Chapter XV: Part 15

Come out of Babylon, O you saints of the Lord, wherever you are, and commit yourselves to the hands of the Lord. “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.” Hear the holy John describe her destruction: “A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city, Babylon, be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.” “After these things, I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia: Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord, our God; for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again, they said, Alleluia, and her smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped him that sat upon the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia! And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife hath made herself ready.”

Wonderful things are before us, and let us be in readiness for their approach. When Paul was leaving the disciples, expecting to meet them no more in the flesh, he said, “I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified.” This same word, another Apostle says, is able to save your souls, and the Lord says, “The words which I speak to you shall judge you in the last day.” His word lives and abides forever and ever. If we were making our dying request, and that to the dearest friends we have on earth, we would request them to abandon all human authorities and hold on to the word of the Lord for ever.

PREACH “FIRST PRINCIPLES.”

There is no telling the evils that have arisen in some old congregations, from preachers assuming that their audiences knew all about what are usually called first principles, and not preaching them. In this way, they never get their audiences to understand the principles of the gospel at all. They preach to their half-sleeping audiences, not _hearers_, some little, exhortatory sermon, of twenty-five or thirty minutes, and not a syllable is recollected two days. The people are thankful that the sermon was short, and the preacher thankful that “service” is over. In this way the gospel has literally been shut out of some churches, and year after year passes without any thing like a clear development of the gospel, and neither the church nor the regular hearers understand the gospel, or know the difference between the gospel and something else. This also gives rise to textuary preaching and preaching a sermon “to develop a single thought.” We heard of one preacher who delivered a sermon on the text, “And there shall be no night there.” The wording was soft as a summer breeze and as harmless as a butterfly. Now, we must say that we abominate this as mere trash. We want good, sound, solid and manly preaching, containing principles and practical instruction, that will make an audience _think_ and _feel_, and _that to some purpose_. Let us advocate the cause, maintain and defend it, with zeal, earnestness and power. Unfold the great principles of the faith, spread them out and let the world see them, and see at the same time that we intend they shall prevail. The principles are self-evidently right, and there is no reason why any man should be ashamed of them, or afraid to advocate them. They can be carried through the world, and we have the men and ability, and, the Lord helping us, we shall spread them throughout the land.

DEVELOPING THE TALENTS OF THE YOUNG.

We must make an effort to bring out our young people. If they are brought into the church, and not employed any way, not induced to do anything, nor in any way made useful, one half of them will be led off into the world again. A bishop who understands this matter, will engage not simply the attention of the young, but their ability, whatever it may be, and bring it out. We fell in company with a bishop of this kind a few evenings since, on the cars, who informed us, if our memory is not at fault, that out of about forty male members in his congregation, in Illinois, all but some three took some part in the public worship, by way of reading, prayer, or exhortation. We have recently heard of several churches of this sort. These can worship without a preacher, can “draw out an audience,” and will, in a short time, send out preachers. Bishops who thus bring forward their young men, are bishops indeed. They do not imagine that their work is to sing, pray, preach, break the loaf, rule, and do every thing, and that the duty of the audience is simply to obey them. It is the work of a Christian bishop to develop and bring out the talent in the congregation, and apply it to the work of the Lord. Here is where our preachers are to come from. The church must furnish the preachers of Christ. No other institution will ever do it. We need not look to our colleges to make preachers. They will never do it. We need the colleges as much as any of our brethren have ever thought; but not to make preachers, but _to educate our young men who want to preach or do anything else_.

WHAT A PREACHER MUST BE.

He must be earnest. Men who preach the gospel of Christ must be earnest. They must not trifle with the gospel and the souls of men. The theme is too vast, the responsibility too great and the issues too momentous to be treated in a careless, indifferent and prosing manner. The idea of a man speaking of questions of life and death, eternal happiness and eternal misery, the glories to be revealed at the appearing and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the terrible destruction that shall be the destiny to all who obey not the gospel, in a cold, dull and unfeeling manner, is preposterous. These are the most awful, momentous and sublime themes that ever dwelt upon the lips of men; and let him who speaks of them, remember that he is pleading in a case of life and death. Let him speak with earnestness, spirit and power.

He must be a man of perseverance. A man who can not preach a week without any success, and not become discouraged, had better go home. He is not the man. It is nothing strange to preach a dozen or fifteen discourses without success. Let him preach again. If he still has no success, let him humble himself before the Lord, in most fervent prayer, and make another effort. If he shall still fail in one place, go to another, and try again. Remember Noah, who preached one hundred and twenty years, without an addition, and preach on and pray on. Trust in the Lord, and work on.

