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$2 30 3PT3XI. Ar-iriUM,
liivarinhly in Advance.
VOLUME XXXVIII. NO. 38.
lie Giveth llis Beloved Sleep.
BY ANTONIA DICKSON.
A little child rests on a bed of pain,
With an aching head and a throbbing brain ;
A feverish flush on the soft cheek lies,
And a wistful look in the sweet blue eyes,
A a the sick child moans: “How the slow hours
creep!
Will the Lord not send to His little one sleep?”
And the mother smoothed from the child’s
brow (air.
The clustering lock? of her golden hair,
And murmured : “ My darling, we cannot tell;
But we know that the Father doth all things
well;
And we know that never a creature in pain
Addressed a prayer to 11 is uiorcr in vain.
Time has no line that His hand may not smooth;
Life has no grief that His love cannot soothe;
And the f vered brow shall have rest at last.
In the healing shade from the Death-Cross cast.
Look np, my precious one; why shouldst thou
weep ?
The Lord giveth aye to His loved ones asleep.”
And the little one gazui with a glad surprise
In the loving depihs of those patient eyes,
Then lifted her lips for one long embrace,
And turned with a smile on her weary face.
And the mother smiled as the eaily morn
Marked the deep peace on the childish form,
And cried aloud in her thankfulness deep:
“ The dear Lord be praised, who hath given her
sleep!”
Ay, mother—she sleeps, in that charmed repose.
That shall waken no more to earth’s pains and
woes.
For the Saviour hath gathered His lamb to His
breast,
Where neverlife's storms shall her peace molest,
liis dear love willed not that time should trace
One sorrowful line on tbatiunocent face;
Others, less favored, might suffer their sham
Of the midnight toil and the noontide glare:
Olliers might labor, others might weep,
But “the Lord giveth aye to llis loved ones
sleep.” Chambers 1 Journal.
(Mrikfa.
reclusive Apostolical Succes
sion—So. Vi I. ‘
BY A BEACON.
“Avoid foolish questions ami genealogies.”—
Titus io : 11.
The testimony of Scripture is fatal to
the elititn for the exclusive descent of
Bishops fiom the apostles, or from the
rank of the ministry assumed to ho be
tween the apostles and the elders, and re
duces every Scriptural bishop to the order
of a presbyter. The “traditions of the
fathers” are found, on scrutiny, to be
equally fatal to the unsupported scheme
of the boastful propagandists of this
Popish figment. Nothing is left them to
cling to but the weak superstition of a
naked personal or physical succession—a
corporate or organic series of officers,
called Bishops, assumed, without proof,
to come down from tha apostles to the
present day; each of whom, in order to
have the mystical power to receive or con
vey the sanctifying and saving efficacy of
his office, must have been scrupulously or
dained according to all the canons of the
Church ; and each of whom hath infalli
bly received, and dolh from himself traim
mit, the “mystery” whereby the “body
of Christ ” has been nourished and
brought up; and that, too, whether the
succession bishop were a simonist, drunk
ard, adulterer, or murderer !
Before proceeding to show that “ the
unbroken liuo of personal succession,”
also, is unsupported by history—and would
be worthless, if it were capable of proof—
particular attentiou is called to the fact
that the Popish doctrine, that all saving
virtue is exclusively conveyed into the
word of God and into tha sacraments of
the church, by tha office, whatever may bo
the personal moral state of the official ad
ministrator, is latent in tha pretentions
and pernicious scheme of exclusive epis
copal succession. The fact will be seen
by looking a little into the papistic doc
trine.
“ The Romish Church is accused of
holding the extrema opinion that this
grace is conferred ex opere optralo, by the
mere set, tlie recipient remaining passive ;
that they fail of operation only where he
is under the influence of positive siu ; but
that the administration of the Eucharist
to a dying man unconscious of the whole
proceeding, wonld have the same effect as
if he received it in the most holy frame
of mind. The English Church requires
the worthy acceptance of the person him
self, as is expressly stated, with a tacit
reference to this superstitious notion, in
the twenty-fifth article.”—Braude’s Ency.
“ Such is conceived to be the physical
virtue of a sacrament administered by a
priest with a good intention, that, unless
whon it is opposed by the obstacle of a
mortal sin, the very act of receiving it is
sufficient. This act was called, in the
language of the schools, opus operation; the
work done independently of any disposi
tion of mind attending the deed ; and the
superiority of the sacraments of the New
Testament over the sacraments of the Old
was thus expressed, that the sacraments of
the Old Testament, were effectual ex opere
operantis, from the piety and faith of the
persons to whom they were administered;
while the sacraments of the New Testa
ment convey grace, ox opere operato, from
their own intrinsic virtue, and an imme
diate physical influence upon the mind of
him who receives them. This notion rep
resents the sacraments as a mere charm,
the use of which being totally disjoined
from every mental exercise, cannot be re
garded as a reasonable service. It gives
men the hope of receiving by the nse of
a charm, the full participation of the grace
of God, although they continue to indulge
that very large class of sins, to which the
accommodating morality of the Church of
Berne extends the name o' Venial.”—Wat
son’s Die.
Although tha Church of Rome has in
cluded the ceremony of ordination among
its numerous sacraments, yet the Episco
pal Churches acknowledge only Upo —
Baptism and the Lord’s Sapper ; but it is
manifest, nevertheless, that the vicious
conception, that ordination conveys all
grace to the subject, ex opere operato, from
the intrinsic virtue of the ceremony, is
the prop and support of the claim of ex
clusive authority and efficacy in the office
of bishop, per se, without regard to the
personal piety and moral fitness of tha
officer, to imprt spiritual life through the
doctrines and the ordinances of Christ’s
Church. On no other conception could
Bishop Taylor have framed the horrible
sentiment, that, “ Without (the offices of
the episcopacy—the successions! bishops,)
no priests, no ordination, no consecration
of the sacraments, no absolution, no rite,
or sacrament, legitimately can be per
formed in order to eternity.” Mr. Powed
quotes another author who maintains
“that neither heresy, degradation from
office, schism, the most extreme wicked
ness, nor anything else, can deprive a per
son once made a bishop, of the power of
giving true (apostolic) obders 1” It is
bat too evident that this extreme defender
of exclnsive episcopal succession, held
firmly to the huge error of the intrinsic
virtue of ordination ex opere operalo. Was
there ever a more indefensible and dan
gerous heresy than this, in the world ?
