Chapter VI: Part 6

Our Lord was so careful to keep his kingdom and his mission distinct from civil affairs, that when he was appealed to, to arbitrate a dispute touching an inheritance, he inquired, who made him an arbiter in such matters, or where was there any authority for him to step aside from his mission, or, rather, pervert his mission and his office from their high, spiritual and divine object, to a worldly, temporal and business object. He was so careful to keep his mission distinct from the world, and worldly relations, that when engaged in the work of his mission, he refused to recognize a fleshly relation—his own mother, brother and sister. In his kingdom he recognized no fleshly relation, as a basis for any application to him, or a reason for his institution conferring any benefit on any human being, not excepting his own mother, according to the flesh. Those who _do the will of God_, regardless of all fleshly ties, political conditions, or worldly circumstances, whether male or female, bond or free, are mother, sister or brother, to the Redeemer and Savior of man. So perfectly distinct did our Lord and the apostles keep their mission from politics that there is not the remotest hint that they ever participated in civil affairs, in a single instance, in the whole of the sacred record. They either never participated in politics in any way, or else looked upon the whole matter as so distinct from their mission and work, as not to be once mentioned in the whole Christian revelation. So distinct is the New Testament from political institutions, that it contains not one word of instruction to civil officers, in regard to their duties, not one hint what kind of men we should vote for, or what form of government we should favor. It simply enjoins that Christians “obey every ordinance of man, for the Lord’s sake:” “submit to the powers that be; for the powers that be are ordained of God,” and declares that “rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil”; that “the ruler is the minister of God, and bears not the sword in vain.”

The Christian law enjoins that we “follow _peace_ with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” It is not enjoined that we follow peace with a political party, but “peace with _all_ men,” and holiness. The Lord said, “Blessed are the _peace-makers_, for they shall be called the children of God.” The angels of God shouted when Jesus was born, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth _peace_ and good will toward man.” Shall that religion enjoining its adherents to “follow _peace_ with all men,” promising a blessing upon the peace-makers, whose divine Author was introduced into the world, with an angelic shout of “_peace_ on earth,” be made an instrument in the hands of a misguided and worldly priesthood, in the political strifes of the world? If it shall, we betide him who does it. It will kill every preacher and every church that ever had the Spirit of God in them, to do it. Indeed, all of this description are now dead. Not a man nor a church among them, throughout the length and breadth of the country, is doing anything for the cause of God. Not a sinner is converted by them, nor a saint comforted. Many of them, old men, that formerly had the spirit of the Lord, preached Christ with great power, with their souls full of the love of God, converted sinners, edified and comforted the children of God, now sit in the company of worldlings, read and discuss politics on the Lord’s day, while the house of God is forsaken.

Our mission is to preach Christ, Christianity, and to disentangle it from all connection with these side-artifices, devised to draw men away from the Lord. We have only alluded to slavery, and the excitement about it, so far as to discover the proper course for a christian, but not to discuss its merits, as a system, at all. In doing this, we have simply applied to it the rule that we do to all questions of the kind, viz: To inquire for the _course pursued by the Lord, the apostles, and the first Christians, and follow it as infallibly safe and right_. In doing this, we have certainly shown that those warring upon us in this matter, have no commission from heaven, from Christ, or his apostles, or, in anything in all their lives and practice. We shall, therefore, as far as God shall enable us, preach the pure gospel of the grace of God, both North and South, East and West, to all, both great and small, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; and thus labor to bring them into the kingdom that is not of this world—a kingdom that can not be moved—where the pure in heart can enjoy God, his Holy Spirit, and his people, though the wicked rule and the civil governments are corrupt, with the blessed assurance that they shall one day be delivered from all the perplexities of an imperfect and sinful state. Here we must all turn our attention at last.

Civil governments can never be perfected. They will always be working wrongs and cruelties some place. The wisdom and power of man can not avoid this. The wickedness and selfishness of men, also, are in the way, so that the civil institutions of the country can never be perfected; and he has studied Christianity to but little purpose, who thinks its aim to be the perfection of the human contrivances of the world. It looks above this, to the purification and perfection of _individuals_, in their regeneration and personal sanctification, and preparation for a better state. It does not, like some fleshly systems, look upon this world as _man’s all_; but, as momentary, a pilgrim state, not our home, not our continued city, but merely the preparatory state to a better world. How soon this world will all be nothing to all these political wranglers, who have suffered themselves to be made tools for political parties, to the neglect of the church of God, without one soul ever being able to see that all their noise, ever did any good in any way. How silly it is, as well as unchristian, for old friends, neighbors and _brethren_ to disagree and fall out about the intricate and deceptive schemes of political wire-workers. Such men are doing no good for their church or country. The very circumstance of their falling out with their best friends, shows that they are insane upon the very subject upon which they propose to enlighten the world, and, of all men in the world, the most unsafe, to guide either church or state.

