REGENERATION is intimately connected with justification. The latter is a declarative act in which God pronounces a believing sinner acceptable to him for Christ's sake. It affects a man's standing before God, but not his state. The man "is not condemned." John 3: 18. Justification is outward. But now, if regeneration did not accompany it, the justifying act would be useless. A human court may excuse a man for drunkenness, and the man may go from its bar uncondemned. But the man is likely to be back again. For, while the judge can acquit him, he cannot renovate him so that he will not repeat his offense. But he who is justified at God's bar is at the same time regenerated so that his justification may enable him to become, by the "renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3: 5), what he is declared to be,—righteous. Regeneration is no part of justification, though they always occur together, like the light and the heat of the sun. Light is not heat, and heat is not light. Regeneration, while connected with justification, falls, after all, under the idea of sanctification.
Regeneration is most difficult to define. The New Testament employs a wealth of terms in describing it. "Of his own will begat he us." James 1: 18. "Being born again." 1 Peter 1: 23. "Made free from the law of sin and death." Rom. 8: 2. "Created in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2: 10. "The engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." James 1: 21. "Passed from death unto life." John 5: 24. These are by no means all, but enough to show how hard it would be to find a defining term or even a sentence which would embrace them all. This Bible language is highly figurative, and some of the terms exclude others in thought, which shows that none of them is to be pressed to its utmost. We must not do with the words descriptive of this doctrine that for which the Roman Catholic is justly censured in another. His assertion of the real presence in the communion emblems grows directly out of a too literal reading of the blessed words, "This is my body." When Jesus says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John 15), no one misunderstands him, and the words used to set forth regeneration are equally as figurative. Figurative language is as expressive and as potent as simple language, indeed, more so. But there is this difference, a metaphor holds only in one point, not in all.
Regeneration is such a change wrought by God in the believer's will and desires that voluntarily he loves what once he hated, and hates what once he loved. But no analysis will show the difference between the iron in a horseshoe magnet and the iron in an ordinary horseshoe. The fiber, the weight, the substance are the same. But the magnet has a quality which the other has not. Regeneration does not make a man something more, but it makes him something widely different. The tide that goes out is the same tide that comes in, but going in either direction, it is under an influence that no human power can stay. Regeneration is not mere change of action, it is the holy quality imparted to the soul, which quality is the cause of the change in action. Sheep are very much alike, and yet there is something about the shepherd's own that moves them to go after him, "and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him." John 10: 5. It may be difficult to tell what regeneration is, for it is God's inscrutable act in the soul, but it is not difficult to tell who are the regenerate. Christ describes them when he says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10: 27. The mark of regeneration is obedience.—The Defense.
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND.
By J. G. Smith
BY J. G. SMITH.
By prophetic revelation the beloved apostle John was permitted to see the remnant church standing with Christ on Mount Zion. Every victory gained, the song of redemption was being sung to the music of the harps of God. Rev. 14: 1-3; 15: 2.
Of the character of the individuals that make up this company, the record says: "And in their mouth was found no guile; for they are without fault before the throne of God." Rev. 14: 5. These are they that will be ready for translation when Jesus comes, and will be taken to the city of many mansions. 1 Thess. 4: 13-16; John 14: 1-3.
The one hundred and forty-four thousand pass through the perilous times, of which Paul says: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, proud, blasphemers, . . . having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." 2 Tim. 3: 1-5. This company never see the fabled millennium, but find Paul true in saying, "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." 2 Tim. 3: 13. The Lord says, "And at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book." Dan. 12: 1. Praise God for the promised deliverance to all that "strive to enter in at the straight gate."
When the Deliverer appears, all that are ready to meet him will say, in the language of Isa. 25: 9, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation," while all that choose to walk in the broad way, spurning the righteousness of Christ, will seek in vain to hide themselves, calling to the rocks and mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" See Rev. 6: 14-17. Would you meet him with joy? "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Heb. 12: 14.
