International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 23, 1888
"ABIDE IN ME."
By Mrs. E. G. White
THE apostle Paul wrote: "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me;" and Jesus, instructing his disciples, said: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."
It is impossible for any of us to have a practical knowledge of this union with Christ, without the constant exercise of faith. Faith binds our souls to him, and makes us partakers of the divine nature. Our spiritual growth, our peace, our steadfastness, our constant obedience to the words of Christ, all depend upon the degree of faith we have in God. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him;" for we are powerless to do anything from acceptable motives, except through the grace of Christ, and this grace can be supplied only through the channel of faith, that opens the way of direct communication between our souls and God. In accordance with our faith, we are enabled to overcome principalities, and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places. Selfishness will not be permitted to flourish in the heart that is exercising living faith. Sin will not be indulged where faith beholds God and angels watching the development of character, and weighing moral worth. Eternal life, the gift of God through Jesus Christ, is a precious reality, and sin becomes exceeding sinful and abhorrent. Faith beholds "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," and realizes something of the cost of Calvary.
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not in their sins but from their sins, and to sanctify them through the truth; and in order that he may become a perfect Saviour to us, we must enter into union with him by a personal act of faith. Christ has chosen us, we have chosen him, and by this choice we become united to him, and are to live from henceforth, not unto ourselves, but unto him who has died for us. But this union can only be preserved by constant watchfulness, lest we fall into temptation, and make a different choice; for we are free always to take another master if we so desire. Union with Christ means an unfailing preference for him in every act and thought of our lives. In every part of the work there must be harmony between the Saviour and the one to be saved. Faith will see love in every requirement of God, and will submit to the will of Heaven, knowing that "all things work together for good to them that love God." We must have this perfect trust, if we become united with Christ, and share at last with him in his glory.
Christ will be constantly laboring for your salvation. Angels will be commissioned to guard you from the devices of the adversary, and to minister to all your needs. And the object of all this abundant solicitude must, on his part, depart from all iniquity, and perfect holiness in the fear of God. He must watch and pray. He must fight the good fight of faith, resist the devil that he may flee from him, and endure hardness as a good soldier of the cross of Christ. He has to wage a constant conflict with unseen foes, and only through Christ can he come off victorious.
He must cultivate courage to surmount the difficulties obstructing his pathway, and build up a character of integrity and virtue, representing to the world the character of his Redeemer.
"Abide in me," are words of great significance. Abiding in Christ means a living, earnest, refreshing faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It means a constant receiving of the Spirit of Christ, a life of unreserved surrender to his service. Where this union exists good works will appear. The life of the vine will manifest itself in fragrant fruit on the branches. The continual supply of the grace of Christ will bless you and make you a blessing, till you can say with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
The sacred union with Christ will unite the brethren in the most endearing bonds of Christian fellowship. Their hearts will be touched with divine compassion one for another. "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." Coldness, variance, strife, is entirely out of place among the disciples of Christ. They have accepted the one faith. They have joined to serve the one Lord, to endure in the same warfare, to strive for the same object, and to triumph in the same cause. They have been bought with the same precious blood, and have gone forth to preach the same message of salvation; and how out of harmony with these facts is disunion and contention among brethren. "This is my commandment," said Jesus, "that ye love one another, as I have loved you."
Those who are constantly drawing strength from Christ will possess his Spirit. They will not be careless in word or deportment. An abiding sense of how much their salvation has cost in the sacrifice of the beloved Son of God, will rest upon their souls. Like a fresh and vivid transaction, the scenes of Calvary will present themselves to their minds, and their hearts will be subdued and made tender by this wonderful manifestation of the love of Christ to them. They will look upon others as the purchase of his precious blood, and those who are united with him will seem noble, and elevated, and sacred, because of this178connection. The death of Christ on Calvary should lead us to estimate souls as he did. His love has magnified the value of every man, woman, and child. And if "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life," should we be indifferent to others, and despise those whom God has valued at such an infinite price? Without the endowment of the holy Spirit of God, we are not fitted to engage in the great and solemn work for this time. When we have the love for souls that Christ had, we shall go forth with weeping, we shall become laborers together with God, we shall gather with Christ, and bear precious fruit unto everlasting life. When we consider that all Heaven is interested in the work of salvation, should we not seek by meditation and prayer to appreciate more intelligently the sacred character of our trusts? How can we, poor, fallible, fallen creatures, undertake this work without the special help and enlightenment of the Spirit of God?