Bat to return to the consideration of
the assertion of an unbroken chain of per
sonal episcopally ordainol successors to
the apostles. An advocate of this exclu
sive scheme, boastfully declares that “The
prelates who at the present time rule the
churches of these realms, were validly or
dained by others, who, by means of cm
unbroken spiritual descent of ordination,
derived their mission from the apostles
and from our Lord, This continued des
cent is evident to every one who chooses
to investigate it. Let him read the cata
logues of our bishops ascending up to the
most remote period. Oar ordinations
descend in a direct unbroken line from
Peter and Paul.”—Hook. And a feeble
American imitator, with a self-approving
air, says, “ We have explained .... the
apostolic succession, as held by the Epis
copal Church in England aud America,
and shown from what sources it has been
derived; and having carefully traced it
back to the apostles, through those times
of peril wheu it wa3 in danger, we might
leave the subject."—Chapin.
An extraordinary fatuity seems to have
seized the teachers and leaders of this
exclusive and personal scheme. If it can
be believed by its advocates, “ great,” in
deed, but greatly misapplied, is their
“faith." Were it applied to the belief of
the truth, certainly their eyes would be
opened to the utter fallacy and worthless
ness of this poor human substitute for the
means aud instrumentalities employed by
the Divine Wisdom, to ensure the perpet
uation of Christ’s Church, and personally
bless and save its members to the ends of
the earth.
To make a long story short—what is tho
evidence that Linus, Cletus, or Clement,
alleged first bishops of Rome, and from
whom Episcopal bishops claim desoent,
succeeded Peter and Paul, in “an un
broken line” of “ spiritual descent ?” Is
it settled that Peter ever was at Rome at
all ? Yet the Pope claims direct descent
from Peter. The Romanists and Episco
palians must settle this dispute, as to
which apostle, Teter or Paul, they hang
their chain of succession to, before they
require others to believe that their per
sonal succession begins from either Peter
or Paul, and continues down through
Liuus and others. When they shall have,
in fact and securely, fixed the first link of
their imaginary chain in any one of the
apostles, then their claim may be gravuiy
and respectfully considered.
" The consent of the Greek and Latin
fathers,” “generally resolve that the
bishops” are tha apostles’ “ scccessors,”
affirms Dr. Hammond. It is important
to know the value of those ancient au
thorities. Says Mosheim, “The learned
are now unanimous in regarding the other
writings which bear the name of Clemens,
viz: the • Apostolio Canons,’ the ‘Apos
tolic Constitutions,’ etc., as spurious pro
ductions ascribed, by some impostor, to
this venerable prelate, in order to procure
them a high degree of authority.” Even
Bishop Taylor, the great champion of ex-
c lnsivo episcopacy, declares that “No
church,” (in his day) “ admits one half of
those things, which certainly by the
fathers were called traditions apostolical.”
But the renowned Chillingworth was still
less complimentary to the credibility of
the ancient fathers ; for he says, “I see
plainly, and with mine own eyes, that
there are Popes against Popes, councils
against councils, somo fathers against
others, the same fathers against them
selves, a consent of fathers of one age
against the consent of fathers of another
age; tho church of one age against the
church of another age,” etc. “ The Pon
tifical is the Romish book containing the
lives and pretended decrees of the early
popes—through whom the high Episco
palians trace their spiritual desoent—ac
cording to the Church of Rome. Their
catalogues are generally made from it ; it
is justly denominated a forgery by Dr.
Comber. What a triumphant succession !
whose main authority is a forgery.”—
Powell. Out of sueh discarded and disre
putable authorities, do the advocates of
the scheme of exclusive episcopal and
spiritual succession, forge their “ un
broken line,” descending from the apos
tles !
Bat Irenaens (A. D. 181), speaks of An
icetus, Pius, Hygenius, Telesphones and
Xjstns, who are all reckoned in the lists
of bishops of the Church of Rome, as
presiding presbyters over that Church.
Their five predecessors must, also, have
been presbyters only. This is enough to
break the talismanio chain of exclusive
succession in the order of bishops,
Savanuali—Rev. Samuel Du
avoody.
Mr. Editor: So much interest has been
manifested recently in the proposal to
baild a Wesley Monumental Church in
the city of Savannah, in honor of the
great founder of Methodism, that some
facts in reference to the early history of
the Methodist Churoh in that place, may
not be unacceptable to the readers of the
Advocate.
In January, 1807, the South Carolina
Conference naat in Charleston, Bishop As
bnry presiding. It was stated at the Con
ference, that many members and friends
of the Church in Georgia, complained
that Savannah, the Capital of the State,
was culpably neglected by our ministers.
Several unsuccessful attempts bad been
made to plant the standard of Methodism
in the place. Eloquent and persevering
ministers, had been sent to labor there,
but met with no encouragement or suc
cess. Bishop Asbury, whose zeal knew
no bounds, and who watched with unceas
ing vigilance all the important places in
the Conference, could not listen unmoved
to the appeal made to him in behalf of
Savannah. It is said, on this occasion,
“ his whole heart was called forth.” The
Conference responded promptly to his
thrilling appeals, but so many attempts
had already failed, it was determined by
the prec i-r-> t > o a the most efficient
means in their power, and with the aid of
Divine grace, to succeed by dint of perse
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & COMPANY, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
MACON, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1875.
verance. This being regarded a special
case, the Bishop advised that special
prayer be offered to Almighty God, that
He would direct in this undertaking and
crown it with His blessing. The Bishop
then selected Samuel Dunwody as the
man to lead this “forlorn hope.”
