Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-03-24

! worshipping three distinct persons and
giving TO each s Whol6-hearbed worship.
For this is plainly to offer divided wor-
ship to each. snd a whole heart to neither.
The Divine Oneness Is q truth fundsmen-
tai to all vital religion. And that the
LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THAT ONE GOD
of heaven and earth, is the central nfe-
giving doctrine of Christianity. So far as
Christians come into aclear, HEARTFELT &C.
knowledgment Of the truth that in Christ
dwelleth tall the fullness of the God-hsad
bodily" 30 far are they quickened and
| enlightened by Him, For Christ is our
| life, and only so far as we fix our thoughts
/ and affections upon Him alone, can We
hope to receive the full inflow OF His di-
| vine love and wisdom, A divided objsct
OF worship will sssuredly bring distrac.
| ton into our souls, as il has brought de
visions into His nominal church on earth.
/ We repeat, therefore, that the one great
want of christendom is
PERSONAL GOD TO WORSHIP.
There is nothing that can save the |
churches from speedy corruption but q |
| full acceptance Of the Christology of the |
bible Minds that WaVer between three /
objects of worship, will fall an easy prey |
| to the insidi0us assaults of error. Spirit |
| ualiEn with lis nature God, hiss already /
| made frightful havoc among tri-personsl- /
istlc churches, while Unitarisnism and /
Universslism were both the out-growtbs /
of the trio-personsl theology of New /
England. Says the Bibliotheca Sacrs, one /
OF the sblest of the tri-thuistic journals
the "pulplt is loosing its hold upon think
| ing minds" And another equally able i
quarterly says of the now prevalent trl-
personal theology, sit can not complete /
any movement 1t may inaugurste.
We must have manifested God to wor-
ship, alone, or between doubt and fear Of /
an angry Father our minds will drop /
! down into any form of rstiOnslism that
offers relief from the dreadful uncer-
tsinty. Drowning men, you know, viii /
catch at strsWs; and hence the temporary /
success of that form OF ,psntheism now
taught by Spiritualisms Men asked for q Il
God to love and worship, ard their teach
ers pointed their yearning eyes to
DIVIDED DEITY.
Asking for bread, they received q serpent,
whose suing has driven thousands into /
dsmning infidelity. Starving and sick at
hsart, the restless masse8 of thinking men
linger Hstlessly about The churches from
sheer force of habit, entering heartily into
their wives and daughters all the active
duties Of religion. Many have wholly
withdrawn from the public ministrations, |
and spend their Ssbbaths at home or In |
thsir cluhs or counting-rooms.
Sucn is the swful crisis in which we of
S1ls UeJ are AuFOiF6u Dy tu6 bTl@LO6lSEIC
theology. Mountains of unbelief are be-
fore Us, while the Red Sea Of human pas.
sions rolls between us and the promised
land. In this extremity is 1t not manifest
that the one thing needed Is q Leader
whose voice shall swell in tones of divine
authority above the din and confusion of
the boul3 This leadership is to be found
alone in that Divine Humanity to whom
sll power is given in heaven AID in earth.
Uncertainty as to who Is the commander
would bring defeat and disaster to-any
army. VIII not like uncertainty among
CHRISTIANS Il
as to the supreme and sole divinity of
their leader involve the church militant | |
in like disssterf Here let me pause and ]
ask, If this be true, is there not fearful
responsibility for those who seek to di- !
vide the Sacred Trinity into three sepa-
rate persons, and distinguish each of
those persons by separate attributes and
of1cesf
To those In the orthodox ministry who {
have received the doctrine OF our Lords ,
sole and supreme Divinity, but who vet {
hesitsts to plainly declare that doctrine /
to their people; saying that they "do not ]
dare to preach that doctrine openly lest | !
they should lose their influence upon !
