Chapter X: Part 10

The people of the world look upon a member of the church, that enters the dance, as let down, degraded, and his profession trailed in the dust. “Look there,” he exclaims, “that lady is a member of the church. I saw her immersed, and have seen her commune; she is no better than I am, and I know I am no Christian.” If the dancing professors could hear the numerous remarks thus made, in regard to their letting themselves down, degrading their profession and putting themselves on a level with the world, or below that level, their faces would burn, if they were not too much hardened to exercise a lively conscience.

We are only deceiving ourselves, and that too, most woefully, if we think that the dancers, theater-goers, horse-racers, gamblers and drunkards, claiming to be members of a church, are on their way to heaven. Their baptism is all nothing. Their communion is mockery, an insult to the Majesty of heaven and earth. Their sitting in choirs and taking into their polluted lips the pure words of praises, supplications and thanksgiving, in the midst of the pure worship of saints, is a desecration of the appointments of God.

When we think of saving men, we must not think merely of getting them into immersion, or into the church, but, in the true sense, we must turn them to God—turn them from their sins. The love of sin must be destroyed in them, and the love of God established. They must, in the full import of the term, be made “new creatures,” conformed to the image of Christ. We must see in them not simply a desire to see how near they can be like the world, and not be excluded from the church; how deep they can dip into the follies of the world, and not be lost; how near the verge of perdition they can run and not fall in. But they must “love not the world, nor the things of the world,” make it a matter of prayer, and study how to live and walk with God; how to have the continual care and gracious providence of God over them. No man is a profitable member of the church, that simply escapes being turned out, any more than he is a good citizen who barely escapes fines, imprisonment and the gallows, or who does everything and any thing that the law does not expressly _forbid_. A man may be a bad and worthless fellow and not be fined nor imprisoned. So a member of the church may be bad, and not only worthless but injurious to the church, and not be turned out. There may not be enough spiritual life, moral standing and respect for the law of God, in the church, to enforce the law of Christ.

May we awake to the state of things, cry aloud and spare not, and never cease our supplications to heaven till we see an improvement. We are only deceived in dancers to allow them to remain in the church, and thus permit them to enjoy the idea that they are Christians.

SAVED WITHOUT BAPTISM.

Jesus don’t say, “He that is not baptized shall be damned.” Suppose he does not. Baptism is a commandment. To do a commandment is an act of obedience. To refuse to do a commandment is to refuse to do an act of obedience. The Lord will take vengeance on them who know not God, and _obey not_ the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But our friend says, “I believe if a man willfully and stubbornly refuses to receive the ordinance of baptism, that man will be lost.” What, then, of all those people who have the Bible in their houses, printed plainly in their mother tongue, and know that baptism is commanded, or may know it, as certainly as they know their names, and will not be baptized? And what of the preachers who encourage them in it? The Lord’s will is that they should obey—be baptized. They refuse to do this. They _know_ his will and _do it not_. Will they be saved?

But there are cases in which baptism is impossible. There are cases where the gospel can not be administered. Where the gospel can not be administered, we can not have the promise of the gospel. But will they not be saved by the _atonement_? The atonement is the reconciliation, and reconciliation is by the Mediator, or by the belief and obedience of the gospel. But what of those who can not hear the gospel? They are not gospel subjects. The gospel can not be administered to them. What will you do with them? Nothing. Where the gospel can be made known preach it to the people. Where they can believe and obey it, urge them to do it, that they may be saved. Gospel salvation is the only salvation we have anything to do with. It is freely and graciously offered to men who believe and obey the gospel. The work of the preacher is to preach the gospel to all and exhort all to obey it, showing that “God commands _all men everywhere_ to repent,” and that this repentance is in view of the judgment.

But what of infants? Gospel salvation, or the salvation of the commission, is salvation from sin, or remission of sins. Infants have never sinned, and need no remission of sins. They need nothing only precisely what a saint needs—to be raised from the dead, changed, immortalized and glorified.

RECOGNITION OF, BY SECTS.

What do we want recognition of any sects for? What do we want to come on a level with them for? Not one of them has a creed that is indorsed by any party but his own. There is not a party in Christendom that receives or believes the Methodist creed except the Methodist party. The same is true of every other party. Their creeds are not even popular, only as they agree in the _human-creed_ idea _that they must have a human creed_. What a coming down, for a man that has a creed that they all believe—the Bible—to come down on a level with a man, standing on a little _side platform_, discarded by every religious party, in the world, except his own. We do not want his recognition and do not intend to recognize him till he abandons his _side platform_. The Evangelical Alliance have been trying, twenty-five years or more, to make a platform and are as far from making one that these parties can stand on as they were at the beginning. What use have we for tampering in this way? We have a creed that every party in Christendom admits to be right. The Bible is that creed. We have a doctrine that they all admit to be right—“all Scripture given by inspiration of God,” as Paul says, “is profitable for _doctrine_.” There is no doubt about it. We have “the faith once for all delivered to the saints”—the belief “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” and not a party among all the contending parties doubt or denies this faith. The doubts are not about what we hold, but about what these others hold. We hold and practice no doubtful baptism. The burial of a penitent believer in baptism is valid baptism with all the parties of any note.

