Gospel Herald, 1859-07-23

              GOSPEL HE
Devoted to Clix-iatianity-, Morality, the intereata of SalitjatJi Soliools, Sooial Improveinerit, ':roini>ei-anoe, Eaxication, and General No^
"BEHOLD, I BRING TOU GOOD TIDINGS OV   OUBAT ,10Y .... ON EAUTH PEACR, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN."
VOL. 16.
.DAYTON, 0., SATIJR,DAY, JULY 23, 1859.
NO. 12.
ORIGINAL POETRY.
Wriltenfor tha Go8;pel Herald.
The Christian Pilgrim-
Diidkified to Ihc numory of Wm Harvey McCullough.
IVi KKV.   H.  M.   KECK.
A pilgrim drags his woary foot
Along earth's toilBome ways ; Ha thinks of hoavon'R onJoymontB sweety
Ancl upward liTts hia gaKO. lie Lhinka that Jordon's turbid -wavDa,
Through mists and darknoas roll; ITo thinkH of winding shccfH and grav»?fl
But, thoso grievo not his aoul.
Now jiainful moments ohb apaco,
Deatli lifts his venonied dart; A paleness clouds tho pilgrim's face,
A ctildnosa chilU his heart; Then aungs float downward to his oars,
No'or heard by him boforo; Swoot notes from augwl choJra ho hoars,
Who lino tho other Hhuns.
High on tho hills of glory stand
A vast, R white rtibod throng; Thoy long to graap him by tho hanit,
To greet him loud and itmg. The mists of death that olond his oyes
In radiance drift away ; And angola aweoping frora tho HlcioH,
Shout—'^Pilgrim do not stay :
"But h\T,Te forever earth^fl embraoo,
For what is earth to thee? Heaven's bliss shall worldly woes efTaco,
Fear not otornity. Weep not that thou art hast'ning whoro^
No tear nhall ever flow ; Thou ha.st a glorious mansion there,
And garments whito cw snow.
"And t'ttou shalt woar a victors palm
Triumphant o'or thy foes; And oiTor praiaus to the Lamb,
Whoro lifo'fl cloitr river flows. No saint or angel bright, will frown
On thee, and turn away. Come up and wear thy starry crown,
Come pilgrim—como away !
"0 como life's flickering torch has ahi.'^i
Its latest, fooblcBt light; For you a royal feast is spread,
Whoro all la fair and bright. 0 cornel avoiceisHaying—'gon,
Thou art r^iy faithful child, Aacend—( fchy worlc on earth is dono )—
Amid the undofilod.' "
That voico sends joy into hia breast,
Which BwocpB all foara away ; The weary pilgrim now must rest,
In heaven's uncloudfod day: With joy ho plumos hia radiant winga,
Amid encircling bands, Ho rises, soars, exults, he sings,
Beyond life's treacherous Bands. Wo may not in adventurous song,
To those fair climas aspire ; We may not now aoofc to prolong.
The Btraing wakedi ftoim hia lyre. But if wo keep our garments white,
And tread the narrow way; Wo too-Bhall see lifo^ff stormy night,
Diusolve in endless day.
ORIGINALITIES.
WrUimforthe Gospel Herald.
The Fatttre of Man.
BY  AMMON OOOiC.,
What was lost ia Adam is reprie-ved or restored th,rou:gii Christ the. second Adam, &c,: In, order to. discuss this subject properly, we shalLkave to-goto soino of the leading articfes of belief iu our discipline. Theone that stands foremost in its nature and importan-ce and that which is the foundation of all othera, iathe being of one G-od, infiinite in all hiS: attributes, a-nd! existing in his own porffectioiw fromi «verlaflting; to everlasting. This one true eternal and inconiprekcnsible GocS, created and, up¬ holds, all thinga by the word of liis
power. Jn his infinite goodness ho lias been j^loased to reveal to mankind a knowlodgo of himself, and of the means of acceptance with him, so far as in his wisdom ho saw to bo fit, and suited to tho condition of tho lumum mind.
From these revelations of tiio spirit of God, proceeded tho RcrlpLures of truth, which were written b,y Iioly men of God, as Lhey wero moved by the Holy Ghost, and by the operations of tho same spirit, ho still influoncoH the hearts of the children of men, to prac¬ tical righteousness, and to a belief in harmonious accordance with Lho tes¬ timony of tho holy seripturoH. These divino revelations embrace tho doc¬ trines of religion, and tho dealings oi' God with his rational creatures, in tho way both of his mercy and his judg¬ ments.