UNPROFITABLE SERVANTS.

Looking at the eternal benefits Christianity has conferred upon us, and the rich inheritance it proposes to confer in the world to come, the little a poor mortal can do in a short lifetime sinks into nothingness, and deserves not to be mentioned. When we think of him who became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich—that he became a little lower than the angels, that he, by the grace of God, should taste of death for every man—that he had not where to lay his head—that he died for us—think of the holy apostles and martyrs of Jesus, with all their labors and sufferings—all we do, or can do, dwindles into perfect insignificance. To God, over all, blessed for ever and ever, through Jesus Christ, we owe eternal gratitude, praises and thanksgiving that he has ever received us and permitted us to labor in his gracious cause at all. To his name be honor and power everlasting.

BOUNDARY LINE OF REPENTANCE.

The boundary line of repentance. Life is the boundary line of repentance. What the Scriptures call “time,” contains the whole period during which man can turn to God. “To-day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the bitter provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness.” If we are ever molded into the image of Christ, made conformable to his death, and prepared for the society of the blessed, it must be while we are in time. To show that we are inside of the clear revelations of God, we shall make two or three references to the New Testament. One man, more curious to know the fate of the masses, than his own duty to God and man, in our Lord’s lifetime asked him: “Lord are there few that be saved?” To this the Lord responded: “Strive to enter in at the straight gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Luke xiii. 23, 24. He then proceeds to the time when this shall be, as follows: “When once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are.” In reply, they make an appeal to the fact that the Lord had been accustomed to eat and drink in their streets. He replies, “I know you not whence you are; depart from me all ye workers of iniquity.” This must be after death, for He refers to the future, “When ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out,” or thrust away. It is after death, because the Master of the house has never risen up and shut to the door of the kingdom, in this life. As we sing sometimes, “The doors of gospel grace stand open night and day.” None, in this life, stand and knock at the door, crying, Lord, Lord, open to us, whom the Master refuses to receive. His language now is, “Whoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely.” “He who cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” “He who seeks shall find; to him who knocks, it shall be opened,” and “whoever calls upon the Lord shall be saved.” But the time will come, when the Lord shall have arisen and shut the door, and men shall stand without, knocking and crying, Lord, open to us; but He refuses them admittance and thrusts them away, declaring that He never approved them.—Nothing like this can be found in this life. It refers to the time when the fear of the wicked cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish shall overtake them; then shall they call upon the Lord, but He will not answer them. See Prov. i. 26, 27.

Another passage to which we refer, to show that death is the boundary line of repentance, is the case of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke xvi. 19, 31. This rich man died, “and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments.” Here we find a man in torments after death. Lazarus has also died, and been carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom. Dives, once the _rich man_, but now a beggar, looks up and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, and cries to him, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.” Now, the question of repentance, or obtaining relief from punishment after death, is fairly before us. In a case stated by our Lord himself, an application is made for the mitigation of torment after death. But what is the response of Abraham, who speaks in the place of the Almighty, here? It is, “Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.” Here are two men after death, one _comforted_ and the other _tormented_. Can any change be made in their condition? Let us hear Abraham. He then proceeds: “Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they who would pass from hence to you can not; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.” This is an end of all change of condition. In that world there is no turning to God nor falling from grace. The rich man, then despairing of any mitigation of his torments, or change of his condition, makes one more appeal to Abraham. “I pray thee, therefore,” said he, “that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” Having fallen into torments, on account of his unbelief, and having five brethren also unbelievers, he desired testimony presented to them from the dead, lest they also come to this place of torment. But Abraham answers, “They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.” The rich man persists: “If one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” This is the only New Testament account of a request for a departed spirit to be sent to our world to lead sinners to repentance; but this request, coming from one already in the torments of a wicked man after death, was refused in the following words: “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” This shows that God will allow no means employed to save sinners save only those of his own appointment, and writes the seal of condemnation upon all visitations of the spirits of dead people to save sinners.

