The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1871-06-15

and dcrelopedCy the parent. Gene
rally speaking children canhot, sn'
do not feel the want of a Saviour, G.
the need of salvation. They ar
loving, innocent. pure, full Of life
hope, bouyancy and strehgth.but th'
times come when they need Saw
our, when their nature demands
yea, longs for help Z; something high
or, stronger, than human aid thel
if they have been rightly developed
they will fly to the Rock that i
higher than they, as naturally anc
freely as they would go to thei
earthly parent.
Rev. Il. SAMPSON.
| PROG GREssIoN-aoD's DESIGN,
Fiotn the hour when 6rst the NOR
ming stars sang III chorus over /,
world created has tho Progressive
law Of development boon unfolding
tho Creators plans and stamping 2
him as divine. Man the central fig
rre IN the grouping Of the great artis,
conceived In purity and born in light
was alone given tho heritage of i'm.
mo, tality, and well would it have
been had he retained his birth righ
sweet would have been the anthems
OF his praise had he not, in an
hour Of direct evil taken
heed to the siren voice Of tho ser
pent sin whose trailing folds winding
amid the fairyreen pastures ofcurth's
Eden gave blight and mildew for
beauty and bloom, aid spiced the
cup Of fancicd wisdom with bitter.
ness and tears. Down from an emi.
ncnce OF light into dense darkness
was the fall, and need we wonder
that angels Wcpt o4cr the wreck OF
ruined world, or that none in all
that serarhic throng came to mans
rescue.
What could be more expressive TO
the human mind than the silence
that rcigned throughout heavens s
courts, silence trembling with the
weight of woe uDutterable. Then in
that hour when all seemed lost the
Father out of the infinite depths Of
his mercy gave his only beloved son
to bridge the chasm between an Of
fondcd God, and offending man, who
clothed in u garb of human flesh
exhibited y life OF siBlcss purity thro'
persecution, poverty, and wrong,
completing the sacrifice in wailing
out Upon the cross in human agony.
It's finished.
But scarcely had died away the
last notes of anguish, whom a risen
Savior shouted aloud the glad tidings
of salvation in the invitation, "Como
yo all We ends of the earth and be yc
Saved" "Come drink Of the waters
ollie freely
And now dawned now era in
mean existence. The typical lights
and shadows of the Mosaical dispen-
sation dcepencd and broadened into
full MONDAY. The long line of
Prophets, Priests, and Kings, had
written, taught. ard sung oftbc COM
ing Messiah. Then dying left the
legacy OF their faith that it now
might find its full fruition in him
that had "lasted death for every
man."
Heather philosophy teaching in
in abstract and vague theories held
forth that man was not able to grasp
tho idea of good with full distinctness
but could only approximate TO 1t as
tar as his standard elevated him.
Mingling good with evil in the prsc-
tico of the lives of its yotaries now
crumbled in its failacies and fell be-
fore the comprehensive command,
"Be yc perfect us your Father in
heaven ispertect, creeds, systems and
doctrines narrowed down TO ecclcsi-
astical dogmas, vanished in the clear
light OF the revealed truth of Christi
anity, having for its basis love TO
God and love to man, and whose
standard OF excellence was the cxccl-
lence of Christ obtained through bis
righteousness. IL was u gift and grace
on one side, and work and culture on
the other, and herein lay its power.
1t was positive faith an unseItish
living, not IL struggle for mere earth
iy existence, but for the life to come.
The patient cultivation of,hc graccs
OF the spirit, the walking with God
in merkncss that cnobled it's follow
crs, and this was the Faith that
found lodgment in the hearts OF the
Gallllean Fisherman, they in their OBJ
scurity had not become contamina-
ted with the prevailing theorys of the
day, and when their ignorance was
made wisdom through the training
of Tho chastcr, and the pcntecostal
shower had bathed them in its glory,
they went forth living luminarics
consecrated to God, and the propo-
gatioL of his church. 1t is true that
for half u century persecution after
persecution swept their tierce blast
over these faithful disciples of Christ,
but they only shono the brighter for
its fiery baptism, steadily spreading
the benign influences of the Gospel
throughout that. sin-cursed land
But need we longer trace the hand
OF Gods Providence toward his pco-
?lc, more than to refer you to Con-
stantine the Deliverer, whose vision of
the cross and it's glowing words, by
this ye conquer brought freedom
from legal oppression and the privi-
leges Of sanctuary and Sabbath, Or
to the zeal OF the early christians
that carefully fosiered the gems OF
spiritual growth that gave birth to
the reformation, whose leader the
resolute practical Luther wns given
by God for the work he did so nobly
aud well. As in later years was Cal
vim the master mind appealing to and
governing the intelleets of men,
And stiIl later, u Whitetield and the
Wesleys breaking away from ritual
istics forms and ceremonies present.
ing Christ in the beauty OF simplicity
to the masses. And thus it has ever
been prior to and from the birth OF
the struggling church at Antioch.
that God has prepared men and
events as progressive agents for the
fuItillmcnt of his Great design in
evangelizing the world. And this
brings us to the church OF to-
day, her borders are spreading to
the ul,ermost isles uf the sea-
Her strength increases with the
growth of wears, and her banners are