Let God be your counselor. Let the heart in humility and meekness ascend to God in fervent, effectual prayer for spiritual discernment, for breadth of mind, and singleness of purpose to glorify God and save man. Let prayer constantly go forth from unfeigned lips for the presence of Christ, for the illumination of his Spirit, that the atmosphere of Heaven may surround you, and that self and selfish purposes may not have their way in your life. The Lord will draw nigh to those who sincerely desire to draw nigh to him.
We are living in a solemn day, and we are exhorted to "be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." Let every soul remember that he is in the presence of the Judge of all the earth, and that "all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Our words, our plans, our meditations, the motives of our hearts, are read as an open book. The case of every individual worker is registered in Heaven. Let us consider this. Do we want our light and frivolous remarks heard in the presence of angels and before God? Do we want the words of pride, that exhibit self, left on the books to condemn us in the Judgment? Do we want our plans for self-exaltation written in the unerring records? Let us ever remember that the Lord, who gave his life for us, is watching with intense interest our course of life, and that angels are witnessing our ways. Seek that singleness of purpose that will lead us to glorify God, and not self. Oh, that each might say when tempted, as did our Lord, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." We want to uproot from our hearts every plant that our heavenly Father has not planted, that we may not be led to utter selfish and perverse things. Oh, for more of Christ, and less of self! Oh, that the workers might be clothed with the armor of his righteousness,
that they might be constantly drawing from the well of salvation, partaking of the divine nature, that they might go forth spiritual laborers, with self lost in our divine Lord.
Our standard is altogether too low. We must put away these cheap ideas of what is essential to make us laborers in the cause of Christ. We must have altogether higher views of the elevated character of our work. We want to work in the spirit in which Christ labored. We want to represent him to the world. We need to greatly humble our souls before God by confessing and forsaking our sins.
When Jesus was teaching his disciples, as they gathered closely about him, there was a moment's interruption, and one said unto him: "Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Here is the relationship that exists between Christ and his followers. We occupy this exalted position, if we are indeed doing the will of God. We are to consider ourselves as constituting the family of Christ, and we are to follow him as dear children. Adopted into the household of God, shall we not honor our Father and our kindred? We have no excuse to plead, for through Jesus we may command all power in Heaven and earth, that we may walk worthy of our high calling.
Satan will be constantly seeking to belittle our conception of our privileges and responsibilities. He would have us regard the work of Christ as a commonplace work, and do it listlessly and negligently. He would keep us indifferent to the exalted and sacred positions to be attained in Christian life and character; but we must bruise him under our feet. We must establish an unyielding enmity between our souls and our foe; but we must open our hearts to the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. We want Satan's darkness to be shut out, and the light of Heaven to flow in. We want to become so sensitive to holy influences, that the lightest whisper of Jesus will move our souls, till he is in us, and we in him, living by the faith of the Son of God.
We need to be refined, cleansed from all earthliness, till we reflect the image of our Saviour, and become "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Then we shall delight to do the will of God, and Christ can own us before the Father and before the holy angels as those who abide in him, and he will not be ashamed to call us brethren. But we shall not boast of our holiness. As we have clearer views of Christ's spotless and infinite purity, we shall feel as did Daniel, when he beheld the glory of the Lord, and said, "My comeliness was turned in me into corruption." We cannot say, "I am sinless," till this vile body is changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body. But if we constantly seek to follow Jesus, the blessed hope is ours of standing before the throne of God without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; complete in Christ, robed in his righteousness and perfection.
