The Democratic press. (Eaton, Preble County, Ohio) 1860-1865, 1862-02-27
BIBLICAL SKETCHES.
BY " UNCLE WILLIAM"
SKETCH XIII.

THE PREACHERS FOR THE PEOPLE.
Duties must be preached, as we'll
as promises. The Gospel must be
believed, before any sinner can be
saved by it. But the law must be
obeyed in'thought, word, and deed,
before any professor of the religion
of Christ can indulge any scriptu.
raj hope of salvation. Hence the
necessity of knowing how to apply
the whole truth to the different
classes of hearers. All like to be
comforted; to be told that the
work of Christ is perfect, and that
they have nothing to fear. But to
preach in this way, would be but
preaching a false Gospel. There
are truths to be believed, duties to
be performed, sin, in every form,
to be destroyed, The proud must
be humbled, the selfish should be
rebuked and warned, = the self
righteous should be driven from
his stronghold to Christ. The
covetous should be told that no
idolator has any part in the grace
of life. The opprcssor of the poor
should be made to feel that the love
of God does not dwell in snch
hearts as his. The rich tyrant
over his servants, or it may be over
his minister, should be informed
that he is not in a state adapted to
the kingdom of heaven. The un-
just, the tale-bearer, the detractor,
and the slanderer, should be taught
that they must put off the old man
with his hateful deeds; and that
before they can be saved, the new
man, which consists in faith, love,
gentleness, justice, mercy, and
goodness, honesty, and truth, must
be put on. Rich and poor should
be dealt with as they sevcrally
need. The word of God should
be rightly divided; all should have
the whole truth, and each should
have that portion which he needs.
Restitution, though a scriptural
doctrine, and seldom preached,
should be insisted on by the preach
ers for the people, in every congre-
CATION; for it is to be feared, that
in all assemblies of men and women,
gathered together to hear the Cos.
pei, there are some who need to
be told that parties who rob, de.
fraud, or injure others, whether ii
be their character, their influence
their property, or their daily labor
they attack and affect must make
restitution, if they haze it III hei,
po,ccr, before they can enter the king
dom Of hedven. The feeble must be
strengthened, the timid encouraged
the young must be catechized and
trained with care; the doubling
must be led to place the most ell
tire confidence in Christ; and the
indolent must be stirred up to holy
activity. Many Churches have be
come mere schools for the exercise
of wrangling, in which the teacher
for the people are expected to teacl
nothing but what involves thu
same routine of sacred words. l
would require course of study t.
understand the technology in whicl
some ministers conceal the Gospc
from their hearers. The sad con
sequence is, that the form of godli
ness has been substituted for its al
Transforming power, and the neces
sity of good works, as the visibl
manifestation of the healthy stat
of the inner life, has been los
sight of in the crowd of creeds
Faith without ,10orks is at this mo
ment, the popular creed of tens
thousands Of processing PrOtestant'
We may be told of the vast sum
of money subscribed and raise
annually, on the voluntary prin
ciple, to support and extend tn