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For tbe lynx.
Missionary Lesson, June 28, 1896.
Matt. 28:16 20.
BY S. G. HILLYER.
“THE GREAT COMMISSION.”
“Go ye, therefore, and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing
them into the name of the Fath
er, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost.- teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I
have commended you; and 10, I
am with you alway.even unto the
end of the world.”
Jesus had met his disciples—
the eleven—by special appoint
ment, on a certain mountain in
Galilee. We learn that when
they saw him, they worshipped
him; though there were some
that still doubted.
It is believed by our learned
men that, on the occasion now
before us, there were present,be
sides the eleven Apostles, more
than five hundred other disciples
who had the opportunity of see
ing and recognizing the risen
Lord. This belief is founded
upon Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 15:6.
According to Paul,such a meeting
did take place some where, and
we know of no place more fit or
convenient than on that mourn,
TritfTn Geiilee wish Jesus and
the eleven. This gives to the oc
casion a very high degree of so
lemnity and importance. It pre
sents to us a fit occasion for the
mighty words which Jesus was
about to speak.
Look, for a moment, at the
setnb. It was in Galilee where
he had performed most of his
mighty works, delivered many of
his soul searching discourses,and
where he had made and caused to
be baptized many disciples. They
had heard of the crucifixion and
death of their Master. At first,
no doubt, they were despondent.
But presently, they hear strange
rumors floating on the air. They
hear that Jesus has risen from
the dead and appeared to some of
the disciples about Jerusalem.
Then, they hear of the appoint
ment with the eleven to meet
them in Galilee. Is it strange
that five hundred of them should
seek to be present at such an in
terview?
Look again; the crowd has as
sembled upon the slopes of the
mountain, made sacred by so au
gust a presence. No wonder the
disciples bowed in humble wor
ship before the great conqueror
of death and spoiler of the grave.
Then Jesus spake unto them,
saying:
“All authority has been given
unto me in Heaven and on earth.”
We have in these words a fit
preamble for the great commis
sion. It affirms the absolute
sovereignty of Jesus over the
kingdom of God in both worlds.
And upon the basis of that au
thority he proceeds to issue his
first general “orders” to the au
dience before him.
“Go ye, therefore, and make
disciples of all the nations, etc.”
The word “therefore” refers to
the authority which he has just
assumed,and which imposes upon
all who are subject to it, an obli
gation commensurate with itself.
But to whom is the order given?
We must conclude that it was
given to those that represent the
grammatical antecedent of the
pronoun “ye.” And this means
that the command was intended
to bind all the disciples who were
then before him and, we are con
strained to believe that Jesus
intended that the great commis
sion should bind the consciences
of all his people, tothe end of
time.
However, we are not depen
dent for the conclusion just
drawn,upon the magnitude of the
Savior’s audience. Admit,if you
E lease, that Jesus had before
im only the eleven Apostles.
Shall we then confine the obliga
tion imposed by the Savior’s
words only to them? It is true,
it was undoubtedly intended to
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
press with great force upon the
Apostles; for it was substantially
repeated to them, not long after
wards, under most solemn and
impressive circumstances. And
they bravely accepted the com
mission as the law of their sub
sequent lives, and nobly did they
fulfill the great requirement
which it imposed upon them.
But did the commission bind
only the Apostles? Wo must
answer this question in the light,
(1) of subsequent events. We
learn from the record that when
persecution arose in Jerusalem
against Christians they were
compelled to fly from the city—
all except the Apostles—but they
“went everywhere preaching the
gospel.” Here we’find the pri
vate members of the church
striving to make disciples of
those among whom they took
refuge. And they succeeded.
We learn also from the record
that when churches were estab
lished it very soon became the
custom among them to contribute
of their means to support those
who were laboring in distant
cities. Were they not thus doing
missionary work? Were they not
virtually fulfilling the command
of Christ?
(2) But there is yet another
fact thai throws its light upon
this subject. It is found in the
experience of every true Chris
tian. While the great commis
sion derives its authority from
the sovereignty of our exalted
King, tkere is, in the heart of
every believer, a sentiment that
spontaneously responds to it.
That sentiment is a desire, more
or less distinct, that others may
be saved. This desire is devel
oped in the first spiritual breath
ings of every new-born soul. At
first, it may not reach beyond
one’s own domestic circle. No
matter, it is the germ of the mis
sionary spirit. If not stifled by
gross perversions of divine truth,
it will not be content to stay at
home. It will cross the street
and seek the salvation of some
friendly neighbor. And the more
it is indulged the wider will be
its range. When the great com
mission falls on such a soul, it
evokes an echo that shall be
heard around the world.