CONFLICT AND VICTORY.
By Good Words
O REFUGE of men, worn and weary,
With suffering and sin oft distressed,
Could'st Thou leave 'mid surroundings so dreary
Thy peace as a dying bequest?
We've felt strange 'mid our kindred and neighbors,
Been lonely in thick haunts of men,
Had to rest on a stone from our labors,
And no visions to comfort us then.
We are weary with chasing the shadows,
And bearing our burdens of care;
For our way has not lain through the meadows,
We have chosen the dust and the glare.
We have lived for ourselves 'stead of others,
Sought in temples of pleasure our shrine,
Held no cup to the lips of our brothers,
Or with gall often mingled the wine.
We'll live for this world, then, no longer,
It can bring to us nothing of bliss,
Let love in our heart become stronger
To God and to man than it is.
I WILL BELIEVE.
By William Aikman
"I WILL not believe!" so said the apostle Thomas, unconsciously, perhaps, bringing to bear upon the matter of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus an act of his will. The evidences were entirely sufficient for the fact, and they ought to have produced belief. His will was in the way. Thomas is not alone in this. There are persons the habit of whose minds has brought them into antagonism with all around them in matters of faith, as they touch the gospel. Because so many believe, because friends believe, therefore they will not believe.179The matters of religion may seem too great, too transcendently important, for easy belief; and, because they are so great and important, the man may brace himself, he may throw himself back upon evidences which he himself selects, as did Thomas when he said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, . . . I will not believe," and by a deliberate determination may refuse to receive any other kind.
His state of mind may not be merely passive, and in its passivity unmoved, because the evidences are not strong enough; it is active, and it is fixed in its activity by an act of the will. The man is resolved not to believe. The determination may be unconscious, but none the less real and forceful for that. He is unbelieving because he is determined to be unbelieving.
Here is a state of mind full of interest. Is there any way of meeting its requirements? Let us see. The divine Saviour who knew so well what was in man, took the case of Thomas into his wise and compassionate care. "And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing."
But Thomas did not reach out his finger to feel the wounds in those hands; he did not for a moment think of thrusting his hand into that sacred side. He may have before supposed that he would; but now he would have shrunk in horror from it. There was evidence before him so different, so tender, so convincing, that these gross and fleshly proofs were repulsive in comparison. Indeed, they were quite forgotten in the moment, and turned away from as if they were not in mind. And Thomas answered: "My Lord and my God!" It was not the unhealed scars, it was not the bodily form even, it was that ineffable Presence, all-beloved, of Jesus, speaking in tone and look of love, that appealed to his heart. It created more than the old love. In a moment that love was lifted into a higher region; rather, it lifted Christ into a higher, even a divine position. It was Jesus, and, more than Jesus—"My Lord and my God!" . . .
It is to be carefully considered whether unbelief may not be largely the result of an act of the will, a determination which says, I will not believe. Persons may, unconsciously to themselves, be all the while in an attitude of resistance which, for some reasons—I will not attempt to suggest what they are—determines them in their rejection of the Lord Jesus. They take a secret satisfaction in this determined unbelief, and, while deeming themselves only humble, meekly seeking and willing to accept the truth, are proud, and actively resisting its claims. They are acting as if it were a virtue to withhold, faith from Christ, the Lord.
This resistance, this activity against the Saviour, must be laid aside. It can and it must be laid aside by an act of the will. Instead of having the will help unbelief, the will must be summoned to the support of faith. As the man has been saying, I will not believe, now he must more resolutely say, I will believe. He must bring the determination of his soul to his faith in Christ his Saviour.
Faith is much a matter of the will. In saying this, I am, of course, speaking of the human side of it. No one is passive, in the reception of Christ. The faith does not sweep down upon him, nor does it gently envelop in its benign folds. It is a possession which a man takes, and takes often by an effort which becomes like an act of desperation; he, out of his despair, catches, grasps, clutches it, and then holds it as if in agony. "The kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."