We can take down the books from their own libraries and show from their standard works that all we hold, teach and practice, is found in their main works, indorsed and sanctioned in numerous ways. We are not standing upon any doubtful ground. We know we are right, and what remains for us to do is to make every possible effort to attain to a more perfect practice of what we know to be right, and not be trying to get recognition from any of these modern parties. They will never indorse us till we abandon our ground, and this, many among us will never do.

WEALTH OF ALEXANDER CAMPBELL.

First. This matter of gaining wealth does not depend _altogether_ nor _chiefly_ on loving money. If it depended altogether or chiefly on loving money, many more would gain wealth than do, for no doubt more love money as ardently as those that obtain it. Men who love money devote themselves to schemes of money-making, or what they consider such, and, in some instances, break at it, and come out bankrupt. A. Campbell never did devote himself to making money. But he was right in two respects: 1. He was a good manager in temporal things. 2. He was an economist. He knew the use of money and never wasted it. He built no fine houses, rode in no fine carriages and drove no fine horses. He was a plain man. He had everything necessary for comfort and nothing for show. We think he lived in the same house in which he was married, adding considerable, but plain buildings to it, affording accommodations for his numerous guests, but nothing costly or fine, in any part of it. In this he was a noble example. On the one hand not an indication of parsimoniousness, and on the other, not an item of extravagance. The same was true of the entire outfit, furniture, table and all. There was an abundance for all, and nothing wasteful or extravagant.

_Second._ This thing of gaining wealth is not fully to be explained. It is not to be ascribed entirely to the _art_ of man, to his great business capacity, his industry or energy, for we find plenty of men that have these qualities, but accumulate but little. Wealth gathers round some men as naturally as it departs from others, when no man can see the reason. Some call it fortune, others luck, and, in other cases we say, they know how to make it. True, there must be the industry, the energy, the management and economy; there must be the good judgment, sagacity, etc. These are main articles in running the world, but wealth bears no just proportion to these. We speak not of a fortuity, which brings an estate at once, but of the growing up of an estate. There is something lying back of all industry, economy, management, foreseeing sagacity, etc., call it fate, luck, fortune or providence, or what we may, that no philosophy or reason can fully explain. Men accumulate a vast estate without struggling for it, aiming at it, or seeming to think about it. Alex. Campbell was of this class. We can see that he managed well, that he wasted nothing, that he saw that business was in shape, etc., but this does not account for the amount that accumulated around him. Much of it came in a way that he knew not, and certainly never _planned_.

_Third._ Alex. Campbell did not _raise himself up_. God raised him, not for _himself_, nor for us to _glory in him_, but for _his own glorious purpose_, and he did not leave him without the _means_ to accomplish that great purpose. He always provides a way for a man to do the work for which he has raised him up. Alex. Campbell could not have gone, as he did, at his _own charges_, traveling thousands of miles, and for many long months at a time, and through immense districts of country, where he had no kind brethren to entertain him and support him, if the means had not been provided. Nor could he have started, maintained and sent forth a publication, coming in collision with all the religious publications in the world without the means to sustain him. God provided him the means, so that he never lacked. No man ever had the power to stop his mouth by cutting off his support. He stood independent, except upon God, who was with and prospered him. How could he have founded a seminary first and then a magnificent college and prosecuted his great work without means? How could he have supplied his extension table, always extended in his long dining hall, along which the vast numbers that visited him at all seasons, but specially on commencement occasions, sat, were fed and satisfied, and went away admiring their noble host, of whose munificence they had partaken, had not the Lord prospered him? God enabled him to give examples in generosity, hospitality, and to push on his great work. It was of the highest importance that he should be free from all pecuniary pressure and embarrassment, and the Lord kept him in that condition all the time—made “all grace abound” to him. Growing _rich_ and _money making_ from the _love_ of money, or _money’s sake_, were ideas that occupied no place in his great mind or heart. He made and used money, as God intended it, as a _means_ for doing the work of God, and _means_ that the work could not have been done without.