The next and only passage more to which we shall refer, to show the boundary line of repentance, is Rev. xxii. 11, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” This is an end of all repentance, of all turning to God, and also an end to all departing from him. The holy shall remain holy, and the wicked remain wicked, from this time forward. Jesus made his personal efforts to save man in this world. When he left the world, he committed to the apostles the ministry and word of reconciliation, and they made their efforts in this world. All the means ever employed to save man, have been employed in this life. All the cases of acceptable repentance that we have ever known anything about, were in this life. If, therefore, men ever turn to God, it must be in time.

We proceed in the third place, to consider the state of man between death and resurrection. There were, in the days of our Lord’s pilgrimage, a class of materialists, who not only denied the resurrection of the dead, but that there was an angel or spirit. Many were the debates which they had with the Pharisees who differed with them upon these three points. Knowing that our Lord had sanctioned the doctrine of the Pharisees, that there were angels and spirits, and would be a resurrection of the dead, the Sadducees approached the Lord with the puzzle, touching the resurrection of the woman and seven husbands. As if they had said, “Now, Master, you agree with the Pharisees, and teach that there will be a resurrection of the dead; but this doctrine involves a difficulty; for a certain woman, in the course of her life, had seven husbands, and we should be pleased to know which one shall have her in the resurrection?” Our Lord soon explains this matter. He says, “In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God.” He proceeds, “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living, for all live unto him.” While those departed from this life, are dead to us, they are alive to God—“_for all live unto Him_.” “The inner man,” as Paul calls him, or “the hidden man of the heart,” as Peter styles him which is eternal, “not corruptible,” but immortal, which Jesus says, man is not able to kill, though separated from us, or dead to us, is _alive to God_, “for all live unto Him.” See Luke xx. 27-38.

The Transfiguration of Christ presents us the three states, the fleshly, the intermediate, and the resurrection, or eternal state, all at once. The Lord is changed into the glorified state, is seated upon the throne, as we would see him to-day, if we were before him in heaven. Hence Peter says, “We were eye witnesses of His majesty, for he received from God the Father, honor, and glory, when there came such a voice from the excellent glory. ‘This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” On this august occasion, Peter, James and John represented the fleshly state. They were present in the flesh. Moses was here, not in the flesh, for he had died some fifteen centuries before this. He was not in the resurrection state, for Christ was the first-born from the dead of every creature, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. But he was in the intermediate state, or the man Moses was there separate from the body; alive, conscious, and held a conversation with the Lord, in regard to his great sufferings to be accomplished at Jerusalem. Though Moses had been dead to the world fifteen hundred years, and his body mingled and lost in the dust, he was alive to God all this time, and so are all the dead. He had not lost his identity, nor his name, but is known and mentioned as the _man Moses_, in a conscious state, seeing, hearing and talking. Our friend, so much loved, lamented, but now dead to us, is alive to God, and as conscious, and maintaining his identity as much as when here in the body. Another dignitary present at the transfiguration, was Elijah, who was taken to heaven without seeing death. He was in the glorified state, in the body, glorified, spiritual, as all the bodies of the blessed are. Probably the Lord took him to heaven without seeing death, in view of this very occasion. What a grand scene is now before us. The Lord of the universe is before us upon the throne; the old prophet Elijah, stands before him who was the great prophet of all the authority, before the witnesses of Christ. Here stands Moses, the Law-giver of ancient Israel, and recognizes the Lord Jesus Christ, and surrenders up all authority to him. Just at this wonderful and interesting moment, the Almighty from the upper world, called out, “This is my Son, the beloved in whom I am well pleased: _hear him_.”

Let us hear Paul once, on this subject. “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” In a few words, he says, “Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.” 2 Cor. v. 9. How could we be “present with the Lord,” and “accepted of Him,” when absent from the body, if there be not an inner spiritual man, who will exist separate, or absent from the body? No man living can ever reconcile this passage with the preposterous theory, that when a man dies, he has no conscious existence. To this we add only one more scripture. When John, in the Island of Patmos, was in awful and sublime vision, and saw the whole panorama of the future ages passing in review, he says, “I saw under the altar, the souls of them who were beheaded for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ, and they cried and said, how long, O Lord God Almighty, holy, just and true, dost thou not avenge us of our blood on them who dwell on the earth.” Here were souls, alive, looking back to what had been done on earth, and looking forward to what would be done in future. They had not lost their identity nor memory, forgotten the past nor distrusted the future, but were alive. The intermediate state is, therefore, a conscious state, the righteous are comforted, and at rest with the Lord, in Abraham’s bosom, or Paradise; the wicked are in _Tartareous_, in prison, tormented, reserved unto the judgment of the great day, with the angels that sinned.