Whoever reaches a Christian hope must sometime and somewhere come to the spot where he, with all the sincerity of which he is capable, and which flashes of light from eternity may call out, shall say to himself, I will believe. Sometime, if ever he is saved, he must take this leap of faith. It may seem to be a leap in the dark, but it must be taken.
We may say to such a man: The Lord Jesus Christ is before you. He is the Saviour of sinners; through him you may obtain pardon and peace with God. He can and he will save you. He can and he will take from you a burdened conscience, and give you a conscious acceptance with God. Think of him as not far away but as living, near and ready to receive and give you all this.
Accept these facts by a determination of your heart. Refuse to yield to your wonted unbelief. Welcome the Saviour to your heart. Look up, and in a recognition of love say, My Lord and my God.
There is an all-encouraging word, which you may take as an inspiration of hope and a call to quicken your step and hold your gaze: "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."—Wm. Aikman, D. D.
UNIVERSALISM IN A NUTSHELL.
"I am a Universalist," said C. G., boastingly, "and you orthodox are not fair in saying that our system is inconsistent with reason." "I will prove the irrationality of your system," said his friend. "You believe that Christ died to save all men?" "Yes, I do." "And you don't believe there is a hell?" "No, I don't." "You don't believe there is any punishment hereafter?" "No, I do not; men are punished for their sins in this life." "Well, now, let us put your rational system together. It amounts to just this—that Christ the Saviour died to save all men from nothing at all. Not from hell, because, according to you, there is none. Not from punishment in a future state of being, for man receives his whole punishment in this life. Yours is the absurd spectacle of ropes and life-preservers thrown at an immense expense to a man who is on dry land and in no danger of being drowned."
"ARE THERE FEW THAT BE SAVED?"
By C. P. Bollman
THIS interrogation, though plainly answered by our Saviour more than eighteen hundred years ago, is still, to many minds, an open question; some holding that comparatively few will be lost, while others endeavor to maintain the proposition that all will finally be saved. That such should be the case seems strange, for the Bible says explicitly of the heathen, who always have been and are still far more numerous than Christians, that "they shall be as though they had not been" (Obad. 16); and the psalmist says of all the wicked that they "shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." Ps. 37:20. Malachi, too, testifies that "the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1.
Surely these texts teach that some, in fact many, will be lost; and in this they agree perfectly with the words of the Saviour, who said: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:16. This does not mean simply that they will be punished for a long time and then be restored to the favor of God, but that they will be destroyed forever; for the apostle says that those who "know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." 2 Thess. 1:8, 9.
It will not do to say that the destruction here spoken of is not literal, but only banishment from the presence of God; for "the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." It is equally vain to say that this destruction will not last forever, for the Saviour said: "And these [the wicked] shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." Matt. 25:46.
In this latter text the words, "everlasting," and "eternal," are both translated from the same Greek word, aiónion, which here undoubtedly means "unending duration;" and if in these words the righteous are promised a never-ending reward, the wicked are just as certainly threatened with never-ending punishment; and, as we learn elsewhere, that punishment is death. See Rom. 6:23.
The question, however, is not, "Will some be lost?" but, "Are there few that be saved?" Some, we have seen from several texts (and very many more might be quoted to the same intent), will be eternally lost; this is stated in terms that cannot be misunderstood; and the Scriptures make it equally plain that few, comparatively, will be saved.
We know that God had a purpose, a design in creating the earth: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited." Isa. 45:18. The character of the beings who were to be its inhabitants may be inferred from the statement that God "made man upright;" and we learn something as to their numbers from the words addressed to our first parents: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth," i. e., people, or fill the earth.
It was, then, God's original purpose to fill the earth with beings loyal to himself; and though sin entered, and death because of sin, his purpose is still the same; hence, the promise to Abraham: "I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth;" and also the promise of the Saviour, "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth"—not a part, but all the earth.