_Fourth._ But how did so large an estate accumulate if he did not love money, or love “filthy lucre?” We answer that a large amount of his estate came to him as he explained to us, when we visited him, in the only conversation we ever had with him about his temporal affairs, and that a very brief one. We can not remember the particulars, but we do remember distinctly all that is of any interest here. Several large items—items that would have changed the amount _largely_—came to him without the most distant idea of ever making money. This occurred in his listening to the importunities of friends to loan them money, and securing it by mortgaging lands then cheap, and these lands thus finally falling into his hands, by the failure of his friends, to whom he had loaned the money, to pay. These lands remained in his hands many years, and he was not necessitated to sell them. As the country improved and railroads were constructed, these lands proved to be in important places, where in many years they grew up in into heavy amounts in value. In this there was no _far seeing_ nor _reaching_ for “filthy lucre,” nor any thought of obtaining it. He simply listened to the requests of his friends to _help them_, and in many long years it turned out to yield him a heavy amount.

_Fifth._ His talents put forth in Bethany, the works he issued from there and the establishment of the college, made employment for many persons, called a number of these as educators and students, established the church there, and resulted in building up quite a village. This enhanced the value of the fine tract of land owned by him there, and certainly without his foreseeing and working to that end, made a considerable item in the estate he left behind him.

_Sixth._ The sale of his various works toward the latter part of his life brought a considerable income. This could not have been foreseen and planned to make money. In the early part of his life, and the time he put forth his most vigorous efforts, he had no assurance that such works as he issued would ever be a source of profit. Men who start out to make money do not start out _against_ the main current of mankind. We have some now whose business is _making money_, but they do not start out nor travel the road trod by Alex. Campbell. They do not make a square issue with the religious world, nor war upon the men in power. They do not generally think that is the way to the gold mines. Had he been starting with money in his eye, his keen perception would have seen something of more promise than a square fight with the popular clergy of the world; the creeds, councils, conferences, assemblies, etc. It, however, turned out that his productions found a sale that resulted in an income. There was no close management or calculating on his part, nor careful looking after the matter.

But the pen of Alex. Campbell was a terror to men who did not love “the right way of the Lord,” and his words were burning; but the idea that he was morose and unamiable is entirely an erroneous one. His very nature was amiable and lovely; and, in his devotions, he was as humble as a child. We never heard any man who could pray like he could. His terms, in addressing our heavenly Father, were characterized with a sense of the absolute dependence, profound awe and reverence of us, the creatures of mercy, and the simplicity of a child. All was easy and utterly without affectation.

The reader may think we have occupied too much space with this matter. We think not. There are great lessons in these matters.

FAITH, REPENTANCE, AND BAPTISM, DO NOT PARDON.

Faith changes, purifies or christianizes the heart, or converts the subject in heart. Repentance changes, purifies or christianizes the man in character, or converts him in character. But this is all simply a change _in_ the man, but no change in his relation or state. It is simply preparing the man to enter into a justified state, or a state of pardon. There is no forgiveness of sin in all this. There is no salvation of the soul from sin here. The salvation of the soul from sin, pardon or forgiveness of sins, is as distinct from all the preparation of heart and life, or all the change in the subject, as heaven or earth, as the work of God and the work of man. _Man_ believes, repents, feels and confesses, but _God_ pardons. No believing, repenting, feeling or confessing, saves the soul or pardons. It is God that pardons. Nor does baptism save the soul. It, too, is but the act of the creature; but it is the initiatory rite, consummating or transition act, where pardon is promised in the divine process. The candidate is baptized “_into_ the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” All the prophets bear witness of him, that through his name, whoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of sin. His is the only name given under heaven and among men whereby man can be saved. When we come into his name, there is salvation, or forgiveness of sins. As many as have been “baptized into Christ, have been baptized _into_ his death.” In his death, his blood flowed to wash away sin. When man comes into his death, he comes to his blood that cleanses from all sin. When he enters the body of Christ, he comes to the life, to all spiritual blessings in Christ, to the salvation of our God.

PROTRACTED MEETINGS, EXCITEMENTS. ETC.

It has been a question of serious doubt with some of the most excellent on earth, whether the protracted meeting is compatible with the genius of the Christian Institution, and whether more evil does not attend it than good. But from the day we engaged in the service of our Redeemer, to this hour, we have had no doubt of the propriety of protracted efforts for the conversion of men. It is true, these efforts may be made in such a _manner_; such policies and appliances may be employed and a resort may be made to such means of excitement, as would be wholly unjustifiable. But this may be done on any other occasion, as well as at the protracted meeting, and the fault is not in the protracted effort, but in the _means_ employed.

