Gospel Herald, 1860-05-05

              Ohio Hl-Titcirical Society
Devotea to Christianity, Morality, the Interests of Sabbath Schools, Social Ira-proveiiieiat, Temperance, EaircatioiT, and Cxeneral Ne-ws. "BEHOLD,   I   BRING   TOU   GOOD   TIDINGS   OP   GREAT   JOY  ....  ON   EARTH   PEACE,   GOOD   WILL   TQ-WATID   MEN.'
VOL. 17.
DA.YTON, 0., SATURDAY, MAY 5.1860
NO.l.
SELECT POETRY.
From Fitzgerald^s Gitij Item,
Tte Printer's Consolation.
Tell me ye gentle winds,
That round my pathway play, Is there no place on earth.
Where pri liters get their pay; The whispering breexe went by,
Withaooonis filled -with woe, A voice borne on the sorrowing air,
In sadness answored, No!
Tell mo ye tlowinj; Btroams,
That sinoo'hly glide along, Fs there no cherished place,
Whero printers meet no ivrong; Thegertle brook replied,
In miirmera soft and low, And 'Rinding on its vetdant way,
It meekly an.swered| Nol
Tell mo ye murky clouda,
Now rising in the west, Is there upon tho globe,
Ono spot liyprintera blest; The Hashing clouds outspoke
With an indignant glow,     .',~^ii.J;ji A voice thatfiU'd tho earth with;awo,
In thunder answered. No I
Tell me hard-hearted man.
Withholding day by day. Is there no honor in thy breast,
The printer's bill to pay; ITnanswering turns he round.
How plain hia actions show, An uttei oath-capped sound is heard
Ills actions answer. No I
Tell me ye gentle nymphs,
Who bless life's pathway through, Is there no sacicd shrine
Where printers get their due; A mantling blush her cheek diffused,
Did tenfold grace impart, A soft responsive sigh replied,
'Tis fouud in woman's heart.
Tell me angelic hosts.
Ye moasongers of love, ShaU siiffei-ing printers here below,
Have no redress above; The angel bands replied.
Tons is knowledge given. Delinquents on the printer is books,
Can never enter Heaven. R.
ORIGINALITIES.
Written for the Gospel Herald.
The Ereeness of the Gospel.
BY M. GUSTIN.
"And tbe spirit and the bride say, como.—- 'And let Kim that heareth aay, come: And let him that ia athirst, come., And whosoevcr,will, let him take tlie water of, life freely."—:Eev, 22: 17. .
The,sentiment of the text is, that tho offers ofsalvation are mado freely to all men, and that the invitation is to bo pressed on the attention, by all tho means which can, bo employed.— To this sentiment, I propose to invito yonr attention.,
.The son.timont of tho text ia, evi¬ dently, to sho-w tho freeness of the Gospel: to condense in a summary manner all the iivvitationsof mercy to , mankind; and to leave on the mind, at the close of tho volume of Inspiration, a deep impros.sion ofthe ample, provi¬ sion -which has boon made, for tho sal-, vation ol a fallen race, Men aro free¬ ly invited to parfako of tho blessings ofsalvation. They aro inyiteil by the Holy Spirit, andtbe bride—the.Church to come. So froo is salvation, that even ho-who hoars of it, whether he has embraced the; offers. himself, or not, inay go and .say to kindred or friend, • "como." They Avho thirst,, whofocl the need of salvation, aro in- vitod to como;   and ; all   who chooso.
may come, and partake freely of the waters of life. In a vision, John saw "a pnre river of water of life, clear as chrystal proceeding out of tho throne of God and the Lamb." To that pure and clear stream of salvation men arc invited to come freely. There they may slako thoir thirst. There the de¬ sires of tho immortal mind may be satisfied.
The great leading idea embraced in our text is, tliat the blessings of the Gospel are freely offered to all man¬ kind.