But notwithstanding the fact that God's purpose to fill the earth with beings loyal to himself was not to be turned aside, he foresaw that few of the race, comparatively, would avail themselves of the means so graciously provided for their restoration to his favor, and so in pronouncing the curse upon the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception"—not simply add to it, but multiply it—that is, because of sin many would fail of eternal life, and so in order to fill the world with righteous inhabitants the number of births must be greatly multiplied. And this leads us to the conclusion that only a small part of the race will be saved.
But we are not left to surmisings, or even to logical inferences upon this important question. As before intimated we have the plain and unequivocal testimony of the Son of God himself, who, when asked, "Are there few that be saved?" answered: "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Luke 13:24. This text alone ought forever to settle this question; but the Saviour said many other things which are equally pertinent. The parable of the tares of the field certainly cannot be reconciled with the doctrine of the final restoration of all men; for in explaining it the Lord said: "The tares are the children of the wicked one." "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 13: 38, 40-42.4
It has been said that the chief difference between Universalists and Unitarians is, that the former believe that God is too good to damn anybody, while the latter believe that they are too good to be damned. But the Saviour has said: "He that believeth not shall be damned;" and our only safety is to believe just what he says, and flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us in the gospel. Though the gate is strait and the way narrow, the invitation is broad; and whosoever will, may come; and we are assured that Christ "is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him."
God has said: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," and they who teach the contrary are simply carrying forward the work which Satan began in Eden, when he said to the woman, "Ye shall not surely die." To all such the Lord says: "With lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life." Eze. 13: 22.
"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Eternal life is not inherited, neither is it ours by right; but it is freely given by God to all "who, by patient continuance in well-doing," seek for it.
C. P. BOLLMAN.
AT LAST.
By H. E. Felton
BY H. E. FELTON.
WHEN the toil of life is over,
And the cares of earth laid by;
When life's trials are all ended,
And is hushed the troubled sigh;
When we reach the glad forever,
Neath the balmy smile of home,
Then, we shall no longer wonder
Why, mid storms and clouds we've come;
Why the golden links were severed,
Why our fondest hopes denied.
When within the golden portals
We behold the Crucified;
Mysteries will be unfolded
When we rest at His dear side.
DULL PRAYER-MEETINGS.
Is not the dull prayer-meeting, with its stereotyped prayers and formal services, due in large measure to the low state of piety among church-members? Would not tongues be loosed if hearts were warmed? Would not a deeper personal consecration, greater freedom from subjection to the world, and more hearty and active loyal service for the Master, help to vitalize the weekly prayer-meeting and kindle a glow of enthusiasm? If we would have a soul-refreshing prayer-meeting there must be soul preparations and a spirit of expectancy. Is there not in these modern days a crippling of energy and efficiency in the lack of expectation of accomplishing actual results by means of social, united prayer?
How many go to the prayer-meeting with the honest, confident expectation of real profit to their own souls, and with the firm, unwavering conviction that the petitions there offered will bring down a blessing? How many come thither from their closets, or with any special preparation by which the meeting will be made profitable to themselves or others?
How many go away from the house of prayer remembering any special requests, or with desire to press them in secret before the court of Heaven? Have we any desire that becomes a pressing, overmastering power to hold us to the throne of grace? Do we hold on like the Syro-Phenician woman after seeming rebuff and denial? Have we a firm and persistent faith that can make stepping-stones of obstacles in order to get nearer the Master? It seems as if the church prayer-meeting in any community ought to be a positive, recognized power, felt as truly as the influence of light and heat in the physical world; and doubtless it would be so felt if the conception of prayer as a vital force in every-day life was what it should be.—Christian Union.
DONE BROWN.
By Congregationalist
REV. C. O. BROWN, Congregational pastor in Dubuque, Iowa, in December last, in a discourse, charged that Mr. Ingersoll had headed a petition to Congress to repeal the laws which guard the mails against obscene, lewd, and indecent books, implements, and pictures. A report of this charge was made in the Dubuque Times of December 21. Mr. Ingersoll then wrote a letter to some person in Dubuque, declaring that he never signed any such petition; that the object of the petition referred to was merely to have the law so changed that it should not include infidel books; that he never went before a committee of the Senate to ask the repeal of the law; and, in general, and as to all these particulars, that "the poor little reverend dog," Mr. Brown, was an "unqualified," "conscious" and "malicious" liar. Mr. Ingersoll's friend caused the letter to be published.