In the fourth, and last place, let us take one look forward to the eternal, or resurrection state. Looking to the close of the intermediate state, John says, “I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no more place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of these things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev. xx. 10-12. After thus presenting the dead in judgment, he proceeds to tell us where they came from, as follows: “And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works.” The Greek _hades_, here translated hell, simply means the invisible, or unseen state. In this invisible state, the book of God reveals two distinct, or separate apartments. One is _Paradise_, the other is _Tartareous_. In this same book of Revelations, John, speaking in the person of Christ, says, “I am he who _was dead_ and _am alive forevermore_; I have the keys of hell and of death; I can open and no man can shut, and shut and no man can open.” The amount of this is, that I have the keys or power, to open the grave, and raise the bodies both from land and sea, and I have the power to open the invisible state, both _Paradise_ and _Tartareous_, and bring forth the spirits of the dead, both righteous and wicked, re-uniting soul and body, to stand in judgment. When the last righteous sentence is passed upon man, in the last judgment, the final separation follows. Whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Here is the last account of the wicked, the incorrigible, and we must leave them where God leaves them without any attempt to dwell upon their deplorable and irremediable condition.

Let us now turn our attention to the righteous—the good and virtuous of all ages—those who feared God and worked righteousness in every nation. John says, “I saw them coming from every nation, kindred, tongue, tribe and people, who had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, and they shouted, blessing and glory, and honor, and might, and dominion unto him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb, for ever and ever!” And again they shouted, Hallelujah to the Lamb! The Lord God Omnipotent reigns! John looks again, and says, “I John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, for the former things are passed away.” Shall we who are bathed in tears, here to-day, reach the holy city, where we shall be called to pass through the deep waters of affliction no more; where we shall hear the groans of the sick and dying no more; where there will be no visiting of the sick, nor funeral occasions; where we shall no more be called to give up fathers and mothers in death, husbands or wives, or precious children; but where the wounded heart shall be made whole, the weary spirit shall be at rest, and the mourner comforted. How ineffable the bliss! How unutterable the joys! of a state where we shall not only be free from all the afflictions that encompass us here, but see the Lord and dwell with him forevermore! How invaluable the rich boon proposed to man, through the Lord Jesus Christ! What everlasting obligations we are under to love God and serve him! Let us put our everlasting trust in the Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.

RECEIVING SINNERS WITHOUT BAPTISM.

It is an unfavorable step toward “educating a man up to the importance of being buried with his Lord and Master in baptism,” to set the law of God requiring it aside, and receive him without it. This would only lead him to doubt whether we saw or cared for the importance of it ourselves. It never can have a good influence on any sensible man to see religious people so anxious to get him into their party as to set aside their own established principles, and what they hold to be clearly the _law of God_, for a man not willing to submit to the law of induction into the heavenly family. This is not _liberality_, but _disloyalty_ all around. It is not a question about what _we_ will do, but what the _Lord_ will do.

Mere refinement and respectability have nothing to do in the matter. It is a matter of faith and respect to the supreme and absolute authority. Has a man the faith, the humility and the obedient spirit that will learn of Jesus and yield to what he requires? We are not vying with any people in this country in efforts to be liberal and easy in our views and practice, but we desire to see who can live nearest to the Lord and follow him most closely. He laid down the law of induction, or the law for receiving members, and we have no discretionary power in the matter. We do not make the terms, but simply exhort men to comply with them, as found in the Book of God.

THE FALL OF BEECHER.

The American people are so familiar with the name and character of Henry Ward Beecher, that no explanation of what follows, is needed by the present generation. Beecher is the most gifted and noted _liberalist_ and progressionist in America. He is out at sea, without chart or compass. The movements of the wind, and the motion of the current, determine his course. He cares not whither he sails or where he lands, or whether he lands at all or not, so that the breeze is pleasant and the waves smooth. His great mind, glib tongue, and tireless pen, have enabled him to unsettle and pervert the faith of thousands of honest and unsuspecting people. Even some preachers among the disciples, who are noted for their adherence to the fixed principles of revealed religion, have been seduced by Beecher. The good providence of God, in time, revealed the true character of the man of no faith, and men now see it blackened and tarnished by crime and immorality. Let the liberalists and progressionists among the disciples of Christ, take warning from the downfall of the far famed Beecher.