He must be a man that can not be discouraged. He must be determined that he will listen to no discouraging tales. When met by some faint-hearted, sickly, and half-believing brother, who doles out his story about the troubles among the brethren, the opposition to be encountered, and how “hard a place it is,” where he is operating, he must pay no attention to it, but rise above it, and bear it in mind that there are good and honest-hearted souls in every community, who will receive and obey the gospel, if it is faithfully presented. Keep these in your mind, preaching brother, and try to save them, and you will succeed in a vast majority of cases. Inspire your audience with courage and confidence, especially the brethren. Allow no whining, complaining, and saying, “We can’t do anything,” and believe nothing of the kind. You _can do something_, and you must tell the people so, and _keep on_ till you do it. You must not work in doubt, but in strong confidence that you have the truth—that you are advocating the cause of righteousness—that God is in it, will be with you, never leave you nor forsake you—that you can, by the help of the Lord, make the cause prosper, and will do it.

THEORY AND PRACTICE.

It is one thing for a man to _say_ he is for the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible, and it is quite another thing to _learn_ and _practice_ some of the first and clearest lessons of the Bible. The only authority there is in the Bible for preaching the gospel at all, requires that it be preached in all the world—to every creature. Yet, strange to say, the first thing many seem to think of, and the only thing, is the mere vicinity where they reside. They are frequently few, weak and uninfluential; can get no preacher to their vicinity; or if they do get one once in a great while, they entertain him with an account of their weakness and inability to pay, make him sacrifice more to preach for them than they all sacrifice to support him. In other words, if they ought to give him thirty dollars, by a hard stretch they raise fifteen dollars, and send him off fifteen dollars minus what he ought to have had. After thus disheartening him, breaking him down and starving him, or especially his wife and children, they comment upon the old adage, “charity begins at home.”

Declaim against foreign missions, and prepare to give the State Board twenty-five dollars if the Board will send them one hundred dollars worth of preaching. After they treat a preacher in this way a few times, he is compelled from absolute necessity to abandon them. Thus, isolated, forsaken and helpless, they take no publications, know nothing of what is going on, pine away and die. This shows the utter fallacy of little, weak and helpless congregations keeping themselves isolated. They should act with their brethren, report themselves, be known in all their efforts, and send in their contributions, no matter how small. The ground of complaint here is, however, more on the part of preachers than any place else. In all our preaching, we should inculcate a missionary spirit, the importance of acting in harmony, unitedly and with energy in all our undertakings to evangelize the world.

THE CONVERTING POWER.

Men are talking of justification by _faith alone_; but the main trouble is, that they have no faith. They have no confidence in the gospel, the power of God. They have no confidence in preaching the cross of Christ, the power and wisdom of God. They have no confidence in preaching Christ to save the world. They never preach Christ with any animation—any spirit or power. They have deserted God’s ordained power to save men, and are dealing out their insipid theories of spiritual influence, their views and philosophies, which have nothing in them to save, if they were all true. Preaching theories of the Word or of the Spirit, of the mode of the Divine existence, or of anything else, has no power to convert or save any one. All the preaching of Calvinism or Arminianism, of Trinitarianism or Unitarianism, of Necessity or Freedom, or all the other theories ever preached, whether true or false, never saved one soul of our poor fallen race. But the preaching of the gospel, preaching Christ, the cross of Christ, is the ordained work for the Christian ministry. This is unequivocally the power God has authorized them to exercise in saving sinners. We know it will save sinners, from the following three reasons:

1. The Holy Spirit declares it to be “the power of God, to every one that believes.”

2. The apostles and first ministers of Christ preached it to the salvation of thousands in a single day, and millions in a few years.

3. We are preaching the gospel almost every day of our life, and find it bringing sinners to Christ. We have all faith in the gospel, the ancient gospel, preached in its purity and simplicity, as the only means of saving man. It will save men. It is the power of God to save men. We realize this more and more every year. The blessing of the Lord is attending every man who has faith in Christ, in his word, and preaches the gospel honestly.

But we know that those brethren who oppose us in this, are wrong, for the following reasons:

1. The Lord never said that their theories upon any subject, were the power of God unto salvation to anybody, either Jew or Greek.

2. The apostles never preached in their style.

3. They convert nobody when they do preach.

4. The church dies under their preaching in every instance.

Brethren, have all confidence in the gospel of your salvation; preach it, advocate it, propagate it; perpetuate and hand it down to the future generations. We have all confidence in it; expect to lean upon it while living and when dying. “We commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance among all them who are sanctified,” said an old saint, when leaving a church, and when assuring the disciples that they should see his face no more. The gospel will live; and, those who have confidence in it, love it, preach it, and practice it, will live co-existent with the years of God.