We are living amid the increasing perils of the last days. The consecrated souls that make up the one hundred and forty-four thousand are now being gathered. Mercy's door is still open, and the voice of the Saviour tenderly calls, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11: 28. Present duty is to accept the Saviour's invitation, consecrate all to God, and prayerfully proclaim to others his special messages. Rev. 14: 6-12. Let God's thoughts become your thoughts, and his ways your ways. Isa. 55: 6-9. See that every motive is prompted only by a sincere desire to glorify God, "that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 3: 16-19.
Satacoy, California.
Establishing Truth Defeats Heresy
By Isaac Newton
My principal method for defeating heresy is by establishing truth. One proposes to fill a bushel with tares; now, if I can fill it first with wheat, I shall defy his attempts.—Newton.
The Sinner’s Great Argument
The great and effectual argument of the sinner in approaching his Saviour is his great need, and the great fact that Christ died that this need might be supplied.
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
EVERY man that is saved is reckoned as a righteous man from the beginning of his life. That is the blessed part of it. The imputed righteousness of Christ makes the believer righteous clear back to where he was found a sinner. That's the most glorious part of the whole thing. . . . The righteousness of Christ must go back to the earliest life of the individual. You know the idea has been entertained sometimes by individuals that when we stop sinning and repent, then the past life of that man is a blank, because he lived a sinner; and then he goes on and does right by the righteousness of Christ, and is saved. Now, I think there is more in the righteousness of Christ than that. His past sins are not only forgiven, but the righteousness of Christ goes clear back. If God accepts me to-night on account of the righteousness of Christ, there is not a sin that ever existed in my life. I praise God that that is so. Why not have a full Saviour while we are about it, and have one that takes our life right from our birth, and makes it completely right?—Elder S. N. Haskell.
GROWTH IN CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE.
By Mrs. E. G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
JESUS had given the lesson concerning the sower and the seed. He had said, "Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up; some fell upon stony places," and made a pretentious show of life, but "because they had no root, they withered away." And some fell among thorns and briers, and the rank growth of the thorns choked out the seed, and it yielded no fruit; but some fell upon soil prepared for its reception, and it sprung up and increased, and bore fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.
When the soil has been prepared for the reception of the seed, the sower casts it in, and by processes which men cannot control or understand, the seed begins to grow, and advances to maturity. Jesus compared the growth of the kingdom of God to the sowing of seed, and to its development into the full measure of maturity. The seed is the word of God, and the soul who receives it, is said to be born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, which liveth and abideth forever. "And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."
This parable of the kingdom was designed to illustrate to the disciples the growth and progress of Christian character. The good seed of the word falls into the heart, and at once the first development of Christian experience is made manifest. This experience is likened to the tender blade, and to the young child. The blade is beautiful, and the child is attractive, but should there be no further development, we would look upon the plant as stunted, and the child as dwarfed.
The young convert is to advance in knowledge, to grow in grace. Christ looks upon his children, and he is not ignorant as to how the seed is developing. Temptations will come, and it will be only through constant trust in his Redeemer that perfection of Christian character can be attained. The convert is to look to the mighty Helper, lest he be surprised off guard, and seduced by the enemy. He is not to be ignorant of Satan's devices, nor rest satisfied with the knowledge he has attained; for "this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."
The experience of the Christian in his earliest love is full of simplicity and freshness; but as his opportunities multiply, his experience should enlarge, and his knowledge increase. He should become strong to bear responsibility, and his maturity should be in proportion to his privileges. But the young convert is not to worry or perplex his mind with questioning as regards his advancement and growth. He is to trust himself wholly to Jesus, and with fear and trembling work out that which God works in; for it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Advancement in Christian experience can be accomplished only through coöperation with heavenly agencies, for it is a result of growth in grace. Feeling his helplessness, the young Christian is to place himself in the channel of light, and improve all the opportunities that are graciously bestowed upon him, that he may gain a deeper experience, and take deep root in Christ, as the plant roots in the soil. His faith must increase, his consecration be maintained, his love be made perfect, as is represented by the blade, the ear, and the full corn in the ear. His zeal should be ardent and tireless; and with unwavering trust in Christ, his growth may be unmarred; for a genuine experience will result in the development of a Christlike character.