Scandal has come; disgrace and shame that would make any conscience, not seared with a hot iron, tingle; or any face, not past feeling, blush. But the Bible is no way responsible for it, not even in appearance. Beecher was no Bible man. Bible men were not his admirers, nor the men that gathered around him, that liked him only the more for his broad views, his liberality, when he pronounced that beautiful benediction on the Pope, “God bless his old soul,” and said he could commune with the Pope, or worship at a pagan altar; declared that there is not a particle of divine authority, in any church in the world; that he was inspired as much as the apostles; and would baptize a man every month if he desired it; that there is no authority for infant baptism; but he was for it now stronger than ever, because it was a good thing—it had been tried! This man identified with the Bible? Not a word of it. The Bible is responsible for none of the scandal and disgrace that hang upon him and must hang there forever. No, not a word of it, you unbelieving man; we turn all over to you; we have here a specimen of _your work_; _unbelief_; what it can do in a short time; how it can drag a man down, and the ruin to which it can bring him. Here is the fruit of unbelief; he can eat of it, and all unbelievers can view it, and see what comes of a man that contemns the Bible and puts its authority at defiance.

Gentlemen, unbelievers, if you like to view the results of unbelief, and the ruin that follows in its train, come up here and see what it has done in the case of an illustrious man; a man whose fame has extended throughout the civilized world; a man of wonderful versatility of thought, and immense gifts as a speaker and writer, with such an opening as no other man on the continent had. This man had reached mature years, and his influence had become so great, that many good people would not hear a word against him, nor believe that his terrible skeptical talk meant any harm. It was only _independence_. But, in the midst of such a career of popularity, and that not of an ephemeral character either, as no other man in this nation ever had, up springs trouble in the midst of his most intimate friends, and those he knew better, and had associated with more intimately than any others. It comes not from persecutors without, nor from enemies or envious preachers within, but his most intimate friends, who know him better than all others.

But, why do not infidels make an ado about infidels falling? They never fall! They have never attained to anything from which they can fall. They are at the bottom and there is nothing below them to which they can fall. We know of a case where an infidel has recently covered himself all over with slime, but nothing of consequence is said about it. Why not? If he had been a preacher of the gospel his case would have been published half round the world before now. But he is _an infidel_, and the idea of purity is not associated with infidelity, in the public mind. There is no noise about it. His brethren, infidels, bring him to no trial, call him to no account, appoint no committee, and have no examination of the case! Why not? He _professed nothing_, and they _profess nothing_. Such things do not disgrace them, or bring scandal on them.

SPEAK PLEASANTLY.

The opponents of the truth will catch every unkind or unpleasant word; every unlovely expression or harsh sentence, and comment on it, in the absence of argument, and even divert attention from the main matter. We should, then, simply study how to present the truth, in the clearest, most agreeable and acceptable manner; how to show people the truth, convince them and enlist their souls in it. This is the great matter to study, and not how to avoid differences and not discuss them at all. We are studying how to practice this, and we desire all the friends of the Lord to study it and give the adversary no advantage.

VARIOUS KINDS OF SCEPTICISM.

Sceptics float in thin ether, if not some times in pure vacuum, in vast, unknown and unknowable regions of pure fancy and idle imagination. They roam in everlasting inquisitiveness in the immense realms of intangibles and invisibles. They are variously styled in New Testament terminology, “clouds without water,” “wandering stars,” “filthy dreamers,” etc., etc. They spend their time, confuse themselves and shatter their brains, in explaining “degrees in glory,” “degrees in punishment,” “different spheres,” “the possibility of holding converse with departed friends,” “the origin of sin,” “how God will overrule evil for the good of man and his own glory,” “the origin of the devil, if there be any,” or, “who made the devil,” or, “whether he is a real being, or only a personification of evil,” “whether God did not know, when he created man, that he would sin,” “why he created man, knowing that he would sin,” “whether he did not know, when he made man, who would be saved and who would be lost,” and, if he did, “why he created those he knew would be lost,” “whether angels are a distinct order of beings from men,” “whether we shall know each other in the eternal state,” “with what body the dead will be raised,” “whether the righteous and wicked will rise at the same time,” “where the spirit is between death and the resurrection,” “whether it is conscious, or can exist separate from the body,” “when the end of the world will be,” etc., etc.

