Gospel Herald, 1859-05-21

              ©eVoted to Oliriatianity-, Morality, tlie interests o±^ SahilDatli  Sclaools, Socdal Inaprovemerrt, Veraperance, ^i^diacation, and General News.
''¦BEHOLD,   I   BRINQ.   TOU   GOOD   TIDINGS   01-   GREAT   JOY  ....   ON   EAKTH   PEACE,   GOOD   WILL   TOWAED   MEN."
VOL. 16.
DAYTON, O., SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1859.
NO. 3.
ORIGINAL POETRY.
WriUenfor the Gospel Merald.
THE INVITATION.
Doai'souls, IVecomoto invito you, To leave off your follies and turn ; "SVilh tlie power of trt!tii would excite you, IJeibro you in torment do hurii.
Turn, tnrn, Oh! turn, Before you in torment, do luom-n..-
Oh, I weep when I xiaw your condition,
And I High when I think of youriioum ; Exposed to eternal perdition,       / As madly in folly you roam. ,•
Turn, turn, i)hf tnrn, A3 madly in folly youtoain."^'
Yon -will thinliT of tlio waVjiing.-^ yon slighted,
Tho prayers and tearn/if the good ; And remember Inatruo/^'lons you hated, Despiain^^ the nierej' of Ood.
Tunr, turn, Oh, tnrn, Detipisonot Ihe mercy of God.
Yon will think of tho wo.nns I luiTO spoken,
The truth to yi)u I dochu-e ; And roinember the vows yaii havo broken, As you sink in I be nifvht of despair. Turn, turn, Oh, turn. Lest you sink in thu niglit of despair.
Yon will call for tho rueksj and tho niountain.s,
'J'o bury yun deeji in the Hand ; Or -will iiliiuft'e in the ocean'.i d;irk fountains, L'or wlio will bo able to Khind.
Turn, tnrn, Oh, tnrn, Forwlio^viU bo able to stand.
ORIGINALITIES.
Written for tl:e Goapel Jlerald.
Thirteen Reasons for   Beliei'ing'   that Jesus Christ is the Son oi God.
BY  N.    SUMM.BRBBLL,
1st. Tho first great reason is because God ¦Ao.ysi so. At his liaptisni, wliilo llis guriiionts wore still shining with tliG dripping, waters of Jordim, and the 'Holy Ghost was seen descending ujioii him; brighter, far brighter was the Shekinah which was over him, while came the hoaveulv voice, " This is my beloved Sonl" Here is a heavenly creed, a divine confession of faith. This .voice repeated the same story on Mount Tabor, while onr Savior there ap])eared, clothed in heavenly light, before tho astonished Disciples, Peter, James, and John. There came the groat Law-giv¬ er, and the translated Moses and Eli¬ jah, representing the law and tlio prophets, and wliile Mosos laid the law at his feet, and the translated onebowod in tlie name of the Prophets before him; Avhilo the threo of earth wero witnesses, and tho dying and immortal stooped lieforehim, the cloud again ap¬ peared, and again.the immutable One said, sm-'This is my beloved Son."^ Gould there be any authority to equal tliis? Hhould more be needed? Oh, faith divine, be thou ever mine; be mine thou lieavenly faith, thou creed divine.    Such faith I can rest my soul
upon.    I need no  lietter  autlrority.	
Shouldl question God? Should mortal man teach God ? Shoiildignorantmor- tals change the creed of Grod?
2d. The second reason I havo for be¬ lieving that Jesus is tlio sou of God, is . because hia blessed lips have said it. lS&°"Iemi the Son of God." said the son of the Blessed One. '' I came forth from . the Father and am como into the world, again I leave tho world, and go unto tho Pather." "I came down from Heaven, not to do mine own will, but to do the will of him. that sent me."    " I
speak unto you those things whieh I have seen with my father." " Por my father loved mo before the foundation of the world." Oh, blessed Savior! havo thy divine lijis spoken it, and shall I doubt? ISTo, oh, no. Eather let my right hand forget hor cunning, and my tonguo cleave to the roof of my mouth, tlian thati, amortal, blinded by sin, erring in moral darkness, .should dispute thy blessed.word. ISo, Savior ; then would I insult thee more than thoso who pressed the gall to thy bles¬ sed li])s, in thy passion. Lot mo never deny thy words, but rejoice ever that thy words havo been heard by us, and turning away from tho foolishness of men, "walk by faith in thy word.
