The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1877-08-22
SIN AND THE SAVIOUR.

| lt was elgnl1canG reHdih maue Wy 1uo
luck, the beloved Professor who has just dice
at Halle, and made at time which gave i
increased significance, that in reviewing the
manifold blessings which God had bestowed
upon him during long life, the one thing
for which he had most to thank Him was the
"conviction of sin." The acknowledgment
had unusual emphasis given it by the fac'
tina. it was made in the hearing of great
multitude of his students, and of the learned
men of Germany, gathered together on the
fiftieth anniversary of his career as Professor
in the University Of Halle. In the presence
of that vast assembly he was not ashamed to
confess that the personal consciousness of
sin, as sin is seen in the illumination thrown
upon it by the Holy Ghost, was the chiefest
of the blessings which had been vouchsafed
to him in the mercy of his Heavenly Father
Of course, this conviction of sin, for which
this devout man was so grateful, was valua
BILE to him, chiefly because of what followed
as the fruit of this conviction. 1t is a sad
thing, not good thing, to be a convicted
sinner, if one remains such. 1t is, then, only
the prelude to the despair of Judas, and
works only unto death. But sin must be
understood before Christ is understood. Its
pressure must be felt before we will look for
help to the great bearer of our burdens. The
consciousness of sin is the awakening of the
man to the knowledge Of himself, and such
an awakening must sooner or later come, or
We will never heed the call to new and
nober life. 1t does not seem to be bless
ing; it comes with keen stings and sharp
goadings, and sometimes with terrors which
overwhelm US; but these are the accompani-
ments of a great crisis in life, through which
We must pass to enter into life eternal, and
the pains and terrors are "blessings" when
they make US know that the crisis is upon US,
and the day Of destiny dawning. When we
find our way into the light of Gods counte-
nance we will bless Him for the storm and
tempest which drove US there.
So we understand the words of Tholuck.
And We are justified in this by other words
of the same speech, speech which seems to
have been largely an unveiling of his inner
life-his Christian experience. {" have but
one passion" said he; 1t is He, only He"
He spoke of Christ, and he was acknowledg-
ing Him, in an unusually fervent manner, to
be the great Saviour of his soul. "Only
Christ" became the keynote of his life; the
love of Christ the master passion of his heart.
To him, after that crisis in his soul, to live
was Christ.
The two confessions Of this remarkable !
speech ought not to be read apart. There is
a tie which connects them together, and thus
taken together they explain each other. The
good man saw that the conviction of sin was
a blessing, because that had brought him to
the Saviour of sinners. What seemed to be
death was the beginning of life. And as his
sin grew darker andmore burdensome, Christ,
the great deliverer, grew more needful and
more precious. His love glowed into flame,
as he felt the power of the blood which
cleanseth from all sin touching the heart and
conscience which sin had stained
We are disposed to emphasize the words
of Tholuck more fully because they seem to
US to be most seasonable. 1t does not belong
to our times to make such confessions. Es-
pecially does the sense of sin, the pungent
and oftimesintoerable conviction of sin, seem
lost in our day in vague and general sense
of need, of lack Of something in US which
Christ, in some vague and general way, sup.
plies. We sing in our gospel SONGS" of
our need, of wants of the soul, of vacancies
in the heart which the Saviour is to fill. But
we find it hard to put in our songs that we
are dead, that We are "lost," that we are
corrupt" We like not the thought of guilt,
damning guilt, of q curse which is upon us,
and wrath under which we lie, and so fail
ing to comprehend our sin, we fail to com.
prehend the mercy of God in Christ Jesus,
and fail so far to surrender our hearts to the
sweet and moving love of Christ. We do not
put down as among our chief blessings soon
victions of SIM" When we do we will come
into more grateful acknowledgment of the
mercy of God in saving US, and of the full.
ness of grace that there is in Christ Jesus.
Presbyterian.