In the light of the foregoing
facts I think we may draw the fol
lowing inferences: (1) The Savior
must have intende<i that tjie
great commission should bind the
conscience and rule the life, ac
cording to his means and oppor
tunities, of every individual
Christian. And (2) I think that
we may infer that every church
member who fails to comply with
its requirement, either in person
or by proxy, when he is able to
do so, is living in willful disobe
dience to the will of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Let these thoughts,dear breth
ren, awaken you to a full and
clear perception of your obliga
tions to fulfill the words of Christ
to the oest of your ability. Per
haps you sometimes pray: “Let
thy kingdom come,” and you
may wonder why the Lord delays
so long to answer the prayer
which he himself taught you to
utter. The reason may be be
cause, while you are praying for
it, you make no sacrifice or effort
yourself to hasten its coming. It is
fearful to think what responsibil
ties rest upon us all for the lost
souls of our generation both at
home and abroad. May the Lord
help us to see our duty and to
mend our ways.
563 S. Pryor st., Atlanta.
A Meditation.
The death of childhood is pecu
liarly sad. The old die fitting
ly; their death is but a fulfill
ment. The middle-aged too, are
more liable to death than chil
dren, because they are in the
thick of the fight. Then they
have lived more, and either the
•good they have done consoles us
for their death, or the evil they
have done makes death less a ca
lamity. But in childhood the
whole purpose of nature is to
live; no allowance is made for
death out of its rightful domain.
The taking away of life here is
the taking away of the very pos
sibility of great things: to the
bereaved it is the shattering of
the ideal. Herein is the sadness.
The old man has lived and must
die; the middle-aged have enjoy
ed the opportunity for greatness,
and generally the result has pre
pared us to give up the ideal we
had found for them; but the
child has not >entered upon its
heritage; the sad discrepancy be
tween the possible and the actual
has not yet made our ideal for it
unreal; so that at this time death
is the passing away of a perfect
ideal. In the nature of our hu
inanity- hope is dearer than im
perfect realization; and so the
mother, who looks for her great
nessin that of her children, feels
most keenly the death of her
child.
We are prone to say the good
die young; but it is not that they
die young because they are good,
f SUBSCRIPTION. ’*/jT«ab.— -SS.OO. I
Ito ministers. i.00.>
but that they are good because
they die young. While we la
ment the loss of possibilities of
happiness and good, let us re
member that it is the removal of
S legibilities of suffering and evil.
ore than this, let us also thank
God that there has come into our
lives a life against which we
have to set down no fault; a life
the remembrance of which can
bring a joy that need not give
way to a sigh of regret for mis
deeds or failures. “Blessed be
childhood, which brings down
something of heaven into the
midst of our rough earthliness.
. . . Blessed be childhood
for the good that it does, and for
the good which it brings about,
carelessly and unconsciously, by
simply making us love it and let-,
ting itself be loved.” And shall'
we not bless it even when it has
been taken away? The good for
which webless it is not gone; it
lives “in minds made better by
its presence,” and it rests with
us to make it immortal by letting
its influence go on through all
our lives: “So we inherit its
sweet purity.” It is a perfect
influence now; death has taken
.away from it the possibility of
blot or marring. In a certain
sense, death has not destroyed
the ideal but realized it. The
right use of our privilege of
making it actual in the world will
leave us little space for sorrow —
only so much weeping as will
make our natures more tender—
not more tears than glistened in
the brightness of that young
life.
After all, in this imperfect hu
manity, “our finest hope is finest
memory”; and blessed is he who
holds in his heart some perfect
memory, untouched by sin and
failure, to which he may go back
and get new strength, new hope
for human kind, new incentive
to higher living. In this lit
tle life, left perfect by its early
passing from the sphere of the
imperfect, those who knew it
and now need most the strength
which it still has power to give,
have an unfailing source of hope
and faith; and let these words,
which were fulfilled in that life,
be the prayer and fulfillment of
our lives:
‘‘May 1 reach
That purest heaven, be to other souls
The cup of strength in some great
Enkinme generous - ardor, feed pure
love,
Beget the smiles that have no cruelty—
Be the sweet presence of a good diffus
ed.
And in diffusion ever more intense.
