Newspaper Page Text
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Qeorgia JWpit.
THANKSGIVING SERMON.
PREACHED BY
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K/ x &
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Wy wi»r L
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Eld. J. L UNDERWOOD at the union
at Cuthbert, (in., and published 1
“If the son therefore shall make you free,
ye hall be free Indeed.” John »:IM.
'Htand fast therefore In t h« liberty w here
with Christ hath made us free.’’ Ga1.5:1.
Say, "Thank you,” Johnnie. Mary,
Hay to the gentleman, ”1 ant much ob
liged to yon." That’s about the first
iesetvn we teach our children Even in
declining a proffered favor the French
people bow a graceful ■Merci," and
the Germans * hearty “Ich Danke."
And even we rough Anglo Saxons, in
blarting out our abrupt "No, follow
it with “I thank you.” Such little
things show how deep and universalis
the i*w of thankfulness in human con
science and hum in life. When we turn
to higher and holier teachings than con
s. irnre we find Thank offerings the rit
nal prescribed by Israel’s lawgiver ami
“tn everything givethanks” the injunc
tion of the world's apostle. Thanks
igiving resounds from the shores of the
Red Sea to the temple on Mt. Zion
Moses and Miriam, Barak and Deborah,
.Tael and Hannah. David and Solomon,
Isaiah and Daniel all sing the grand
old heart song “Oh praise the Lord
for his goodness." The refrain of the
i >ld Testament is taken up by the bless
0,l Jesus himself, whosy tender “ I
thank thee, oh Fat her'' is heard alike
tn his busy work and midnight prayer
Thanksgiving was not choked by
Gethsemane’s groans, nor smothered by
the prison walls of Philippi. The
music of heaven will be the thanks
giving song of the redeemed ami of an
?fels: Blessing and glory ami wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power
and might be unto our God forever ami
ever " Thankfulness is earth's holiest
impulse and heaven's highest worship,
while nnthankfnlness likens men to the
swine that eat the acorns and never lift
an eye to the tree from which they
fall.
1 To day we must record our bless
ings and measure our privileges If we
look only to small things, our gratitude
will besmall If we prize only materi
al things our thanksgiving will be but
the whinny of the horse or the chirping
■of the birds We must remember that
we are men. with men s capacities and
men’s responsibilities; mens strength
and men's frailties, men, whose oppor
tunity is time, whose destiny is eterni
ty men. the keepers of their brothers
and the servants of a God We must
rise higher in our thoughts than the
corn in our barns There is something
more beneficient than railroads and
factories; something nobler than the
schools in our groves or the colleges on
our hilltops, something greater than
just men to make our laws, wise men to
interpret them, or strong men to execute
them
There is a condition in the affairs of
snezi that makes them happy. In so
ciety there is a great principle that
makes man a full man. That eondi
t ion is life under a government found
vd on the consent of the governed and
administered for their welfare That
(government is democracy; and that
principle is liberty. The great fact
which fills our heirts to-day with un
speakable joy is that we are freemen;
that ours is a government of the peo
ple. by the people and for the people.
While men are everywhere subject to
th* eternal and blessed divine law of
right and wrong, we are, in this conn ;
try, as free as men can ever hope to be J
t his side of Paradise. Under the Mag i
m Charta. the Bill of Rights and the
common law of our English race, and
the state and federal constitutions of
America, we have a liberty guaran
teed which transcends all earthly bless
ings, and heightens all earthly joys. It
is liberty which gives us pride in the
past, confidence in the present and hope
Ifor the future. Liberty makes our
granaries our own. home a castle and
the fireside a sanctuary. Liberty builds
school houses and opens our churches,
liberty is the wheel of civilization, the
handmaid of art and the friend of re
ligion. It makes wealth possible and
poverty tolerable Without it time is
misery, eternity is hell. To appreciate
liberty in the present, one must see
w iat it has done in the past A histo
rian has said that "it is only in an at
mosphere of freedom that the human
mind can expand and that progress is
p ssible.” and true are the words of the
lamented Hugh L. Legare that It
m ght be asked triumphantly what
land has ever been visited with the in |
fluences of liberty that has not flour !