“Mr. Danwoody was, at this time,”
writes a contemporary, “ young, modest,
and unassuming, but with a mind and
heart stored with knowledge and zeal far
beyond his years.” On receiving this ap
pointment, ho sat out to commence his
work, with as much composure and cheer
fulness, as if he had been sent to one of
the mqgt promising stations in the Con
ference. Hs arrived at Savannah early in
the year, was very kindly received by Mr.
Millen, and began immediately to look
out for a place to preach. He procured a
small room, in whioh he tanght school,
and his ministerial labors were divided
between the city hospital, the poor house,
the family cf his host, and his school
room. In all these places he labored
earnestly by preaching and prayer, for the
good of all who came to hear the word
of truth from his lips.
There were several churches in the city,
supplied with regular pastors, but none of
them seemed to be aware of the fact that
there was a Methodist preacher among
them.
Undaunted by this treatment, Mr. Dan
wody went about doing good to the souls
and bodies of the poor and afflicted. He
visited the sick, comforted the sorrowing'
and prayed for the blessing of God on his
labors. His faith never wavered; he
trusted in the promise of the Father, and
felt sure that the good seed 1m was so
noiselessly sowing, would bring forth
fruit to the glory of God. When ho re
turned to Conference at the close of the
year, ho reported as the result of his
labors, five white and seven colored mem
bers, received into the society. This was
considered a great success, being so much
more than bad ever been accomplished
before. It was only the dawn of a glori
ous day, the beginning of a church which
now numbers its members by hundreds.
Samuel Dunwody was thus the hon
ored instrument in the hand3 of God in
establishing the doctrines and usages of
the Methodist Church in Savannah, among
a people who had long been bitter foes of
Methodism, and who had persecuted even
with violence its zealous ministers. No
other minister in that branch of the
Church had ever been successful in that
city, aEd to his efforts, under Divine
guidance, is due the honor of establishing
the first Methodist Church in Savannah, the
scene of Wesley’s earliest labors. S.
Ttae Lord's Prayer.
BY rev. w. exox.
Vlil. Daily Jtread.
Bread has been called the staff of life.
In our Lord’s prayer it is doubtless used
as a syuoDym of food —as the exponent of
whatever is needful for our sustenance.
It is represented as something given.
Hence, we are directed to ask for it—to
ask for it in order that it may be given.
This does not preclude tho propriety or
even necessity of labor on our part, in
the proper cultivation of the ground, or
in the earnest pursuit of our calling or
profession for the purpose of obtaining
it; but it implies the blessing of Gou up
on our labors, the sending of the rain
and sunshine, and the helping us in our
profession, so that our fields may bring
forth plentifully, and that our calling may
supply ns with what we need.
“But,” says one, “there is no God;
and, consequently, everything happens by
chance. Why, then, pray to One who
exists not, or expect things to befall ns
differently ?” The inference is not de
nied—the absurdity of prayer under sach
circumstances, is at once admitted—all
sueh expectations wonld of conrso be
vain. It wonld be necessary, in the first
place, to convince one who adheres to
this most gloomy of all creeds —if, indeed,
it can be said that he has any creed, or
believes anything—of the being and at
tributes of God, to point to the innumer
able evidences of skill, and contrivance,
and desigD, everywhere evinced in the
world around us, as conclusive proof of
an intelligent Designer, whom men have
agreed to call God.
Another, as though well versed in
science, talks flippantly of the fixedness
of nature’s laws. If asked how nature
can have any laws adverse or distinct from
those of God, or what are the so-called
laws of nature but laws of God, he may
possibly exclaim : “The laws which regu
late and oontrol all material substances,
call them the laws of nature, or the laws
of God, or what you please, are fixed and
unchangeable, and we cannot expect any
violent interference with them, or even
any disarrangement of them, in answer to
our prayer. Can the corn, a3 the generic
name of all foodfu! grains, spring up, and
grow, and mature, without a due admix
ture of heat and moisture ? Can the sun’s
genial rays come down, and warm and fer
tilize the earth beneath, when dark, in
tervening clonds obstruct, or when the
cold northwind blows ? Can there be any
change of wet and dry, of sunshine and
rain, when the wind perversely continues
in one unvarying direction? Can there
be rain when the winds, those atmospheric
carriers, come not laden with the ocean’s
vapors ? or can those carriers be made to
yield their precious treasures, when no
atmospheric or eleotric change serves to
condense their vapors and causes them to
fall in plenteous rain-drops ? Can prayer
drive away the circumambient clouds
which hide from the earth the sun’s bright
face ? Can prayer arrest the mighty
cyclone in its onward sweep, and prevent
the loss of life and property ? Can prayer
cause tho winds to whirl around from the
North to the South, and thus bring rain,
or load the atmosphere with the moisture
we need, or condense that moisture and
cause it to fall in plentiful rain-drops on
onr parched fields ? Can prayer cause the
corn to spring up and grow without heat
and moisture, or fill our barns with grain,
and supply our table s with bread, when
tho fields produce it not ?
This may all sound like tuneful poetry
to one who is daring enongh to propose
to his Maker a test; and, indeed, there is
much of truth to be found in it; but
there is much of error also, and this, like
a fly in the nini spoils it- nil ’ But
these are facts, the facts of science, or de
ductions legitimately drawn from thcm>
and facts are stubborn things, admitting
no denial. No reasoning or proofs can
make them different from what they are.
They stand indubitably strong.”
Now, I certainly have no wish to inter
fere with facts. I have no quarrel with
science, nor with the deductions legiti
mately drawn from those facts. It is with
illegitimate inferences only that I find fault.
Science is beautiful within its own pro
vince ; but when taken out of its own
proper sphere, and made, or, when what
is falsely called science is made, to teach
things with which it has nothing to do, I
am not called npoa to award to it the same
meed of praise.
What, after all that is said, is nature ?
Why, the very name indicates something
born. Shall we place the thing born abov^ 1
the great Being who gave it birth ? or,
when once bora, shall we make it inde
pendent of Him who caused it to be ?