But unless there is an hourly dependence upon Christ, increasing knowledge and privileges will result in self-trust and self-righteousness. The young Christian is in danger of forgetting that it is Christ that has begun the good work in him, and that it is Christ that must finish it. The soul must renounce all merit, and trust wholly in the merit of Him who is too wise to err. Man of himself can do no good thing. Said Jesus, "Without me ye can do nothing." The soul is to stay itself upon God. In the gift of Christ all Heaven was poured out, and through Christ the Holy Spirit is promised to the believer. Jesus said to his disciples, "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Christ not only offers pardon to the believing, repenting soul, but he promises him the constant aid of the Holy Spirit.
In the growth of the seed in the soil, man cannot see the working of unseen agencies that develop the plant to perfection, bringing up first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. But though young in the faith, you may know that you have passed from death unto life, if the fruits of the Spirit are made manifest in your life. If you are growing in faith and hope and love, you may know that your spiritual vision has been cleared.
If you delight to dwell upon the plan of salvation, upon the glorious manifestations of the divine character, if your heart, in contemplation of the love of God, glows with thankfulness and joy, you may be sure that you have been illuminated by the beams of the Holy Spirit, and heavenly agencies are bringing your character up to maturity of Christian life. You may not realize that you are growing up into Christ, your living Head. Your part is simply to submit your ways and your will to God. You are to trust yourself fully to God, knowing you cannot make yourself grow. A Paul may plant, and an Apollos may water, but it is God that giveth the increase.
(Concluded next number.)
TAKE HOLD OF MY STRENGTH.
By I. E. Kimball
BY ELDER I. E. KIMBALL.
THERE are many sincere souls who seek after God, many among nearly all the denominations of Christianity who wish for truth and enlightenment, and who hope in the mercy of God. Some few are seeking earnestly for truth; they have a continued sense of unworthiness and shortcoming, and continually pray, like the publican of old, "God be merciful to me a sinner." God is pleased with such ones, and will draw them to himself. He will make the darkness light before them, and the crooked places straight.
But the one lesson for every sincere worshiper of God to learn is to take hold upon God's strength. To all who would know the truth, to all who would serve God in his own way, and know him aright, to all who would gain victories every day, and have the veil and covering removed from their hearts fully, these texts are especially applicable: "Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me." "Without Me ye can do nothing." "I can do all things through the Lord who strengtheneth me." So we must have the mind of Paul when he said: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." A living and personal Saviour is the only hope for every man to-day.
To be at peace with God signifies a perfect oneness with God himself. The life is then fully harmonious with God's; it keeps step with God. He can say with Christ, "I do always those things that please Him." It is God's Spirit that is continually drawing us to his standard and ways, which are "as the heavens are higher than the earth" above ours naturally.
If Christians would only open their souls sufficiently to fully comprehend and believe, and practically apply in their lives, the truth that without the strength of God they would never be drawn to Christ at all (1 Cor. 12:3), without the aid of God's Spirit they can never apprehend the truth of his word (1 Cor. 2:14), without the power of God they can never be delivered from the law of sin, yea, they can never get a victory over Satan in the world (Rom. 7:21-25; 8:1, 2),—then would they the more anxiously open their hearts that the Lord might come in and make his abode with them. They would realize the import of the exhortation, "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion;" and the preciousness of the word, "I am thy strength;" "My God shall be my strength." And they would sing327with joy, "The Lord Jehovah is my strength and song; he also is become my salvation;" they would feel in their souls the certainty of the word, "Now is come salvation and strength;" and would exhort the world in the words of God, "Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." They would say, as the prophet said they should say, "Surely shall one say, In the Lord is all righteousness and strength" (margin), and confess once again the word of truth, "Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."