is ed like the spring? What people
has ever worshipped at the altar with
on kindling with a loftier spirit and
putting forth more noble energies?" i
Little Greece, with her great people. *
has for over two thousand years been 1
the property of the civilized world. Her ■
rich legacy finds claimants in every age ■
and clime Was it her great glory to :
be a monarchy under Philip and Alex- I
under and conquer the world? No. Is !
it monarchical Sparta that we study i
and love as the benefactor of the human
race? No It was Athens that made
Greece great. It was democracy that ;
made Athens great. Athens was the ;
soul of Greece. Liberty was the soul j
of Athens. It was democratic Athens I
that produced the heroes who hurled i
Lack the millions of Persia across the I
Thanksgiving Service, on Nov. 28, 115,
>y request of those who heard it.
Hellespont and saved Europe from the
despotism and darkness of Asia. It
was Athens that made Marathon, Sal
anus Plataea and Mycale victories of
the world's freedom. It was free Ath
ens that gave the world its models;
Pericles in statesmanship, Socrates and
Plato in philosophy. Thucydides in his
lory, Demosthenes in eloqnen ’e; that
taught all ages architecture and sculpt
ure, and that gave the world s scholar
ship a language and text book for all
time. And. alas. it. was monarchy
that made this garden of greatness a
Sahara
It was democracy that made the
greatness and glory of Rome. It dates
from the election of a counsul for the
first time by the votes of the plebeians.
Whatasad contrast between the pros
parity of her people in the days of
('incinnatus and her decline under the
emperors It was liberty which gave
her people the energy of character to
rule the world and rule it well It was
political and religious slavery that made
Rome the “Niobe of Nations."
In the middle ages freedom male the
city republics of Venice. Genoa and
others, under the Lombard League, the
mistresses of the world's trade; and
later on gave the (lerman free cities of
the Hauceatis League, that commer
cial strength which they have retained
to this day. It was liberty under the
Dutch Republic which gave little Hol
land her great naval and commercial
prestige With only part ill freedom
the Reformation awoke Europe from
the darkness and death of centuries.
Despotic Spain, once great in her trans
cendent advantages, has been totally
eclipsed by England with her people
made strong by almost democratic free
dom. For more than a century our
own republic has been the wonder and
light of the world, and today she
stands in prosperity and blessings to
mankind foremost among the nations
To liberty she owes it all.
11 But my hearers, are we, on
Thanksgiving day. to make the church
a pantheon of republics? Shall we
simply bring garlands to the shrines of
heroes ami lay our offerings on their
altars and erv. "These be thy gods, oh
Israeli
All honor to Brutus ami Derides and
Hampden ami Sydney ami Roger Wil
barns and Washington and Jefferson;
but a greater than these is here A
greater benefactor than them all is in
history Many of the traditions and
superstitions of Europe still cling to the
American mind. Among these is the
do-trine of “the divine right of Kings."
It is the shibboleth of fossil monarchy.
It is the monster lie of history, the
arch humbug of politics. The coins of
j Europe, with the image of the King.
; bears thesupers.-ription: Zi’i.r Ihigratia.
Kingcraft and priestcraft have taught
I the world that Almighty God has de
creed monarchy and chartered thrones;
that Kings are his vicegerents and his
anointed favorites. With this colossal
slander against the God of Heaven in
their minds men are accustomed to
think that republics are an accident;
that they exist in spite of the Deity;
that at best he permits an order of
events from which men have wrought
liberty for the people; that the Bible
calls for monarchy, and heathen Greece
and Rome discovered democracy, in
short that God sets up Kings and men
alone are to be praised for republics.
