The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1867-06-03
LOCAL DEPARTMENT

LOCAL DEPARTM ENT.
CHURCH SERVICES YEsTERDAY.-Yester-
day morning the weather wore a very threaten
ing aspect, and consequently tho attendance at
our city churches was considerably below the
average In the forenoon. In tho evening II was
still worse, for the rain was descending in tor
rents at the time persons desired to 60 to their
places Of worship The sermons, however, were
as interesting as on any former occasion, and
were enjoyed, apparently, very much by those
who had stemmed the torrent to be present.
Below We annex the substance Of the services
held at several Of the churches:
CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Bev. W. L. Hayden, of Danbury, Conn,
preached for the Christian Church in the Su-
preme Courtroom Getty HALL yesterday morn
ing and evening, to q large and attentive congro-
CATION. The subject Of his discourse in the morn
Ing was ''converson." Mr.. Hayden road a. the
basis Of his remarks the nineteenth verse Of the
third chapter Of acts: Repent ye, therefore, and
be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,
when the times Of refreshing shall como from the
the presence Of the Lord" Tho speaker said
that his remarks would refer specifically to the
second clause Of this verso, "bs converted" yet
he wished his audience to understand that he did
not propose this as a text from which to preach
a sermon, but as only indicative Of the subject
which he desired to elaborate by reading many
passages of the word Of God and conn ing them
one with another. Conversion, he said, was sup
posed by many to be something very mysterious,
exceedingly difficult to comprehendj indeed, so
great was the prevailing ignorance In regard to
the meaning Of the term, thrt many protesting
Christians do not know, but only hope, they are
converted. Now, 1t Is unreasonable, to say tho
least, to imagine that cd has enacted laws for
our salvation, which we cannot properly under
stand and appreciate. THE wayfaring man,
though q fool, need not err in regard to the
thinpa that ain n eternal life Lat n leave
the wisdom Of men and turn TO the word Of God,
carefully and prayerfully examining its teach
ings and We shall surely learn what 1t is to be
converted.
Let US ask, 6rst, What is the meaning Of the
word Convert 2" The New Testament was
originally written in Greek; tho verb which is
translated In the passive-"be converted" Is in
the original actiye-as every Greek scholar
knows, and have never been able to learn from
any human being or from the literature Of the
ages why such translation has been given us.
This may seem to some to be unimportant, but II
Is Of the very greatest Importance, for on this
error have been built the mistaken opinions and
theories Of Thousands and millions OF our race.
The command, as translated In the common yer.
sion, 10 repent 70 and be converted" The
great mass Of the people on reading this com
mand decide that II they repent God will con-
vert them they are to be perfectly passive In
the hands Of God they are to fold their arms in
eAio and wait for some mysterious miraculous
dispensstiou, whereby their feelings, their char
acters, their lives are changed. The Greek word
translated convert" Is also translated In the
New Testament by the word turn, and this Is
IT'D proper Specification In the paragraph above
quoted. The speaker here read a number Of
passages whore the word referred to was trans
lated turn" Let us then read II repent ye
and turn" and We will have the exact idea Of
the inspired writer, and this leads Us to ask
3D. Who Is the author Of conversion? The
Bible nowhere ascribes conversion directly to
God, nor to the Savior, nor to tho Holy Spirit;
each Of them has something to do with It, so has
tho Bible and the preacher, and the individual
God created the earth and all within It, and in
His own good time prepared the world for the
coming Of the Savior. The Savior came to seek
and save that which was lost. lie gave incon.
testible proof Of his Divinity, was prosecuted,
suffered, and died on Calvary, was buried, rose
from tho grave. and assembled into Heaven. The
Holy Spirit proclaimed through Peter and the
rest Of the Apostles the terms Of salvation. God
converts men through and by human instrumen-
talitios, IL not We may close our churches, our
preachers may engage in other occupations, anu
our missionaries may at once be withdrawn from
heather lands to spend their time amid the
triumphs Of civilized life surrounded by loving
friends from whom they are now separated Inc
Apostles were called and sent to preach the Cos
Del, and In this day and generation multitude'
Of devoted christians are preaching conversion
and remission Of sins for II pleased God by the
foolishness (foolishness to the unrepentant o
preaching to save them that believe, therefore
the preacher has something to do with conversion
But has the individual anything to do to BIO con
verified 2 Most certainly he has. God has made u
responsible creatures, moral agents, has endowed
US with minds capable ofunderstanding and apPre
oiating the revelation He has made to US, an
He holds out to us inducements as high a
Heaven, and as vast as the Universe to turl
from the evil and seek the good. Jesus said /
his disciples, referring to the multitudes VIII
were gathered by the seaside to listen to Iii
teachings, This peoples heart is Waxed gross
and their ears are dull OF hearing, and their eye
they have closed, lest at any time they Shoul
SEQ with their eyes, and hear with their ears, an
understand with their heart, and should DO con
y, rted, and l should heal them" Thus the.
H. something to do, but would not perform II
,tho, closed their eyes, and oars, and heart
AagSiL, t the truth
.dIroct miraculous gift from God But Is nc
this a a ,istake? Was Saul converted as
;ourosYSE toward Damascus Did ho become
Shristian while the light from Heaven, above tn
brIxhtness.Sf the sun, was shining round Nbor
him? II 20, what 10 the force OF the languAg
uEed In the sixth verse of the ninth char
Tar of Acts-"and he, PAUL. trembling an
astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have IN
40 do9' And the Lord said unto him, 'Aris
20 into the city, and 1t shall be told thee VIII
thou shalt do" Saul went to Damascus, wi
told by Anauias what he should do, and b
formed by God was to make Paul an Apostl
In the sixteenth verse Of tho twentysixth cha
tsr Of Acts, Jesus said to Paul, Rise and star
non thy feet for have appeared unto thee y
~, ' puTpose-to make thee minister anu
th, 'sIs both Of these things which thou ha
WIZ aud of those things In the which W
"n.., unto thee, " &c.
NPPsA' What Is the converting acR There
AZ, previous to the performance OF which
somo converted, after tho performance
NAY, man hi, said to be converted This Is a me
,..n"r,ant , Noint, and therefore wish to ma
P..rtions but to read from the Word OF Go
h nv from its Divine pages what Is Il
Sot to be peri ormsd ere an individual Is CO
aSrtsd. Let us first read the twenty first vel
oftho eleventh HAPPIER of Acts, "And the hG
Of Inc Lord was with them; and great numt
S.uaysd aud turned unto the Lord From Il
Ds',ags We learn that faith or belief is not tut
~ or converting but belief proceeds conv,
4 siSp, Next We will read the niAstssnth a