And what, too, are nature’s laws— what,
but the modes by which He, the Creator,
has been pleased, and is pleased, to oper
ate in nature ? There is nothing really
causal in law, or even in nature. What
are often regarded as causes, and by some
deferentially called secondary causes, are
but the properties with which He has in
dued material substances so as to produce
certain results; and the modes of their
action when brought into certain rela
tions, chemical or mechanical, with each
other, constitute the so-called laws of
nature, but which might, with more pro
priety and correctness, be called the laws
of God in nature. The atmosphere by
which we are surrounded, which we
breathe, and in which we live, is so con
stituted as to take up and hold moisture.
The warmer it is, the more it holds.
When cooled, it gives out a part. This
forms clouds, and when condensed, falls
in the rain-drop. What causes rain ?
Shall we say it comes from the clouds?
But what have the clouds to do with it,
any more than the sponge has to do with
the water which, when squeezed, it lets
out ? Shall we look to the winds as the
cause, or the succession of heat and cold
as affecting the atmosphere ? Who made
the winds His messengers—His swift
footed carriers of water ? —and what elec
tion has the atmosphere but to do His
bidding—to act in accordance with the
nature Ho has given it ?. Shall we take
the universe out of the hands of its great
Creator, aud impute to the agencies or
instrumentalities Ho employs —the mere
tools of Ills hands—the intelligence, and
power and goodness, which are inalienably
His ? “O, shame 1 where is thy blush ?”
O, folly 1 wilt thou never have an end ?
O, sin ! how many are thy devices ?”
But what are the fuels so boastfully pre
sented as forming obstacles to prayer, or
to answers to prayer ? Science teaches in ■
reference to the things mentioned—what ?
Why, thut both rain and sunshine are ne
cessary to the growth and maturity of
grain; that without a due admixture of
both, the ground, however luxuriant in >
itself, however well prepared and culti
vated, will not produce our needed food ;
that the north wind produces cold, and
the south wind heat; that the atmosphere
takes up from the ocean and other
sources, the vapors which, when con
densed, form clouds, and fall in rain
showers; that the carriers which bring
these vapors ere the swift winged winds ;
that condensation is the result of the con
tact of some colder stratum oi atmosphere,
or of some electric disturbance ; that it is
vain to look for sunshine when thick
clouds obscure the sun, or for rain when
the wind and other things are not favor
able to its production. These—all these—
are obvious faets, or necessary deductions
from facts.
Thus far science teaches, and we accept
its teachings ; but not all the inferences
designed to be made. When it i3 insin
uated, or left to be inferred, that God can
not, or will not, or does not, control these
operations, so as to produce other effects
than these, so as to cause the winds to
vary, and the sun to shine, or the rains
to fall, as may best suit His purpose, or in
answer to the prayers of His faithful
people, we may well demur ; for this is
not the teaching of science, but the mere
deductions of short-sighted men. With
this, science has nothing to do ; and I for
one, will not allow those who seem to be so
much enamored with her beauty, to take
her oat of her proper place, and to bring
her into a sphere not legitimately belong
ing to her ; and that, too, in order that
she may be brought into unfavorable con
flict with revealed religion ; for all the
facts may be admitted without calling into
question the truth of revelation, and even
without casting the least suspicion upon
its truth.
The sacred Scriptures teach us, if they
teach us anything, that the great Father
of all gives both rain and sunshine ; that
He causes the corn and other vegetables
to spring up and mature for the sustenance
of His creatures ; and that He does all
this, at least sometimes, in answer to
prayer. But in doing so, it is only ne
cessary to control the so called natural
causes, more properly secondary causes, or
instrumentalitas, which Ha sees fit to em
ploy in effecting His purpose, so as to pro
duce the desired effect.
Will it be said, that an interference with
the laws or causes, secondary, or still more
remotely subordinate, in any department
or place, would disarrange things some
where else, and might endanger the safety
and well being of the earth, or the solar
system, or perchance the universe ? Such
a result might indeed be feared, wore any
being of limited intelligence and ability
on the throne of the universe ; but when
it is remembered that this infinitely wise
and omnipotent Oae is there, no more
danger need be apprehended, than would
ensue from tho least imaginable change
which the most skillful artificer can make
in the least important part of the simplest
machinery, in reference to the whole. If
comparisons were admissible where none
can obtain, the mighty problem of the
universe, in all its complications, is far
more comprehensible to Him who ar
ranged the whole, than the simplest prop
osition in Euclid can be to the most expert
mathematician ! Or, to change the simile,
the weight of the universe is as little bur
densome to the Almighty Builder as that
of the smallest father is to the strongest
man !
We may, thee. ; rsv f r on - bread, with
tho utmost confidence tnai He who taught
ns thus to pray, can and will give an an'
| swer to the prayer ; can and -frill so con
| trol all secondary causes, that the heavens
will give the rains in their seasons, the
sky above ns will smile with gladness, and
the earth will yield its increase. 11 Give
us this dag our daily bread.”
Some Thoughts onßegeneraticn,
Christian Obedience, and Edification.
Dear Brother Kennedy: The Christian
trumpet has long given a very uncertain
sound at the points where Bro. Mood and
his reviewers are contending. Hence,
many of your readers are deeply interested
in the controversy. It is most desirable
that the Methodists, who from the first
have spoken and written so much of
“Christian perfection,” should have some
definite and Scriptural meaning when
they nee this term. Hitherto, this hes
not been the case. Many sincere and
earnest inquiries after truth have oertain
ly drifted away from the teachings of the
early Methodists upon this general sub
ject. The departure is matter for rejoic
ing, or for regret, according as it has
brought us nearer to the truth, or separa
ted us farther from it. Let the contro
versy of these brethren go on, therefore
in the name and in the spirit of Christ.
Meantime, we ask leave to present some
views on the subject of Christian experi
ence, held by many of your readers, and
very important, if true, and closely con
nected with the questions upon which the
brethren above mentioned are at issue.