We have now an immense swarm of these idle dreamers; some of these have already reasoned themselves into the hallucination that they are in the New Jerusalem state, and that the christian dispensation, or the mediatorial reign of our Lord Jesus Christ has passed away! These idle away their time in discussing the ascension, through the different grades of spheres, which they imagine they shall eternally be attaining and passing through, with other kindred topics. Another class reason themselves into absolute fatalism. With them, all the actions of men, and the very thoughts that lead to them, are of _necessity_, and cannot be anything else! There is no praise of one class, or condemnation of another, for all do just what they do from an eternal necessity! Off, at another angle, another party is found, theorizing upon the whimsical notion of human pre-existence, in which state, they think a consistent origin for sin may be found! Yet another class perceive, that deep down in the Bible, where, till recently, none had ever penetrated, the doctrine is found, that, at judgment, the wicked will be stricken out of existence, thus ridding them of the idea of endless punishment, which had previously given them much distress! Still another class of these, have rid themselves of the same distressing and annoying doctrine, by making the astonishing discovery, that there is no devil, no hell, nor punishment of any kind, beyond the present state, and, therefore, no danger of any endless punishment! Still another class became perplexed with these metaphysical reasonings, subtleties and theorizings, in things that they cannot help feeling conscious can have no possible beneficial effects upon mankind, and rid themselves of the entire concern, by making the discovery that all things come by chance, that there is no God, Savior, angel or spirit, and death is an eternal sleep! But we sicken at the effort of trying to describe the vain and idle speculations of all these “wandering stars,” and shall proceed to something more tangible.

Scepticism has no foundation, no basis, no reality upon which to rest. It has nothing to build upon; no rock; no pillars of any kind. Nor has it any materials or builders. Nothing can be built without a foundation, materials and builders. Sceptics are not builders. Their work is merely _pulling down_ old buildings. This is the reason they make so much show; their work is easy, requires but little skill and no goodness. Anybody can tear down, but it takes a workman to build. Scepticism is a mere negative, consisting wholly of denials. It affirms nothing, establishes nothing, and builds up nothing. It is a natural impossibility to build upon a mere negative. A system cannot, in the very nature of things, be built upon a mere denial—a mere negative. If a man would deny, repudiate, and condemn all the foundations of all the houses in his city, or if he would go and tear his neighbor’s foundations all down, it would give him no foundation for a house, but would simply put them in the same condition with himself—that is, _without any foundation_. In the same way, if infidels could successfully deny, disprove and overthrow the foundation of every system of religion in the world, it would lay no foundation for them, but would simply put the rest of us upon a level with them—that is, _without any foundation_. The work of all sceptics has been, simply to tear up the foundation of Christians, and not to lay any foundation for themselves. Not a man in all the ranks of unbelief has ever presented any foundation, or has any. Their entire clamor is against the Bible, but if they could expunge the Bible from the universe, they are no better off—they have nothing to stand upon.

Scepticism has no center of attraction, no gravitation, no great central pervading idea, drawing everything to one common center. A system must have a common center of attraction, holding it, in its revolutions, from flying into atoms. But, scepticism has no pervading idea, doctrine or constitution, in which everything centers, around which everything revolves, with power to attract and bind. It consists, simply in denials of what others believe. If the things which they deny were untrue, and should be denied, the denial of them is no foundation or center of attraction. Their denial amounts to nothing in their favor, but is simply unfavorable to others—destructive of the attraction binding others together. A million of the most unequivocal denials of the most absurd and preposterous doctrines the world ever contained, forms no center of attraction, doctrine or constitution, in which is embodied and concentrated any principal of attraction that can bind in a system. Denying simply frees men and cuts them loose, in their own estimation, from that which they deny, or what others believe, but binds them to nothing.

Scepticism has no law, gives no advice, and has nothing in it about the characters of men. It does not say that a man shall, or shall not, have a good character; that he shall or shall not have a bad character. It contains no such words and has no such idea, or keeps up no such distinctions as good and bad. It says nothing about love and hatred, revenge and pity, covetousness and benevolence, vice and virtue, happiness and misery. It contains not one sentence touching all the relations in life, providing nothing for individuals, families or nations. It consists of one negative principle, viz: _The denial of the truth of the Christian religion_. Any man can see that there is no law in this. If they could succeed in this denial, and show beyond all contradiction that christianity is not true, it amounts to nothing. It is no law, and accomplishes nothing in any way, only to bring christians upon a level with them—with _precisely nothing_.

Scepticism has no rewards for the good. It promises nothing in this world nor that which is to come. It holds out no rewards, no inducements of any kind for the good, in time or eternity!