IMPERFECT MEDIUM FOR A PERFECT REVELATION.

Human language, perfect or imperfect, is the only medium through which a revelation to man ever was or ever can be made. We do not claim for the _medium_ that it is perfect, but the _revelation itself_ is perfect. The imperfection of language and instability form the occasion for new translations and revisions. Revelation, when first given to man, was perfect and the language employed to convey it to the mind of man answered the purpose. In the providence of God, the original languages through which revelation was made died, and consequently ceased to change. But, in the very nature of things, a living language is always changing. The circumstance, however, that language is an imperfect vehicle through which to convey divine things, is no objection to the divine things thus conveyed to us. It maybe a reason why our knowledge of revelation will never be perfect in this life; but certainly no reason why revelation itself shall be considered imperfect. It may be alleged that revelation to man is more difficult on account of the imperfection and instability of language; but the same difficulty lies in the way of every kind of communications to men.

The true state of the case is, that the medium of language is sufficiently perfect and entirely adequate for all the purposes of a revelation to mankind. The communication from God to man found in the Bible is sufficiently clear and intelligible for all the purposes of its original design. The man who will make an honest effort, can understand the will of God concerning him—can discriminate between good and evil, right and wrong, the way to hell and the way to heaven. But the man who will not make an honest effort, would not be a Christian if one would rise from the dead before his eyes. If he had seen the Lord in person he would have found occasion for caviling. The seed of the kingdom must fall into a _good_ and _honest_ heart.

It is useless to fall out with the medium through which revelation has come to man. The best medium in existence was employed, the very one through which we communicate man with man, and the one with which man is more familiar than any other—the medium of _language_.

OVERLOOKING HUMBLE BUT GOOD MEN.

We have lately been reflecting upon an opportunity for doing great good perfectly within our reach, to which many are paying but little attention. Who among our brethren are thinking how many humble, unassuming and comparatively obscure men we have, who are actually doing a great work, and not only doing it at their own charges, but doing it without thanks or even credit from their brethren? While we are paying much attention to a few men of popularity, influence and fame, we are overlooking a large number of the best, truest, most self-sacrificing men the Lord has given us. These, too, are the men who are doing the main body of the work, and they are the main supports of the cause. They are men of good sense, piety and devotion; men of excellent character, an honor to the cause and a credit to the brotherhood, who are penetrating the private neighborhoods, preaching in private houses, school houses, barns, shops, and open groves, and bringing thousands to the fold every year; and in the place of the brethren making any arrangement to support them, or even saying anything to encourage them, they are saying discouraging things of them, such as that “they can’t preach”—“they are little preachers,” etc., etc.

Now, we desire to hear of some old church, where wealth abounds, instead of monopolizing money and talent in preaching in their midst, where probably they can do but little good, making arrangements outside to sustain some good man, such as we have described, to visit those by-ways all through the land, where most numbers may be converted and the work of the Lord greatly extended. We have the men to do this work, good men, men in whom we have all confidence, who desire to do this work, and are doing it measurably without charge. These men do not desire large wages for their work. Indeed, they have shown, in many instances, that they will work on, pay or no pay. But they could do vastly more if they were supported. Now, the idea of our fixing our eye upon a few talented men, paying them large salaries, and wholly neglecting these, is manifestly wrong. It is sinful. We saw six or eight preachers such as we allude to, together in Mexico, Missouri,—and we find them in every community, and we vouch for the fact, that more than one-half of all the accessions reported are from men of this description.

We live in a time when humble men and good men are overlooked; when working men are forgotten and neglected; and we desire to make a plea in behalf of these. They are the men who are willing to go into all the highways and by-places—to preach in the private house, the school house, the barn, the shop or the grove. A large proportion of all the work that has been done is the result of the sacrifices, labors and toils of this class of men. They are the men that will now do the work, do it well, and with less expense than any others. There are hundreds of men of this description that have never received one hundred dollars in a year for all their hard labor. We have in our mind several of this class, who have brought into the fold large numbers every year, and have received for their labor comparatively nothing. Will not the brethren make arrangements to do something for these brethren? They are willing to go among the poor, the destitute, and preach to them the unsearchable riches of Christ.

If those who have means to expend for the cause, will look to this class of men and to their work and aid them, they will do one hundred per cent. more with their means than is generally the case. These will go where another class of men will not go, and do a work that another class of men will not do, and yet a work every way as important to the conversion of the world. Send these men all through the land, and convert the country, and then we can easily convert the city. We have a large number of this class of men who can be employed for two, three and four hundred dollars a year, to preach a great portion of their time, and they are the only men who can and will penetrate all the nooks and corners of the land. The Lord help us to appreciate these good men, and see that they are aided in their labors of love and work of faith.

