Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-03-20
[Original.]
VITALITY.

VITALITY.
The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is
reality. 1t is not visible to the natural eye
only in its effects, hence it may be regarded
as concealed cause which is invariably pro-
ductive of certain visible results 1t is vital
principle which very much resembles the ami
mating principle which distinguishes the ami
NAL kingdom from the mineral. A stone has
form and weight; but it has no life, such as
animals have. Every living creature is pos
sessed of principle which controls every
other principle Of its being. What this prin-
ciple is, no man fully understands. 1t has no
form, and is discernible by none of the five
senses. We call it the vital principle. To it
we have to resort to account for much of the
phenomena which is exhibited in the exis-
tence of all living creatures. In no other
way can the circulation Of the blood, the res
piration of the lungs, the action of the stom'
ach, the contraction or dilation of the eye,
the connection Of the nerves and muscles, be
explained. All these operations, to the wisest
philosopher, is mystery. When asked how
the blood circulates, in part he is able to ex-
plain, and in part he does not. What he
does not understand, he says is the result of
the vital principle. The religion of which
Jesus is the author, very much resembles, in
its effect upon the soul, the effect of this vital
principle upon the body. There are certain
signs which are the unmistakable evidences
Of life or of the vital principle being in the
body. Under ordinary circumstances, so soon
as life departs, dissolution takes place. Phys
ical putrefaction, in the absence of life, quick
ly commences its noisome ravages. Sin
brought moral death into the soul Of man.
Sin is the evidence of the existence Of death
in the soul. 1t may be regarded as kind of
moral putrefaction. The religion Of Jesus is
life. 1t is potent principle which manifests
itself in words and works.. The soul is put
into motion. It is aroused from the sleep Of
death, and the deoaying principle which sin
brought into it is eradicated by the vital
power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The
man who is brought under the saving nAu-
ence of the gospel, has new life infused into
him-a spiritual life, a vital principle which
permeates, like leaven, all his acts, all his
words and all his thoughts.
This vital principle of the gospel produces
complete change in the life of its happy re-
cipient. Old things pass away and all things
become new. What the soul once loved it
now loathes what it once loved it now hates !;
and what it once hated it now loves. A
change has been produced in the appeten-
cies of the soul, and change is exhibited
in the acts of the body.
This vital principle of the gospel is moth
ing less than the restoration of the soul to its
primeval condition. God made the human
soul in his own image By the gospel of Je-
sus Christ the ruins which sin wrought on the
soul are repaired, and the soul is restored to
its resemblance to God. The change which
the gospel produces is not an external refor-
nation which works inwardly upon the soul ;
but it is an internal change which works out
wardly and produces a reformation in the
whole man. 1t is the mighty power of God
in the soul, saving it alike from the putrify-
ing effects of sin and from the punishments
which are denounced against the soul that
sinneth. By necessity of nature, sin kills the
soul. Satan was murderer from the be-
ginning, and all sin resembles Satan, its au-
thor. The gospel of Jesus Christ infuses into
the soul salvable principle; a vital energy
which resists and overcomes this dying prin-
ciple which sin placed in it. The gospel is
the power of God unto salvation.
SoMETIME-We have all our possessions
in the future which we call "sometime." Beau
tiful flowers and singing birds are there,
only our hands seldom grasp the one, or our
ears hear the other. But, Oh reader, be of
good cheer, for all the good there is golden
"sometime;" when the hills and valleys of
time are all passed when the wear and fever,
the disappointment and sorrows Of life are
over, there is a place and the rest appointed
of God. Oh ! homestead, over whose roof
falls no shadows or even clouds, and over
whose threshold the voice Of sorrow is never
heard; built upon the eternal hills, and stand
ing with their spires and pinnacles Of celes-
tial beauty among the palm trees Of the city
on high, those who love God shall rest under
thy shadows, where there is no more sorrow,
nor pain, nor the sound Of weeping "some-
where"
@v IF the Bible did not tell US Jesus was
poor, I should have known it from his own
words. Who would have talked about put
ting pieces upon old garments, or about sweep
ing the house diligently, if he had not seen his
mother doing it? So while | was busy over
tLoso th;nna and hundred hnusehold works