the con
clusion of his argument: “ For we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all
under sin.” Now, if ignorance of God, abomina
ble idolatry, rendering tribulation and wrath, per
ishing without law, and being under sin, have any
meaning, the heathen are perishing, “ having no
hope and without God in the vyorld.” Let us add,
(2) That the gospel reveals the only way of
escape. This renders their necessity more urgent
—their case more alarming. “ Neither is there
salvation in any other, (than Christ;) for there is
none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.” “ Jesus saith unto
him, (Thomas) I atn the way, the truth and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father bqt by me. 1 ’
The Apostle asks, in view of the heathen: How
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not
heard ? and how shall they hear without a preach
er ?” There is qo salyation of adults without fait!)
in Ciirist, and no faith without knowledge of Him.
Hence, it is most clear that the heathen are lost;
and we are influenced by sympathy, qot reason,
nor the Word of God, in any other conclusion.
With the heathen, is not the gospel a necessity ?
and as they perish—perish forever, is not the ne
cessity momentous; and has it not a meaning to
us ? Let us notice the demand of the heathen
world in
3. Th C Appeal for the Gospel. It is not neces-
sary that there be formal expression, nor, even,
intention, to con-J.iHite an appeal; want speaks
for itself, and the more loudly in silence. It is
true, many of the heathen cry to us, “ Come over
and help us ;” but the masses of heathendom, in
total darkness and corruption, are either sunken
into moral apathy, or swallowed up in idolatry—
“ past feeling;” ajid the appeal that comes up from
them is the more strong for their sad state! It
was a strong case which the Saviour put, that of
the “man and half dead.” He
would be a hearties#- wretch who could resist the
appeal coming from such a case. Let us notice
that this appeal is v
(1) Affecting 4 *'At is the appeal of silent mis
ery ! With ocggsional exceptions, no words, cries
nor tears, are giVfn by the heathen, but their
misery speaks for itself. Voicelessly it pleads !
How affecting the appeal from their self-abandon
ment to wretchedness —their passive, unconscious
surrender to misery 1 There is power in wordless
want! The heathen's destitution and degrada
tion speak to us. Theirs is the fearful disease of
sin, and the dying of the soul; and prostrate, past
speaking, in the arms of moral death, they look,
they mean, “ !”
Their ignoruTr appeals to sympathy. They
know but little <>l the monster sin ruling their
iands —know dreadfpl danger—that they
perish ! In he ; carnal sleep the}' hear no alarm
—all un-. n* to endless death!
(2) great in its importance, as the
appeal otßuSWikmea and women. Not soul
less brutes, but . uttional, accountable, immortal
beings, appeal umis for help. There is signifi
cance, power in a huuian’s appeal! We may say
it was the antiqued appeal of ruined, helpless
humanity, that moved Infinite Pity and Love to
provide a Saviour for the world.
The appeal is’TJreat in its object, it is not for
bread, nor medv a! aid, but for the Word of Life.
It is light, mercy, life for which they appeal.
Think of the apjitLi of millions of heathen for life,
life, LIFE! Tie life of the soul, life in the end
less world, is object for which the hea
then appeal. jPr'
And it is grc-,.' in its extent. The distress of
one man, or family, is felt at large. A province
in distress would affect a kingdom. The destitu
tion in Ireland, some years since, was felt over the
world. How many heathen are there in want?
How many Inßnan beings are there in the be
nighted nattous,-under the absolute reign of sin,
and the wretchedness it entails ? What is the
number of them ? About 600,000,0001 This im
mense multitude are not only “ without God,” but
numbers of them have never heard of Him—have
never read of chrr glorious gospel! Think of 600,-
000,000 of hutnjin beings in misery ! Think of
this multitude oi souls perishing! O, see these
millions of nffC?r.rtal beings, in their guilt, press
ing to the judgment! What an appeal! Again,
the appeal is
(3) Pressing.— As the time is short. A linger-
ing malady, a piecemeal distress, may not be urg
ent; but in a crisis, when no time can be lost,
there must be-action. When much is at stake,
and the timp isagjiort, how earnest the appeal for
help, and how intense the hour! The heathen
appeal for help their all is at stake —the soul, its
life, and “ the time is short.” With such a mul
titude, with such an interest as that of the soul —
with millions JFinfinite interests, in jeopardy, sus
pended upon a f w fleeting days, how tremendous
the crisis! How awful the hour of life! How
pressing, intensely pressing the appeal of such in
terests in the crisis of a short, uncertain life!