All efforts made to excite men without enlightening them; to rouse the feelings without informing the judgment; to produce action without the knowledge how to act, are wholly unscriptural, and equally at war with the best interests of mankind. To hold a protracted meeting, while talented orators shall picture to men, in the most startling manner, the sinfulness of sin, the lost condition of man, the awfulness of death, the ineffable bliss of heaven, and the unutterable horrors of hell, without giving any adequate instructions how to obtain deliverance from sin, or the dangers of punishment, and an ultimate admission into the felicities of the eternal state of the blessed, we all admit to be as irrational as unscriptural. Indeed, we can not conceive anything more incompatible with all enlightenment and all revelation, than to awaken the human soul to a sense of its danger, without affording a knowledge of the means of escape. That such, however, is the case in thousands of the revival movements of our times, no intelligent person can deny. Who has not seen the penitent, when the invitation has been extended, come, inquiring, “What must I do to be saved?” and not a man on the ground who could answer the question. Who has not heard the preacher invite, persuade and entreat the sinner to come to the Lord, assuring him that he who seeks shall find—he who comes shall in no wise be cast out—that if any man knocks at the door, the Lord will open to him, and, when persons, induced through such invitation, come seeking the way, not a man present could point it out? We have all witnessed occasions of this kind. Nay, more, we have known such seekers to come, time after time, seeking, honestly and devoutly seeking, but still not finding! Yes, this is not the worst. We have heard the preacher advise them to join the church, that probably the Lord would bless them, that persons had been known to “get religion” after joining the church, etc., etc., and we have known them to take this advice, join the church, and remain for years, _seeking_ all the time, and still failing to find! Every community can testify the same.

Now it is not strange that men should become sceptics, under the influence of such a system as this. It is a failure. It makes false promises, and men try them and find them to be false. Such a system promises, that they who seek shall find, and hundreds, even thousands, have sought—have done, and have done _honestly_, all the preachers pointed out for them to do, and have failed to find. They know positively that the system is a _failure_, for they have tried it, and found it to be such. It is precisely what we might expect, that persons trying such a system, seeking and striving honestly for years and not finding, should be brought to doubt that there is any truth or reality in the whole concern; and we have no doubt, that such unenlightened excitement will be chargeable with a large amount of the unbelief, so rapidly increasing in our times.

But if the preachers on all such occasions, were enlightened, so that when any sinner is awakened, becomes penitent, and desirous to know what he should do to be saved, and he _could_ and _would_ tell him forthwith what God required him to do, in the unequivocal language of the New Testament, who can fail to see that the results would be entirely different? This, we affirm, may and should be the case in every instance, and we hesitate not to say, in the most unequivocal language, that such _is the case_ under the preaching of enlightened men. We go even further, and declare with all possible emphasis, that God never authorized any man to preach who could not, on any occasion, point out to the believing, inquiring penitent, what he should do to be saved, or what he should do to enter into the kingdom of God. We have it recorded from the Lord’s own lips, and from the lips of his inspired apostles, what they directed inquirers or seekers to do, to obtain pardon and admission into Christ’s kingdom, and any preacher who can not or can, but has not the honor to do it, give their holy and infallible directions to the dying sinner, _seeking_ his way to God, was never called, sent nor authorized by God to preach the gospel, and should not be regarded as such.

It is also of the highest importance that we employ gospel means for the awakening sinners and arousing them from their slumbers. Some preachers have contracted the habit of making an immense variety of appeals to affecting occurrences—describing sympathetic scenes, simply for the purpose of producing feeling in the audience. Great injury may be done in this way, by arousing human sympathy, moving the soul and causing men to act, who do not love the Lord and have not had the first serious thought of consecrating their lives to his holy service. We say not this, because we fear too much excitement, too much feeling, or too much interest, but because the excitement is not of the right kind. The work is of no value unless it be the Lord’s work.—It is not his work unless done by his acknowledged and approved instrumentalities. The gospel is his power for salvation. The excitement produced in a community by preaching Christ—the work produced in the heart by preaching the gospel, is the Lord’s work. It is a divine cause, producing a divine effect. But if the cause be merely human, the effect can be no more than human.

We want the protracted meeting then, to deliver an unbroken series of gospel discourses to the people—that we may be enabled to call off their attention from the ordinary cares of life, and more especially from their sins, and place our glorious Lord and Redeemer before their minds—induce them to consider him, in all his gracious condescension, his life filled up with acts of kindness, goodness and humanity, his prayers, agonies and tears, his wonderful death, his descent to the grave, his victorious conquest over death and his triumphant and glorious ascension into heaven and coronation, as the King of kings and Lord of lords—that he is now exalted to the heavens—to the throne of the universe, to grant repentance and remission of sins, and that there is no other name given under heaven, nor among men whereby ye can be saved.