First—This is obviouH- from tho Ian guago of the text. "Whosoever will let him take the water of life freely." Now, the Bible abounds with numer ous passages, whieh offer salvation to men—to all men—with tho assurance that all may come and be saved. Hear, the words of the Lord, by the mouth ofhis prophet; "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come j'e to the waters, and he that hath no money, coVne ye buy and eat; yea, como, buy wine and milkwithout money and without price. Though your sins bo as scarlet, thoy shall be as white as snow; though they bo rod as crirason,thoyshallbeas wool Let tho wicked forsake his way, and tho nnrigbtoous man his thoughts; and lot him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly par¬ don."—Isa. 55. Now, hear tho words of Christ, as hestoodin thotompio: "If any mtin thirst, let him como unto me anil drink." Again, "come unto me all ye that labor and aro heavy laden, and I will give yon rest."—-John, 7: 37. Matt., 11: 28. And so tho text: "And the spirit and the bride say, come.— And let him that heareth say, come.— And let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will, lot him take tho water of life freely." If there wero any doubts on this pfiint, these plain and positive passag',J8 would put those doubts to rest. No language could bo plainer. Every one that is disposed to'come, that has any sincere tlesiro to bo waved, is assured that he may live. No matter whether he is black or white; no matter how unworthy he is, or what his past life has been. No matter how old or young, how rich or poor; no matter whether a freeman or a slave; whether educated or ignorant; no matter whether clad in purple or in rags; whether he lives in a splen¬ did palace or a- hnt, tho invitation is freely made to all to come and be saved.
Second—Christ died for all men. I know that we aro sometimes told, that, "Christ died exclusively for" a certain few; Called, "the elect, and pur¬ chased redemption for them alono; and in no Scnso did he die fiir the rest of mankind." No such a sentitnent has any foundation in' the Bible. I say this without any fear of contradict tion. I think the Scriptures will bear mo out in my position. But to the Law and Testimony: "Bohold the. Lamb of God that takoth away the sins of the world." "God so loved tho world that bo gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him, might not perish, but have everlasting lifo." "This is ihdeedthe Christ, the Saviour of the world." "Oho died for all," ¦ "By the grace of God he tasted death for   every   man."    "Ho   is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for tho sins of the -whole world." "Go yo into all the world, and preach tbo gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is bap¬ tized shall bo saved." "Who gave himself a ransom for all, to bo testi¬ fied in due time." "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into tbe world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." There aro many other jiassages of Scripture to which wo might refer; but these aro snflicient to settle tho point in hand. Nothing is plainer in the Bible, than that the atonement was in some proper sense, made for the whole human family. It could not bo stated in plainer terms, than those used by the sticrcd oracles. It is thero stated in language as plain as any found in tho creeds of those who profess to be¬ lieve the doctrine; in language as plain as that used by those -who wish to defend the doctrine. And, if this sentiment ia not taught by tho Bible, it seems to me, to be impossible to teach it.
The full benefit of the death of the Son of God, I regard, is offered to all men—to each and all of the hiinian family. God makes the offer; and ho has never cominissionod any class of men to make a .j)artial offer of salva¬ tion; to limit the invitation to any fa¬ vored class of men. His commission, is, "go and preach the gospel to every creature," that is, the good news that salvation is provided foi- thera—for in no other sense Would it be the gospel to them. He that does not do this; that goes and offers tho invitation to a pairt only; to none but tho elect; or that teaches that God offers the bless¬ ings ofthe gospel to a certain portion of mankind, violates his commission, practically makes I'lod ajiartialbeing, and makes the language which the Bi¬ ble uses with such plainness, delusive,, ambiguous, or unmeaning. The fall and free offer of salvation to all meu, I assume to be one ofthe cardinal doc¬ trines of the Christian religion. The duty ofthe minister is, to go and pro¬ claim that to the worlci, and that only; to go and teach men that God offers eternal life, and all the bliss of hetiven to every child of Adain^—be ho a Lap¬ lander, a Hindoo, or an African; ho he a beggar, or a king; rich,, or poor; learned, or not; he is invited to como and drink the W'ater of life freely.