3d. Tlie third reason that I have for believing that Jesus is tbe Son of God, is, that this is the record which was given of him, by tho one sent to ]iro- claim him. " I boar record," said John, that JC®" '¦ This is the Son of God."— Blessed record, may it be engraved up-- on my mind and upon my heart. Thus John stands at the head'of all earthly confessors. And there stand thy name forever, oh, thou Baptist, for thou was tho harbonger of thy Lord, and well didst thou annoiin oe him. Among mei i there has not arisen a greater than John tho Bapti.st, and in the upper kingdom few tiro greater than he.— There let his name stand.
4tli. My fourth reason for believing that Josiis is the Son of God, is, tliat this was the confession which he taught his blessed disciples. "Whom do men say that I the son of man am?" "Thou ai't the Christ; KS^ The Son ofthe Liv¬ ing God." " Blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it nnto theo, but my Pather which is in Heaven, and ujion this roc/; will I build my ohurcb, and the gates of hell shall not ]irevail against it." TJlos- sed doctrine; it is indeed a rock.— Eighteen hundred years, with tlieir ocean of human waves, have dashed u]ion it niyriad,g of infidels, hosts of foes, but u]ioii that rock the church, still safe, can smile at all hor foes. I3c thou ever my rock, oh, Savior.
'¦ Ami when the lipa that Avlth tlij- name
Are vocal now, tu diwt shall Uirn, On othei-H may devotion's llanie
Be kindled here and pnrely burn."
5th. My fifth reason for believing that Jesus is tho Son of God, is, that they found no better doctrine to preach after he was crucified, lilvon then they mightily convinced the Je^^'S that 'Sm^" Jesus is the Son of God.." Oh, blessed Paul, would thou were here with all thy eloquence, to convince the unbelieving now. Plow do men dis¬ pute;, bow do thoy. reason; where is that apostolic spirit to convince?— Alas, my Savior, few are thy witnesses now. Some aro for Paul, some for Ap- pollos, some fbr Peter. How they cli- vide thy glory among men. How lightly even we, who to thoo, owe all that we are, and all we hope, esteem thee! Teach us by the ^iiirit to love theo moro, so that wo may never de¬ part from thee.
Cth, My sixth reason for believing that Jesus is the Son of God, is, that the angels called him so. 'Twas they who said to Mary the blessed of the Lord,hosha],lbe called b@„ " The Son of God." How the angels rejoiced for men at the: coming ofthe blessed Son of the  Great Eternal One.     "Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Oh, Prince of Peace, of G-lory King, and Prince of Life, had we so loved thee and on thee so believed, how near would heaven be now to earth. Oh, help us to believe and love theo more and more, and be¬ lieve more and more, till all the unbe¬ lief of our rebeUious hearts be gone, and love and faith be deeply planted there, that we may live in lovo, and lovo in faith, until wo seo thy blessed face in Heaven.
7th. Mysovcntb reason for believing thatJesnsistheSon of God, is, thateveii evil spirits dare not deny it. When the arch enemy of man, met in fierce iind hostile encounter with the Prince of Heaven, ho dared not deny the truth, but said, as many often, say, even now, HQL=" It^—ii^—thou be the "Son of
God ," but lesser spirits said, "Wc
know thee,—who thou art; the Christ, the Son of God," and he, the Eoman, Centurian, said, when he saw all na¬ ture testify, of a truth, " This is the Son of God."
8tli. My eighth reason for believing that .lesus is the Son of God, is, because he cannot bo placed anywhere else.— He was before the world, j'et Paul tes- tihed that he is as much, above the an¬ gels as his name is above theirs; so that lie is not an angelic being. While Paul says that God annointed him above his fellows; showing at once he was not God, who has no foUows; who is no son, who has no father; who nev¬ er prays; who never changes; hence those considerations aid my faith intho Son of God.
9th, My ninth reason for believing that Jesus is the Sou of God, is, that this is reasonable—reasonable that there is a being botAveen the Great Creator and the creatures, angels or men. Thus in nature are these links intormodiate, and no great vacuum ap¬ pears.
