Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1870-01-19

= = 49, N"l NN''Nb NAN
The meeting thcn adjourned. ~ @
THR SAFR aRouHp.-Thls was the sub.
ject Of very able and Interesting sermon
BY Rev. o. A. Bartholomew, pastor Of the
"Flrst Church Of Christ" at Christian
chapel, NJ street, near Ninth, on Sunday
evening, January 10Th. Hls text was Prov. iiii
21-23, keep sound wisdom and discretion
20 shall they be life unto thy soul, andgrace
unto thy neck. There shalt thou walk In
thy way safely, and thy foot shall not STUN
ble." He said II IL certainly the earnest do
sire OF all rational men and women who love
God, and are striving TO serve him, to stand
upon safe ground. There are many subjects
connected with the religion Of the Bible with
regard TO which there has long been, Ia now,
aud will probably continue TO be contro.
versy. Yet, In reference 10 all Of these We
may ever walk safely, provided we will hood
solomon's advice 10 act with wisdom and
discretion. desire to refer TO few OF those
subjects.
/. For reference 70 tho holy scriptures and
the God whom they reveals II the scriptures
are true, as they certainly are, the believer
is safe, while he who says In bis heart there
lie no God Ia a fool. But even suppose II
should turn out that atheism IA true, and
that death is an eternal sleep or extlne ton
OF being, still the believer 10 quite 40 safe as
the unbeliever, and has the advantage dur.
ing life Of a doluslon that sweetens aud hap.
| piles his otherwlse uncertain and wrotched
existence. But there are those who, while
they admit tho existence OF God, deny that
tho Bible Is revelation Of his will, and
hence, Of course, deny the divinity and SON
ship Of Christ, which constitute the golden,
central truth which II Is the purpose OF tho
scriptures TO present and demonstrnte. Tho
| Bible being truei " He that belieyeth not IL
condemned already, because he hath not
believed In the name Of the only begotten
Son OF dodi" and, Gle that bclioyeth not
the gospel shall be damned"
But suppose we admit tho claim Of this
class OF unbelleyers, In what would the ad-
mission benefit them or usi Il Is indlsputa-
bly, true that he who believes and practices
tho precepts of the Bible attains to tho
highest perfection and happiness OF which
he IL capable here, aud stands quite as good
| q chance for happiness hereafter as he who
rejects II. And II Il should turn out that
Christian religion Ia wholly false, no man
can show that tho believer Ia In any danger
In this life or beyond. II tho Bible DO not
true, then believers and unbellevers are
alike In darkness and uncertainty in refer
ence TO tho future. In this view OF the case
whatever will contribute most TO our hap
plness In this life Is most to be desired.
But 10 this inadelity has nothing whatever
to contribute. On the other hand we know
that Il Is the universal tendency OF the
Christian religion to elevate, purify aud
happily Its adherents. II II Is all della
sion 1t Is the sweetest deluslon OF which man
has ever been the subject. Men never re-
nounce the Bible In the immediate eIpecta-
tlon OF death. He who rests upon II In life,
In every instance, rests upon Il In death.
This Is a wonderful fact. Why ls II that
faith In the promises Of the Bible mover
| gives way as we approach the dark valley
and shadow Of deathi Again, II being ad-
mittcd that the Bible Is true; that call
scripture is given by inspiration Of God, and
Is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, and for instruction In righteous
ness that the man OF God may DO perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works, y
Is II not dangerous for men to make for
themselves aud their fellows q guide or rulo
OF faith and practice by adding to the
scriptures or subtraetlng from them1 That
this Is done when a human creed IL made
Is evident; for If the scriptures, which con-
stltute tho basis OF the creed, or book Of dis
clplinc, be without addition or subtraction,
they will still DO simply the scriptures
nothing more and nothing less. They will
not DO human creed at all. Is II not safe,
| therefore, TO take the BlblO and the Bible
.. / shall now attempt to point out the safe
ground In reference to the extent Of the
olTcr OF salvation. 1t Is believed by many
that God determined from all eternity to
save q certain fixed and definite number Of
men, as we'll as Of angels, and that he gave
his Son as n ransom for such and such only
as he had thus foreordained to everlasting
life, leaving the remainder TO perish. Now,
! since the Bible nowhere asserts this doctrine
/ anI ali lty.taa. -.
| tended the secret council OF the Father and
Son, Ii seems to me that no man can DO alb.
solutely certain that the doctrine Of special
and unconditional election and reprobatlon
iG true. But suppose II Is true, Is Il not In
falllbly safe TO preach as Peter did, (Acts
Xxx! "a, that "God Is no rcspecter OF per
sons but In every nation he that fearelh
him and worketh Righteousness Is accepted
with him 7" Is II not safe TO tell the peo-
| pie, and that, too, without attempting to
hide Its obvious meaning, that "there is one
God, and one mediator between God and
man-the man, Christ Jesus, who gave him
self ransom for all ~ IL II not safe to tell
mon that "Jesus Christ, by the grace Of God,
tasted death for every mani" There are
others who differ from these as to tho num-
Der who, without any reference TO their own
choice will be eternally saved. refer now
to those who believe that all men will be
saved. II this doctrine be true, then we are
all safe, no matter what We teach or believe,
and, OF course, 1t will be safe to preach that
"tho wicked shall be turned Into hell with
all tho nations that forget Cod" that tho
"LOrd Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels In flaming Gre, taking
vengeance on them that know not God and
obey not the gospel Of cur Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall be punished With everlasting de-
structlou from tho presence OF the Lord aud
| tina fFlAFzF nf hIa % ~ NN,.N
belIeveth and is baptized shall be saved,
and he that bolleyeth not shall DO damned. %
In reference 10 the terms or conditions
upon which the remission Of aims may be
enjoyed, It iS infallbly safe to teach the sin.
ner that he must believe In Christ with all
his heart, publicly coufsnS his faith, repent
Of his sins and fOrsalo Them, and be 6ap.
tiled, calling on the name Of the Lordi for
there are many passages Of Scripture which
seem to teach that all this Is necessary to
the enjoyment OF pardon. But suppose the
sinner is pardoned tho moment he believes,
as the advocates OF Justification by faith
alone teach, still the repentance, confession
and baptism OF the believer will certainly
not bring him into state OF condemnation
again. II Is safe, therefore, to declare the
whole counsel Of God, on this az well az on
all other subjects.
.. In conclusion desire to call your at
tentlOn 10 tue lhct lhat tnore Is safe ground
In reference to the ordinances OF Christ. |
refer TO baptism and the Lords Supper
There are many who contend that bapllam
may be administered either by immersion or
sprlnkling or pouring, and that both the DO.
lieVor and the infant are proper Subjects Of
baptlsmj yet there are millions OF intelligent
and piOuS men and women who either con-
denim sprinkllng and pouring and the bap-
tlsm OF Infants, or seriously doubt their EN-
cacy. But all admit that the lmmeralon Of
the penitent believer Is valid baptism. Il Is
therefore cafe to teach the sinner to belley-
iugly and penltently go down into the water,
be buried with Christ In baptism, and arise
10 walk In newness Of life. As to the Lords
Supper, since 1t is concluded by all the
learned that In the days Of the apostles the
disciples met upon the first day Of every
week TO break bread, II is certainly safe for
Christians now to do the hamo.
Mr.. BartholoneW's arguments aud illus
tratlons were llstsned to with profound at
tentlon TO the close. He has quite recently
located In this city, having formerly labored
with great success In Philadelphia and Pitts