No wonder that political champions of
human rights.like Tom Paine.repudiates
such a God. No wonder that the
French Revolutionists, when they
guillotined their Kings, blasphemed
their God. Who can wonder that the
democrats of Europe are infidels almost
to a man? If I believed that God was
the power behind the wicked thrones of
Europe and Asia, and that he hal set
up kingly priests and prelates to rule
my conscience and control my life, 1
too. like Voltaire, would have been an
infidel. If. like many of you. perhaps.
I believed that 1 owe my freedom to
man. to-day I would make Roger Wil
liams a household god and pay my de
votionsat Mt. Vernon and Monticello.
But truth is truth, history is history.
Swinton, in the text book of your col
leges, says; "The Greeks were the first
to teach real freedom." Swinton should
read his Bible. In it is contained the
most authentic history in the world.
Men believe it. but they let kings and
priests tell them what is in it. Study it,
my countrymen: read it ye.nations and
be free. It brings no scepter for a king
in State: no’beretta for a cardinal, no
tiara for a pope. There is not a scin
tilla of monarchy or hiarchy in it. It
comes to the people from the people s
God or Jesus Christ the loving Son of
Man. is its alpha and omega. Os him
Moses and the prophets wrote: for him
apostles spoke and died. He is the em
bodiment of God s will, the express
image of his person. Christ is the Di
vine Executive in this world. In the
beginning he was the word and the
word was with God and the word was
God By him all things were made and
without hi tn nothing was made that
was made All things are delivered of
the Father into his hands. The Old
Testament and the New Testament are
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX : THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1896
all one will of God in Christ. And the
great fact of facts is that God in Christ
sets men free That freedom is civil
liberty, religious liberty and soul lib
erty.
1. Greece was not the first to teach
men freedom Seven hundred years
before the democratic commonwealth
of Athens under Clisthenes, and eight
centuries before the common people of
Rome elected their own consul Lucias
Sentus, there was a memorable democ
racy on the Asiatic shore of the Medi
teraneaif. The primitive Israelites had,
in Canaan, popular home rule and tribal
or. as we say no w, State Confederation
for common defense. They chose their
own magistrates and governed them
selves for two hundred years. For his
own great pleasure, of grace to the
word, the Almighty delivered this peo
ple from the bondage of Egypt and
planted them in the center of the na
tions to be his witness and a light to all
people and all times. If he had thought
monarchy best he certainly would have
given it to his own people, who showed,
by their weakness in the wilderness,
that if any people ever needed a King,
it was the emancipated sons of Jacob.
He gave them his will through Moses,
and his orders were that they should
choose their ow n magistrates and govern
themselves There was democracy free
and simple: and democricy given to the
world with the seal of Jehovah.
< >h, but you say “Israel was a theocra
cy." Who said so? Take care my peo
pie In the use of that word “theocra
cy.’’ you have another humbug of the
Statecraft ami Churchcraft of Europe.
Royal states and state churches, man
made ecclesiastical. Systems and
priest born hierarchies fall back on
Israel's theocracy to justify their usur
pations, or to blot out their creeds and
give color to their practices.
()h tear away the mountains of rub
bish piled up by so-called theologians
and let the world see God in his divine
simplicity.
There was no machinery in God'sthe
ocracy It was just as simple as Is
rael’s democracy. God’s theocracy or
dained Israel's democracy. He gave
his will, his law. through Moses and
the prophets. The religion of Israel
was atheocia -y. The civil government
of Israel was a democracy. So should
it be with all people in all ages There
is room for theocracy everywhere and
God leaves room for tyrany nowhere
See how the God of Heaven sets his
seal of blessing upon this primitive de
mocracy. It was as a free people that
Israel saw her true happiness and her
greatest joy. It was then that her peo
ple rose above the weakness of Egyptian
slaves to the true manhood of freemen.
It was then they hail strength “to do
that which was right ever man in his
own eyes ' and drive out the idolatrous
nations who had taken possession of the
land of Abraham. It was then she
gave the world far greater blessings
than ever came from Greece or Rome
Then she gave the world the great Code
of universal law, teaching right and
wrong ami the eternal principlesof per
sonal and civil rights which are the
foundation of all just government.
