Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-06-19
(original.]
GOOD INTENTIONS.

GOOD INTENTIONS.
Men reason more illogically on religious,
than on any other class of subjects. The
cause of this is, no doubt, the fact that man s
moral nature was most affected by the fall
Sin makes a wreck of man in every possible
respect; but the ruin is more complete in the
moral than in the physical part of his nature
1t seems to be very cherished notion with a
great many persons that it matters very little
what we do, provided our intentions are good
Some persons seem to think that the ground
of our justification in the sight Of God is good
intentions. They entertain the notion that
God will save them from all their sins and
iniquities, provided they mean we'll.
It is very easy to be mistaken about this
matter When we decide upon our intentions
we must remember that God, and not our
selves, is the judge 1t would be rare case
to find judge sitting in judgment upon his
own case, and still rarer thing to find g
Judge that would condemn himself. Itshould
also be remembered that the most that inten
tions have to do with deeds is to act as pallia
tives or something Of this nature. Suppose q
man, ignorant of medicines, gives his sick
child an overdose of arsenic. He does il
with the intention of restoring it to health
This surely will be regarded as good inten
ton ; but the effect is just the same as if his
intention had been to put an end to the child's
life. From this, and ten thousand examples
which might be given, it is evident that there
are laws of physical character which are in
no way whatever affected by the intentions Of
any creature. Ignorance may, or it may not
be palliative.
Morally speaking, the heather who offer up
sacrifices to dumb idols, are moved and in
fuenced by sincere intentions. No one who
has any just notions of God, will suppose that
they do right. The standard of right is
not sincerity, motives, intentions or anything
of this kind or character. The law of God
and nothing else, is the standard of right
When we do what is contrary to the law Of
God, the act is sinful in the sight Of God, it
matters not about our intentions. When we
do what is in strict accordance with the law
of God, but perform the act with bad mo-
tives, that act, be what it may, is wrong-it
is sinful.
The ground of our justification is not good
intentions. God does not propose to save sim
ners if they are moved and impelled by good
intentions. The righteousness Of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the ground of the sinners JUS
ti6cation To depend on anything else is a
species of idolatry. To lean upon good in
tentions for salvation may not be as stupid
a species of idolatry as bowing down to stick
of wood, but it is equally as dangerous.
900 SEEM TO DRAG MY ANCHORS %
As the supreme hour drew near Commo'
dore Maury turned to his son, and asked,
in the language of the ruling passio
"Do [ seem to drag my anchors?" The
answer: "They are sure and steadfast," gave
him gratifying assurance. When he had
been Silent tor some time. and supposed to be
speechess, Colonel Maury approached him
and inquired his condition. He responded
with marked distinctness and emphasis: "All
is wellw Soon he saw the signal, and set
sail for the eternal shores.
No dying utterance of the great has ever
impressed US more than the last words of
that scientific seaman, who disclosed the mys,
teries Of the deep as Newton did those of the
sky-"Do seem to drag my anchors pa
question, the full significance which, all who
have been in ship at her moorings, when a
heavy gale threatened to render all her secu-
rites unavailing; and which all who under.
stand the deeper solcitude of soul in fear
of being swept from its last refuge can fully
appreciate. The profound sentiment Of Chris
tian faith found expression in the Language
of loved vocation, and in this case voca-
ton which brings men in daily contact with
that which, more than any other of the ma
terial works of God, is symbolical of eternity.
Commodore Maury had been disabled for
many years from active service, but his scien-
tifc labors have rendered more practical ben
efts to maritime life and commerce than all
the voyages Of all the merchantmen and all
the cruises of ships of war in modern genera
tions. Yet the image which filled his dying
eye was not drawn from his researches into
the laws of matter, nor from the gigantic
struggles of the Confederate war, nor from
the grand mountains amidst which he ended
his days, but, from the ship, whose, "quarter-
deck" he had paced when youth, holding
by her anchors in some storm which threat
ened her with shipwreck even when under
the shadow of the shore. Happy the mariner
who, while the gale howls around him, feels
that the hardest pull of the vessel will not
lift his anchor from the ground, and happier
still the Christian, who like Maury, is firm
and steadfast in his dying hour.
WONDERFUL DEAL1NGs.-Th Lord has
dealt wonderfully toward us. Begin at the
beginning. 1t was no small wonder that he
should love us or ever the earth was. There
were many other things to exercise Jehovah's
thought besides thinking upon man: "What
is man, that thou art mindful of him?" And
| if he must needs think of man, there were
many kinds of thoughts that the Lord might
have had toward man besides thoughts Of
love, yet the Lord was mindful Of us, and
still though we be poor and needy, yet the
Lord thinketh upon us.-Spugeon.