Mr. Brown replied to these charges. He showed first that Mr. Ingersoll did, either with his own hand, or by an authorized agent, head the petition referred to, and proved his assertion by citing the Associated Press dispatch sent all over the country, announcing that "seventy thousand freemen, headed by Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, have petitioned Congress to repeal the Comstock laws;" by showing that, during the more than three months before the committee of the House reported upon that petition, Mr. Ingersoll—being in Washington, and fully cognizant of what was going on—never denied that his name, as was asserted, headed the same; and by citing the House report of May 1, 1878, which begins thus: "The committee . . . to whom was referred the petition of Robert G. Ingersoll and others."
Mr. Brown showed, second, that the object of the petition was not "merely to modify the statute" so as to allow of the transmission of "infidel" books; for the reason that the only clause of the law to which the petition in terms could refer, and that clause to which the committee of Congress confined it, was this:—
"No obscene, lewd, or lascivious book, pamphlet, picture, paper, print, or other publication of an indecent character, or intended for the prevention of conception, or procuring abortion, nor any article or thing intended or adapted for any indecent or immoral use," etc.
It would be taking undue advantage of Mr. Ingersoll to insist that he intended to concede that "infidel" books can fairly be described as above. What he meant to do clearly was to confuse the public mind as to the real facts of the case, trusting that the difficulty of access to the documents might keep out of sight the falsehood under which he had undertaken bravely to retreat.
In the third place, as to Mr. Ingersoll's square denial that he ever went before the committee to plead for the repeal thus asked, Mr. Brown showed that, if he didn't, it was not the fault of his intent, by citing two letters, of date March 23 and April 15, 1878, signed by "J. Weed Corey, secretary of the committee of the petitioners," each of which asked that "Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, chairman of our committee," be allowed to speak before the Senate Committee "on the subject of repealing, or materially modifying, certain postal laws," etc.
Mr. Brown thus triumphantly demonstrated the points which he made. He did more—particularly three things: He convicted the brilliant infidel of being a moral coward, capable of disingenuously skulking behind the shallowest pretexts in the endeavor to escape honest responsibility for things actually done by himself. He stamped upon him the ineffaceable stigma of leading against those laws the onset of free-lovers, and of the scoundrels who, until the "Comstock laws" put a stop to the infamy, had been making money by procuring the catalogues of boarding schools and other seminaries, and covertly sending through the mails the most indecent and filthy books, pamphlets, pictures, and implements to boys, and even girls, at a dangerous age. And—by printing the man's own letter—he has made it clear that Colonel Ingersoll is as far from being a gentleman, as—by his energetic and perpetual affirmation—he must be presumed to be, from being a Christian.—Congregationalist.
THE OLD GOSPEL.
By Word and Work
Modern sermons may be artistic in conception and elegant in expression, yet, with few exceptions, they lack the power to touch the conscience and move the heart. No acuteness of exposition or grandeur of speculative fancy can compensate for the absence of truth. The thoughts of man, even at his best, are a sorry substitute for the thoughts of God. Freshness and force acquired by departure from the "old paths" may gratify an Athenian appetite for novelty, but to carry life to a dead soul we need nothing less than the word and witness of the Holy Ghost.181
The doctrines which determined the great spiritual awakenings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have not lost their potency for good. They proved effectual in repelling the skepticism and vivifying the death of the eighteenth century, and their force is unspent though we are nearing the close of the nineteenth. It may be that thousands are doubtful as to their truth, and thousands more meet them with a bold denial; nevertheless, the same old gospel which Paul preached, and Luther recovered at the Reformation, is the "power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Wherever the gospel of the grace of God is proclaimed in its simplicity sinners are converted and saints are edified in the faith.—Word and Work.
THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN.
THE consciousness of sin implies a sinner who stands at the bar of his own moral nature in the character of a prosecutor, and, as he stands there, is self-charged and self-indicted. He is his own accuser and his own judge, and brings in a verdict of guilty against himself. And, in the matter concerning which he accuses and condemns himself, he admits no possible excuse for what he has done or omitted to do. It is unqualified accusation and unqualified condemnation. He looks upon himself as wholly in the wrong. He has no apology to offer, in the validity of which he believes for a moment. That others have done the same thing, does not mitigate his sin, nor alter its character in the slightest degree. That he was tempted to sin, does not silence his own accusation against himself, and does not modify his judgment, since he knows that he ought to have resisted the temptation, and is blameworthy for not doing so. The fear of punishment accompanies his sense of personal guilt, and prophesies evil against him. No one need to tell him that he is wretched and unhappy: he feels all this. He stands a self-accused and a self-condemned culprit at the bar of his own conscience, and sees himself as such. He is so intimately his own companion that he cannot escape the sight.
This is not an overdrawn picture of the experience of men when the distinct consciousness of sin becomes a fact in their souls. This consciousness attests its truth. Millions have had this experience, and all men have in them the elements out of which it may arise. Human character, as actually developed in this world, taken in connection with the human faculties, lays the foundation for this experience; and when the thoughts of the soul are deeply stirred with the great questions that relate to God and man, and with the sad and awful delinquencies that mark human conduct, then the experience comes with uniformity and certainty. It is not the peculiarity of any special class of sinners. It belongs to them all when the requisite conditions are present.
We thus see, from the very nature of law, and the constitution of the human mind, that the relief of forgiveness to sinners must come from some source without themselves. Man being a sinner against God, and being conscious of the fact, being condemned by himself and condemned by the law of God, it necessarily results that there is absolutely no help for him in himself. He is pressed with a want which he cannot meet, is the subject of a discomfort which he cannot soothe, and exposed to a peril which he cannot avert. God must come to his relief, or there is no relief for him. When he shall hear the sunset gun of life, and leave this world, if retaining the consciousness of sin, nothing but the blackness of despair will be before him, unless he finds help in God. His condition, without this help, is one whose awfulness no language can adequately describe. It is freighted with the elements of hell.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who speaks to sinners in the Bible, the God who sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world, that no one in Christian lands need, except by his own fault, live or die in this condition. The gospel of Christ is a gracious plan to effect a permanent reconciliation between the just and holy God and sinful man, and places them in the relation of eternal harmony with each other. This is the fundamental idea of that "great salvation" wrought out by Christ in behalf of sinners. Although it does not necessarily save any soul, since it may be rejected—in which event it will not save at all—yet it makes pardon and salvation possible to all, and always real to the believer. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." In him "we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."
God in Christ is a sin-pardoning God, our friend and our helper, doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Hear that, ye men and women self-accused, self-condemned, and smitten with the woes and fears of conscious guilt. Go, preach that, ye ministers of Christ. Proclaim the glad tidings far and wide. Sound them in every ear. Carry them to all lands. This sinning and suffering race, absolutely helpless for its own relief, wants just what God through Christ offers to it. There is no philanthropy equal to the one that preaches him, and no gratuity equal to that of the gospel.—Independent.
Growth in Christian Grace
By A. P. Foster
At the moment of conversion a process of growth begins. Under the influence of the Spirit, the converted man should steadily develop in Christian grace. It is certain that if he does not grow in grace, he will fall back into greater sin.
Whether any ever reach perfection in this life may well be doubted. Logically, there is no reason why one should not, but outside of Christ the perfect man has never yet been found. That some have declared themselves to be perfect is no evidence, for self-deception is easy. The nearer one draws to God the more distinct becomes his sinfulness by comparison. At the same time perfection is commanded, because it is logically possible, and it should be earnestly striven for.—Rev. A. P. Foster.