Pressing are being lost. What is it
that lends mo: intensity of interest, painful inter
est, to confronting hosts in deadly strife, than the
falling, one by one, of men ? How many were
killed ? is thv r drst question after a great battle.
Are we consci >us that the earth, under the sceptre
of death, con Tflntly counts her slain ? From the
millions to us for help there is a con
stant falling-iob being bushed—dooms fixed !
From hf-i:a sou! pisses into eternity,
without three seconds ! With every
third, pulsati vn of our hearts, an immortal soul is
lost! Dur iiftl of this hour, no less
than thirty will be fcddqpl to the irretrievably
doomed 1 And before we meet again for another
such sermon as this, about eight millions will have
ceased their appeal, and entered upon endless
woe! What a .world! What a life! What a
responsibility somewhere! The appeal of the
heathen is the appeal of the dying !
Will notan appeal affecting , great and pressings
find response?
The demand of the heathen world for the gospel
will cause its universal publication. Can such a
demand fail? Will a triune demand, founded in
right, necessity and appeal, fail ? Can the gos
pel, given to save, and given to us in trust, be al
ways withheld? Can our hearts, once lost, forever
resist the appeal ? Will not the demand of a com
mon right be granted? VV"ill not the demand of
perishing necessity be supplied? Will not the
demand of ir%emtihle appeal find response? As
obdurate as the w&Td has grown, and as selfish
and unfeeling our hearts, yet other less important
rights are had, pressing necessities supplied, im
portunate appeals regarded ; and, brethren, will
not the high, just and sacred demand of the dying
nations for lite? made upon Christian hearts, be
met in the universal publication of the joyful news
of salvatiou ?
Let us now consider,
111. Our to Furnish the Gospel to
Every Creature, to Cause its Universal Publi
cation. ,
The recipients of truth are under obligation to
make it known. The knowledge of needed truth
imposes the tmral obligation to disclose it. The
people of God, who have heard thejoyful news of
a Saviour—who have received the “ truth of the
gospel,” are bound to make it known. And they
are bound to publish the gospel, not only because
they have received* it, but because they are spe
cially commissioned. The obligation is both in
its nature, as “good tidings,” and in its design,
“to all people”—the latter fully developed in the
commission. The duty, then, of Christians to
publish the gospel, is moral and positive. It is
both because t'aey know it, and because they are
commanded. And that there might not be in the
spirit of him that worketh a reluctance to give
that for whiclntsve labored, and that we might have
a high incentive to benevolence, we are reminded,
“ freely ye have received, freely give.” Let us
notice,
1. The moral obligation to publish the gospel.
We are morally bound to tel! the lost of a Saviour.
Independently of the commission, we are hound
to preach the gospel to every creature. This ob
ligation arises from
(1) The kmeledge of the gospel. The knowl
edge of the w*ay of salvation imposes the duty of
telling it to the lost.’ This is a law universally
recognized. The ignorant and the learned, the
barbarous and the civilized, the young and the
old, all feel it. Why do you haste-to tell your
neighbor of a remedy you nave tried, which will
certainly relieve his suffering family ? Why do
you feel bound, to inform hint of danger threaten
ing himself or his family ? Why did the heroic
little boy, knowing that the bridge was gone, and
the train must he stopped, or its freight of lives
bp lost, place hupsplf in the way, crying, to die or
stop it? Why did the lepers say, “we do not
well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we
hold our peace?” It is all owing to this law of
obligation arising from knowledge. It arises from
(2) Our relation to the heathen. God “hath
made of one blood ail nations of men.” “Thou
shalt not abhor an Edomite ; for he is thy bro
ther.” Here is the relation of human brotherhood.
This relation h nds us to “do good.” The heathen
are our blood, our brethren, and we are bound by
this great family tie to tell them of the Saviour.
And from this relation we have
(8) The law of God. This is an injunction of
a common love and benevolence. “ Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself." “Do good unto
all men.” The reason of this law is implanted in
our natures—we feel its obligation. It is right to
love and h»'!p *ur fellow-beings. Do we not feel
this law in regard to the perishing heathen ? As
iqjspjons contemplate the highest “good,” sending
the Word of l ife to the perishing, it is involved
in the grpat law of love, and is a nioral duty.