So shall I join the choir invisible
Whose music is the gladness of the
world ”
c. w. s.
The First Ten Days of the Jeru
salem Church.
BY P. S. WHITMAN.
No. 2.
As for the time when the
church system practically com
menced, there is probably no
more enlightened view than what
is presented by those who deny
its being in the lifetime of Christ.
It is this, that it was simultane
ous with the coming of the Holy
Spirit which was promised when
Christ said: “It is expedient for
you that Igo away: for, if Igo
not away the Comforter (Para
clete) will not come to you: but
if I go, I will send him to you.”
Jno. 16:7. Nevertheless, they
seem to us to deserve little credit
here, for, we think the time fixed
for the advent of that Spirit
which was to come and abide
during the personal absence of
Christ, is far from being en
lightened. It does not appear
once to have entered their minds
as being possible, for that Spirit
to have been with Christ’s fol
lowers a day or an hour before
making those marvelous demon
strations to the world as on the
day of Pentecost. It never enters
the minds of these men but that
it was all right and seemly for
those follower*, at the precise
time when they most needed
guide ar.d comfort, and indeed
had been promised it, to be left
with neither Christ nor the Para
clete; orphans indeed. But there
is the most incontestable evi
dence that no such period of
orphanage attended the exit of
Christ. For, what is the history
in this connection? “Men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing
into heaven? This same Jesus
which is taken up from you into
heaven shall so come in like
manner as ye beheld him going
into heaven.” Does this look as
if, immediately following the as
cension, they were left with
neither Christ nor the Spirit?
“Then returned they to Jerusa
lem from the mount called Oli
vet;” and, in his other narrative,
Luke adds, “with great joy.”
There is no shadow of bereave
ment overshadowing those first
ten days which followed the
Lord s ascension. Every sound
mind must be free to admit that
never before had there been any
such ten days when the followers
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. JUNE 25, 1896.
of Christ had such peace and joy
in the Holy Spirit- We repeat,
those were not ten days of be
reavement, when neither Christ
in person, nor the Paraclete
which was promised to supply
his absence, had their residence
on earth.
Other language in tne history
of the case is equally decisive.
“Ye shall receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon
you.” The power here meant is
to speak with other tongues.
Now it does not say that at the
identical time when they receive
the Spirit this power will come.
Was anything more consistent
than that when he comes he
should first meet the party that
was relying upon him to come,
and be with them a period of
time before he gave them the
miraculous power? What now is
fact? After Christ, left them,
forthwith they were together ten
days in prayer before the power
came upon them.
Now we venture to say that
the Holy Spirit never has been
of any value to the church ex
cept in the gift of prayer. Has
it not ever been true that only as
Zion travails has she brought
forth? And what else were
those ten days but the church's
first travails? And what minis
tf rof grace does not know that
such travail is indispensable in
the claim to church existence?
When it was said of Saul, “Be
hold he pray eth,” it meant that
for a certainty he believed in
Christ; and just so certainly we
know that when that company,
after Christ’s ascension, went
immediately from Olivet to that
upper room in Jerusalem, and
continued there day after day—
continued in prayer—we have in
this very circumstance the first
strong evidence that the Holy
Spirit, as promise!, was already
with them, and already they
were a gospel church.
It is, however, astonishing
with what tenacity even pious
scholarship, in. somfe instances,
clings to the theory as if nothing
else could be thought of, save
that the Paraclete awaited the day
of Pentecost to supply to those
disciples the absence of their
Lord. Blinded by this idea,
even the sainted Gordon refers
to the appointment of Matthias
I in a manner merging on derision,
as if it was premature and cer
tainly no work of the Holy
Spirit. It was simply man’s
work, he says, and was wholly
ignored by the Holy Spirit and
set aside in the appointment of
Paul. We think all this makes
good the adage how one mistake
leads to another.
It is assumed that the Holy
Spirit, before appearing to the
disciples in the character in
which he was to abide, (not
miraculous) comes first of all at
Pentecost in a most astonishing
demonstration to the world. If
this is true, then, as Dr. Gordon
says, it declares the election of
Matthias a sham. But this is
not all: If the election of Matthias
was a sham, then all the ten days
praying was a sham. The elec
tion of Matthias came by prayer.
We do not wish to think it was a
sham. And when Pentecost
morning came and they were all
together in one place, we do not
want to admit that the Paraclete
that was promised was not with
them in this; or that he was not
with them in all those first ten
days after their Lord had ascend
ed. We do not want to admit
this and thus give up our belief
that Holy Spirit work com
menced in starting a church, the
very hour after Christ ascended,
with a ten days’ prayer-meeting.