Tho fallen condition of man as ho stands in a state of nature, isadoctrinc held forth in tlie lloly Hcsriptiires, and is of great importance in its application to ourselves, as well as in its intimate connection with the doetrino of re¬ demption by .foHus Ghrist. Man Avas originally created in the divino image: "In the imago of God created he him," crowned him with glory and honor, and sot him over tho works of his hands, but by transgression he fell from this exalted condition, incurred tho penalty of death, and so lost the divine image, the wisdom,purity andpowor in which ho was made. This lapse of our prime ancestors not only imracdiat'oly affect¬ ed tho actual transgressors, birt remote¬ ly, all their posterity. Wo should bo very careful to distinguish between thoae effects as they apply to us simply in a state of natiiro or as the posterity, wo should be very careful to distin¬ guish between thoso effects as they ap¬ ply to us simply in a state of nature, or as the posterity of Adam in his fallen state, and tho guilt or sin which at¬ taches to us in consoqiienco of our own actual transgressions, though we do not ascribe any whit of Adam's guilt to mon until they make it theirs by the like acts of disobedience, yet wo can¬ not suppose that men who aro come of Adam naturally^ can have any good thing in their nature, as belonging to it which ho, from whom they derive their nature had nothimself to communicate unto them. If thon wo may affirm that Adam did not retain in hia nature any will or light capable to givo him kno-wledge in spiritual things, then nei¬ ther can his posterity, as Paul saith, Eom. VII. 10, for I krow that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing, for whatsoever real good' any man doeth,. it proceedeth not from his nature, as ho is man oi" tho son of Ad¬ am, but from the seed of God in him, as a new visitation of lif& in. order to bring him out of his natural condition; for we affirm, that as all men partake of tho fruit of Adam's fall in that, by reason* of that evil seed which through sin is communicated unto then*, they are prone and inclineduntoevil, though thousands of thousands be ignorant of Adam'sfall, neither over knew of the eating of the forbidden fruit; so also many mjay dorae' to feel the influence of this holy and divine seed; and light and be tui-n'ed fcom evil to. gc(6d bjr it, thougli tttfey knew nothing of Ohiritit'S coming in tho flfesh throngh -WhiosiolJe- dieaefr^a atliMin^, a ia pil5ro6aW!d
unto them.    ':Ehus, by ono man, sin en¬ tered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all havo sinned, for until tho law siu was in the world; but sin is not im¬ puted when there is no law; ncvoi-tho- losfl, lieath roigncd,from Adam to ,Mo- HCfl, even over thom that had  not sin¬ ned  aftof   tho   Himiritude  of Adam's transgressio-n; who  is thofiguroof hiiu tbat was to come: Eom. .'vii, 15 and 14. Tho holy scriptures record tho   fall  of m.'in as having taken place through the temptation of a sepcrato being.    Tbo whole   ooui'KO of scripture testimony, both under tho law andthe gospel rep¬ resents tho devil,  or Hutan, as  a dis¬ tinct being, and properly forming no part of man.    Tho circumstance of hia .existence as a tempter, andof liis utter¬ ing falsehoods, which is sin, and of his denying tho veracity of God, which is blasphomy before onr first ])arentsbarl committed tlioir ofl'onco, or- yielded to the temptation, prove nndcniably  his soperato existence, and that thoro was such a being in tho exorcise-of his ma¬ levolent character, whila our prime an- costoi'H wore yet in the divine imago. The same species of cvidcnco is found in the temptations which were present¬ ed to our bleiModLord. In those tempt¬ ations, there wfis falsehood utterct*, and a reward proposed ibr worshipping tho devil, all which, in itself, waa  tt-in of the highest grade; b«t tho Lord Josus Christ, in his divine- power,  stood   in complete dominion over it, and it would be blasphemy in mo-to  say,   that the least degree of sin attached to him. Eo- curring to the fall of our first parents, we find that jndgmoBt was passed upon them seporately, and tho sentence pro nounccd on the tempter was  entirely different :fpom  that which was passed either on Adam or Eve.    Tho sepaa-ato existence of the devil is clearly declar¬ ed, when speaking of that seed of sin in all meii wbercunto they beeameob- noxious, by reason of tho fall,  which though in itself,;really,is sin; et it ia notraan's butthe.devil'a, i;intil man give way to it; yet God that made him had pity on him, for he seeing man was.not deceived, and that it was not of malice or an original presumption in him, but through the subtlety of tho serpent, (who  had  first fallen   from his   Oiwn state) provided a means, to repair the breach, recover-the  loss,  and restore fiUen maa agaiaby ai nobler and more xcellent Adam, promised to be born of . woman.