This moral obligation cannot be disregarded
without sin. We conceal icgreat and saving truth
frotfi fellow-beings in distress, and against our na
tures, in disregarding It Aside from the com
mand of the Saviour, as recipients of the glorious
gospel, and as related and bound by the law of
humanity to the dying heathen, we must give them
the Word of Life. . The lepers said, “some’mis
chief will come on us,” because they held their
peace in a of good tidings ; and will we not
be guilty if we “ hold our peace,” and do not tell
the nations that a Saviour is horn ? Mischief will
come on us! *•;* .
And this moral obligation 1 '-ayes us all without
excuse. If we do not know' v.'iiat the Scripture,
teach on the subject of missions, /»• if we in is l n ter
pret, or, even reject their teaching, > e w
without excuse. For our own heanS teach usto
bo missionaries, if we will let them s’• e
carry about in our bosoms tlw moral commission
to preach the gospel to every creature. enci,
every man who has a heart, is without exciifiO.
Let us consider, ,
2. The positive obligation to furnish the gospel
to every creature. . ,
This obligation is imposed in the commission :
“ Go ye into all the world and preach the gos
pel to every creature.” An immediate design of
the commission was the promulgation of the gos
pel over the inhabited earth, “ for a witness unto
all nations,” and preparatory to the coming of
Christ in the fulness of His kingdom, and the de
struction of the Jewish nation ; but this tempo
rary object, lying on the face of the great com
mandment, covered the more vast design and per
manent obligation extending over all succeeding
ages to the end of time. The commission is co
extensive with time, and binding as long as there
is a glorious gospel and a sin-stricken earth.
This obligation is high and sacred. In view of
its authority, high object and vast responsibility,
it is peculiarly great. The primitive Christians,
true missionaries, feltand obeyed it. “ They that
were scattered abroad went every where preach
ing the word.” Homeless, houseless, destitute,
pursued for very life, yet “they ceased not to teach
and preach Jesus.” Under this obligation, the
gi eat missionary, Paul, was not deterred by bonds
nor afflictions, nor did he count his life dear. And
the power of this law, as uttered by the lips of the
Great Sufferer—the consecrating influence of Dy
ing Love, was upon this apostle when he an
nounced the obligation of redeemed life : “ that
they which live, should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto Him who died for them and
rose again ;” and that this living is the life of “ a
new creature.” And we may notice that it is im
perative and solemn. The language is, “Go ye;”
and this uttered by an omnipotent Redeemer, who,
having fully triumphed, finished His work, was
assuming the reins of mediatorial and universal
dominion. Solemn, as imposed in the last earthly
interview, and as the parting command before as
cending to the Father.
Let us notice the elements in this obligation :
(1) Us binding power. Christians should feel
whatever Christ enjoins. Baptists boast of their
fidelity to whatever is written. Here is a Com
mandment “ made so plain that he may run that
readeth it: “Oo ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature." The bind
ing power of this obligation is both in the au
thority and goodness of its Author. He is God,
and lie is Jesus. It is the voice of supreme au
ihority and the voice of love. Are we not afraid
to disobey God? Are we not ashamed to disobey
Him who loved us, and who gave Himself for us?
Who disregards this obligation is both daring and
heartless. He is worse than those who broke
the bond of love, for he breaks the two-fold bond
of law and love 1 Obligation, you know, is from
the Latin, oblige, to bind ; and it means the bond
or tie of a thing. Hence, we are bound, tied to
the heathen, and that by the two-fold cord of
law and love! If we disobey, our consciences
must not only hear the mutterings of Sinai, but
our hearts feel the reproof of abused love. The ob
ligation is on our consciences and hearts—a force
to drive the one, and a power to constrain the
other. Will it not be obeyed ?
(2.) The high object 'in the obligation. The
object is to publish salvation to a lost race. It is
to do good—the highest, greatest good. The obli
gation looks to emancipation from sin, and pro
motion to the liberty of the children of God
looks to the rescue of souls sinking down into the
darkness and misery of unending death ! To bear
the glad tidings of salvation to a fallen world is
the loftiest object known. There should be an
irresistible incentive in the greatness of the object
—in the grandeur if the mission \ f All earthly
objects are trifling in comparison with this. The
value of the soul—the life or death of the immor
tal spirit—its happiness or misery forever ; these
are the momentous questions involved in this ob
ject. And the heavenly fame of shining as the
stars forever and evec, is the reward of the work.