Then she taught the world living truth,
justice, righteousness, mercy and judg
ment. Greece taught the world to
think; Rome taught the world how to
govern. Israel taught the world b >w to
live. Greece makes man w - . Rome
makes him strong; Israel makes him
good. Here was by far the purest so
ciety of ancient times. A nation is
only great when it is good A people is
only good when its families are good
Are you a husband, a wife, a father, a
mother, a son. a daughter? Oh, come
to day and thank God for this wonder
fill people who taught the world the
dignity of marriage; who showed the
world how to keep children in subjec
tion and taught children to honor
father and mother. God made this
world for the family, and while 1 love
Greece and Rome, I love Israel more.
Greece exalted the pen; Rome elevated
the forum, but Israel sanctified home.
If this poor world ever had an Arcadia,
it was democritic Israel. Was she not
infinitely greater then than when her
armies even under King David began to
march forth to conquer surrounding
people? Is France less great to day in
her peace work for her own people than
when dazzling Europe under Louis or
crushing it under Bonapart? No, my
brethren, righteousness exalteth ana
tion ' and God's richest blessings fell
upon this great people in the days of
their freedom.
Now hear God's protest against mon
archy. Israel, in her degeneracy, grew
weary of the simplicity and responsi
bility of freedom and would have a
king, so that they could be “like other
nations." Read the book of Samuel
Hear God say to his prophet: "They
hive not rejected you but have reje -ted
me " Hear his fearful warning against
the evils they were to expect un era
monarchy, and learn that God made
men democrats and they made them
selves monarchists. God gave freedom
and men threw it away. Men sing.
“God save the king!" Jehovah cries:
“Long live the people!" But you say
God selected the first two kings and had
his prophet to anoint them So he did.
and the record is that he did it in mercy
to his foolish people. He knew that a
people so childish as to desire a king,
were too weak to select one. The Al
mighty’s fixed an eternal anathema on
Israel's monarchy. Saul led a life of
misery and remorse. Even David a
man after God's own heart, as a king
was perpetually harassed by foes within
and without, chased among the caves
in his youth and in his old age driven
from his throne by a rebel son. Solo
mon. in all his glory on the throne, was
a weakling in his family, and under his
son his kingdom was forever rent in
twain, ten tribes to be utterly carried
into Assyrian captivity and forever lost;
and Judah and Benjamin hanging their
prison harps on the willows of Babylon,
at last restored to their land to be a
satrap of Persia or a province of Rome.
But the gift of Old Testament lessons
and Old Testament providences were
not the only direct work of God in be
half of civil liberty. He hallowed it in
the person of his Sou. Jesus Christ.
The devil offered him all the kingdoms
of the world His own people proposed
to make him King. His best followers
expected it. But no. He came only to
live and die for his people. Ciesar re
fused the crown thrice offered on the
Lupercal. Washington was not wil
ling to take a crown from America.
But a greater than Civsar or Washing
ton is here.
Then throw the mummy of “the di
vine rights of kings " into the ocean,
and tell of the divine right of the peo
ple. Blot out the lie of ages, ’ ‘Rex Dei
gratia ” and write Populus Dei gratia.
Honor Israel as the world’s first free
people and praise Israel's God for it all.
2. But there is something higher than
civil liberty. There is a natural right
more sacred than Habeas Corpus, trial
by jury or representation in the govern
ment. It is the right to stand before God
and serve and worship him with no
man -to intervene. Religion is abso
lutely God’s prerogative. The State,
the body polities, has the right of sup
port from its members. It has a right
to express mutual protection between
man and man A man's duty to God it
can never justly touch Duty to man
it one thing; duty to God another. The
State is one thing, the church another.