For the sake of dearness and brevity, we
will first state our views in the form of
propositions. We hold:
First. That regeneration is a perfect
cleansing from sin.
Secondly. That the regenerate man,
by the grace of God, is able to lead a life
of Christian obedience, from bis conver
sion until death.
Thirdly. That all who do thus live are
in a state of constant favor with God,
without any farther change except that
implied in a continuous growth in grace.
Fourthly. That it is the privilege and
duty of all Christians thus to grow in all
spiritual excellence, from their conversion
until their glorification.
First, then, we hold that regeneration
is a perfect cleansing from sin. All Cal
vinists, and some Arminians dispute this
doctrine. With the former, jnst now, we
have no controversy. The latter main
tain that regeneration leaves “indwelling
sin,” as they call it, in the heart, where it
remains until the convert experiences a
distinct further change known as sancti
fication. Waiving, for the present, the
subject of sanctification, we believe this
doctrine of imperfect regent ration to be
unscriptural and irrational.
So far as wo know, there is not one pai
ege of Rcrlptnre teaching that sin is left
in the heart of anew oonvert, in his re
generation, or imputing carnality to any
each person, in any instance, save on the
ground of actual misconduct by him afar
he is born again. The expression, “in
dwelling sin,” is not Scriptural. The
words, “sin that dwelleth in me,” are
used in Rom. 7th, of the nnregenerated
man. There is no Scriptural authority
for applying them to a converted person.
The fignre, “root of bitterness,” used
in Hob. xii; 15, has likewise been wrested
from its trne meaning, and pressed into
the advocacy of this doctrine. Both in
Heb. and in Dent, xxix: 18, from which
the writer of the epistle quotes it, beyond
question, it denotes bad men in the Church,
and not “the remains of sin” in a regen
erate heart. And we are satisfied from a
oarefnl examination of all the texts cited
in proof of this theory, that they utterly
fail to establish it. We may be in error,
however, and are willing to be corrected,
by the Book.
On the other hand, Paul says, 2d Cor.
v; 17-18, “Therefore, if any man be in
Christ, he is anew creature: old things
are passed away, behold all things are be
come new. And all things are of God,”
etc. Language cannot be stronger, or
more precise, as to the point at issue.
Paul describes the Christian as “anew
creature,” or rather as “anew creation.”
If there be sin in bis heart at that mo
ment, it is “of God,” according to this
text. The whole tenor of the Scriptures
coincides with this view. We quote one
other text, Rom. vi: 6: “Knowing this,
that onr old man is crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that hencefcrth we should not serve sin.”
In Eph. iv: 24, we read that “the new
man” “after God is created in righteous
ness and true holiness.” It would be easy
to multiply proof-texts, but we forbear.
The rational argument is equally satis
factory. If sin remain in the regenerate
heart, this must be the result either of a
sad necessity, or of choice. To say that
it is of necessity, is absurd. God can
cleanse us from all sin as easily by one
exertion of Hie almighty grace as by two
or by one thousand. If it be of choice, by
whose choioe? Not that of the penitent,
for the Word says, “If I regard iniquity
ia my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
To impute such a choice, to the Holy
Spirit, is blasphemous.
In fact, this error(as’we regard it)results
from confounding a liability to sin with sin
> itself. The one is inseparable from a state
of probation. Deliverance from the other
is the blessed privilege of all the sons of
God.
Secondly. Our second propositon is,
That the regenerate man, by Divine grace,
can lead a life of Christian obedience, from
his conversion until death. It is singular
that a doubt of this should ever have
arisen among Christians. The contrary
notion is an affront to our Heavenly
Father, since it represents Him as re -
qniring more of us than we are capable
of doing, even by the aid of His grace.
John says, “His commandments are not
grievous.” That He does require ns to
keep His commandments is demonstrable
from the Scriptures. “The Sermon on
the Mount” re proclaims the law of the
two tables, Paul says, Rom. viii: 3-4,
“For what the law could not do, in that
it was weak through the flesh, God, send
ing His own Son, in the likeness of sinfnl
fl sh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh. That the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” This
language is specific. “The righteousness
of the law ” can mean nothing less than
obedience to the law. The Saviour says, “If
ya love me, keep my commandments.”
The Oalvinistio notion that, so long as
we are in the body, we mnst keep sinning,
is gradually creeping into favor with onr
people, and is woiking incalculable mis
chief. The advocates of this modern
Gnosticism tone down the work of regen
eration, until it amounts to nothing more
than the hope of a penitent sinner, and
then exaggerate the requirements of
Christianity, until they would tax the
powers of an angel, and triumphantly ex'
olaim, “See ! Can a fallen man do these
things ?” Confounding the wretch de
scribed in Romans vii, as groaning in the
bondage of “sin and death,” with the
rejoicing son of God, set free by “the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” they
“write bitter things” against the poor
body, as if it were the spring of all cor
ruption. Paul, however, says expressly,
that all sins but those of nnoleanness are
“ without the body,” and that sin is
“ against the body,” That is, sin is of the
soul. If we keep that right, the body
oannot offend. Hence Paul, Rom. xii: 1,
writes: “ I beseech you, therefore, breth
ren, by the meroies of God, that ye pre
sent your bodies, a Jiving sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your rea
sonable service.” The sixth chapter of
Romans teaches as plainly as words
can teach, the duty and, inferentially, the
practicability of a sinless bodily service of
God. John goes even further and de
cleres, “ Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for His seed remaineth
in him, and he cannot sin, because he is
born of God.” That is, not that the
Christian cannot sin fatally, for he can ;
nor that his sins are not imputed to him,
for they are ; but that he cannot sin, as a
Christian —cannot sin so long as he walks
after the Spirit; but be sins when he de
parts from his Divine Guide, and remains
a sinner until ho repents and is forgiven.
Panl tells us, too, how we may keep the
law. “Loveis the fulfilling of the law.”
