The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-29

| multitude that we find outside the gates of
! helli but oh ye lovers of humanity, take your
stand at the entrance gates, look well at the
| passes, there lift mp your warning voices, and
| permit not one to enter upon his downward
| course without an effort to save him. In this
| good work are engaged all who are helping 10
| build up and sustain a Christian church, 70
| well as the members of the "Bands OF Hop'A"
the christian Associations" and the ''Tem.
! perance UniOnsN throughout the land. 'cheir
object is, not only to reform the vicious, but TO
| keep back from temptation those who are in
| danger of becoming vicious.
We say go not to the mouth of the river
where it pours its dark corrupted floods into the
sea- but purify, II possible, the fountains of
society, and as individuals ever bear IN mind the
apostolic Injunction, keep thyself pure,D
The second great quality which the text
speaks OF is good conscience, or. as perhaps is
meant, an answering obedience to conscience
fne Term good being transferred in meaning
from the conscience itself to that obedience
which should always be accorded TO conscience
as the voice of God in the soul. True, one NAV
nave mistaken conscience, or a morbid con-
science; but even in that case, the man who
violates its dictates cannot but bring bimseIf
into condemnation, for he disobeys the only
moral governor which God has set over the
Ie%I Oh ms SOU; ana though 1t may be unen-
nghtened and imperfect yet until It Is enlight-
ened and perfected he IS bound 1everently to
yield to its authority. Conscience ia fine re1re
sentative OF God; 1t is that principle in man
that stands nearest the godike and the hea-
venly, ever beckoning the lower nature up TO n
hlgher level; 1t is the last to Weld to the do
mlnion OF sin and Satan; and when it no longer
Ies,sts' @ tne Iast stronghold is taken, and the
man Is lost to virtue, lost to heaven!
The conscience is a faithful ally, an unwearied
ana persistent colaborer with the minister of
tne Gospel, amid all the opposition which he
encounters from vain desires. worldly tastes
and heshly impulses. But then, conscience
may be perverted, or abused or even silenced
as is the case with many who are pleased with
the most solemn and searching truths, but
never think OF applying them to their own
llVes AS when, according TO the old legend,
st. Anthony preached to the fishes; and
"When the sermon was ended,
Each turned and descended;
The eels went on ceiling.
The pixies went on stealing:
Much delighted were they
But preferred their own way"
Let conscience, then, enlightened by the
Word OF God, be your guide and guardian
angel; and let its slightest whsperings be
needed and cherished as the very music of
But, in addition to a pure heart and good
conscience, faith is necessary to make q model
cbaracter;, yes faith unfeigned. Without, this
man would have nothing Divine to rest upon.
Faith places US in the circling arms of Almighty
Gcd; directs our eyes, sometimes filed with
tears, to the light that gilds the horizon of
heavenly promise; teaches us to sing, even in
darRness:-
"'Tis but the shadow of thy wing,
Near which there cometh no unnoly thing"
Faith shows us Christ the crucifed; unfolds
the atonement and places In our hands title
" uSdNSus NlluOuI ldlJu we are OUT on q
stormy sea, with only the wavering compass of
human reason and the false helm of ungov-
erned passion to guide us. There is nothing
like our triumphant faith to cheer the diving
hour. When the Pemberton Mills were de-
stroyed by fire, some years ago, three girls who
had learned to exercise this precious faith were
locked in by the falling timber. Seeing no hone
of escape from the flames, they Joined hands
and commenced to sing:-
Were going home,
W9're going home,
We're going home,
TO die no more"
And the horrorstricken, plying crowd, all
powerless to help, heard the song of these chill
dren of a joyous faith, above the roar of the
flames, till their voices were hushed in death.
But the end ofthe commandment, embracing
in its range these three principles-purity,
conscience faiths charity. We love some
natures naturally; even the heather and the
publicans go this far. But to love God as
supreme, and all men as creatures of God and
brothers of ourselves, is the aim of the inspired
teaching, and the standard OF evangelical man
hood.
Love comprehends all the law and the Gospel.
Every crime is a transgresslon of the law of
love, and every duty performed is in obedience
to that law. 1t is love that pulsates in the heart
of Deity, and that flows through all the veins of
life that permeate this vast universe; and the
end of all Gods dispensations of providence and
grace is finally to bind all His intelligent crea-
lures together by the sweet bond of a common
brotherhood. The temple of the Lord shall
then protect and enfold our broad humanity.