Unite them and you spoil both. A
church-state is tyranny. A state
church is a harlot.' HAre in our own
free and happy country we see the
State nothing but a State, and the world
has never seen a more manly and more
beneficient state. Here we have the
church, nothing but the church, and the
world has never seen a purer or more
blessed religion. In the old world,
alas 1 alas ! it has not been thus Cradled
under priestcraft, and schooled under
king craft, even what are called Chris
tian lands, have been taught for more
than fifteen centuries that it is the
State s duty to foster the church, and
the churche s mission to be a part of the
government their thrones claiming the
sanctity of religion, their priests ex
ercising the authority of kings. The
ghostly honors which have flowed from
this unholy union makes the blood run
cold In America the highest joy of
Christian and Jew is that ours is a land
of religious liberty.
But to whom are we indebted for it?
The historians with Bancroft in the
lead point with pride to little Rhode
Island as the first State whose funda
mental law secures perfect religious
freedom. Roger Williams, its founder,
is regarded as its hero The first
amendment to our constitution prohib
its our national government from es
tablishing any religion or abr dging its
free exercise, and the world applauds
these good old people of Virginia who
secured that glorious organic law, which
is the very palladeum of our American
liberty. But there is a greater than
Roger Williams here. It is Roger Wil
liam's master and teacher. Those old
Virginia people had read their Bibles.
They were-the simple followers of Je
sub, who sets bis people free indeed.
God Almighty never did authorize
such a monster-as the union of church
and State. Under Moses there was
none of it. The name of old Moses
has been stolen to cover many a crime
of tyrants, many a fraud of priests.
Moses was, we repeat, simply the law
giverand prophet of God. He claimed
no civil functions. He ordered the peo
ple to govern themselves. He claimed no
priest ly office and discharged no priestly
functions. Aaron and his sons minis
tered at the altars and they had no civ
il authority whatever, and no hierar
chial powers over Israel.
To guard against this very thing of
church and State the Levitei who took
care of the tabernacle were allowed to
own no tribal territory for themselves,
out were wittered among the other
tribes. And when Christ, of whom
Moses wrote, ami of whom he was a
type, came to fulfil all, and to give in
himself as the being promised to Abra
ham in whom all nations shall be
blessed, he proclaims himself the teacher
of religious liberty. “ Render unto
Ca>sar the things that are Ca-sars; and
unto God the things that are God's."
“ My kingdom is not of this world," are
his memorable words. His church was
the assembly of baptized believers, yet
in the world, but chosen out of the
world He and his apostles disclaimed
all interference in State affairs and mat
ters of faith and conscience, they held
that God must be obeyed and not man.
For more than three hundred years
of the Christian era such a thing as the
union of church and State was not
thought of. Amid all of the persecu
tions of those bloody times the pure
churches multiplied and grew in num
bers and in wonderful strength for
good.
But a sad change came. It was no
calamity that the emperor Constantine
became a Christian and put an end to
Christian persecution. But, oh. what
a sad day for true religion, what a sad
day for politics when the emperor
united church and State-! What a sad
day for the world when by royal edict
thecrossof the meek and lowly Jesus
was made the battle Labarum of empe
rors ! Another yet darker day, both
for liberty and religion was when King
Pepin made the bishop of Rome the
ruler of the territory of Ravenna. Then
indeed pure Christianity hid her face
in shame and h.ipe for centuriei hade
the world farewell. Allied with the
pope we see Chirlemange, the son of
this very Pepin, forcing thousands of
Germans and Hungarians -into the
waters of baptism at the point of the
sword oh Christianity! What crimes
have been committed in thy name ’
Church state it Rome and State church
every where have male Europe's rivers
run red with blood and her valleys des
olate with mourning. And oh. for
shame, all this done in the name of
Christ who came to send peace on
earth and good will among men. !! !
What a pity that Luther and Calvin's
reformation, did not reform more '
Vourspmi ker heard m 1860 the eloquent
SchenkeTi of Hiedelberg, in one of the
very pulpits in which Luther preached,
say,” My countrymen, we need another
reformation" Luther's reformation
failed to reform only because Luther
and his collegues knew nothing of or
eared nothing for, the simple religions
liberty with which Jesus set a man free!