Supreme love to the Saviour, pure and
fervent love to nis disciples,and a sincere
love to all men (which even the young
convert has), is the spirit of obedience,
and will issue in tho service of “ a perfect
heart and a willing mind.” This is Chris
tian obedience, and is all that God re
quires of us. There have been many ex
emplars of it in ages past, aud thero are
many still living, of whom the world is
not worthy. Whatever may be their pro
fession—aud they are not apt to say much
of themselves, unless strongly urged to it
by indiscreet ministers—they are holy
men and women in the Bible sense of tho
word. And the world sees the shining oi
their light, without their flaring it about.
Brother Kennedy, we ought to empha
size this doctrine. A conviction that we
cannot keep God’s commandments is ru
inous. It is a paralysis of effort and pur
poso to do right. Tho convert who adopts
it is sure to be both noglectfnl and diso
bedient, It is in his plan of life to do
wrong. He goes into tho battle with a
flag of {race. He is beaten before the
first gun is fired. The same unhappy
delusion breaks the force of all motives to
repentance. How can we be truly peni
tent fer any act or for any neglect which
we look upon as unavoidable ?
No. It is true that we may sin—it may
be trae that we do sin—but it is not true
that we must sin. By the sufficient grace
of Christ Jesns the Lord we may be
always conquer;rs, and “more than con
querors.”
But enough for this time.
Yours fraternally, J. Lewis, Jr.
Prayer.
No duty is so discoursed about, none
deemed so important, as prayer. There
are few duties we fail in so often. We
believe in its power, yet practice it with
little faith. It is observed more as a
duty than as the greatest privilege al
lowed a sinful being.
Great are the promises conneoted with
prayer; we believe in them only after a
fashion. We pray, and it seems as if we
obtained not the benefit we desired.
There is power in prayer; like some med
icines, its effect is cumulative. Prayer,
says a modern writer, does not directly
take away a trial or its paiD, any more
than a sense of duty directly takes away
the danger of infection, but it preserves
the strength of tho whole spiritual fibre,
so that the trial does not pass into the
temptation to sin. A sorrow comes upon
yon. Omit prayer, and you fall ont of
God’s testing into the devil’s temptation ;
you get angry, hard of heart, reckless.
Bnt meet the dreadful hour with prayer,
cast your care ou God, claim His as yonr
Father though He seem cruel—and the
degrading, paralyzing, embittering effects
of pain and sorrow, pass away, a stream
of sanctifying and softening thought
pours into the soul, aDd that which might
have wrought your fall but works in vou
the peaceful fruits of righteousness. You
pass from bitterness into the courage of
endurance, and from endnranco into bat
tle, and from battle into victory, till at
last the trial dignifies and blessses yonr
life. The force of prayer is not altogether
effective at onoe. Its action is cumulative.
At first there seems do answer to your
exceeding bitter cry. But there has been
an answer. God has hoard A little grain
of strength not enough to be conscious
of, has been given in one way or another.
A friend has come in and grasped yonr
hand—you have heard the lurk sprinkle
his notes like rain-drops on the earth—a
text has stolen into your mind, you know
not how. Next morning you awake with
the old aching at the heart, bnt the grain
of strength has kept you aiive ; and so it
goes on, hour by hoar, day by day, prayer
brings its tiny sparks of light till they
grow into a star; its grains of strength
till they grow into an anchor of the soul,
sure and steadfast. The answer to prayer
is slow; the force of prayt r is cumulative.
Not till life is over is the whole answer
given, the wholo strength it has brought
understood.— Southern Churchman.
Why Have Ye Not Br ought Him !
Many have been asked thii,, aud the
answer has been and still : , “ Never man
spake like this man.” Our Lord found
many a topic in the / '-eaes around him.
Even the humblest obj cts shone in His
hands; as I have seen a fragment of
broken glass, as it caught the sunbeim,
light np, flashing like a diamond. A little
ohild which He takes from his mother’s
side, and holds blushing in His arms,
before the astonished audience, is a text
for a sermon on humility. A husband
man on a neighboring height between
Him and the sky, who strides with long
and measnred steps over the field he
sows, supplies a text from which He dis
courses on the Gospel and its effects
upon different hearers. In a woman
baking ; in two women who sit by some
cottage door grinding at a mill; in an old
strong tower, perched upon a rock whence
it looks across the brawling torrent, to
the ruined and roofless gable of a house
swept away by moantain floods—Jesus
found texts. From the birds that sang
above his head,and the lilies that blossom
ed at his feet, he discoursed on the care of
God—these His text and Providence His
theme. — Guthrie.
The Altered Motto.
[Rev. Theo. Monod, son of Frederick and
nephew of Adolph Monod, studied in America
and speaks English perfectly. He has embodied
the theology of entire self consecration in the
following beautiful hymn, which is likely to
live.]
O, the bitter shame and sorrow,
That a time could ever be
When I let the Saviour’s pity
Plead in vain, and proudly answered
“ All of self, and none of Thee.”
Yet He found me; I beheld Him
Bleeding on the accursed tree ;
Heard Him pray, “ Forgive them Father!”
And my wistful heart said faintly,
“ Some of self, and some of Thee.”
Day by day His tender mercy.
Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and ah 1 so patient,
Brought me lower while I whispered,
“ Less of self, and more of Thee.”
Higher than the highest heavens,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last has conquered ;
Grant me now my soul’s desire—
“ None of self, and all of Thee.”
— Selected.
Supremacy of Love.
For six thousand years God has been
lifting the world np toward a realization
of love. He has been tempering the
spirit of nations. The old idea that
“ might be right,” has been fading away
in the atmosphere of love. Arbitration
is substituted for the spirit of wsr. He
has been ccrracting tho Ohcreb, and at
tuning its various discordant sects to the
key of love. He has been bringing np
individual human nature. Many have
entered into the experience of perfect
love; many more are entering. Slowly
some of those elements aro rising ; more
rapidly others; but one day, all will bo up.