But how shall I take hold of this everlasting strength?—By faith, of course. "All things are possible to him that believeth;" and if he does not believe, "let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." Righteousness and strength will never be found in yourself. Can you not account Him faithful who has promised? He wants to be a crown of glory, a diadem of beauty to you; will you not let him? He waits to be "for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gates." Do you want to be "strengthened with all might according to his glorious power" and "everlasting strength," the power that "worketh in us" if we will let it? Then let him work.
But his strength "is made perfect in weakness." That strength that will freely teach you wisdom, can also remove the hills and raise the dead. Don't be afraid to trust God; if you are, you throw the lie into the mouth of God, and Christ, and all the prophets. Such as are fearful and doubtful, cringing and shaking on the verge of the dark stream, can never know his strength. Go through; and "when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee." Then a heavenly calm, and joy, and peace that passeth all understanding will mark your life.
ONE AT A TIME.
One step at a time, and that well placed,
We reach the grandest height;
One stroke at a time, earth's hidden stores
Will slowly come to light;
One seed at a time, and the forest grows;
One drop at a time, and the river flows
Into the boundless sea.
One word at a time, and the greatest book
Is written and is read;
One stone at a time, a palace rears
Aloft its stately head.
One blow at a time, and the tree 's cleft through,
And a city will stand where the forest grew
A few short years before.
One foe at a time, and he subdued,
And the conflict will be won;
One grain at a time, and the sands of life
Will slowly all be run.
One minute, another, the hours fly;
One day at a time, and our lives speed by
Into eternity.
One grain of knowledge, and that well stored;
Another, and more on them;
And as time rolls on your mind will shine
With many a garnered gem
Of thought and wisdom. And time will tell,
"One thing at a time, and that done well,"
Is wisdom's proven rule.
—Selected.
STATUTES AND MEN.
BY *
THE possession of a thing for which one has no use, or of which he makes no use, is, of course, to him a useless possession. That is evident on the face of it. In fact, if the individual is aware of his possession at all, it must be to him only a burden; for a burden is simply a thing for which one has no use, and the possessor is conscious of its non-utility. The more he realizes its uselessness, the greater the burden. Were it possible, and it is, for him to be almost or totally unconscious of even the possession, then in that degree and to that extent he becomes not a man, but a statue. For "their idols [graven images, statues] . . . have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not; they have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat." Ps. 115:4-7.
Thus the difference between a statue and a man is that the one possesses, but uses not, whereas the other uses what he possesses. And in proportion as he fails to use what he possesses, just in that proportion he takes on the likeness of a statue. Therefore, when one has the form of an eye, or an ear, or a mind, but uses them not, or, if he uses them at all, sees only what some other man tells him to see, hears only what he tells him to hear, thinks only what he tells him to think, such an one becomes only a graven image, or, at best, merely an echo of the other. Should the man discover that he had eyes of his own, or a mind of his own, for the use of which he was individually accountable to God alone, the very discovery of such ability to use would but increase his condemnation, unless he exercised his manhood by looking and thinking. And a failure to use these things when conscious of an ability so to do, makes the man only a partially animated image, or, if you please, the shadow of another. A total unconsciousness of individuality makes a man a statue. Of such it is said:—
"Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not." Jer. 5:21.
"Therefore speak I to them in parables; because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive." Matt. 13:13, 14.
And the reason for it is given in the next verse:—
"For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
That describes human statues; and the difference between that kind of a statue and one of marble is, the one is voluntarily such, the other involuntarily. The next verse describes a man in the blessed and free use of his faculties: "But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear." How comes this deliverance from slavery to freedom, from unconscious entity to conscious manhood, from statues to men? "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:36. Blessed assurance!