SUGGESTIONS TO A YOUNG SCEPTIC.

A young gentleman had called for the reconciliation of
certain points in the New Testament narratives, which, to
his mind, seemed incongruous. After noting each of the
points separately, in the _A. C. Review_, for May, 1859, the
editor added:

But, my dear sir, the reconciling what to you may be apparent discrepancies, is no reason for your becoming a Christian; nor should you think me unable to reconcile them, or should I really be unable to reconcile them, or should all men be unable to reconcile them, that would still be no reason why you or any man should reject Christ. The inability to reconcile these matters may arise from our ignorance and not from the fact that they are irreconcilable. It would not be a reason for rejecting the gospel, if the statements of these witnesses were really in themselves irreconcilable or inaccurate. The inaccuracy might easily have found its way into their testimony, in translating, transcribing, or interpolation, and Christ still be divine. The whole matter rests _upon Christ_, and not upon the congruity or the incongruity of the sacred narratives, unless their consistency can be so impaired as to destroy their testimony concerning Christ. The matter is not whether you can reconcile all the statements of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, whether you can show their consistency and understand them throughout, but whether you believe in Christ or not, whether you will receive him or not. Can you say, sir, that you are pondering in your mind whether to regard Jesus as _divine_ or an _imposter_? This is the question for you to fix your eye upon. You have not time now to study the whole Bible and decide upon a sentence at a time, whether you believe it or not. It would take you a long time to become a Christian in that way. You should not go to the Bible for that purpose, but go there to learn all about Christ, the purity of his life, his wonderful teachings, his miracles, his perfect knowledge of what is in man, the fulfillment of all the prophecies in him, with an eye simply upon the question—is he the Christ, the Son of God? You can shape your inquiries in different forms, though constantly bearing upon the same question, by inquiring as follows: Was Jesus perfect in his life? If he was, he was more than man, for no mere man ever was perfect. Were his teachings perfect? If they were, they were not of man, for no mere man ever gave the world perfect teachings. All merely human teachings, in all the world, and in all ages, have been imperfect, and, it is a miracle in itself, for a perfect being to appear among men, in human form, or a perfect system of teaching to be presented by him to man. He emphatically _spake as never man spake_.

Can it be possible that you, my dear sir, are vacillating in your mind whether Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? Can you doubt whether he was the friend of man? whether he loved man? whether you would be infallibly safe under his guidance? Can you doubt whether he was good? whether his teaching was good? whether it was safe? You must feel conscious that he is the Christ, the Son of God—the friend of man—that he loved man—that he went about doing good—that you are infallibly safe in following him—that his teaching is good—that it is divine. You would not now deny him for the world. Your eternal all is in him. If the worst things infidels have ever said of him were true, it is better and safer to follow him, than them; for they admit that he was better than they, and his teaching better than their own. As you value your soul, follow him.

DIALOGUE ABOUT THE PREACHER.

The following dialogue between Dr. Pietus and Dr. Fastidious, occurred in a social company, in a parlor, and, thinking it might be profitable to some brethren, and even churches, we have concluded to publish it entire, without recommending or condemning it; therefore, we let it speak for itself:

DR. FASTIDIOUS.—I have, for some time, desired an opportunity to say a few words, though confidentially to you, Dr. Pietus, touching our preacher. I think he is not a suitable man, for such a prominent place as this. You know that we frequently have men of distinction here. Besides, our city is one of prominence, and we ought to have a man of distinction.

DR. PIETUS.—I think our preacher is a good man, Doctor, a sound man, and a man of great moral worth. I thought he gave us one of the best exhortations at the prayer-meeting, on last Wednesday night, I ever heard. Did you not think so?

DR. F.—I was not there. He is so uninteresting that I but rarely go to hear him. I know that he is a good man, and sound enough. But then, he is a very _common_ man, and not sufficiently showy and eloquent for us. We need a first-class preacher in a city like this; a man who can draw out an audience.

DR. P.—I never think of such a thing as a preacher to _draw Christians out to meeting_. The Lord draws me out to meeting. He has promised to be there, and I have never found his promise to fail. I am never disappointed, for I go to meeting believing that he will be there, and I always find him. But those who only go because they love some preacher, frequently get disappointed; for the preacher being a fallible creature, often fails to attend. But I do think our preacher is a good preacher. I do not know where we could get a better man.