Yours ini hope of eternal life..
(CONCLUSION  NKXT WBKK.)
 ¦¦»    II » II   «».-	
Writttm far Oie 9olpel Heralil:
Why I love the Christian! Church.
Bir N. SUMMERBELI..
iSothing seems more unseemly to mo; though nothing is more common, than, to support an institution simply be¬ cause (without any agency or even consent on our part) our- lot has been cast there. The denominations which have or will bloss or curse Christendom, aro by many thought to bo in number 666, , These have all, their separate in- teresta, and. opinions, to advance and advocate, and it willbe-foruatoconsid- whcther the Chi-istian Church, has any peculiar-claims upoums. If she-has not, we will be acting a ¦wise part to a- bandon her, as quickly aa possible: foi* many are the- advantage in this world,
to-be gained by adherence to the fash- ionaiili! religions ofthe day, TherOjis the popularity. There tho dominant party. There the prevailing opinions. Tliere the chance of prefoi'ment. There tlie .Educational opportunities. Thero tho stereotyped literature. Thoro, the entailed property; and thero, the pow¬ er. Thoro are tho OoliogoH established; the schools in operation; the congre¬ gations consolidated, the churches al¬ ready built and ministers educated,— Tliere tho libraries, endowments, en- coiirgcmcntH; and were heaven confin¬ ed alone to this present life, and con¬ sisting Himply in popularity, wealth, and earthly advantages, I would advise all to Join the worldly churehes; tho fashionable party. But whon wo con¬ sider that this life, is only tho begin¬ ning of our oxiaten<',e:—iimoment com- ])ared to eternity, we esteem it bettor far, tn sacrifice to the truth now, than ill-prepared, to lose a fraction of future joy, for the transitory good of time ]>roBcnt.
I prefer the Christian Church, homutte hIio isa Bil>lie(ilcluu'ch. She lias no ste¬ reotyped phrases by which sho affirms lierfiuth; or human creeds to,-sot for lier doctrine. Her language is tho lan¬ guage of Canaan.
Ipmfcrthe Christian Church, hecaiiHe in- asking only con-fbrmity to the Bi¬ blo, sJ>c confuses us not witli contradic¬ tory dogmas: and fey requiring exact eonforinitj- to it; she brings us into the closest i-cconeiliation with God, and prepares us for heaven; by teach¬ ing us to do God's will on earth, as- it is done in heaven. Thus while others are sectarian ized; and with much care caist into forms of doctrine unknown to God's word, and alienated from God, and from each other: becoming the longer they live, cultivating those sys- tome less and less prepared to enter in¬ to h-eaven, i-n any reasonable conform¬ ity to God's will, or conformity to each other; tho Christians cultivate tiiat system of religion wliieh best jirepares them for both. Who does no^S see that a new corKversion from saetarianism to Bible truth, charity, and forbearance wiil bo needed, between death; and tho resurrection in all these; unless wc Hupf ose heaven to bo filled with sects, battlangeach other,—c©nflicting creeds; peopl^marshalted under divers leaders; ard' following various, sy&tems.,
I prefer the Christian G hutch, heo&use sft-e puts no book into my hand but the Hble; paints me to no leader but Christ; teaches me to-recognize as my brethren all God's people, no matter liow erring or weak in tkith. How I have pitied ministers whom I have seen them writhe and struggBe; because I have quoted in oppositioni to their say¬ ings, the doctrines ofthe Westminster Confession; Calvin, Campbell, Wesley, or some other human erring leader.— Who, could thus trouble the Christians? What man could be pointed out as their loader?   Kone! absolutely none!
I prefer the Christian Church, because her prin-cipl'es are divine and Apostol¬ ical, Thejr aa-e neither new, nor nov¬ el. Hier faith in God is the faith;taught to Adam, Noah^ Abraham and Itoses. (.Deut. VI: 4.) .By Jesus and his Apos¬ tles, (ifark xii: 30. Luke x: ,27.)—;, That her doctrine concerning Chri^.b,- and all the principles of her systaim, are those recognized by the ehiifch 1800 years ago;   And becauso fSiey are