The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-02-24

L
Presbyterian Church yesterday, and
preached a sermon to a large congre
cation in the forenoon, from the text,
[ Peter, 3:15. And be ready al,oays
TO gre an aqsaoer TO eUery man that
ashelh you a reason Of the hope that IS
IN you- The subject of the sermon
was the
REAsONABLENEss OF RELIGION.
The subject was introduced and IL
Illustrated By the estimate which men
place upon life, its enjoyments and
pursuits-the motives which actuate
men in this world, and the prin-
ciples Of reason and judgment
with which their earthly mo-
tives arc governed. We are usual
" able to give a reason for our
hopes aud aims in this life. The
world has relative claims of worth
and enjoyment; the eUjoyments of
the body or of material things, of the
intellect, and Of the soul. The latter
Is the highest and the most important,
so it is Tor that we should seek first,
though by no means forego the
former. And thus we come to con
slider what is the good the soul is
capable of giving and receiving, and to
whom it shall be given and from whom
received. And from this point the
preacher examined, in searching
and convincing inquiry, the question
as to the reason4bleness of relig-
ion, and whether it hada broad and
reliable basis upon truth and right.
We regret we have not space to
give even an abstract of his for
chile analysis Of the question,
which presented to his audi
ence so clear and satisfactory a com
prehension of the important subject
In closing he took it for granted
that all his hearers had some kind Of
a hope-if so, it must be based ID on
personal merit, ~ reliance in Gods
mercy as above his justice, or 81 on
the Gospel plan through Christ. The
unreasonableness of the hope in mans
own merits, or in the doctrine of uni
versal salvation through Gods love,
was exposed by a eOgency OF argu-a
ment and illustration which carried
cOnYiction with new force to his
hearers.
The sermon was logical and argu-
mentative, aud full Of food fer
thought, and yet clothed in attractive
language, and spoken with an earnest
ness which attracted the close atten-
ton Of his audience.
DIR. LINDsAY's SERMoN.-Dr. Lind
say preached at the Court House yes
terday from the following text:
= N
! 10 - Fordo / now persuade mah or God?
or do 1 seek to please men2 for IL vet
pleased man, should not be servant Of
IL. :" But I certify you, brethren, that
/ the go pei which was preached of me Is
not after man."
| 70. :" For'I neither received it of man,
! neither was taught a. but by the revela-
! tiOn Of Jesus Christ"
The Reverend gentleman started
| out by saying that he proposed to ex-
pose the heresies Of Campbellism.
II had been stated, said he, that the
I Complexities have no creed, and if
/ that be so, we do not wish to have
anything to do with them. No
/ Christian body can stand without
creed, and if it be true that those
Campbellites have no creed, away
with them-they are certainly not of
us-for we have a creed, not made by
man, it is true, but the creed
which we take as the rule of faith
and practice, is the word of the living
God
He said it had been charged that
Complexities only wish to get people
into the water, and that they believe
in water salvation, and if that was
true he was not Campbellite, for he
would suffer his right arm cut off be-
fore he would baptize a man who did
not believe with all his heart that
Jesus Christ was the Son Of the liy-
ing God. It was required that man
believe with His qohole heart, and he
took it that such as could not believe
h with all their heart were not fit sub
4 jects for baptism. Application was
sometimes made for baptism to be ad-
ministered to those who had not yet
been taught the Word Of God, and
such were not fit subjects for baptism,
as it was required by the Word Of the
living God that all understand and
believe with all their heart.
! The above named points are those
which occupied the gentleman S at
tention yesterday He promised to
I sDaoL of cbaD0a Of heart ~, com,