The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1871-02-17
Duty of Christians Relative 90
Liquor Vending and the So.
clai Evil.

b fine Street Congregatlonal
Church, of Cincinnati, preached, re-
| Gently, Is follows
"Why withdrawest thou thy hand,
even thy right hand? Pluck it out
Of thy bosom T'-TrentyJ fourth
Psalm, eleventh verse.
The subject of the psalm which
we have now briefly contemplated
is not without parallels in the his
tory of Gods people aimee the days
of the captivity. 1t Is not without
parallels in the history of the
Church Of the Redeener. The
church and the people of God are
not now carried away from their
homes and fair lands 1nto the land
of the stranger and the enemy, as
the children of Israel were. Our
temples and s~anctuaries are not
battered down by the axes and the
hammers of the conquerer. We
hang our harps upon no willows,
nor the captivity of Judah is not
without force of typical relation to
the Church of Jesus Christ, IN her
varying history ; nor are the bro
ken temple and beatR altar of Ju-
dab and her congregations without
their meaning of spiritual interpre-
tation, when applied to our Christ
ian sanctuaries, upon which no
beauty Of Grace reposes, and TO our
Christian affairs, from which the
fires Of pure devotion have ceased
their mcensed flames !; nor is the
hiding OF the hand of God in his
bosom, against which Judah Plead
ed with such storm and mastery of
importunate supplieation, without
its spiritual illustrations in these
our Christian days, when some.
times our God seems TO be with
drawn from HIS people, and His
gracious right hand seems no more
stretched on. over us. There is a
spiritual captivity INTO which We
are taken when we depart from
God. When the world holds CHRIS
tians and churches as in a prison
house, and the eyes of our faith is
put out, and We II made 10 grind
in the mills of our enemy, II Sam
son did, If is for the same reason as
that TO which bis blindness and
captivity and drudgery r. traced.
He knew not that God had depart
cd from him. God departs from us
when we depart from Him. He
turns away from us, and withdraws
His hand into His bosom, when we
forsake His covenants, and neglect
His ordinances, and depart from
His ways. And the covenants, and
ordinances, and ways of the Lord
are not only doctrines which We
are to believe, but they are also.
and especially commandments.
which we are to observe and TO do ;
and teach our children to observe
and to do them. We may depart
very far from God, and yet hold
with most tenacious grasp TO every
article IN our grand evangelical sys-
tenn of faith and doctrine. We may
So far depart from God az to be-
come helpless as churches, in the
midst of the wIckeGness which pre-
walls around us. Aud in this con-
neetion, / ask the question with
warmth and depth of spiritual ear
nestness : what does the popular
Christianity of Cincinnati amount
to to-day in the way of helping the
masses of men through the battle
of daily life ? in the way of illust-
rating the power of Divine Grace
to RESTRAIN sin, and vice, and CRIME,
in our community 2 in the way OF
a loud, emphatic and irresistible
protest against public wickedness
IN the way of IN emphatic and ire
sistible plea against the facilities
which our average morality and
our municipal legislation afford 10
pestilences which walk in dan kness,
and TO distinctions which waste at
noon-day? Take this single church
-the Christian men and women
are here organized as a band Of
worshIpers and workers, enough OF
us, and strong enough, through Je-
sus, eur Great Head, to do mighty
work IN this community in the sal
walton of men and women from the
destroyers who are abroad. What
are we doing 2 The time wss whom
this church uttered Its voice, and
propeundeG the truth, and hurled
its example against our national
sin, and the people heard it, and
felt 1t, and prosecuted 1t, which was
no mean confession Of yonr power.
1t can be done again, i~n-dlTectlons
which r just as estiy and i'm
minently demanding tho power OF
truth, and the force of example, and
the faithfulness of Christian work.
The very fact that crime is redeem
ed from the outlawry, under the
cover of commerce and trade, by
the general licensing of Grunkard,
making in our community and the
fact that it is now proposed to take
another crime out Of the very pit Of
outlawry, whore the most ordinary
sense of public decency places 1t
and enthrohe it in n public high
ways, and throw around 1t the pro.
teciIon of law and the protecting
arms of the magistracy and police
these two facts are of themselves
Infinitely more than enough tc
make Christians in this city and in
this church feel that the chains are
on US. that we are in captivity, and
that the Lords hand is in his Dos.
ON. 1 have no wcrd now to say a.
galnst the poor victims of drink
and sensuality. I pity them ; and
i'll had the heart of my blessed sa.
vior, l should pity their infirmity
more than l do. | believe there
are hundreds of slaves to drink ii
this city who would be wild with
'ljoy If the door of the saloon eoulc
be shut.
But any system ofmunieipal Law
J onE nF D1,aa 1,f1 lii