Scepticism has no punishments for the bad, here nor hereafter. It contains no punishments for evil doers—the profligate, dissipated, and corrupt; thieves, robbers and murderers. It knows nothing of crimes or punishments for crimes, of any grade or atrocity.

Scepticism has no reformatory power. A denial, or a train of denials, even denials of error, can never restrain sinners nor reform men. The influence is simply negative. In the very nature of things, it cannot act positively. Denials or negatives require nothing, give nothing, and, as a matter of course, can produce no reformation. It is a negative system, if we may be allowed to call it a _system_ at all, and in the very nature of things, its influence must be negative. It is like cold, which is simply the absence of heat; for the suffering, in the absence of heat, is from want of heat. Scepticism is simply the absence of the heat of christianity. Darkness is merely the absence of light, or it is the negative of light, else it and light could exist at the same time, in the same place. In precisely the same way, scepticism is the absence of gospel light, or faith. The soul without faith is empty, cold, dark, and hungry, suffering and perishing, for light, heat and food. Scepticism is no system, not a reality, substance or entity of any kind, but the absence of all these. To speak in general terms of faith, both christian faith and all other faith, the absence of it, would be the absence by far of the greater part of all we know, or that may be known by man. There is nothing more certain than that a man who knows much, must believe much. Scepticism is not the possession of reformatory principles, but simply the absence of them. There is nothing that a man can be more conscious of, than that scepticism never did, and never can, make a man better. Inherently, there is nothing in it. It is the absence of something. The mere absence of faith, of religion, doctrine and principles, most indisputably can do a man no good, and can have no power to save him in any sense. To speak of saving a man from starving by the absence of food, saving him from thirst by the absence of water, or from darkness by the absence of light, or from sickness by the absence of the only medicine that could save him, is not more absurd, than to speak of unbelief reforming man. Scepticism is not heat, but the absence of it; not light, but the absence of it; not faith, but the absence of it; not knowledge, but the absence of it; not medicine, but the absence of it; not nourishment, but the absence of it. The sceptic is a man perishing with cold, while he is graciously offered the warmth of christianity; groping in darkness while the light of heaven is as free for him as the rays of the sun; starving, with an invitation to eat of the bread that comes down from heaven; dying with thirst, while God is holding out to him the water of life; a sick man refusing to take an infallible remedy from the physician, simply exercising the power to reject all that could do him any good, resting, refusing, denying and dying.

CHRIST THE CENTER.

In the kingdom of God the Lord is the center. He said, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to me.” “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The great apostle to the Gentiles, after giving a brief summary of side considerations, and many of them weighty, in his situation, says of them all, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse that I may win Christ.” Phil. iii. 8. Again, said this man of God, “I determined to know nothing but Christ and him crucified.” He would not be drawn aside from the center of attraction in the kingdom of God. In the close of his elaborate letter to the Corinthians, among whom many distracting annoyances were operating, and in reference to those who disturbed the peace and love of the church, he declares that “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, he will be accursed when the Lord comes.” I. Cor. xvi. 22. “Whoever hateth his brother, is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” John iii. 15. Again, says the holy apostle, “These be they who separate themselves sensual, having not the spirit.” James xix. The Lord says, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”

From him who thus teaches, we are not to be drawn aside, whether we precisely agree upon every side question, or the manner of procedure in reference to it or not. By him we must stand forever more. To him we must pay supreme homage. This can only be done by standing firmly upon his precise teachings, as far as poor, imperfect creatures possibly can, and putting our everlasting trust in him. The cause is now progressing, its prospects brightening, and its way opening beautifully in almost all directions. The good, the reliable, the faithful and working men, are gathering up afresh, combining and accumulating strength, which will be expended upon the armies of the enemy around, with tremendous effect. Let every man who can lift a Bible speak a word, or give an expression of countenance, for the Lord, and for his work, do it; do it with earnestness, spirit and power; do it with strong faith and determination, and it will tell upon the world for good, in ages to come. Let us make an effort, united, energetic and mighty, in the Lord’s name, for his cause; and let the effort continue while the Lord shall give us life, and exhort the brethren to push it onward with our dying breath. To his name, be honor and power, everlasting.

RICHES OF FAITH.