Luther crippled the power of the Pope
of Rome, but Lutheranism set up petty
popes on every protestant throne in
Europe, and gave England, as rhe first
pope of her State-church, the adulter
us wifemurderer, Henry tne Eighth
against all this State power in churches
and this «blasphemous church control
in State, the gospel of Jesus is a burn
ing rebuke. Let -the nations learn of
Christ instead of Luther, and they shall
be free
8. Finally, but by no means least,
Jesus Christ gives us soul liberty. In
him not only has the State no right to
control man in religion, but no one else
has; not your father nor your husband,
not even the best man among your
brother Christians, nor any body of
Christians. The religion of Christ is abso
lutely a personal matter between a man
and his God. It is God's covenant ark.
and that man who touches is guilty of
Uzzah’s crime. Christ is man's prophet,
priest and king. Other Christians are
his brethren and fellow servants, and
can lawfully be nothing else. No arch
bishop's place for James and John; no
papel chair for Peter “And he said
unto them. The kings of the Gentiles
exercise lordship over them: and they
that exercise authority upon them are
called benefactors. But ye shall not be
so; but he that is greatest among you.
let him be as the younger and he that is
chief, as he that doth serve.'’ Jesus
Christ with the towel around his loins,
washing the "disciple’s feet, is heavens
eternal protest against spiritual lord
ship.
More than all this, the great gospel of
the Bible to-day is. that through the
atonement Christ has make for sin:
through the resurrection by which that
atonement was declared accepted. Je
sus Christ sets the soul free from the
law and delivers it forever from the do
main of Satan. The soul then is to live
forever in that liberty with which the
Son of God sets it free. Man it) his
natural state is the slave of the prince
of darkness. Christ sets him free and
sets him totally free, and free forever.
Then, brethren, with this Bible in
our hands and Christ, the Savior, of men
and the Son of God, by our side, and in
oar hearts, we are free indeed. Here
we have civil, religious and soal liberty.
Here in this old Bible, we have a mag
na charta of rights not such as the bar-
ons of England wrung from King John
at Runnymede, but liberties given us in
the love and grace of a merciful God.
Bartholdi’s statne is American liberty
enlightening the world This Bible is
heaven’s liberty Having the world: The
old Liberty Bell rang out in 1776 inde
pendence for the American colonies
This Bible will ring out through >nt all
time the emancipation of the nations
by Jesus the Son of God ! To him be
glory and honor forever and ever!
Amen!
ASKED AND ANSWERED.
BY C. E. W. DOBBS, D.D.
DeaK Bro. Dobbs:—Please answer
the following questions in your Asked
and Answered column: 3
When a chinch condemns an act of a
brother and afterwards rescinds their
act, has the brother a right to declare
non fellowship with the brother that
made the motion to condemn his act? If
not and he declares non fellowship
with him, does he declare non-fellow
ship with the church? In such a case,
if the brother will not be reconciled,
what ought the church do with him?
If they exclude him can he constitute a
Scriptural church? What ought to be
done with the faction that follows him?
Has a minister, knowing the facts of
the case, a right to constitute them into
a church? S F. A.
We answer the foregoing with some
hesitancy, inasmuch as we know noth
ing of the facts except as intimated in
the questions. The action of the church
in rescinding its previous act of con
demnation should have ended the con
troversy. If the brother feels that he
has cause for grievance against the
member who made the motion, his
proper course would be to proceed in
gospel order;" and, failing tosettlethe
trouble, to bring the offender before the
church. In declaring non fellowship
with the offender he certainly’ does
show he has not full fellowship with
the church. Persistence in refusal to
be “reconciled" proves bad spirit, and
deserves the censure of the church,
though exclusion should not be voted
till every effort has been made by’ the
church to adjust the trouble. Even
then, in the case of a minister, the
church should not exclude except upon
the advice of an impartial council com
posed of trusted ministers who are in
no sense parties to the difficulty. The
faction which follows an excluded min
inter should not be recognized as a
church, except the exclusion was irreg
ular and manifestly so unjust as to lie
condemned by a representative council
of honored ministers. Noone minster
should “constitute them intoa church.”