DR. F.—We need a man of distinction and notoriety, who will attract attention, and draw out an audience. I would then go out and try to do something. But, I have no faith in doing anything, till we have a more attractive preacher.

DR. P.—My dear sir, we will never get a preacher who can draw out an audience, unless _we draw too_. As much depends upon a church in drawing out an audience as the preacher. No preacher can draw out an audience unless the church does its part. We must do our part as a church, or no preacher in the world can do us any good. I still think our present preacher has done about as much for us, as any man could have done under the circumstances. It is not a different kind of preacher we need, but a _different kind of a church_. We need members that will attend the public worship, sing, pray, exhort, and stand at their post. In one word, we need a church that will stand by the preacher, encourage, sustain him, and hold up his hands.

DR. F.—I never saw such a man as you are. You can be satisfied with any kind of preaching. I never saw you present when any man preached, when you did not appear satisfied, no matter how bungling he was.

DR. P.—I think but little about preachers, have fewer favorites, and more rarely speak in praise or complaint of preachers, than almost any man you can find. I am not thinking of the _messenger_, but of the _message_.

DR. F.—I can not bear a prosing, stammering and dry preacher. I have not heard our preacher present anything _new_ in three months. I like to _learn something_ when I go to hear preaching.

DR. P.—When were you at meeting last? I do not recollect seeing you for some three months in the meeting house.

DR. F.—I have been pressed with—I have not been very well—the preaching has not suited me, and there are many in the church that should have been excluded long since.

DR. P.—No wonder you have heard nothing _new_ from our brother; for you have not heard him at all. If his preaching had been the best in the world, it would have done you no good, while you did not hear it. I will tell you, my dear brother, how to make preaching better to us: Read the Scriptures every day; pray night and morning; talk to every one you meet _about religion_, and your heart will be full of the theme. You will then like to hear any man who can preach at all. Attend all the meetings, participate in the songs, prayers, exhortations and all the other parts of public worship, and you will then be interested in all that you hear from good men.

DR. F.—Your notions of preaching will not do. Our city is one of intelligence. This community, you must recollect, is highly enlightened, and we must have a man here that keeps pace with the age. We frequently have statesmen, lawyers, physicians and men of the first rank in attendance, and it is useless to think of interesting these with any _common_ talents. We must have a man of taste, refinement, and highly accomplished.

DR. P.—When did our Lord ever try to arrest the attention of the elite of this world by _show_, by mere human _polish_ and _flourish_? Never, never, Doctor, as you certainly know. Are you not aware, my dear sir, that the wisdom of God is not in this vain and worldly thing that you speak of? Sensible people, those truly enlightened and great, can understand the gospel, appreciate and receive it, when it is simplified and made appreciable to the masses of the people. Not only so, doctor, but the class you aim to please, though enlightened in the things of the world, and accomplished, they are more unenlightened in the things of the kingdom of God, than many that you never think of pleasing. I am for a preacher that will try to please the Lord, whether he pleases your distinguished men or not.

DR. F.—We have had some of the best speakers in the world here, and the truth is, the people here know what good talent is, and they will not be satisfied with ordinary men. The people here have been well taught. No man can attract attention here unless he is a superior man.

DR. P.—That the people here have heard some men of good preaching talent, is true; but that they are well-read and well taught in christianity, is far from true. That they understand Jesus or the apostles well, is far from true. Many perfectly country places and rural districts contain far more gospel light than may be found in the bounds of our congregation. We presume that we are wise, while many plain men from the country are astonished when they converse with us, that we are so ignorant. To be plain with you, my dear brother, I know of no place where there is, at this time, more need of plain, old-fashioned, New Testament preaching than here. It is not worldly show that we need; we have that now in abundance. We need the simple teachings of Jesus, solemnly and affectionately impressed upon our hearts, by some good man who loves us and will try to save us. In the place of being inflated with the conceit that we are well taught, far advanced and highly elevated in christian attainments, so that no man except one of the most exalted accomplishments can teach us, we should be sensible of what is the true state of the case, viz: That almost any plain and good man who preaches among us, can teach us many useful lessons that we do not know.

DR. F.—I can not agree with you. I have had my face burn more than once, in listening to some ignorant brother, blundering and trying to preach, who evidently did not understand his mother tongue, and that, too, in the presence of some distinguished persons. I can never countenance such a state of things.

DR. P.—Doctor, I had rather hear some good man, who can not speak his mother tongue correctly, tell the plain story of the cross of Christ, in the love of Jesus, and in the spirit and power of a holy man of God, a thousand times, than to listen to one of your _showy men_, who can preach a beautiful sermon without any Jesus, Holy Spirit, love of God, or anything else, but _the man himself_ in it. I desire preaching that will convert men to Jesus—to christianity and not to men. The converts will then love Jesus, meet and worship him and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. We do not want a man here to _worship him_, but to preach Jesus to us and teach us to worship Him.