Then will be brought to pass the predic
tion of Isaiah:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the
lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with
the kid; and the calf and the young lion
and the fatling together; and a little child
shall lead them. And the cow and the
bear shall feed, and their young ones
shall lie down together; and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox. And the suckling
child shall play on the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand
on the cockatrice den. They shall not
hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be fuii of the knowl
of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
What a picture of concord 1 The story
is told of Mendelssohn, that when a boy
be was so proficient in musio that be
seemed to inspire an instrument when
ever his fingers touched it. On one oc
casion his father took him to an old ca
thedral, and in the interim of service,
conducted him to the organ-loft and sat
him upon the seat of the organist. Alter
instructing him in the use of the stops
and pedals, he pumped the bellows while
tho boy played. Sach musio bad never
before been produced upon that organ.
The monks from the adjoining monastery
came, one by one, and ascended to the
top of the stairway. On reaching this
point they were held spell-bound.
Well, when the dy comts that the
world shall be attune! to love, and God
shall run His fingers along tho key-board,
as He is over doing in His providence,—
no more shall the harsh notes of discord
be heard ; bnt from tho old organ of
human nature shall go forth music so
sweet that the angels and all the hierarchy
of hoaven will hasten to the confines of
this world and stand enraptured by tho
completeness andrichneesol the harmony.
“He which testifioth these things saith,
‘Surely I oome quickly: Amen. Even so
come, Lord Jesus.’ ” — G. r l. Weaver.
Sanctified Affliction.
The following is from a letter of John
Frederic Obtrlin, pastor of Waldbcch, to
a lady who had suffered many bereave
ments: “ I have before me two stono3,
which are in imitation of precious stones.
They are both perfectly alike in color ;
they are of the same water—clear, pure,
and clean ; yet there is a marked differ
ence between them as to their lustre and
brillianoy. One has a dazzling bright
ness, while the other is dull, so that the
eye passes over it, and derives no pleas
ure from the sight. What can be the
reason of such a difla rence ? It is this.
The one is cut but in a few facets ; the
other has ten times as many. These
facets are produced by a very violent ope
ration. It is requisite to cut, to smooth,
and polish. Had thtso stones been en
dued with life, so as to have been capable
of feoliug what they underwent, the one
which bus received eighty facets would
have thought himself very unhappy, and
would have envied the fate of the other,
which, having received but eight, has
undergone but a tenth part of its suffer
ings. Nevertheless, tho operations being
over, it is done forever; the difference be
tween the two stones always remains
strongly marked. That which has suf
fered but little is entirely eclipsed by the
other, which alone is bold in estimation
tion and attracts attention. May not
this serve to explain the saying of onr
Saviour, whose words always' bear som9
reference to eternity, ‘Blessed are they
that mourn, for they shall be comforiol?’
—blessed, whether we contemplate them
apart, or in comparison with these who
have not passed through so many trials.
Oh that we were always able to cast onr
salvis into His arms, like little children ;
to draw tear to Him like helpless lambs,
and ever to ask of Him patience, resig
nation, an entire surrender to His will;
faith, trust, and a heartfelt obedience to
the commands whioh he gives to those
who are willing to be disciples! ‘The
Lord God will wipe away tears from off
all faces.’ ”
Purity and Power.
The ark of God in the temple implies
that God’s power is in tbe temple, and He
awaiis to exert it in the Word and in the
minister’s appeals, and in the people’s
prayer. Power —yes, God’s power—is
always in the temple when God’s presence
is there. Power to “make the sinner
quail." and to “sound the unbelieving
heart;” power to send healing to the
wounded; power to stay the vast hindran
ces which interfere with the growth of the
soul; power to make the selfish bountiful,
and to make the wretched happy, and
make the godly man a nobler man, grow
ing upward and upward into still diviner
civilization, until he reach the crown of
Christian manhood—the fullness of the
stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus.
Yes, power is in the sanctuary when He is
here.
You remember that we are in anolli9r
dispensation since that prayer was offer
ed, that there is no priesthood except the
priesthood of the Saviour in heaven, and
the priesthood of the whole community
of the faithful, who are “Kings and priests
unto God.” It is a prayer, therefore, not
only for ns who minister, but for you who
hearken, that wo msy all of ns be robed
always in new linen, clean and white, in
which the saints are seen in heaven.
And we are convinced—are we not?—
that tbia is one of tbe strongest necessi
ties of onr church life. If we are to be a
strong church, we must be a pure church.
If the fragrance from us is to fall upon the
people, we must be made fragrant by the
savor of the knowledge of Christ. There
may be attractiveness in our worship,
compactness in onr organization, funds in
onr treasury, numbers in the ehnroh that
follow at our heels where we worship God;
but the strength of a church is not any or
all of these things; the strength of a
church is in the character of the people
that compose it—character, not reputa
tion, for it is a small thing to be jadged
of men’s judgment—character, that which
we are in ourselves and in the sight of
God—character, which even death does
not know how to destroy, for it is inter
woven into the very essence of the recom
pense of reward. — Punshon.
F. W. KES\ED¥, D. FdUor
J. W BIIItUE, Assistant Editor
WHOLE NUMBER 1962
Doii ; t Halt.
It is the first step that costs. When tie
Israelites came up to the Red Sea, the
command of God was, “Speak to the
children of Israel, that they go forward - ”
But how ? The Jewish leader might well
cry out, we have no fleet to bear us over.
Go forward 1 But Lord, we cannot font
the gulf before up. Go forward!
Wouldst thou have us, Lord, to perish in
the billows? Still the same answer comes,
“Speak to the children of Israel, that they
go forward.” The command is peremp
tory. It admits of no delay. And just
as soon as Israel goes forth in obedience
to Jehovah’s voice, lo 1 the waves part
asunder, and the mighty cavalcade at
once marches through, dry-shod 1 Un
hesitating obedience to God always en
sures a blessing.
Here i3 a lesson for tho halting inqui
rers. To you comes the command of God
“Go forward.” Death is behind you.
Hell followeth hard after yon. There is
no salvation in retreat. Heaven lies
before you, not behind. No man ever
saved bis sonl by relapsing into indiffer
ence. If you give up you are lost.