When a full exhibition of Christ—of the gospel, is made to men, in a series of discourses, and their hearts are moved, their souls filled with love and gratitude to him whom they discover to be their only Benefactor, their Lord, their Savior and only Redeemer, then we meet them with his own infallible directions, as they fell from his own lips and the lips of his holy apostles, and we never find it fail to give peace to the soul, and if carried out to give the utmost assurance in after life and death of acceptance with God and an eternal reward. Go on, then, brethren, with the protracted meetings, and preach the word of the everlasting God to sinners as long as a man can be found who will bear it, and then be careful to take care of the young converts and keep them in the work of the Lord.

SCENE IN A HOTEL.

October 7th, we started for Lebanon, where we had an appointment at night. The rains not having extended east, the road was fine and we glided along beautifully and reached Germantown about twelve o’clock. Not being acquainted with any person in the place, we drove up to the only public house we saw, and called for dinner and horse fed. On entering the bar room, the landlord skipped around the counter, and running his keen eye over the immense assortment of intoxicating liquors which lined one end of the room, politely inquired what we would drink. We answered, “a cup of cold water sir, if you please, when dinner is ready.” His countenance fell, but he recovered himself and invited us to take a seat. Presently in came a dirty, rough looking fellow, with his greasy pants patched from top to bottom, and placed himself at the counter, with his feet about as far apart upon the floor as his legs were long, and rolled up his red eyes as he looked out from his bloated face, while the landlord called out, “What will you have sir?” He answered, “Hand down old Rough and Ready,” when a huge bottle of the fiery stuff was instantly set down. He poured a common sized glass tumbler two-thirds full, swallowed it, smacked his lips and took his seat. During this time he uttered some dozen or two of the most horrid oaths he could think of. One after another came in till some twenty had entered the room in a similar style, among whom there was not one, not excepting the landlord, who was not a profane swearer. Now the dinner bell rang, and in a perfect rush we gathered round the table well spread with the bounties of life. The stream of oaths continued from almost every mouth. Presently my right hand man commenced entertaining the company by giving an account of his travels among the _Hoosiers_, how ignorant they were, and that he had some notion of turning out preacher among them, as he was certain he could have made lots of money in that way! Poor silly creature thought we; you must get sense enough to eat your dinner in a civil manner, when you are in the company of a stranger, before you can even be an impostor.

Should we call at such a house to stay over night, we should surely leave, after finding what kind of company we had fallen into. To be annoyed by the awful stench of tobacco smoke, spit and snuff, with the wretched scent of a company of men who are never sober, is what we will not endure if there is any other chance.

“FAITH COMES BY HEARING.”

How remarkable the difference between the apostles’ method of producing faith, and that pursued by some modern preachers. The latter class frequently theorize on faith, and the method through which it comes, but the former, understanding his mission more perfectly, first, set forth the things to be believed, and secondly, the witnesses by which God intended to prove them to the world. An august phalanx they are too! consisting of all the prophets and apostles. “They all bear witness of him.” Suppose we could see them standing in a long rank, and among the most distinguished we could see Enoch, Elijah and the venerable Abraham. We could place our eyes upon the great commander of the hosts of the Israel of God, and the mighty law-giver, who feared and trembled, in the midst of thunderings and smoke at Mount Sinai, viz. Moses.—We look again and behold Samuel, Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. Passing the lesser prophets, we behold the commanding face and hear the voice of John the Baptist. Still gazing we behold Peter, James and Paul and last of all the eye rests upon the venerable John. We then pause, and reflect upon the tears, the poverty, nakedness, hunger, thirst, stripes, imprisonments and deaths through which these men passed and inquire what was all this suffering for? The fact re-echoes back upon us in the awful and sublime sentence: “For the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Did they thus suffer on this account? They did. Could they have been anything else but faithful men? Surely not. They must have been the most sincere and solemn men the world ever produced: Well could they have been mistaken. Impossible. The things concerning which they bore witness they SAW and HEARD. “We were with him in Jerusalem, in the land of the Jews, and _saw him_ after he rose from the dead.” We say then emphatically that they could not have been insincere nor mistaken, and what they said must have been infallibly true.

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

Awakened sinners feel that they must do something, but they see, or think they see, some “lion in the street”—some difficulty in the path which they have marked out to Christ, which prevents them from finding the Savior in the pardon of their sins. The chief reason, perhaps, why every inquirer does not rejoice in a felt sense of God’s pardoning love, is, that they seek in their own way. They endeavor to arise and “go to Jesus,” in their own strength. No sinner ever did find Christ, seeking thus. He must first arrive at the point where he can feel his own helplessness, before Christ will help him. When he does realize this helplessness, then God will meet him and give him the new heart.