But the idea that Paul filled
the place of Judas is very absurd,
even though we admit that there
was no Paraclete work before
Pentecost. It ignores two very
conspicuous facts—one that the
party chosen to fill the place of
Judas was to make good the
number of twelve in the ministry
to the circumcision. The second
fact is, that Paul never filled any
such ministry. We think the
choosing of Matthias meant that
there should be, first of all,
twelve to stand up there at
Pentecost, as if to say that in the
gospel dispensation none of the
tribes were to be left out from
sharing in its benefits; that in the
providence of God the gospel was
to reach even the lost tribes.
Thus the appointment of Matthi
as was one thing, and God’s
purpose to provide in his own
time, and in his own way, an
apostle expressly to'the Gentiles
was altogether another. It must
be admitted, we say, as matter
of unqualified blindness for any
student of the Bible to introduce
the notion that God converted
Paul to fill the place of Judas as
if to make sure of full twelve
apostles to Israel, and then leave
the Gentiles without even one.
If this was the plan, Paul cer
tainly rebelled against it, for he
never filled the place of Judas.
He did fill his own place in the
Here we may well give our at
tention more closely to the elec
tion of Matthias.
The more we consider the sub
ject, the more we regard with
wonder the work of the Holy
Spirit in the seclusion of those
ten days before Pentecost. Vir
tually the whole matter of order
and polity was established before
ever the public preaching of the
gospel ccvnmenced on Pentecost
(that was the distinguishing
event of that day). And byway
of introduction, it is well to state
there was no more church or
ganization on that day than there
is in any remarkable revival in
our time, in any one of our long
established churches. If the
company which had been con
tinuously in prayer from the as
cension of Christ was not a
church, then preaching under
the Holy Spirit commenced with
out church organization, and we
may say more—there never has
been any divine organisation at
all. We might here lay down
our pen. If that resort to the
upper room in praj ec was sham
(and sham it was, as we have
said, if the appointment of Mat
thias was sham), then a gospel
church is sham, yes, “ God’s
building ” is a sham.
But we maintain that the real
basal quality of church organize
tion is being together in prayer.
This we see in that divine com
pany as they marched together
from the scene of their Lord’s
ascension to th it upper room
and there, men and women, con
tinued day after day in prayer.
Certainly no evidence could
weigh like this in proof that the
promised Helper, Comforter, was
already with them.
But there is clear proof of
this also in immediate connec
tion with the choice of Matthias;
for that event we find is closely
related to the great commission
given on the mountain a short
time previous. What indescrib
able tenderness in the last words.
He would leave them, but he
could say “ Lo,” as if this were
the wonderful part, “Lo, I am
with you always.” Now, who
can deny that the fulfillment of
these words was i i the Paraclete
that was to come ? But we have
as nigh as possible the positive
proof in the election of Matthias.
When, in thatelection, the minds
of the disciples seem to have
been equally on two, what fol
lowed ? They took the case
right to Christ, just as if he were
there in person. “ Lord, show
which of these two thou hast
chosen.” What more could
Christ have been to them in per
son ? And shall we say it was
man’s work ? Nay, to say this
seems like infidel speech. In
his election, before the miracu
lous Pentecost, there was real
Holy Spirit wonder without re
sort to positive miracle. It was
Matthias chosen by Christ just
as surely as Paul was -some time
after. Consider this transaction
further.
Peter, quite lately, had been
charged to feed the flocks and
when he stood up as he did in
the midst and told what ought
to be done, it was true pastoral
work—the first pastoral work
we think ever done in a gospel
church. Certainly in no period
of its history has the church
been so complete in pastoral care
as it was when first born and
that, before Pentecost.
Notice. We do not know that
any one would have been chosen
to fill the place of Judas had not
Peter or some one of the apos
tles explained to the new com
pany the necessity of such
action. Hence, in speaking of
what was done, we might say
Peter did it. And yet, as it was
left with the whole company to
make the choice, it was emphat
ically their affair, and certainly
they did it, and, thirdly, 'so far as
it was made the subject of prayer,
the Holy Spirit did it. Thus
that distinctive manner of church
action which we all claim to be
of Christ’s planning, was cer
tainly inaugurated by the Holy
Spirit before Pentecost. Yes,
right there, first of all, in the
appointment of Matthias, we dis
cover the three elements that
must blend in all legitimate
church government. Thus the
triune action which character
terized the appointment of the
seven [Acts 6:15] and regulated
that first council in Jerusalem to
which we so justly refer for pre
cedent, had their precedent back
in those ten days before Pente
cost.