DR. F.—With your views of the subject, we shall never do any good. We shall never draw out an audience, nor accomplish anything. I am in favor of procuring a man at a salary of $2,000 or $2,500, that will command the respect of our city. Then we shall do some good. I am willing to give liberally when such an arrangement can be made, but I do not think our preacher is doing any good, and shall not give anything for his support.

DR. P.—I am sorry to hear you speak so. Nothing, in my estimation could be more disastrous to us. This would consume about all we could possibly raise, so that we could not raise a dollar for missions, for colleges, the poor or anything only to pay a man to preach _to us_. At this rate our large congregation would only just be able to support itself and bear its own weight! Who is to convert the world at this rate! If we can not do anything more than sustain ourselves who are to support missions, build colleges and take care of the poor? If you had such a preacher as you want, he would have to do everything himself, or you would not be satisfied. Not a brother in the church would ever pray, exhort, or do anything that would call forth a gift, or develop any talents that might be among our numbers. Hence in all these city churches where some great man is the center of attraction, they rarely ever bring forward any young preachers, or develop any new talent. They simply monopolize talent brought out and developed some place else. I am in favor of preachers of ability, not only in our city churches, but as far as possible, in all the churches. But the way must be opened among us for the development of talent in the church. Our pride must not despise incipient efforts—plain and humble men, nor human weakness. It is in all men more or less, though not always developed in the same form.

DR. F.—I think if we had such a preacher as I wish, we would draw out an audience, convert many people and greatly extend the cause in one year.

DR. P.—No, Doctor, that would not be the case. The preacher we have is just as good as any man we can get. He is a man of unquestionable talents and piety and if we stand by him, aid him and encourage him, thus showing to the world that we respect him, those without will also respect him and he will succeed. If we had the most gifted man on the continent and the members of the church would treat him as they have done our present preacher he would do nothing. By our absenting ourselves, we virtually say, what you have in so many words said, that _our preacher can do no good here_. When the members of the church thus speak and act, neither a man nor an angel can do any thing; and, if I were the preacher, I would not stay a moment with brethren who would thus treat me. I would go where I could be appreciated. Doctor, come to meeting and let us make one good effort and see if we can not bring our church out. Let us produce a change in the church, and then probably our preacher will do well enough. I think we need a change in the church more than in the preacher, or preaching.

“THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINS.”

The preachers who love Christ better than partyism, will preach Christ, will call the people to Christ, and induce them to love him, and love all that do love him. They will inquire _his_ will, and do it. They will exchange the love of party for the love of Christ, and find it so much higher, holier, purer and happier, that they will ignore all party feuds, wrangling and strifes, and maintain simply “the faith once delivered to the saints.” No doctrinal corrections, or corrections in ordinances, or in organization and government, will ever amount to anything, or save a people, who have not the _love of Christ_. We may be told that we may be mistaken, that they do love Christ. We cannot be mistaken in this, for the Lord says, “From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A man full of the love of Christ, will speak of Christ. The theme of his heart will dwell upon his tongue. Where Christ has promised to be, they will be with him.” “Where two or three are met together in my name, there,” says the Lord, “_I will be_.” How many go to these places where Jesus has promised to be? How many go to the Lord’s table, to remember his dying love? How many of the preachers will sit down together, as loving disciples, and meditate upon his dying love, his great suffering, as he bore our sins on the accursed tree?

When we have lost friends, we go to the grave, and think of them, try to bring them up in our memories. We talk with our friends about them, and about seeing them and meeting them in another state. How often do the professors of religion, in our times, think of the grave of Jesus, his resurrection, his coronation? How often do they commemorate his sufferings, and meditate upon his great love to us? His name is almost set aside, his sufferings almost forgotten, his love, even his dying love, scarcely mentioned! Yet the word of the Lord, when translated into English, thunders in our ears!—“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, he will be accursed when the Lord comes.” We shall hear these words, and be judged by them, in a day when we shall feel their force. Jesus is the “one Lord,” the one object of love, the one head and king. Shall we make an effort to rescue the people from party influence, and win their hearts and affections from all the frivolous objects upon which they are placed in partyism, and place them upon Him who is the express image of the invisible God, the brightness of the Father’s glory, and in whom all the fullness of the godhead dwells bodily? Who, with the love of Christ in his own breast, can fail to see that the work now for good men, is to call the attention of all men to Christ, to his word, his cause, his church, his salvation, his way, that they may love him supremely, and be his for evermore?