Would you know, then, what you must do to be saved? The essence of the whole matter, we think, is this:

1. You must resolve that you will put off the interest of your soul no longer, but that you will go earnestly about the matter, and seek and persist in seeking, until your sins are pardoned. 2. You must see your own helplessness and feel it. 3. Having arrived at this point, humbly submit to Christ. With the prodigal, let the feelings of the heart be, “I will arise and go to my Father”—He can help me—I can not help myself—if he save, well—if not, “I can but perish if I go.”

And, did ever a sinner perish with such feelings? No, thanks to Christ, not one! Try it, dear sinner, try it.

We clip the above from the _Presbyterian Advocate_, as a specimen of “the blind leading the blind.” Why is it that when men attempt to answer Scripture questions, they can not give Scripture answers? When the Philippian Jailer propounded substantially the above question, the holy apostle answered him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spoke unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.” Acts xvi. 30-32. When this pagan officer asked what he should do, he was not blindly told that he _could do nothing_—that the first lesson to learn in salvation was that he _could not do anything_, but he was told what to do, and forthwith did it and was saved.

When Saul asked the important question, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” he was by no means told that he could not do anything. But he was told to “Arise, and go to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee, all things that are appointed _for thee to do_.” Acts xxii. 9-10; see verse 16. Would God appoint things for men to do, and say, “Why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord,” if he knew they could not do anything?

When three thousand cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” there was no blind guide to say, “You can do nothing,” but there were present apostles, under the influence of the infallible Spirit of all wisdom, who said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.” Acts ii. 38.

EVANGELISTS—PASTORS.

The evangelist is not an officer in a church, or for a church, but his work is at large, to build up the churches, strengthen them and turn sinners to the Lord. He should introduce the gospel into new places, establish churches, and in due time set them in order. He is not an ecclesiastic, an official dignitary, who has much to say about his _office_ and _authority_, but a _gospel man_, a man of influence, and can command respect and do a good work.

A shepherd, or, which is the same, _pastor_, is not an officer at all, but a figurative term applied to him who takes care of the flock. The flock means the church, and the shepherd is the correlative of flock, and is applied to an overseer, or one who oversees or looks over the flock as a shepherd. “Pastoral work” is, then, the work of a shepherd, or overseer, who can not be a novice or a young convert.

The work of the evangelist is now needed as much as ever, and the evangelist is by no means done away. So the shepherds to take care of the flock are now needed as much as ever, and the teachers are in demand as much as ever. These are not now raised up and qualified by miracle, but by ordinary means; nor is the work gone that they are severally to do. The evangelizing is now needed as much as ever; so is taking care of the churches and teaching the disciples all things that Jesus commanded. True, as our brother has said, there is no office in the church except overseer and deacon. The office of an evangelist is not a church office.

We have a glorious army of young men now called into the field, capable of one of the noblest works ever done by men. They have it in their hearts to do that work; but if they are perverted they will be ruined and will never accomplish the work to which they have given themselves. They must not, on the one hand, be discouraged and disheartened, but encouraged and their way opened; and, on the other hand, they must not be arrogant, conceited and vain, but humble, gentle, and kind; examples of piety, purity and moral excellence. They must not think to leap into authority by virtue of being preachers, but, by faithful labor and noble deeds, win their way and gain an influence among the people of God. If, now and then, one of them is puffed up, filled with conceit and arrogance, the same is true of other classes of men, and it is no argument against them as a class, but against the individual.

THE SECRET OF SUCCESS IN PREACHING.

Nothing short of the highest morality and the most perfect subordination can ever secure complete success. Most indispensable is high reputation in all its public functionaries. A religious body whose public organs do not sustain purity of morals, chastity of address, and dignity of character, with most elevated natural and acquired attainments, can never do much towards the purification and elevation of the debased and degraded children of men. So important is this that some rule seems to be necessary to enable us to distinguish those who labor to show themselves off to a good advantage, from those who seek the honor of the blessed Master. It is one thing to preach in such a way as to make the people think of and confess their sins, but it is quite another thing for the mere actor to show himself off, in such a way as to induce the hearers to say, _he is the greatest man we ever heard_! A fine speaker may present such a beautiful theory on faith, as to delight a popular audience, without producing faith in a single soul, while the most immethodical speaker, whose heart is greatly impressed with the facts to be believed, will throw out the great realities of revelation with such earnestness and zeal as to make believers wherever he goes. Just so fine theories on repentance may be delivered in the shape of sermons, and listened to with applause, without inducing any one to think of repenting, while some old-fashioned preacher reasoning upon righteousness and a judgment to come, in the most immethodical manner, will cause sinners to tremble all around. The reason of this is not that one class has method while the other has not, but one class presents the mighty truth of God, while the other simply presents a fine theory concerning the truth. The result is that in one case the truth itself is believed and admired, while in the other case the fine theory is the only thing seen, and the preacher who delivered it the only object adored.