They should move us.
Asa part of the high object in this obligation,
we may notice the extent of the field. Not Judea,
nor Samaria, but “ the world is the field and
not the Jews, nor our own countrymen, hut
“ every creature,” are the hearers. None are ex
cluded—none excepted. The language is unlim
ited. “ Beginning at Jerusalem,” was right, as
the Jews must he without excuse, and unavoida
ble, as the apostles were to remain there until
“ endued with power from on high.” This inci
dent has given rise to opposition to, and neglect
of, foreign missions, or the unlimited obligation of
the commission. If the primitive Christians, and
those who came after them, had been some mis
sionaries only, perhaps we would now be heathen.
This over-fondness for home is opposed to the very
principle by which we have obtained the precious
faith of the gospel—a principle which originated
in heaven, farther away than any heathen land,
and which has prompted in the publication of the
gospel in every age. We should begin at home,
but not stay there ; and our beginning there does
not make it a first duty in the sense of implying
a secondary one in that abroad. It is the same
duty, beginning at home, starting there, and end
ing w ith the periphery of earth. It is a false home
duty which neglects that abroad. Indeed, it is a
question whether we have truly begun at home—
that is, in the spirit of this unlimited duty, if we
go no farther. There is an evident error in this
home monoply. It would reverse the law of “ in
creasing by scattering,” and have it increasing by
withholding; and it would ignore the reflex
benefits of Christianity—holding that prosperity
comes of staying at home. We read, “ there is
that scattereth, and yet increaseth." “ The lib
eral soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth
shall be watered also himself.” It opposes the
experience of our hearts. When we are lifeless
and joyless, and bestow abundant attentions on
our hearts, we feel no better. We quit our hearts
—go to see and minister to some neighbor ; and
going from home, quitting our hearts to minister
to others, is attended, strangely, with joy and
happiness, the very things for which we had been
laboring! Andrew Fuller relates that he had
been laboring to comfort his people, but in vain.
His mind was directed -to the heathen in India.
They met and prayed for them, and contributed
to sustain a mission among them. They all be
came happy. God blessed them in their efforts to
be a blessing. They prospered by going out of
themselves—by going front home. This is a law
of religion. It is peculiar. It works backwards,
by egression, going out. According to this law,
if w-e are very needy at home, and will send the
gospel abroad, that need will be supplied by re
flex blessings. It is by going abroad, often, that
“the heathen at our own doors” are thinned ; and
it is by staying at home that they thicken. And
finally we notice
(3) The vast responsibility of the obligation. It
brings the heathen on us ! How overwhelming
and alarming the charge! We have seen that
there is responsibility in brotherhood ; but here
is the high and augmented responsibility imposed
by a direct and special commission. The heathen
are on us! 600,000,000 perishing souls are an
the people of God ! No wonder that the primitive
Christians penetrated the nations, “ as the light
ning cometh out of the east and 3hineth even unto
the west,” and “preached the gospel in all the
world.” They felt the fearfulness of the charge
imposed, and would be “ pure from the blood of
all men.” Do we feel the heathen on us? Alas !
are we guiltless of their blood ? Whether we feel
them or not, they aro on us in the obligation to
furnish them the gospel, and we cannot escape it.
If we take the wings of the morning, they pursue
us; above or beneath they follow us— everywhere
the heathen are on us !■ Christ has laid them
there. And all our objections, pleas, argujngs,
but betray that we feel the heathen, and they
hurt us,
Here is an obligation whose bond is in the high
est authority and love, whose object is the highest
on earth, apd whose responsibility is the most
fearful; and will it not be performed?
IV. We have considered the three leading causes
which are to contribute to the universal publica
tion of the gospel—its nature, the demand of the
world for it, and our obligation to make it known.
Here is a trinity of efficient causes in the unity of
the great law of the commission. This law is none
other than the law of benevolence, which is the
law of Christianity—founded as well in the nature
of religion and claims of misery as in the command
of Christ. This law is peculiarly efficient and
fitted to its end. If a law he congenial, its object
beneficial and its maker good, what can hinder its
operation ? In the great enactment of the com
mission, preaching the gospel to every creature is
a law, whose truth we love, whose object is the
greatest blessing, and whose Author is the best
being—Christ, who died. If it be thus congenial,
made to save and made by the Saviour, will it not
be obeyed ? And it is peculiarly fitted. If there
was reluctance on the part of the truth, and the
hearts possessing it, and no need on the part of
those for whom it is designed, it might be difficult
to spread it But the gospel is an anxious, irre
pressible truth—it wants to go ; and the nations
are in perishing need : therefore, the law of the
Commission but binds the anxious news to go, the
ready tongue to speak—but binds the willing
hand to appealing need.