CONCLUSION OF THE YEAR.

Dear Reader, we are now about closing another year. This number completes our weekly visits for another year. The time appears short since we made the first visit this year, still, fifty-two weeks have run their course. Another year has fled, and is now numbered with the years before the flood. The good deeds of the righteous are entered on the records of eternity, to come up to their everlasting honor in the day when the righteous judge shall award to every man according to his works. Not only so, but all the crimes, the transgressions, and acts of disobedience of every variety, in a long catalogue, have gone up and been registered in the book of remembrance before the Lord. What a list must that be! What a spectacle must this world be, with all its dark crimes and acts of rebellion against the Majesty of heaven and earth, to the eye of the omniscient One! Every den of drunkenness, debauchery, profanity, lying and gambling, lies spread open to the All-seeing eye. Not an oath falls without his notice, not a fraud, a deception, cheat, lie, or crime of any sort escapes Omniscience. All, all sins, transgressions and misdemeanors of every sort are treasured up and kept in store for the day of final account.

What adds to the solemnity of the matter is, that no amends can be made in acts of the past. There they stand irrevocably, so far as we are concerned. The Lord may wash away every stain in his own precious blood, where persons come to him in a proper manner. But even this does not amend for the past. It takes away our guilt, and is a means of saving us. But the wrongs done remain wrong and will so remain for ever. Repentance changes not the wrong done. In the same way, the good neglected, during the year now closing, will so remain for ever. We can do good, it is true, the coming year; but that we could have done, and that it would have been our duty to have done, if we had done good all last year. Opportunities for doing good never return. Other opportunities may come, but they would have come if no previous opportunities had been neglected. You had an opportunity this year to have ministered to the wants of the poor widow, the orphan, the sick, the afflicted and distressed, but these opportunities are now gone, and gone forever. If neglected, there is no remedy; that neglect remains forever. We may repent, obtain forgiveness and do good in time to come, but all that good could have been done just as well had there been no previous neglect, and would have been more liable to have been done, for one delinquency opens the way for another and has a tendency to induce it.

In closing the year, it is well enough for us to cast an eye back over the ground, not to amend the year now closing, for that is impossible, but to see where the delinquency has been, and determine that a similar delinquency shall not be found in the work of the coming year. In this way, we may profit by looking over the past. What, then has been entered to our account on the records of eternity? What have we done as a great religious body? What have we done as individual congregations, or communities? What have we done as families? What have we done as individuals? What have we done as teachers in the Sunday schools? What have we done as preachers of the gospel? What have we done as religious editors? Now is the time to review and see how the account stands before the Lord. If the Lord should call on us for our annual report, ARE WE READY?

FINIS.

JOHN BURNS,
Publisher & Bookseller,

717 OLIVE STREET,
ST. LOUIS, MO.

Invites the attention of authors and others to his
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AND ANYTHING IN THE PRINTING LINE.

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Publications of the Christian Church

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A SYMPOSIUM
—ON—
THE HOLY SPIRIT.

—BY—
A. B. JONES, G. W. LONGAN, T. MUNNELL,
J. Z. TAYLOR, A. CAMPBELL.

BOUND IN CLOTH, 75 CENTS.

The Publisher presents this volume to the Public in the
hope that much good may result. It contains the mature
thought of some of our ablest writers on an important
Bible theme. While Symposium may be a novel thing among
us, the Publisher would fain hope that an appreciative
public will commend this method of presenting a subject
from different angles of vision. It is believed that the
times are propitious for the Disciples to make themselves
more widely felt by their contributions to the religious
literature of the age. It is the ambition of the Publisher
to make this volume the first of a uniform Series; each to
be composed of Essays on the living issues in Christian
thought. The subjects for the different volumes will be
chosen so as to make the Series comprehend a wide range.
Should the plan be successful, the whole Series when
complete, will form a unique and valuable addition to the
libraries of wide-awake religious people. The Publisher
sincerely hopes that the reception of this book may
demonstrate a general desire on the part of the public
for books of like merit and method; and that he may be
able in this convenient form to send broadcast over the
land the richest thought of the ripest minds among us, and
be of service to the Master’s cause, and to his day and
generation.

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT
SYMPOSIUM ON THE HOLY SPIRIT.