Know you of any such human statues? There are plenty of them. One evening not long ago, while presenting before an audience the evidences of a deep-laid conspiracy of the churches for the destruction of civil and religious liberty, and showing how the highest branches of our government had already yielded to their clamor, and therefore the necessity of every servant of God giving the warning cry against it, there sat in the congregation a minister of a somewhat popular denomination. After the meeting, to the question, "Have you given any attention to these things?" he replied in language to this effect: "No, I have not. I pay no attention to politics."
When those who should be watchmen are thus asleep to the importance of the very message God wants given, is it not true indeed that "eyes have they, but they see not"? They see not in the message of God the dangers against which it warns, but confound it with things of this world. And there are some who have had great light, and yet are not awake to the times in which we are living. "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Eph. 5:14. The Lord calls for faithful watchmen, not dumb images, for men, and not statues. God wants your eyes, that he may give you sight; your ears, that he may give you hearing; your minds, that he may give you understanding. He wants to make men out of you—new men in Christ Jesus. Statues may be beautiful, but they are far from useful. And utility is manifest in all of the creations of God. He makes men, not statues. He alone can make men. Men can make statues only.
CAN THE DAYS OF THE WEEK BE LOST?
By Elder A. J. Howard
BY ELDER A. J. HOWARD.
"For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears; we would know therefore what these things mean." Acts 17:20.
IN the providence of God the time has now come when increased light is shining from God's word, and a reformation is being wrought in the character of many souls. But when the binding obligation of the fourth commandment is shown to the unregenerated heart, rather than submit and yield obedience, it seeks to find some way of escape; and the one most pleasing to the carnal mind is that God is merciful, and our learned men tell us that time was lost, and we can't tell just which the seventh day is, so we are as near right in keeping Sunday as in keeping Saturday. Those who thus reason overlook the fact that God sanctified a definite portion of time—the seventh of his weekly cycle—called by inspiration the Sabbath. They overlook the fact that Christ, the Maker, and also Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27, 28), came to the earth, lived, died, and rose from the grave on the first day, Sunday (Mark 16:9), the day just after the Sabbath—yet the seventh day can't be found!
Webster says that Sunday is the first day of the week, and inspiration says the same. Matt. 28:1. Christ as Lord of the Sabbath certainly knew which day it was, and if the Jews had lost the day, he would have informed them. Instead of keeping another, he kept the same day, and said it was lawful, that is, according to law. Matt. 12:12. It was also the same day given at Sinai (Luke 23:56), the same day being there commanded (Ex. 20:10) that was sanctified at creation (Gen. 2:3), the same reasons being given for its observation. "All nations, from time immemorial, are agreed upon the use of this period, without any variation in the form of it. The Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, and all the nations of the East, have in all ages made use of the week, consisting of seven days, also among the ancient Romans, Gauls, Britons, Germans, the nations of the North, and of America." Laplace says: "The week is perhaps the most ancient and incontestable monument of human knowledge." The Chinese, who now have no Sabbath, at one time honored the seventh day of the week.
The children of Israel observed the Sabbath before it was spoken from Sinai. Ex. 16:22, 24-26. The manna fell for more than a month before the law was spoken from Sinai. The Sabbath being known and observed even then, the manna being withheld on the day God gave as the Sabbath, shows they had a knowledge of it before. After the destruction of Jerusalem the Jews were to be scattered into all nations. Luke 21:20, 24. Thus scattered, all are united in observing the seventh day, or Saturday. (See Webster on Sabbath.) Rabbi Wise says that the Jews, having no names of days, called them 1st; 2d, etc., to Sabbath. If they had forgotten to count in any one locality where they were dispersed since 800 B.C., some would have done it in another locality, and a dispute among themselves about the right Sabbath must have occurred. But history328chronicles no such dissension. The calendar has been annually announced in regular succession by "the Great Synagogue," and afterward "the Sanhedrin"—to all Jews in the world—since the time of Ezra, more than five hundred years before Christ. When could they have forgotten the Sabbath?
