Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1864-10-01
Against Preaching Politics.


pentanoc and faith 10 the Son Of God as
the only method by which men could be
saved. Everything else was lost sight of
iu this single purpose Of winning souls to
the Redeemcr. This was the labor Of his
life, this the burden Of his teachings, and
this the all--ongrossng topic ofhs thoughts
and of his desires. For this he was ready
to sink all issues that pertained merely to
the present life-questions of nationality /;
questions Of secular philosophy; questions
Of mere philanthropy questions OF hu.
man prejudice--he scared above them all =,
holding on high the simple Cross Of Christ
as the one only object worthy to engage
attention.
My brethern is ST. Paul to be regard
ed as an example, in this respect, to min
sters of Christ in general, or is he not
Have the great facts and issues Of Christi
anity so changed that some different mode
of dischargiug the duties of an embassa
dor of the Lord Jesus may proftably be
resorted to Are men any tho less 10 dan
ger of losing their souls now than they
were formerly ! Aud is the necessity for
proslaiming an uuadulterated Gospel any
tho less urgent than it has been hereto
fore May the grand old themes, pro-
found as the mysteries OF eternity, and
awful as the possibilities of human desti-
ny, be safely superseded in favor Of the
fimsy questions of the hour! Has 1t in.
deed come to this, that it shall be brought
as a railing accusation against Christian
priest that his ministrations taSe on no
hue from the popular excitemeuts prevail
ing ar ound him That he shall be libel
cd ith Infamous charges, simply for the
reason tha. he has confined himself strictly
to the proper pathway of his calling that
he shall be made the victim of soanda!
and Of conspiracy, for refusing to pander
to mens earthly passions Have we
reached such pass, that men will not be
satisfied unless they can bring the atmos-
phere of the newspaper aud the caucus
with them into the house of God that
they cannot for one short hour worship
their Maker, without oIluting the Offering
with meat offered to an earthly idol 7 Can
not Christians consent 10 leave the world
behind them, on coming into the presence
of that Majesty which fill. all heaven with
glory 7 To forget for this little space the
tumull and the strife that rage so furious.
ly outside and try to rise into that purer
level where God is all in all The times
must, indeed, be sadly out of joint ifsucA
state of feeling has come to prevail ex-
tensiveiy among the followers of Him
"whoso kingdom is not Of this world"
The theory which I myself have been
accustomed to cherish has been that in the
Church Of God no merely earthly issue
could riglt(ully have place, had sup.
posed that there at least all men mi gh
meet a. Christians and conscious of theil
common tic in the fellowship of Jesus ifor
get the differences which elsewhere keer
them asunder The echo of such words
as thesc--'there is no difference between
the jew and the Greek, for the same Lord
over all is tiCh unto all that call upon
Hm"-had left upon my mind the i'm
preston that the common prejudices sud
affiniies that classify society entered not
into the arrangements of the Lords fami
ly but that there the one great tie ol
Christian sympathy took the place ofthose
minor symFathies which, with their cob
web lines, bind men together in variou.
earthly aggrogations. In short, it had ap
peared to me that, differ as they nigh,
elsewhere on any conceivable topic what,
soever, men might still meet and min.
gle before the altar of their common Lord
conscious only that they were inspired with
the same faith, animated by the same hope
| uhu pOuhh lpl tnC
But, brethren, am almost ready to ask
myself whether this idea of mine has moi
been alter all a mere delusion B.! And
whether St, Paul was not mistaken, wher
he described the Gospel as a system in
which note was taken Of "nsither Greek
nor ew, circumcision nor uncircumcisiou
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, bu,
Christ is all, aud in all 2" Great God o
peace and charity And is there, then
on sacred refuge to which Thy servants
Sexed with the strife of tongues ari weary
with the scenes of earthly haired, u , re
tire and enjoy the blessedness OF uudis-
turbed communion with Thee, the common
Father of our spirits ! Brethren, l most
solemnly assure you, that were it possible
for me to view Christianity in an aspect
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