We may notice in the causes considered, a triple
motive —obedience to truth, obedience to hu
manity, obedience to God. It is high in any as
pect. A glorious truth demands utterance; a
ruined race calls for help ; Christ, the I,ord, com
mands us to “ Go.” By inaction, we suppress a
stirring truth, disregard the appeals of the lost,
and violate the law of Christ. We are guilty of
most unnatural stupidity, the highest inhumanity
and the most shameful disobedience! Will it
thus be ?
In conclusion, let us remember, brethren, that
Christ is in no wise dependent upon us ; and let
us remember that the duty imposed upon us is no
servile work. The Lord did not, and does not
now, necessarily need us. He could command
legions of angels to make His glory known ; but in
great goodness, as one of the blessings of Chris
tianity, He has committed the work to us. It is
an unspeakable honor, a blessed privilege! O,
how, in this view, can any man be an anti-mis
sionary ? He declines, nay, opposes an exalted
honor, a divine privilege! And we may remember,
for our encouragement, and as conformatory to
what has been said, that the gospel is spreading
over the world. The good news is diffusing, the
call of the heathen is being heard, the obligation
of the commission is being obeyed, and the way
is opening. The walls of China are fallen, and
the prohibitions of Catholic Spain are gone ; the
isles of the sea are waiting. Let us be encour
aged. Here, we should have that charity which
“ hopeth all things.” For ages the work of mis
sions languished—it seemed to go out with the
degenerate times; but it did not die, for it could
not; but now, for a century, it has been putting
forth the feeble efforts of convalescence, and these
are to give place to the exertions of restored
healthfulness, and the churches of the saints fully
recovered to their “ first love,” burdened with the
souls of perishing millions, lifting their cries to
God and patting forth all their energies, will fill
the earth with the joy ful news of salvation.
We have considered this subject in the light of
our duty only. This is our business. The de
crees are not in the commission. And the agency
of the Holy Spirit, essential and all-important, has
not been excepted to, since the promise of it is
“always, even unto the end.”
A Lily’s Word.
My delicate lily,—
Blossom of fragrant snow,
Breathing on me trom the garden,—
How does your beauty grow ?
Tell me what blessings the kind heavens give I
How do you find it so sweet to live 1
“ One loving smile of the sun
Charms me out of the mould ;
One tender tear ot the rain
Makes my full heart unfold.
Welcome whatever the kind heavens give,
And you shall find it as sweet to live.”
Lucy Larcom.
Downfall of Napoleon.
“ Here he exalts neglected worms
To sceptres and a crown ;
Anon the following page he turns,
And treads the monarch down.”
The view which this stanza presents of
God’s providential government, has been sig
nally verified in the history of Louis Napo»
Icon. The poverty and exile of his early
life, rendered it extremely improbable that
his vision of one day ruling over France,
would ever be realized. This improbability
was greatly.increased by the foolish attempts
which he made in 1836 and 1840, to enter
France and hoist the Napoleonic standard,
with the lmpe that the French people would
rally around it. Each of these attempts
placed him, as a prisoner, in the power of
Louis Philippe, who, in the first instance, in
flicted no punishment whatever, and regarded
the folly and weakness of the attempt as
proof that no danger was to be apprehended
from its author. In the second instance, the
King brought him to trial, which resulted in
his condemnation to imprisonment for life.
After six years’ confinement in prison, he
made his escape in the disguise of a workman,
and again left France, with very little pros
pect of ever being permitted to return, even
to the enjoyment of liberty, much less to the
exercise of imperial power. Yet God soon
raised this impotent worm to the throne, and
for twenty years he acted a prominent part
in the affairs of Europe, and took position
among its most powerful monarchs. But
how suddenly has he fallen ! God has trod
den the monarch down.
