Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1837-06-14
VOL. II. NO. 81.

pause, 10 ConSiucE, anu 10 ask yourselves
whether or not you are "keeping your.
selves in the love Of God, looking for the
mercy OF our Lord Jesus Christ unto eter-
nal lite"-whether or not you are seeking
those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God" 3. In.
quire further whether the pursuit of them
will afford you comfort in the immediate
prospect ofdeath. Will they help to as
suage the sorrows of dissolution, and dissi.
pate the gloom of the grave? Will they con-
tribute to sustain the confdenhe, the cour-
age, and the hope of the departing soul,
and to embolden her approach upwards to
the tribunal Of the Judge! Or are they
calculated rather to leave sting in your
awakened conscience, to plant thorn in
your dying pillow, and to cast an addition
al shade on the dark valley. All! my
young friends, these are so many criteria
by which you may judge the character
and tendency of fashionable amusements,
and discover the duty and importance Of
"choosing rather to suffer affection with the
people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for season.
l most readily grant that periods of re-
Taxation are necessary to refresh and in
vigorate the powers of our minds. But
it does not follow, that we are at liberty to
fritter away valuable portions Of of time
either in abject sloth or frivolous recrea.
tions. As moral beings, accountable to
God for the use to Which we apply our
passing hours, and awaiting an immortal
existence beyond the skies, VIC should see
whether there may not be found recrea.
tons that combine utility with relaxation.
1t is by no means necessary, as the popular
notion is, that the charge sould be from an
employment that is useful to one that is
useless; but the object may be even bet
ter accomplished by a change that shall
keep the mind still employed to advantage.
If your ordinary employment is one that
lays your faculties under severe contribu-
ton, that to which yon resort for amuse.
ment ought undoubtedly to require but
moderate mental exercise and in cases OF
great exhaustion from intellectual effort, it
may be proper to give the mind, for a sea-
son, an entire dispensation from the labour
of connected thought. But in all ordinary
cases, YOU will find that in unbending from
severe exer,iou of mind, with reference to.
renewing that exertion with greater sue.
cess, YOU need not yield to positive inaction,
or occupy yourself with any thing that is
tri0ing, but may still be doing something
for the benefit of yourself or your fellow
creatures. lfyou regulate your amuse-
ments by regard to this principle, you
will find it most efectual means OF re-
deeming time, and will have the pleasure
o reflect ",hat even your hours of relaxa.
ion are hours of usefulness. ."-Macsndoe.
on PREACHING CHRIST.
l. He is the text; and oil preaching be-
side Christ is preaching beside the text:
therefore keep to your text. 2. Christ IS
the very foundation and subject matter OF
preaching; and all preaching without
Christ is building castles in the air. 3.
Christ is the life and soul of preaching, and
all preaching without him is like body
without life and spirit. 4. Christ is the
grand end of preaching; preaching is TO
magnify his glory; and when Christ is not
preached, the great end is lost.-Dr.
South.
TO preach duty without Christ is the
way to make moralists to preach du'y
before Christ is the way to make lcgallsts,
and to make the world think they can be
religious without Christ. But the true gos.
pei preaching, lies in preaching Christ in
order to duty; for until Christ be revealed
in us, there will be no true holiness, no
freedom from the bondage Of corruptlon.-
In MIR. Ivime's Sermon, preached ss
tribute of respect and affection to the mem.
ory of Andrew Fuller, he mentions, that
he once was complaining to Mr.. Fuller of
the difficulty he found in preaching so as
truly to edify the people. preach Christ,
replied Mr.. F. make Him prominent in
every Sermon? Mr.. Fuller added, "some
years ago, before lleft town where had
been preaching, heard that it was said,
had not preached Christ to them. ! mu.
sed on this, when returning home, and
thought, well, it may be possible that |
cid not preach Christ sufficiently to them?
But resolved BY divine aid, that my hear.
ers shall not have to complain of:hat again;
for Christ crucifed shall be my constant
theme in uture."-Eng. Bap. Nag.
THE PIoUS AFRICAN.