The more the question is ex
amined, the more evident it be
comes that church polity was
settled by the Holy Spirit before
ever enduing the disciples with
miraculous gifts, that the church
was born on her knees, praying
as in the upper room, not on her
feet standing up before the
world preaching as at Pentecost.
Subscribe for the Christian
jndex.
The Burden.
To every one on earth
God gives a burden to be carried down
The road that lies between the cross and
crown ;
No lot is wholly free;
He glveth one to thee.
Some carry it aloft,
Open and vlelble to any eyei;
And all may leelts form, and weight, and
size;
Home hide it in their breast,
And deem it thus unguessed.
Thy burden is God's gift,
And it will make the bearer calm and strong;
Yet, lest it press too heavily and long,
He says. “Cast it on Me,
And it shall easy be.”
And those who heed his voice,
And seek to give it back in trustful prayer,
Have quiet hearts that never can despair;
And hope lights up tbe way
Upon the darkest day.
Take tbou thy burden thus
Into thy bands and lay it at his feet,
And whether it be sorrow or defeat ,
Or pain, or sin, or care,
Oh, Have it calmly there.
It is the lonely load
That cru' hesout the life and light of heaven;
But, borne with him, the soul, restored, for
given,
Sings out through all the days
Her Joy and God’s high praise.
—Marianne Farningham.
The Law the Starting point in the
'Message.
The preacher must lay the
foundation for the saving power
of the Gospel by presenting the
law, in all the length and breadth
of its requirement, and in all the
solemnity and awfulness of its
sanctions; in fact, with the very
definiteness and clearness and
with the divine authority of the
Word of God.
The generation past, in this
country, has heard but little of
the law of God. “Come to Je
sus”; “Come to Jesus”; “Go
work”; “Go work”—this has too
often been regarded and affirmed
as making up the sum of all ne
cessary and helpful theology. It
is in fact mere shallow sentimen
talism— totally inadequate, either
to arouse any one to a sense of
his need of salvation, or to de
velop anything like Christian
character.
The result has been an almost
universal reign of shallow evan
gelism, and a rain of superficial
evangelists, that have well nigh
killed out the life of the Church.
Hence, the conscious impotence
of pastors and people, and the
meager ingatherings into the
Church in connection with the
ordinary means of grace. Hence,
the periodical sending for the
traveling evangelist, the boy
preacher, the student, or the
talking layman, or the praying
band; and the introduction of
sentimental and mass-meeting
methods, in order to enlarge the
membership of the churches.
Hence, from another side, the
universal worldliness and the
rage for amusements and fol
lies, and the making of life a
time of play, without any aim,
lather than a period of earnest
work for the accomplishment of
a rational mission. Hence, from
still another side, or by further
evolution, the universal and aw
ful moral corruption, individual,
social, and political.
As in Paul’s presentation of
the way of salvation to the Ro
mans, so now, in the preaching
of Bible Christianity as a saving
power, the law of God needs to
be present d in various aspects
and relations.
It needs to be presented funda
mentally as the Law of God, bind
ing every moral being in duty to
God and to God alone, and thus
furnishing the only basis for
sound morality. Any so-called
morality that starts from .some
other foundation is essentially
vicious and worthless.
There are two essential differ
ent theories of morality, the pa
gan and the Christian. Their
basal difference lies in the fact
that one is man-centered and
the other God-centered. The
essence of the pagan morality,
whether taught in heathen or in
Christian countries, is selfish
ness, and its results are inevita
bly demoralizing and destructive.
Christian morality, on the other
hand, is God-centered. In the
Christian dispensation, God be
comes Christ in his relation to
man in redemption, and Christ is
the sovereign or Lord in the
Kingdom of Heaven. See Mat
thew xxviii, 18. In the view of
the Word of God, righteousness,
or conformity to the will of God,
or Christ, is the supreme thing
to be sought in human conduct.
The call of the law, from this
point of view, is a call to duty
and to obedience. The proper
preaching of the law must have
this fundamentally in view, and
not benevolence, or philanthro
py, or happiness. If this is left
out of view, the preaching of the
law is vitiated and perverted in
its whole nature and effect.