As a rule all these difficulties could be
settled amicably if the parties were
moved by the Spirit of Christ, and not
by passion and prejudice.
Bro. Index; I have two questions
which I trust you will consider in your
Asked and Answered column;
1. A minister goes into the pulpit and
lays a printed sermon on the Bible, and
preaches the sermon as his jwn, actual
ly using the very illustrations as having
occurred in his own ministry. Is he a
plagiarist? Is he honest?
2 A minister comes into the State as
pastir against whom serious charges
nave been made in a former field What
is the duty of a pastor in the associa
tion who knows of these charges, and
who has evidence that they are true?
VOX.
1. In the first case the minister is un
questionably a plagiarist, and dishon
est in so citing the illustrations. But
one should be very sure of his ground
before he makes such charges against a
minister. The best way would be to
kindly tell the brother of his fault
alone, in a Christian spirit. Let him
know that such action as he is charged
with is regarded as dishonest by his
church. In this particular case our
correspondent writes that a deacon, a
prominent lawyer in the church de
tected the fraud. But it may be that
the pastor merely used parts of the ser
mon. and gave the illustrations as used
by Mr. Spurgeon, whose printed ser
mon it was. Our experience has taught
us that even intelligent hearers are not
always correct in their reports of ser
mons they hear, or are supposed to have
heard!
2. In this case still greater care
should be exercised to be fully assured
as to the facts before doing or saying
anything The devil does not let many
ministers escape “charges" from evil
minded ones The charges may be ab
solutely false. If. on the other hand,
they are known to be true, and the min
ister in questi m is really an unworthy
man. the duty of his fellow pastors is
not wholly clear He who ventures to
interfere will probably receive only
blame for his pains. If the man is able
and popular the church will probably
stand by him and refuse to believe the
charges. Here. Joo. our experience
comes to our aid in answering this
question. We have found that men
professedly honest (even ministers) will
not see positive proof of guilt when
they do not wish to see' As in the oth
er case, if any pastor feels burdened
with his responsibility in the matter,
let him go, first of all personally to the
guilty man and candidly tell him of
hissin. and that his character is known
If the accused is really a good man all
can be settled satisfactorily; if he is a
bad man a wolf in sheep's clothing
the visiting brother will in all proba
bility have a first class row on his
hands, in which he will get neither
thanks nor glory. Better do your own
work faithfully, and leave the guilty
one to the church and his own com
munity.
Dr. Dobhs: I have seen several
flings in the Asked and Answered col
umn against the doctrine of perfection.
Are you not afraid of ridiculing the
very word of Jesus? See Matt. 5:48.
Surely Christ is able to keep us from
sinning. s. c. M.
Certainly there has been no inten
tional disrespect toward any sincere
child of God in anything we have writ
ten concerning the “doctrine of perfec
tion." No “flings" have appeared that
we can recall. As to our Lord's word
cited by our correspondent we will let
the late Dr. John A. Broadus speak:
“The term rendered perfect is used in
a variety of connections, and its precise
meaning must always be determined
by the particular connection. Some
times it is simply .’complete.' without
any moral element. Heb. 9:11, and per
haps James 1:17. In other cases it
means complete in growth of body or
mind, ‘full-grown' (1 Cor. 14:20; Eph.
4:13; Heb 5:14; 6:1; 1 Cor, 2:6). In yet
others, complete morally, as Matt. 19:21;
Col. 1:28; 4:12; James 1:4.25; 3:2. And
there are passages in which it seems to
mean complete in both knowledge and
moral excellence, as Phil. 3:15, and per
haps 1 Cor. 13:10. Here (Matt. 5:48) it
is moral perfection in general, but with
specific reference to love—i. e. not loving
friends only, wnich would be an imper
fect love, but loving enemies also, as our
Heavenly father does. * * * In all
things, love included, we ought to be
perfect, even as our Heavenly Father
is—to be like him; and so prove our
selves to be his children. Our own
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minds demand a perfect standard, such
as the divine nature presents; and how
ever far we may actually fall short of
attaining it, yet he who is cont< nl with
coming short gives no evidence that he
is a child of God.”