This is an elegantly bound little book. The style is of
the highest order, all of the authors being first-class
writers. The subject is profound, and so is the treatment.
It has been handled in a masterly manner. The authors are
not agreed, but it is a book of investigation and not of
controversy. While the reader may not agree with some
of the writers, he will feel that everything is said in
a fair and manly way. The subject is viewed from every
stand-point, which makes the treatise valuable to those
searching for the truth. As the name indicates, this
little book truly presents a feast.—_C. M. Wilmeth._

Brethren A. B. Jones, G. W. Longan, J. Z. Taylor and
Thomas Munnell. These are among our most thoughtful
writers. They have done their work well, and we commend
the book to all who feel an interest (and all ought to) in
having and holding correct views on the subjects of the
influence of the Holy Spirit as our indwelling comforter.
The book concludes with a selection—The influence of the
Holy Spirit in Conversion and Sanctification—from the
writings of A. Campbell.—_Dr. W. H. Hopson._

A neat little volume, executed in faultless style. It
consists of several essays, original and reprint, from
leading thinkers of the Christian Church. It opens with
an article by Elder A. B. Jones, upon “Consciousness
and the Holy Spirit,” and this is followed by one by G.
W. Longan. There are essays by Thomas Munnell and other
writers, upon the same subject, taking a different view of
the same subject. But the most important in the volume is
an old essay of A. Campbell, on the Holy Spirit. To those
desiring the views of able men upon this question we would
commend the book.—_B. W. Johnson._

Address all orders to JOHN BURNS, Publisher,
717 Olive Street, St. Louis, Mo.

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT

THE LIFE AND TIMES
—OF—
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,

Taken altogether, this book is deserving of hearty
approval as a valuable contribution of material towards
the proper understanding of the work of a past generation,
and of the life of one who, whatever may have been his
errors, developed in his life many of the characteristics
of true greatness—an indomitable worker, a ready writer;
a powerful preacher, whose strong practical sense,
boundless energy, and earnest devotion to his work would
have made him a man of mark in any department of life;
and which in his chosen department, lifted him out of
poverty and obscurity to a position of great influence and
successful leadership, and won for him the admiration and
affection of multitudes.

The publisher has done his work in creditable style. The
book ought to have a large sale.—_Isaac Errett._

LIFE AND TIMES OF ELDER BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.—We have just
received a copy of the above work, from the office of the
publisher, John Burns, St. Louis, Mo. It is a very handsome
volume of 508 pages, good, plain type, on nice, white paper,
and neatly bound in cloth.

We were very anxious to see the book, and rejoice that
it has been published. We regard it as a valuable addition
to our Christian literature, and think a copy of it should
be put into every Christian library, by the side of the
lives of Stone, Smith, Johnson, the two Campbells, Walter
Scott, and others. These biographies of our great and good
men should be read and studied by all, and especially our
young preachers.—_J. M. Mathes._

The work comprises a biography of Elder Franklin from
his childhood—embracing his early life and surroundings,
his conversion, consecration to the work of preaching;
his early efforts, trials, sufferings and encouragements.
There are in this portion of his life some touching
and pathetic incidents concerning his wife’s struggles
with poverty. His labor and growth as a preacher are
recorded, his mistakes and faults are presented with
fairness. His career as a writer is given, his connection
with the various questions that presented themselves as
matter of controversy with the denominations and among
the disciples, his positions, changes and arguments are
presented with fairness. Short sketches are given of many
of the associates of Elder Franklin.

The style is plain, direct and very attractive. We found
it difficult to lay the book aside when we had once looked
into it until we finished it. Our readers will find it an
interesting and instructive volume. We hope all of them
will get it and read it.—_D. Lipscomb._

The publisher has done his work well. There is nothing
flashing nor fanciful in its make up. The man whose deeds
it records was a plain, practical man. On pages 68 and 71
is a very just tribute to the humble, patient woman, the
wife of Benjamin Franklin, who waits a little longer until
the summons comes to call her home. The paragraph is a
just and beautiful tribute from an affectionate son to a
pious and devoted mother. Read it.

I hope that the book will have a very wide circulation.
Let every one who can do so buy and read the Life and
Times of Benjamin Franklin.—_B. B. Tyler._

We are much pleased with a cursory glance at its
contents. The tribute of love and affection which
Joseph Franklin pays to his mother, when reciting her
trials and tribulations as the wife of a poor and
struggling preacher, and when recalling her devotion and
self-sacrifice in the darkest days of a pioneer’s life,
starts tears unbidden from our eyes, and causes us to
thank God that he has given to the Church such peerless
and faultless mothers.—_John F. Rowe._

We have received from the publisher, John Burns, “The
Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin.” It is a very neat
and attractive volume of 508 pages. The publisher deserves
much praise for the mechanical execution of the work.
It is printed on good paper, and in large type, and old
persons can read it with pleasure. We will speak of it
again when we shall have read it.—_Dr. W. H. Hopson._