In the view of the Word of God
—which is directly contrary to
the popular view of the day—all
duty and morality turn Godward
and Christward, rather than
manward Egoism and altruism,
as usually understood, are the
one immoral and the other non
moral. Al duty is owed to God
and to him only. It may be per
formed, according to his direc
tions— toward oneself, in which
case it is selfial and moral; to
ward=ene’s fellows, in which case
VOL. 76-NO. 26
it is social and moral; or toward
God, in which case it is theistic
and moral. If not done as to God,
selfial actions become selfish and
immoral; social actions, altruis
tic merely and non moral; and alt
alike are directed to selfisl\ or
merely humanitarian ends.
From the general theistic point
of view, that alone is morally
good which is intentionally con
formed to the will of God; from
the specific Christian point of
view, that alone is morally good
which is conformed to the will of
Christ the Lord. Failure to rec
ognize and to emphasize this has
been tbe perverting and fatal de
fect of very much of the moral
teaching from the pulpit and in
the schools, since Hobbes and
the days of the English Restora
tion. In the last century, Paley
crystallized the principles of self
ishness for the Churcn, by mak
ing “virtue” “consist in do
ing the will of God for the sake
of everlasting happiness.”
Others have followed, who have
taken out the hypocritical feature
of the happiness theory, and, in
thereby saving it from being im
moral, have left it purely heath
en. Sometimes “the dignity of
human nature” has taken the
place of the will of God, as the
ground of moral obligation.
Sometimes the principle has ap
peared as “the greatest good of
the greatest number”; sometimes
as “the greatest good of the in
dividual himself.” Recently it
hks been exploited as “altruism,*
or as judicious advice to man to
avoid injuring other people lest
they should injure him. And,
so far as morality, so called, has
been preached from the pulpit,
for generations it has largely
been this heathen so-called mor
ality, which is in fact debasing
immorality.
The ethics taught in our
schools has been largely pa
ganism, and that not even bap
tized. Man is made a law and
end to himself; his own enjoy
ment, or dignity, or culture, or
blessedness, is kept uppermost,
has been kept uppermost for
these generations. And so the
dogmatics has largely swung
loose from the ethics; the creed
from the practice.
The legitimate outcome of this
ethical system has been manifest
in the exaltation of wealth and
money-getting, as means to the
happiness and culture that are
set before men as the great
ends; in the underestimate of
manhood and character; in the
increasing tendency to ignore
God and think that “his laws
will not work”; in the materiali
zation and brutalization of hu
manity and civilization. Hence,
the greater problems of capital
and labor; of caste and commun
ism; of the church-going people
and lapsed masses; of public and
private corruption everywhere.
It is impossible to overstate the
fact, that a large portion of the
so called moral teaching is total
ly and distinctively pagan and
immoral; and that, so long as it
is continued, the schism in socie
ty can only widen and the yawn
ing chasm grow deeper.
The new Dornerism, that hat
come in from Germany, has in
troduced into the theology cer
tain erroneous ideas that have
helped still further to befog the
moral teachings and teachers cd
this generation. It makes the
essence of God, the supreme
thing in the divine goodness, to
be “love.” It analyzes “love”
or goodness into three parts:
the primary and fundamental,
benevolence; the second, sympa
thy; the third, righteousness.
Now this is undoubtedly the nat
ural order on the materialistic
basis of sensation, which make*
feeling the supreme thing and
reduces all feeling to pleasure or
pain. But it reverses the order
set by God. That makes the
fundamental element in God’s
goodness his infinite desire for
the righteousness and purity, or
moral well-being, of his crea
tures, and not for their happi
ness merely. Unconsciously the
preacher, under the guidance of
this false theology, finds his way
back into the ethical fog of
heathenism. The supremegood
ness of God becomes his su
preme regard for the well being
of his creatures; well-being be
comes comfortable- being-, and God’s
supreme goodness becomes his
benevolence to his creatures, and
is manifested in supreme regard
tor their happiness. As an eth
ical basis, this naturally prepares
the way for and leads to post
mortem probation, semi univer
salism, and'universalism, in the
ology. It deftly puts man in tbe
place of God as the center, by
making man’s comfort the su
preme thing; and so, after having
appeared to thrust pagan ethics
out of the front door, in the
name of Christ and righteousness,
it brings them in at the back
door, in the name of humanity
and happiness.— Christ's Trump
et call to the Ministry of To-day.—
Gregory . ■