their people," To such we say, dear
brethern, bewareI The enemies Of this I
doctrine are united, outspoken and Rg- {
y
already made many successful assaults I
upon you. Spiritusllsm alone has in less G
than haf century made more converts 7
from orthodox churches than any Of your /
churches have made from the world in
the whole period Of their existence. In
this conflict between battery whose guns
are spiked, whose swords are hid beneath
8 confused mass Of rubbish, and force 7
fully equipped with every weapon, that 5
sPFOIOUa soPHIsTRY
and false science and the widest enthusi- t
asm can bring to bear upon it, in such a Q
conflict, we cay who can doubt that de- '
feat must inevitably overtRke the cause of 6
truth, at least in our hands, until the t
Lord shall raise up more valiant gensra- 4
ton who shall reclaim our losses, and q
bear the church forward to its predestined | g
triumph. II is a noteworthy fact that {
when Mr. Hepworth camo out from Unit O
all the orthodox papers pub q
lished his sermons and rejoiced at his bold Z
and truthful protest against the errors of q
his brethern. In that sermon he makes @
use Of the following expressions; "When r
Jesus spoke Of God and Himself ss one, ! 3
be referred TO unity OF being "a well to q
unity Of spirit" Again after speaking Of 8
5he vsgueneRs Of his conceptions Of an il
invisible God, be saysI "But when n
CHRIST q
becomes the object of my love and adors- Il
ion, then my faith becomes very definite
and my whole soul, through communion
With Him, becomes vitslizsd. All my
worship il concentrated, I am perfectly
satisfied. Jesus Is God to the Christian I
world, and mems and women's prayers
are all the warmer for it."
Now, IL there be chord in all the
churches that responds to these heroic D
declarations as to the sole divinity of
Christ, when made by Mr.. Hepworth,
Iurely man In
ORTHODOX PULPITs 4,
need have little fear Of losing his inf1u. Is
,nce by an equally bold avowal Of the h
Isme truth. Be this as 1t may, duty is e,
)urs; results are In Gods hands, "
In addressing the spiritualist Mr.. Wal G,
on saidi IS
Man is a little universe, In whom q
sxist In concentrated form all the 81
elements of the larger universe of :,
which he is an inhsbitsnt. Now, y
6 would be lust Rs wise for us to
Itsrt on the study of mans nature by o
'rying to explore Ehe whole universe of ~
matter as to begin to find out God by q ~
scientific exploration Of ell the realms of y
lsture. With man ss q microcosm in the v
,enter of this lower world, at once its y
model and its master, we may hope to =
ind out the use and meaning Of all things II
,bout Us. But without his a
-FERbONAL PRESENCE -
md control of ca thly affairs, how useless al
Ind unmesning would all the splendid q
garniture of earth appear! To what end D'
8 all this prodiRal expenditure Of crea- "
i've skill and power, says reason. II q
,very flower was born 10 fwsste It's sweet u
less on the desert air. II every neld IN
brought forth Its harvests without 9 reap. d'
u to gather, and grow q rich harvest Of eN
luman beings from its sustenance and ~
in word, If the infinite variety 81
If natural products OF earth were not coll %
eoted together as the food or for the sus-
enance Of that comprehensive unit M
allied man, would not the vast fabric of "
lsture grow il
DARK AND MEANINGLESS pt
q all its aspects3 VI
Now apply this reasoning on g larger " sn
Gale to the Creator. Creation, without "
Personal God, q Divine Man, Ia the CEN III ~
or Of all his works, TO rule in and reign So
yer all the lower forms Of being, with ~
at an sll-wise mind to direct, arrange "a
nd utilize the infinite variety of crea- - :.
ure-life; without an infinite heart to - -
our its nfe-currents through all the ~
ems and arteries of universal existence.
nd thus impart q common life 70 every -
ariety of forml so that all shall be made ~ ~
D sswork together tor the same end in W
ace. Without such an overshadoWinr
manation from central and controlling th
ivine humanity, where is the mind that at
81 begin to find q solution Of the RreaE by
roblsm Of crestions" Who can hesitate AZ