TEDIOUSNESS IN PUBLIC DEVOTIONS.

We wish to allude to some errors into which some elders have fallen, for their advantage. We have an opportunity of being better acquainted with some difficulties in churches than the elders themselves can. When we visit some congregations, the elders complain that they will not turn out to meeting. The brethren say the reason more will not turn out is, that the elders are in the habit of preaching long and uninteresting sermons, which they have heard over and over again, until they know every comma and semi-colon. And now the congregation has dwindled down to insignificance, and the few who are faithful enough to attend are annoyed with a lengthy harangue on the subject of the non-attendance of the members. There is certainly a great impropriety in this course. But few men are able to interest an audience with a lengthy discourse on every first day of the week. Those men who have been most successful in holding large audiences, where they preach very frequently in the same place, are usually very brief in their addresses, and very fearful of wearying the patience of their hearers. Some men of very fine talent have lost their audiences, on no account but their tediousness; and if it thus fares with men of talent, what may we expect from men of slender abilities? It is very wearisome to those, who can hardly be induced to attend the place of meeting at any time, to hear a brother of limited information, and a poor speaker, for the space of an hour or an hour and a half. Time seems doubly long to them.

The uneasiness seen in this class, causes all the rest to be uneasy, and every one wishes the sermon to close. Some begin to leave, others begin to button up their coats, get their hats and whips ready, look at their watches, and appear almost on the rise, while some through respect try to appear contented. Let the fault lie where it may in such cases, it is as certain as any thing can be, that the preaching is doing no good. If the same brethren would make their addresses very short, and be as interesting as possible, they would not have to complain half so often about the delinquency of their brethren in attending meeting, and secure the reputation of much better preachers.

There is another kind of tediousness, almost as insufferable as long sermons. The selecting and singing of long hymns, in a cold and formal manner, after a tedious sermon, can have no good effect. Lengthy ceremonies in administering the communion, are always in opposition to its good influence, and very wearisome to the restless. But last, though by no means least, it is not to be endured for elders to detain the audience, while they may consult together five or ten minutes, about appointments and other matters of this kind, and then be very tedious in announcing them. All matters of this kind ought to be despatched with readiness.

RESURRECTION—ADAMIC SIN.

We doubt not that precisely what was lost in Adam will be restored in Christ, or, that whatever the injury that resulted from the agency of Adam was, it will be removed by Christ. Whatever was included in the word “die” will be counteracted by what was included in the words “made alive.” The penalty inflicted on account of the Adamic sin will all be removed from the whole race, in Christ, the second Adam, or the Lord from heaven. No man will be lost in the world to come on account of the Adamic sin. There is not an intimation in the Bible of any man being punished in the world to come on account of _original sin_. The punishment in the world to come is threatened in view of _our own_, or what schoolmen call “_actual_ sin.” The penalty sentenced on account of Adam’s sin has fallen, as a _consequence_, on the whole race. By Christ, in the resurrection, this _consequence_ will be removed, and pardon, through the blood of Christ, will release _all who come to the Savior_, from _their own_ sins, or their _actual_ sins, and thus save them from punishment in the world to come.

PAYING PREACHERS A STIPULATED SUM.

If a man, or a certain body of men, wish to control the labors of a farmer or mechanic, and apply them as they may see proper, it is but the voice of reason and Scripture that they give him a reasonable compensation to support him while performing his labor. In precisely the same way, if any man, church or co-operation, wish to control and appropriate the labors of the preacher of the Word, they should give him a reasonable compensation. But when the question is under advisement, of employing a man at a certain point, and for a certain amount, the question is not whether he _will preach_, but whether he will preach _at that point_ and for _that amount_. He is bound in his covenant with the Lord _to preach_, but the Lord has left him to select his own field of labor. He selects his field, performs his labor, and looks to the Lord for his support. But all this does not say, that his brethren should not promise him a certain amount, and with the utmost punctuality fulfill their promise.

“I do not think it is right to promise a certain amount,” says one, “we can not tell what we shall be able to give.” Did you hire that man to work on your farm without promising him a “certain amount?” Did you buy that farm that you are in debt for without promising _a certain amount_? We judge not, and not a small amount at that. Why, then, should men, constantly in the habit of promising _certain amounts_ for everything else, be so cautious about promising the poor preacher of the word of God—the man to whom society is more indebted than any other man, for all that is pure and good, a _certain amount_ to subsist upon while he sojourns in this life?

