The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1869-04-08
From Packard's Monthly.
PRACTICAL RELIGION.
What 1t is-HOw TO Get it-HOw to
Keep 1t.
BY OLIVER DYER.


who already believe, or at least think
they believe, or want to believe in God,
and Christ, and the Bible, and the i'm.
mortality Of the soul. q. i.'' b.
They who do thus believe are safe;
for Christ Himself says, "He that be-
keveh on me hath eternal life;" not that
he may have, or can have eternal life,
but that be "hath' it--that it is already
his when he Jeheues
This beingso, tits important to know
just exactly what constitutes a belief in
Christ; and, fortunately, the Savior
Himself has told us in express words
what it Is to believe on Him. Hear ye
His words; al --.. ,-... a.
"He that heareth my sayings and EeepeM them,
he 10 is that beliepeh on me. HI
HE that heareth these sayings of mine and
doeth them, will liken him unto wise man that
built his hOuse upon a rock"
HE that heareth these sayings of mine and
man that built his house upon the sand"
HE that hath my.commandments and keepeth
| them, he u is that lovetk me- 1I. .rg
IF man lore me, he lCiH keep ny lcoTds."
"Verily, verify, say unto you. II man keep
my saying he shGtIaeUe see death" -.JnI.
"Ifye know these things, happy are ye 9 ye
do he11."
And, of course, the converse of all
this is true, to-wit that he who does
not keep Christ's sayings, nor do His
commandments, does not believe on
Him, nor love Him, and hath not eter-
nal life, and shall see spiritual death
in short, that the essence and core Of
the whole matter is-the life zoe EUe. 10"
If we understand this matter thus far,
we are ready for an attempt at an answer
to the question, What is Religion "
Religion may be defined to be, Faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a life in ac-
c6rddace Nth His commandments.
| Or, Religion may be defined to be,
A feed determination 10 hUe life of mno-.
csacs ander lcadings and teachings Of Gods
spirit. 5aI 1a 'I2H' ,,i.'. SD. p
Or, to sum the whole thing up in a
bomely phrase, Religion may be de-
fined to be, a persistent effort Nth Gods
help, to do ones gerry best, at all times aud
an1der all circumstances. .'' '
Having now some notion of what Re-
ligion is, the next point for considera-
tion is, HO,O is it to be got' y .'' ..'.
For the purpose of this discourse,
this branch of the subject may be con-
sidered under two heads, to-wit:
1. l. Conversion. gnu .'
2, Regeneration, y"
First, Conversion. What is conver-
sion; Conversion means simply a
turning around. 1t means just that, and
nothing more.
To convert man physically, would
be to turn him around bodily; and to
convert man in religious sense, is to
turn him around, or face him about
spiritually. . ''' s" "...'
Before conversion a man is marching
hellward; but, on being converted, he
is faced about, or turned around, and
is then in a condition to set out on his
Journey toward Heaven. That is just
exactly what conversion is, and what it
amounts to, and it is nothing else, and
does not amount to one whit more. .
A man having been conveTted-that
is, his course having been turned from
hell towards Heaven-his work of re-
generation begins. Mind, it begins
merely begins, only begins. When il
ends, or whether it shall ever end, is
quite another matter ~. "
Before going on yiththis question o.
regeneration itzis necessary, in ordel
to clear understanding of the subject
for us to consider fundamental Scrip
, tural fact, which lies at the bottom o
this whole matter. .t
The fact is that the Scriptures havt
an internal or spiritual sense in whicl
their inspiration is embodied, ant
which, when understood, expresses tht
exact and eternal truth as to Gods vii
concerning man. ..' .''.. '..
The difference between the litera
sense of the Scriptures and the spiritua
sense may be illustrated by the differ
ence between the natural truths 0
|. Dature and the scientific truths Of ma
I ture, Natural truth is merely apparen
. truth; whereas, scientific TRUTHS abso
lutte, real, unquestionable truth.
1t is natural or apparent truth tina
= the sun rises and sets, and performs
! daily journey across the heavens. Iii
scientific or absolute truth that the su
1 does not move across the heavens a
all, and that what we call its rising an
J. setting is, in fact occasioned by the re
&c tary motion of the earth, ..
" It's also natural or apparent trut
ut that the earth is fixed in its place an
immovable. But the scientific or req
> truth of the matter is, that the earth
necessarily revolving on its axis, an
= also whirling around. the sun with ez
ceeding velocity.
Science, it will be observed, revea
s the absolute truth as to the phenomer
of nature, but does not in any wis
change those phenomena The su
" and the earth go on now in their me
tions and relations just as they did b.
W fore it was known that the earth
70 round and revolves on its axis, or th'
in the sun is stationary in the centre
z z the solar system.
IS ns So, too, do all spiritual phenOmer
y 90 on Just the same, whether we u
Z, ts: derstand or not. Nor will the ligl
:" which an understanding of the spiritu
Z sense of the Scriptures will shed ont
: relations Of man to God, and on u
-