Centreoille, Ohio.
— Nii>   ,1 w II—lawi       — .
IFriOcii for the Gospel lUrald
ftuestiona  Ans-wered.
BY A.   W.   SAN.F0RD.
Brother Geo. McCullough asks 'me, through the ,7?£;raW to answer the fol¬ lowing t|uostionS| to wit;
1. What constitutes a "perfect  man Christ Jesus?"
2. Can a perfect man in Josus Christ subscribe to tho variops human creeds of the day, and promulgixte tho doc¬ trines of the Trinity, Vicarious atone¬ ment. Total depravity &c? .
Ans. 1. I suppose the first query to bo, predictated upon Ephesians, IV, 13; and, if so, the oharaetcr, quality anti extent of that perfection aro indicated in the follow^iiig vQrsc; "that we hence¬ forth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried itbout with every-vyind
ofdcictrine &c," which language indi¬ cates the desire of the Apostle, that the Ephesians should thi-ough tho gifts bestowed upon the church, and, "in tbe Mft«fi/of the faith, arrive at such clear and esfaWi'.s/itd convictions of all thii facts, pertaining to Christ and hia religion. Such a conformity of heart and lifo, to the "mind" and "image," precepts and example of Christ, aa should effectually secure them against every effurt, to lead thom astray -with vain or false doctrines; (opinions) and, for all future time, should mark thera its the uniformly firm and consistent ad¬ herents of Christianity.
This perfection of christian stability is now, equally desirable and impor¬ tant.
Its.foundation ia a gonuine, thor¬ ough, "old-fashioned" change of heart; —^such a conversion as we used to have, when those who apoatatiijed or dishonored llioir christian profession, were the exceptions to the general rulo, and not cxam|-les of tho rulo itself— -Being thus inducted into the "myste¬ ries of tho kingdom," the young.eliris- tian can best attain intellectual stabil¬ ity, and a clear and systematic concep¬ tion of christian doctrine, by a careful and thorough study of the Bible; re¬ garding its great and glorious truths aafacls to be believed, rather than mysteries abiiut which to. speculate; and, whilo he atlheres to Bible lan¬ guage in believing and stating them, , he may safelj' defy "every wind of doctrine."
The "form ot sound -words" revealed in tho Scriptures for tho hcatl—exper¬ imental communion with God for the heart—and faithful obedience to hia requirements in the life, will mako any, and every christian thus perfect in Christ Jesus, and givo him stabili¬ ty of character, influence and useful¬ ness. ;
Ans. ;3, While I admit and believe, that there aro many genuine christians, and those too, of firm roligious attain¬ ments, who, nominally, and as matter of opinion,, hold the sentiments and subscribe to the creeds to which you advert; it nevcrtheletSS occurs to me, that the tn.an whose intellect is cm- - ployed,interested and absorbed in the ¦ study, and contemplation of tho stu¬ pendous/acfe revealed in the Bible, concerning God, man, sin and ¦ salvai-;' tion therefrom through Jesus Christ,— whoso heart, burning with love to God, yearns for tho redemption of hia fellow-men; and who, -with'those con¬ victions of fiict,and emotions of sy'mpa-' thy, correctly estimates the moment¬ ous responsibilities of christian profess¬ ion and action, Will find little timo,and less disposition to ''promulgate,'' de¬ fend and build up, moro human opin¬ ions in theology; and just as littlo, to attack,thom unnecessarily, and en¬ deavor to pull them down; but, to all inducements to do cither, wo will apply thelangiiage of Nehomiah to Sanbal- Ifit; "I am doing a great work and cannot (-.ohio down."
On the other hand, the chri.stian, if such he bo, who makes, it his principftl business to adhere to, defend ami en¬ force human opinitms and dOgftiatio theology, whether in, or; out ofa writ¬ ten creed—and,-(except snch opiniohB aro ofmanifcst sinful tondency,:hQ who spends his timo in fightiiig those who