“I thought you said the preacher should trust to the Lord for his support,” says one? Certainly he should, just as you trust to the Lord for his preaching. You trust to the Lord to enable him to perform his preaching according to arrangements, and he trusts in the Lord that you will be enabled to support him as promised, the same as your hired man trusts in the Lord for what you promised him, or as you trust in the Lord for the products of your farm. Yet the preacher knows not the ability the Lord may give him, nor what amount of money he may need. It may be more or less, but it is not his reward for his labor, but merely his support—or, if you prefer it, his _board_ while he labors for the Lord. But he does not intend to spend the whole reward of his labor in this life, but is laying up a good foundation against the time to come. They are prodigals who run through all their earnings as fast as earned. The Lord does not intend his servants to do this. He gives them a subsistence as they pass along, or money for their expenses, but the main bulk of their wages is laid up in heaven, and can not be estimated by dollars and cents. May God put it into the hearts of the children of God to look to the temporal wants of the young men who have entered this great work.

SELF-LAUDATION.

To see the mere worldling, whether the politician, the lawyer, physician, or whatsoever, an egotist—full of self-laudation—giving himself the glory for everything good, and acquitting himself from everything evil, is contemptible enough in all conscience. Nothing can sink a man faster in the estimation of sensible men. But in the kingdom of Christ, where all is purely of the grace of God—where none has anything that he did not receive, and where all are held responsible in proportion to the ability that God gives, and where each one has to get down upon his knees, before his holy and perfect Master, and confess his weakness, imperfection, shortcomings, and nothingness in the sight of God, how transcendently ridiculous to see egotism, self-laudation and an effort to glorify the creature in the place of the Creator! And how perfectly incompatible, too, such a spirit with the meek and lowly spirit of Christ and the apostles!

PREACH CHRIST, NOT OURSELVES.

Paul says, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ.” Again, he says, “I determined to make known nothing among you, but Christ and him crucified.” I come not to you with excellency of speech, and the wisdom of men’s words, but with the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power. He further asserts that the gospel which he preached, he did not receive from man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Many such expressions are found in the writings of the holy apostles going to show the precaution constantly used by them, lest the glory of Christ should be attributed to them. The very first sentence that escaped the lips of Peter in Solomon’s portico, was to the same effect. “Why look ye so steadfastly upon _us_, as if by _our own_ power or holiness, this man had been made whole?” He proceeds: “The _name of Jesus Christ_, through faith in _his name_, hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all?”

The good Cornelius tried Peter, at the same point, on his first approach into his presence. He fell down before the apostle and was about to worship him. Peter told him to stand up—that he himself was also _a man_, and demanded of him why he had sent for him. After hearing the account given by Cornelius, of his prayer, his having seen an angel, and what the angel said to him, the apostle began upon the great burthen that he carried upon his soul. In a few words he declared that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. This was the great subject the apostles carried upon their hearts. Respecting themselves, they knew not what would befall them, save the testimony of the Holy Spirit, that bonds and imprisonment awaited them; nor did they count their lives dear unto themselves, but they counted all things but loss, if they could but win Christ.

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST A PROSELYTING INSTITUTION.

One of the most striking differences between the Mosaic and Christian institutions is, that the latter is a proselyting institution, while the former was not. Errorists among the Jews, contrary to the spirit of their institution, ran into great proselyting efforts; while errorists in the kingdom of Christ, contrary to the spirit of their institution, leave the spirit of proselyting. Those Jews who had such a desire for proselyting, should have been Christians, and the Christians who have no zeal for proselyting should have been Jews. It would have suited their capacity, views and feelings better, to have been born into a church as they were born into the world; and a sign in the flesh, such as circumcision, as a mark of distinction between them and the rest of mankind, put upon them when eight days old; and when the numbers of the church were replenished by natural generation and birth, and not in an institution where men can not enter except by being born again—where they are begotten, not of corruptible, but of incorruptible seed, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever—where men can not enter by natural generation, but must enter by _regeneration_ or not enter at all.

If men who have no zeal to proselyte, had been born in an institution where every child born of church members is also a church member, they would have suited well to them the lessons from the law of Moses on the Sabbath day, and perform the dull and spiritless ceremonies of the synagogue. No doubt they could have gone through the performances with as much formality and as little grace as a Jewish rabbi. Many of these, if they had the priestly robe, Aaron’s rod, the pot with manna, the shew bread, etc., would figure much more decorously back among the types and shadows, than they do here among the good things to come. They are better adapted for the letter than for the spirit, for they almost convert the house of God—the spiritual building, where the spirit of God dwells, and where we are required to worship in spirit and in truth—into the dry and irksome ceremonies of the Jewish synagogue.

OBSERVING THE SABBATH.