While we contemplate with admiration,
the strange vicissitudes that mark the career
of Louis Napoleon, we are bound to recog
nize the hand of God in them, and to believe
that they accomplish some wise purpose of
the Supreme Ruler. God’s providence un
folds the book of His decrees, and
Each opening leaf, and every stroke,
Fulfills some deep design.
We may fail to understand the purpose ; of God,
but when lie has predicted an end to which
events appear to tend, we seem authorized to
conclude that the events have been designed
for the accomplishment of this end. The
overthrow of the Papal power has been pre
dicted, and there is very little doubt that the
vial of wrath which was to fall on the seat of
the beast, (Rev. xvi: 10,11,) has been poured
out, rendering the occupancy of his throne by
the Roman Pontiff, nearly impossible. The
predicted duration of the Papal power was
to be 1200 prophetical days, or 42 months, or
3| years, “a time, times, and half a time.”
Now, 1260 days are equivalent to 3J years,
only when these years are computed at 360
days each, or 12 months of 30 days each.
Reckoning each prophetical day to be a year
of 360 days, the 1260 days make 1242 calen
dar years, and reckoning from A .1). 606,
when the hishop of Rome was declared uni
versal bishop, his overthrow w’as to be ex
pected in 1848, the very year in which Pius
the. Ninth was driven from his throne by
popular insurrection, but was replaced by
French soldiers under the command of Louis
Napoleon. Prom that time, though the rule
in Rome has been Papal in form, the ruling
power has resided, not in the Pope, but in
the French Emperor. Though God had de
creed the destruction of the Canaanites, yet
He postponed the fulfillment of his purpose
until the iniquity of the Amorites was full.
So He raised up LouL Napoleon to prop the
throne of the Pope until he consummated his
impiety by assuming the divine attribute of
infallibility. This filled up the measure of his
iniquity, and God suddenly broke the prop
which, for twenty-two years, had held him up,
by treading down the monarch who was wil
ling to thwart the Divine purpose. If any
other European monarch attempt to prolong
the Papal power, we may expect a like ruin
to befall him ; for the time will come when
“ ihe Kmgs of the earth shall hate whore, and
burn her flesh with fire.”
The reign of L,ouis Napoleon demonstrates
the tendency of the times towards popular
government. Both he and his uncle were
raised to power by the voice of the people;
and both avowed republican principles in the
outset of their career. The sovereigns of
Europe who claimed to be legitimate, were
much opposed to the reign of the first Napo
leon; and, after his downfall, they formed
WHOLE NO. 2509.
the Holy Alliance, to prevent such worms
from being exalted to power. But, in spite
of their counsels, God exalted the second Na
poleon, and the fact that less opposition to
him was manifested, demonstrates the in
creased tendency of the times towards popu
lar government. But we may learn also,
from the history of both these monarchs, the
danger to which popular government is liable.
Both these favorites of the people trampled
republican principles under foot, when they
grasped imperial power; and the men who
elevated them to power, proved themselves
unfit for republican government. To this
cause a large part of the disasters which have
afflicted Europe since the year 1792, may be
attributed. But, however unfit the masses
of mankind may be for exercising governing
power, the tendency of the age is towards
universal suffrage. This tendency, like some
invisible influence wafted on the wings of the
wind, spreads from nation to nation, and it
may be the last plague, mentioned in Rev.
xvi: 17, 18, which be.ing poured out on the
air, is to be followed by an earthquake,
” such as has not been since men were upon
the earth.” This will upheave the lower
strata of society, place servants above their
masters, and peasants above the nobles whom
they have hitherto reverenced. Earthquakes
are attended with disasters, and these convul
sions in human society will be attended with
woes inconceivable. But it is our comfort
that God reigns, and that this great plague
will be the last- of the seven last plagues.
God will not only destroy Antichrist, but lie
will gather the shattered fragments of society,
restore all to order, and establish the reign
of peace and righteousness in the earth.
D.
Work.
Like ceral msec's multitudinous,
The minutes are whereof our life is made.
They build it up as in the deep blue shade.
It grows, it eomes to light, and then, and thus,
For both there is an end. The populous
Sea blossoms close, our minutes that have paid
Life’s debt of work are spent; the work is laid
Before their feet that shall come after us,
We may not stay to watch if it will speed
The bard if on some luter’s strings his song
Live sweetly yet; the hero if his star
l)oth shine. Work is its own best earthly meed,
Else have we none more than the sea-born throng
Who wrought those marvellous iles that bloom afar.