1. Perhaps you say, “I have prayed
many times already, and no blessing has
yet come.” Will yon cease to pray then ?
Will that bring an answer? As well might
a voyager to Liverpool, when one hnndrod
miles from port, put about his holm, and
steer back to New York; he is almost
there; why does tho foolish man retreat?
How many a soul has quit praying when
the door of mercy was just about opening.
Go forward.
2. Another is kept back by fear of rid
icule. He cannot stand a iangh. Thero
is a sneer waiting for him at his father’s
table, or a outting sarcasm in liis counting
room. He wavers before it. He winces
undor the slightest word, and imagines
terrible things in store for himself. Go
forward; the sea will open unto you, aud
so will many a heart, to cheer you on.
You will inspire respect in the very quar
ters from which you now expect opposi
tion. He is a weakling who is pushed
back with a straw.
3. A third person complains, “ I am ip
the dark; I cannot see my way.” Then
go forward, and got out of the dark. The
determination to do your duty will be
attended by a luminous discernment of
tbe path of duty. God will show you tho
way; only go forward, looking for the
cross.
4. Unbelief draws back a fourth, There
is only one way to conquer doubt. It is
to believe. Then, instead of halting and
shivering in an ague fit of indecision,
take a bold, docisive step. End tho
torturing uncertainty by going forward,
“looking to Jesus.”
The only way to do a thing is to do it.
God gives strength to the obedient. He
has no promise fair cowards, or doable
minded, vascillating doubters, He be
stows grace ou those who try to do their
duty. His grace is all sufficient for you.
The deepest sea of difficulties will divide
its waters for your advancing footsteps
just as soon as you determine to obey that
voice which says to you, Go forward,
The moment of ruin to Lot’s wife was the
moment in which she halted. A steady
pushing ou towards 7,oar would havesaved
her life. As soon as an awakened soul
stops to parley with temptation,or to cavil
at some Bible dootrine, the Spirit of God
is grieved. The great majority of uncon
verted persons in onr congregations have
—at some times in their lives —been under
serious convictions, and halted. Death
will not halt. Time halts not one instant.
Dear friend, if you halt one step this side
of Jesus, you must perish outside of
heaven’s gate. Don’t halt 1 or else the
same bell whioh now rings for you a glad
invitation will toll the knell of yonr lost
soul. —2. L. Cuyler.
Miscellanea.
Your own family should be a picture of
what you wish other families to be.— Cecil.
Dr. Vance Smith, one of the New Tes
tament Revision Committee, told a meet
ing at Wolverhampton that the revision
would, he thought, occupy five years yet.
The Presbyterian Church in this coun
try has thirty-six synods, 4,700 ministers,
500,034 communicants, and 520,452 Sun
day-sohool children.
The very energetic Madame MacMahon.
wife of the French President, has collect
ed 17,000,000 francs for tho benefit of the
sufferers by tho great inundation in
France.
Rowf.ll’s Newspaper Direotory records
the demise in the United States and Can
ada, during 1874. of 1,000 journals, in
volving a loss of $8,000,000, to their un
fortunate proprietors.
Dean Stanley has oome to the conclu
sion that John and Charles Wesley deserve
memorials in Westminster Abbey, and has
arranged to introduce them himself, and
at his own expense.
* Generosity daring life is a very differ
ent thing from generosity in the hour of
death ; the one proceeds from liberality
and benevolence, tho other from pride or
fear. —Horace Mann.
A writer on churoh statistics gives the
capacity of the largest cathedrals in the
world, as follows: St. Peter’s, 54,000;
Milan, 37,000; St. Paul’s, London, 25,000;
St. Sophia, Constantinople, 23,000; Notre
Dame, Paris, 21,000 ; Fisa, 13,000 ; St.
Mark’s, Venice, 7,000.
A Mr. Garter, who labors among Lon
don thieves, burglars, and pickpockets, has
gathered a church of ono thousand eight
hundred members. His wife instructs ono
thousand six hundred mothers, meeting
four hundred at a time, who, without her
labors, would receive no religious instruc
tion at all.
That instrument will make no music
that hath but some strings in tune. If,
when God strikes ou tho strings of joy
and gladness we answer pleasantly, but
when he touches that of sorrow and hu
miliation we suit it not, we are broken
instruments that make no melody unto
God.— Dr. Owen.
The Baptist Weekly gives tho following
account of the way a Christian merchant
of New Yoak endeavors to do practical
good: “He has a large store, and em
ploys a large number of young women ss
clerks. On Monday evening of each
week they are gathered together in the
store—their attendance being entirely vol
nntary—for reading tbe Scriptures, sing
ing, praying, and exhortation. Between
thirty and forty usually attend, and a deep
interest is felt in the services.”
Tiie Free Church of Bcotland received
$290,000 last year for foreign missions.
The work of this Church among the
heathen, and especially in India, is largely
educational. Of the 278 agents employed
by the committee, twenty-eight are or
dained Europeans and seventeen ordained
native ministers. The native oburci es
have a communicant membership of 2 387.
During the past year, 235 have been bap
tized or admitted on profession. In the
schools, there are 11 303 papils tinder in
struction, of whom 3,390 are girls.
A foreign exohange say : Father Hya
cinthe, now the independent preacher of
Geneva, in a recent sermon took occat-ion
to say that, while extending a fraternal
hand not only to all Protestants, bnt to
every sonl that is seeking God in honesty
and charity, he was no Protestant.
“No 1” he declared ; “ I shall stand firm
by the Catholic creeds and the Oatholio
sacraments, of which baptism and the
mass are the chief. I believe that in bap
tism grace is mysteriously conveyed to
the soul, so making it a member of Christ’s
Cknrob. I believe that in the much wis
nnderstood sacrament of the mass there
is a holy communion between Jesns Christ
and the soul of the recipient. And I be
lieve in the episcopate, that apostolic form
of government founde 1 on tho Hcnp
tures.”