Has not the Lord through the Jews retained a knowledge of his holy Sabbath, that there might be no place for divisions among God's servants regarding the weekly cycle, in the last days, when the time should come to "cry aloud and spare not, . . . and show my people their transgressions" (sins, violations of law)? "We would know therefore what these things mean."
SUNDAY CLOSING MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND.
[From the London News of Feb. 14, 1893.]
THE twenty-sixth annual meeting in connection with the Sunday Closing Association took place last evening, under the presidency of the Bishop of London, at Exeter Hall. There was a crowded attendance, and among those who wrote regretting inability to be present, were the Duchess of Rutland, Lady Henry Somerset, and Miss Willard.
The annual report, read by the Rev. Canon Stowell, estimated the gain in favor of Sunday closing in the new house of commons as being not less than thirty members. It went on to say that Parliament had already given Sunday closing to Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, with the happiest results; and that their greatest danger lay at the present moment in the too great readiness of many friends to believe that a reference of Sunday closing to local authorities would be a sufficient and satisfactory settlement of the question. The committee therefore felt that they could not too plainly warn all friends against this danger, nor too earnestly urge them to bring pressure to bear upon her Majesty's government to keep Sunday closing separate from all other temperance legislation with a view to dealing with it by imperial enactment at the earliest possible moment. (Cheers.)
Mr. G. Rooke (in the absence of the treasurer) read an abstract of the annual accounts, showing a slight balance in hand. The bishop of London said it was their intention, sooner or later, to win this cause and close all public houses throughout the country on Sunday. (Cheers.)
The adoption of the report and financial statement was moved by the Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, who stated that in the course of this movement no less than 41,660 petitions, with 6,691,246 signatures, had been presented to Parliament in favor of a Sunday-closing bill. He vigorously protested against this question being relegated to a measure of local option. The Rev. Dr. A. Mackennal seconded the motion, which was adopted unanimously.
Among others taking part in the meeting, at which various resolutions connected with Sunday closing were brought forward, were Mr. J. H. Roberts, M.P., Mr. W. Mather, M.P., Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P., Mr. R. W. Perks, M.P., Mr. T. Snape, M.P., the Rev. Canon Leigh, Mr. A. Pease, the Rev. Septimus Buss, Lieutenant Colonel Ford, Mr. R. Rae, Mr. Charles Hill, Mr. Diggle, the Rev. J. Travis, and the Secretary, Mr. J. Woodford Causer.
In the course of the meeting a direct allusion to the prime minister by Canon Leigh, who incidentally spoke of the untiring enthusiasm, indomitable perseverance, and pluck of Mr. Gladstone's efforts in the public service, aroused the greatest enthusiasm. The cheering was again and again renewed, many in the audience upstanding and waving hats and handkerchiefs.
CHURCH ENTERTAINMENTS.
AFTER the Church of Rome had preached against the God-ordained law of the tithe, it found itself in the pitiable plight of poverty. To escape from the sad but inevitable consequences of its sin, it sought to replenish its empty coffers by introducing pilgrimages to its thousand shrines, with their bones of saints, sacred relics, and pretended miracles. The divine law was supplanted by the sale of indulgences, and giving as an act of worship found its place usurped by lotteries, festivals, shows, theaters, and every device by which priestcraft could extort money from a people who knew not the word of God.
It is only to be lamented that any of the Protestant churches have in any manner been given to the use of any of these pernicious plans for raising money. Too many of our churches which have been dedicated to the glory of God are desecrated by fairs, oyster suppers, dramas, tableaux, lectures, shows, exhibitions, and various other things which are really injurious to the financial as well as the spiritual prosperity of the church, although many think otherwise. Money is not valuable enough to be purchased at so ruinous a price, and the fewer worldly people we gather into the church by these unholy means the better for the church and for the world.