10th. My tentli reason for believing that Jesus'is the Son of God, is, that there is constantly one appearing in the 01(1 Testament, who is not man nor angel, piroper, nor yet God: a man di¬ vine; a man super-angelic; a(.lod man¬ ifest, by many called. By all con¬ fessed to be not God, the Great Invisi¬ ble, nor angel, not without spot, nor man tho mortal, yet ono with Jacuib wrestling, and hlessing him,by Joshua worshiped, as the captainof God's host. This I recogiiiKO as tbe blessetl son of Ilim, the Great Eternal; tho One wdio was with Daniel in tho deu, and seen with the Hebrew cliildren when with fire surrounded.
lltli. My eleventh reason for believ¬ ing that Jesus is tho Son of God, ia, tliat all. the first christians thus be¬ lieved; believed and loved such faith. Then there were no creeds,nor faitli of strange contradictions stated.
12th. My page is filled, and I must close the argument; yet not till I have named somo other reasons such as those: All tho first creeds acknowledge -him the Son The creed Ajiostolic, said, tft%," Jesus I'hri^L /as only biijotten son." The creed, Eicene, "Tho son begotten before all worlds," and the creed Ath- enasiaii, " Begotten not made,"—"tho son ol God" Thus all tho creed world comes to bow^ to this groat truth, and all confess that ho is the fen of God.
13th. Again,   this Is the faith fori
which beloved John his Gospel wrote. The faith that overcomes the world; the faith ^A\r^h has the blessings and tho promises. God lielp us all to hold this faith divine; this heavenly creed, and thus inlove fulfil the royal law of God.
Writtenfor the Gospel Herald.
Preaching   Twenty Yeara Ago.
BY A LOVEB OP CHKISTIANIXY.
' I love pure Gotipel preaching, Its joyful aeaml I know, Tor oft I mt heneatli it,
Dear Brothee Enus:—
I do not expect to present this sub¬ ject in its fullest light, neither do I think that I am competent of present¬ ing it as it should be, for there is more contained in it than I expect to reach. First, what kind of preaching did we formerly hoar? We expected to hear something about our blessed Savior and him crucified, that he suffered and died on the cross to save sinners, and by tills means tliero was a way ojiencd whereby sinners might eome unto Him and live, and when this was preached to the people in power, .and the full¬ ness ofthe Gospel of Jesus Christ dem¬ onstrated what was the result? why, that sinners were pierced to the heart, and became convinced that there was a reality in tbercligion of 2 esus Christ, and immediately the enc[uiry was made what they must do to be saved; and by thismcans many wero convert¬ ed to God and could testify that Jesus Christ has power on earth to forgive sinners ; then you would see them mo¬ ving along in tho discharge of every christian duty, and obeying the Lord iu all his commands, and showing to tho world that they had been with Je¬ sus. The preacher would generally read his text and then preach from it, as it was given to him, to the people, and as he advanced along in hia subject, and ]ierhaps after awhile be would feel the inklings of God's love to burn within his soul, and what God would give him bo would give to thepeople. His manners, dress, and address would be plain, ami there would be a natural¬ ness about him, an honest simplicity and an eariiostiioss that would com¬ mend hull to the hearts and conscien¬ ces of his hearers.. And though he was so sol emu, and so pure, and so holy a man,yet he was childlike and compan¬ ionable, an d generally won tho affections of all. The opposition and perseoutions that he met with only served to show that as he had been among wolyes, he was as " wise as a serpent and harm¬ less as a dove."
And it ajDjiears to mo that the preach¬ ing now days is more from tho head than of the heart, for this reason: Mdieu we hear the preachers proclami- ing from the pulpi'tthatthe Bible is not the revelation from God, or, in other words, that a good sharo of both the Ohl .and New Testament is of no ac¬ count to ua whatever, that wo can get along just as well A\Ulioiit as with it, it appears to me that they are not actua¬ ted ^i/the love oL God shed abroad in their hearts, bul preach more from the h^adthan ihc heart. 1 do hope the time will soon conu^whcii we mayhe*r such lu-eachiiig as a\ ill bo calculated to advance tho Savior's cause, and instead of ])reaching tho .docti'ines  and com-
A*   * Jfe.