God has created man with credulity, or the ability to believe; he has graciously given us the truth, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, to belief; with the divine testimony that incontestably proves the truth. But he does not compel any man to read the testimony, to hear it read, to examine it, try to understand and appreciate it. He lays it before the world, and demands of the nations to hear it. It is like all the other blessings God has afforded man; it must be sought, inquired after and received, or do men no good. Men may be none the better of its ever entering into the world. It may be that God has created a rich mine of gold in some part of the earth. One man seeks all the information he can obtain, in reference to it, becomes satisfied of its richness and accessibility; he makes a proper effort and obtains a fortune. Another man, with equally as good endowments, treats the whole question with indifference to it. Without examining the testimony, he pronounces all delusion, humbuggery, a chimera, and ridicules it, and the man that seeks information, or inquires into it. What good will the gold mine do him? None whatever. So far as he is concerned, it might as well never have been created.

But, it fares infinitely worse than this with him who treats with indifference the pearls of Jesus Christ. He who prefers the darkness of this world to the light of the Son of God, turns away his ears from the holy and lovely lessons of the benevolent Redeemer, refuses to inform himself in reference to Him, to whom God requires all nations to be attentive, incurs a responsibility for which he will certainly answer at the most solemn tribunal. He who turns his back upon the Lord of heaven and earth, when we would call attention to him, not only loses or forfeits the benefits proposed through him, but incurs censure for indifference, ingratitude and disrespect, if not contempt of his Creator and merciful Benefactor. God has created him with a heart to believe, given the truth, and furnished the testimony to convey it to the understanding, and holds him responsible for the exercise of his abilities. Come, then, dear reader, and let us fix our minds upon Jesus of Nazareth, and carefully consider his claims upon our attention. The whole question is about him. What do you think of him whom we claim as the Savior of the world? Do you love him and those like him? Or, are you opposed to him?

ONE BAPTISM.

We take it as Wesley did, that “by one Spirit,” is by the _direction_ of one Spirit, we are all immersed into one body. It is clear that the baptism alluded to is the initiatory rite, for there is no other baptism _into one body_. The immersion in the Spirit is not _into one_ body, or _into_ anything. At the house of Cornelius they were immersed into Christ after they had been immersed in the Holy Spirit. The immersion in the Spirit was to convince Peter and his Jewish brethren that God intended to receive the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Hence, when Peter, in his rehearsal of the matter to his Jewish brethren, when he came to this, exclaims, “What was I that I should withstand God?”

The “one baptism” of Paul is the initiatory rite—the baptism of the Commission, connected with the faith and repentance for the remission of sins, and will remain as long as there is one to believe, repent or seek remission of sins. The faith, repentance, confession, immersion and remission of sins stand connected in the gospel of the grace of God, and we see not how any man can be so perverted as to try to evade any one of these items.

DISTURBING ELEMENT.

The Bible is not the disturbing element, or property that prevents fusion, for all the sects have the Bible, speak well of it and commend it. They all bold the Bible in common. It is well received among all denominations. The Bible is not, then, the divisive element, or the repellent property among them that renders fusion impossible.

The Lord is not the repellent element, or property that prevents fusion, for they all speak well of him. Indeed, they all claim to have him with them and to love him.

The Holy Spirit is not the disturbing element, or property, for they all speak well of him, and claim to love him and to have him dwelling in them.

What, then, is the repellent property among them that prevents fusion, or union? It is this very pet, dear and precious creature that they all press to their hearts, guard so sacredly, and love so dearly, and hold on to as to life itself—_denominationalism_. This is the element, the corroding element, the foreign property, that will not fuse. It is constitutionally a rebel against union. It is antagonistic and repellent. What is it that makes the denomination? It is that which is peculiar to it. It is not the Bible that makes a Methodist, nor the love of the Bible, nor anything in it, for the Presbyterian has the Bible, loves it, and all that is in it, as well as the Methodist. It does not make him a Methodist. It is not the Lord, for the Presbyterian receives the Lord as fully as the Methodist, and the Lord does not make him a Methodist. It is not the Holy Spirit, for all the first Christians received the Holy Spirit, and they were not Methodists; there never was a Methodist before John Wesley.

What, then, is it that makes the Methodist? It is simply that which is peculiar to Methodists, and that which is not received by a Presbyterian. What is it that makes a Presbyterian? That which is peculiar to Presbyterians, and not received by Methodists. Why, then, can not Methodists and Presbyterians fuse into one mass, or unite? Because the Methodists will not give up Methodism, that which is peculiar to Methodists; and the Presbyterian will not give up the Presbyterianism, or that which is peculiar to Presbyterians. That which is peculiar, makes the denomination; it is the disturbing element in the way of fusion, or union, and that must be given up, or union can never take place.