We know of no good reasons in favor of such entertainments, and some of the arguments against them might be briefly stated as follows:—
1. In proportion as they are more frequently used do they despoil the church of its spiritual power.
2. Those who labor faithfully for the success of the enterprise are apt to suffer from unkind speech, or unjust suspicion in the management of the affairs and finances.
3. In most cases they are employed by Christians who withhold from God that which he requires at their hands, while they seek to carry forward the work of the church by drawing the needed funds from "outsiders." They covet the wealth of the wicked, and seek opportunity to gain their influence and money. "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
4. If not universally, yet quite generally, they alienate from the church some of its most useful members.
5. Whatever other effect these entertainments may have upon those who are not church members, they surely will not lead poor sinners to the cross of Christ.
6. The most worldly minded in the congregation are sure to desire and apt to succeed in being at the head of these entertainments, and, guard them as best we may, they are almost sure to introduce into them such features as are injurious to the best interests of the church. A disgusting song spoils the concert, a double-entendre the exhibition, cordials, cider, and cigars the picnic, a heterodox statement or irreligious sentiment the lecture—on and on, through the whole list, the devil is determined to be in somewhere, or his personal friends will denounce the pastor as an "old fogy," get enraged because they cannot have their own way, dismember the congregation, and then leave in disgust.
7. Last, but by no means the least of all the evils, is the undeniable fact that church329fairs, oyster suppers, and the whole round of church entertainments, are fatal to every impulse and principle of Christian benevolence.
—Lutheran Observer.
HURLING THE HARPOON.
A sailor who had just returned from a whaling voyage was taken by a friend to hear an eloquent preacher. When they came out of the church the friend said:—
“Jack, wasn’t that a fine sermon?”
“Yes, it was ship-shape; the water lines were graceful; the masts raked just high enough; the sails and rigging were all right, but I didn’t see any harpoons. When a vessel goes on a whaling voyage, the main thing is to get the whales. But they don’t come to you because you have a fine ship. You must go after them and harpoon them. Now, it seems to me, that a preacher is a whaleman. He is sent, not to interest or amuse the fish by sailing among them, but to catch them. Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I will make you fishers of men.’ Now, how many sermons like that do you think it would take to convict a sinner and make him cry out, ‘What must I do to be saved?’”
The friend said: “But, Jack, people nowadays don’t like to be harpooned. They like to listen to such expositions. Surely it is a grand thing to attract such an audience to hear the gospel.”
“To hear about the gospel, you mean. I don’t object to the doctor’s exposition and illustration. As I said before, they were all ship-shape. But the trouble was when he sailed to the fishing ground and the whales had all gracefully come to the surface, instead of manning the boats and striking for a haul, he made a polite bow and appeared to say: ‘I am very glad to see so many whales. I must not do anything to hurt or frighten them; hope they will admire my ship and all come again on my next voyage.’ Do you think the ship-owner would send such a captain to Bering Straits a second time? Read in Acts the report of Peter’s first gospel sermon. He begins with an able exposition of Old Testament prophecies in regard to the incarnation and resurrection of Christ, and the outpouring of the Spirit, and then, when he had gained the attention of the crowd, he charged home upon them the words of ‘Jesus, whom ye have crucified.’ That was hurling a harpoon.”—Homiletic Review.
THE VERDICT.
SIN is deliberate violation of the law of God, therefore a crime. But as God is a sovereign, sin becomes rebellion also.
Salvation viewed from the sinner's standpoint is pardon. He is conscious he has been under condemnation, and even under sentence of death, and is now forgiven.
Salvation viewed from the Saviour's standpoint is acquittal. He has been the counsel for the prisoner, and has secured his release. It is as though the verdict were, "Not guilty."
When Christ shall become judge by his divine appointment to the bench of eternity, he will recognize those whose acquittal he has secured, and confirm their justification.
The retaining fee of our Advocate is nothing; the counsel fees are no more. Are we not infinitely foolish if we let the case go against us, and go unprepared into the presence of the Judge at last?—Golden Rule.