Again: “1. We should icix/i to be per
feet and pained with our imperfec
tions 2. We should try to be perfect
not disheartened by past failures. 3.
We may hope to be perfect- as we pass
into the perfect world. "
Now we heartily endorse every word
of what this great and good Baptist here
says. Still neither he nor we ever sup
posed any poor mortal ever did attain
to such absolute perfection as charac
terizes the Heavenly Father. If any
“child of God" claimed such perfection
we respectfully beg the privilege of
considerably discounting the claim.
And to do so is not to "ridicule the
word of Jesus." In a worl we believe
earth has known only one "perfect"
man only the one who was “without
sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). If any
Christian now thinks he has attained a
like perfection, we do not envy him his
conception of his moral state. Rather
we pity the weakness which can be so
self righteous. As to the ability of
Christ to keep us from sin, the question
really has no place in the discussion.
Christ keeps us in accordance with his
law of grace That demands the sin
cere and implicit trust of our souls.
Just so far as we do thus trust h<> keeps
us. But, alas, we are conscious that
our sincerest trust is not absolutely per
fect. Let us rejoice that the day com
eth when the saved soul shall rise above
these environments and weakness and
see him whom we love with unclouded
vision. Then we shall be like him con
formed to his own perfect image. (Rom.
8:29; 1 John 3:2).
Dear Bro. Dobbs Is there a sen
tence in the Bible that says: "When
you are in Rome do as Rome does?’
Pleass answer the above questions in
your Asked and Answered column. By
doing so you will do me a favor.
C. A. C.
Oh no, dear brother. We cannot tell
how the old law origniated. Paul said:
“I become all things to all men that I
might by all means save some ’ (1 Cor.
9:22). Butthat was a very different ex
pression from the worldly compromis
ing saying referred to.
“The Commou People,’
As Araham Lincoln called them,
do not care to argue about their
ailments. What they want is a
medicine that will cure ■ them.
The simple, honest statement, ‘T
know that Hood's Sarsaparilla
cured me,” is the best argument
in favor of this medicine, and
this is what many thousands vol
untarily say.
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BY L. L. V.
That there are members of the church
of Rome who are loyal subjects of
our government, we do not doubt. There
are men of that communion who as
fully appreciate the duties of citizen
ship and who w’ould be as far from be
traying the interests of the country as
members of any other denomination
But they are so because they do not
follow to the full extent the teachings
of their church. It seeks to impress
upon its adherents that their firm alle
giapce is due to the Pope, who is a
Spiritual and ought to be a temporal
prince. It is one of the foremost claims
of this heirarchy that it is infallible
and unchangeable. It claims to be just
what it was a thousand years ago. We
all know that during the middle ages
the Pope raised up and put down gov
ernments at his pleasure and that the
proudest sovereign would abase himself
in the dust to escape his wrath. Not
one of these pretentions has ever been
withdrawn. They are not insisted
upon, because the great mass of pro
fessed Catholics will not accept the ul
timate conclusions of this doctrine. Leo
13th would gladly place his heel upon
the neck of kings did the people compel
their kings to submit to the indignity.
Those citizens of the United States who
claim to be imbued with the spirit of ■
our institutions cannot accept in full i
the doctrine of Papal infallibility. It
requires the Romanist of this day not J
to excuse but to justify the acts of those !
Pontiffs who ordered the burning of
Savanarolo, the imprisonment of Gali- '
leo and the massacre of Saint Barthol- i
otnns. When the Pope professes to ad
mire our institutions be must admit
that he differs from his predecessors,
and admitting this, he confesses that
Romanism has changed. But if they
insist that it has not changed, they
should not wonder or complain that
most Americans would regard its as
cendency as one of the greatest of ca
lamities.
SIOO Reward, SIOO.
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