A Frank Confession.
At a meeting of the (Methodist) Providence
Distinct Ministerial Association, a few months
since, Rev. M. J. Talbot, President, in an ad
dress on “ the Necessity of Methodism as a
District Organization,” said : There is noth
ing in Methodism of which we can say, “The
Bible requires it, and it is found nowhere
else.” Hence the Methodist church suffers
loss. The itinerancy, though regarded as
valuable, has not Scriptural sanction and re
quirement claimed for it.
Immersion.— The New York Tribune con
tains a very frank avowal on the subject of
baptism, by JJev. James Christal, rector of
Murray llill Episcopal church, N. Y. The
Tribune reports him as saying, in a sermon,
that “ the truth was as clear as the sunlight
of heaven itself, that immersion had been, up
i to the tenth or twelfth century, the normal
mode of baptism. There was not during all
that period a single man who advocated any
other mode of baptism, It was plain to him
that attention was direciing to the subject,
and it was yet possible that immersion would
be the recognized form. Immersion was
common in England until the sixteenth cen
tury. The cathedrals of Europe formerly
had baptisteries and used them, and threo of
them are now in use in the cathedrals at
Rome, Verona and Florence.” There are
others besides Mr. Christal who not only
think it possible that immersion will yet be
come the recognized form, but jorobabte and
certain.
The Baptism of Tables.— How often have
we been told by anti iminersionists that hap
tizo cannot usually mean to immerse, because
it is said that,the Jews baptized their tables,
(Mark vii: 4,) and as the tables were large
couches uaoii which they reclined at meals, it
is not likely they subjected these to immer
sion. But even this poor shelter has failed
them, and they must now take the merciless
peltings of Baptist facts in the open plain.
Botli the Vatican and Sinaitic manuscripts,
the oldest copies of the New Testament ex
tant, omit the oft-quoted words, “ and of
cables.” The difficulty was never regarded
as at all formidable by Baptists, because noth
ing is impossible with superstition even to the
sprinkling of a little water on an unconscious
infant as a means of regenerating his soul.
Truth is mighty and will prevail.
Deeds of Love.
The snow will melt from the mountain,
The fairest flower will fade ;
The crystal stream leave the fountain,
The brightest hour have shade.
But the deed of love is ever
By God plainly written on high,
On the Rock of Life forever—
To be read by every eye.
“ The Battisan Ordinance.” —A new
ordinance, you say. Not at all, dear reader ;
it is one with which you are very familiar,
though under a different name. Let us ex
plain. There is a Mr. Marks, an English
clergyman, who conducts a school in Bur
mah, and whenever, in his Burmese services,
the ordinance of baptism is mentioned, he
transfers instead of translating the original
word. Battisan is the Burmese, as baptize is
the Engliisn form of baplizo. When it is re
membered that in Dr. Judson’s excellent Bur
man Bible the word was already correctly
translated, there existed no reason for Mr.
Mark’s innovation. But prejudice blinds the
eyes of even good men, so that tradition takes
the place of the commandment of God.
An Example. Bishop Pierce, of the
Southern Methodist church, communicates
the following account of a Georgia Metho
dist to the Southern Christian Advocate: He
is singularly afflicted by a nervous contrac
tion which curves the spinal column about the
neck, and prevents the lifting up of his head.
The pain is some times distressing, the disa
bility seems permanent. Disqualified for
business, he has turned the plantation over to
one of his sons, but, too industrious to be
idle, and loving the church too well to be con
tent with nothing to give, lie cultivates :u>
acre or more of cotton with his own hands,
and loves to tell in /armor’s phrase how
“ clean" it is. This lie culls his gospel patch .
If all our people felt thus, how'fnll the mis
sionary treasury, how comfortable the preach
ers !
Ministerial Liberality. The Liberal
Christian says : “ We never knew a minister
who did not, in proportion to his means, give
more money every year for religious pur
poses than was given by the wealthiest of his
parishioners.”
Unitv. —The Episcopal boast of the Unity
of the Church, should make the man who ut
ters it, blush crimson. The Presbyterian says
“The Episcopalians now have associations or
ganized to represent every shade of opinion.
The Latimer Association represents the Re
visionists, the Church Union the Ritualists,
the Evangelical Catholic Union the Moderate
Low church party, and the Conservative
Church Union the Moderate High-church,
men.”