The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1877-07-12

7 ~NNA1ASd- nut Thai CDOrCf
which has no poor, none who are res
objects OF Its charity, upon whom it.
benevolent sections can find u termiua
! outgoing, is in a far worse condition,
One of the many promises which
Cnrist made 10 the church was that i,
J should have the poor with 1t always
Ii thus becomes one OF the marks of 4
true church.
If these views are correct it will ap
pear to everyone that the deacons' of
iice in the church is perpetual, its func
tons being limited 20 charitable distri.
buttons and secular economy. Under ths
head of secular economy we mean &c
include the duty of looking after the
support of the ministry and the care Of
houses of worship and other property
dedicated or given TO the church OF
God.
The declaration OF the twelve, tina:
they must give themselves TO the min
istry of the word and others must be
Nchosen to look after the cuisines" of
the church, is conclusive against those
VINO hold that the deacons' office was
only an inferior order or degree of the
christian ministry, and therefore they
had the right to preach and administer
the sacraments by virtue of that office.
II does not help their cause any to say
that stephen preached, and Philip
both preached and baptized. Because
stephen did not preach. lie was
charged with speaking blasphemous
words against Moses aud against God,
against the holy place and the law.
(Acts vi, ll-1&J On this charge he
was arrai!ne and put IN trial be 'ore
the Sinhedrim. the council, the Grim
inal court of the Jews. Being a law
yer he plead his own cause, and made
a magnificent defense, argued the
facts, and presented the law in
u mastery manner. Bit this was no
more preaching than would be the
| defense of a deacon Of this church, If
| presented before our dis rict court on
charge of disturbing public worship,
he should appear at tue bar Of the
| court @na plead his own cause, ~ one
OF your number, being izwy.., -ssanld
have night to do.
As to Philip the case is quite differ
ent. He did preach aud that two with
great and marked ability. He also ad-
ministered the sacrament of baptism.
But as in the case OF the euuuch (Acts
viii, 3S) when We are told that he was
reading in the Scriptures of the Old
Testament (Acts viii, 32l and had to
call on Philip to explain unto him the
meaning thereof, we have Only to turn
back to those Scriptures Isaiah lii. and
liil.) to find out where this Ethiopian
got his idea of baptism, and in dong
So we find not only tho necessity there
set forth for the administration of that
ordinance to believers, but the very
mode of doing il when they come from
the ''many notions" making up the
Christian Church. isaiah lii, 49, So
another passage of Scriptures Acts xxi,
s. teaches us that these ministerial acts
We're done by him in virtue of another
office, that of evangelist, to which he
had been set apart. This word evan
gellst Is an official title and implies
that he who wears it must have been Or
d iined to the full work of the ministry
with power to organize churches ard ad-
| minister the saCI amcnts. (Eph. w., II }
The official title should not, therefore,
be applied indiscrimnatelY to any and
every religious rover who may choose to
discourse after pious fashion. IL is
no justiiiab!c plea for such men that
they claim to be called OF the Holy
Ghost, independent of the organized
church, to this work. For the Holy
Ghost doss not call men that way.
Paul and Baruabas felt that they must
go as ec0n9ciiSts to preach the gospel to
the nations. But they did not pick
up and start out as adventurous T. amps
through the isles of the Mediterranean.
They were set apart officially to the
specific work. acts Kill, 49, When
men go with this delegated authority
and this official sanction that Is "beipg
sent forth by the Holy Ghost" (Ac,s
xiii 4 } Timothy was an evangelist.
| e Timothy, iv., 81 But Paul no less
than twice reminds him that the author
ity to do that work was communicated
to him through ordination by the lay
ing on of hands. Il Timothy w., IA
, Timothy iv.) For this reason and
by this authority he was TO make full
proof of his ministry. l have dwelt
but moment upon u subj act which is
ull of the grandest Issues to the
church, which is now in the greatest per
il of being undermined by lllbby lib
cralism which is exceedingly popular.
| ask you, my brethren, how shall
| the church nov escape from error and
disorganization and ruin if she dlsre-
CARDS so weighty a matter and draws
no line OF discrimination between the
authorized and the unauthorized, the
sent of the Holy Ghost and the SELF
sent!
We see, then, tliat the deacon ia not
u preacher of the word nor ruler in
the house Of 4od, nor in ally way
authorized to administer the ordi-
nances. But his business is To stand
by the treasury, look after the finances
and administer the the charities. Such
is the nature of the office "a we learn
1t from the Scriptures; such precisely is
its nature as set forth IN the standards
of our church. (See Form of Gov,
CHI. viz
Now, touching the essential qualif-
cations for deacon. / do not know
that could do better than to call your
attention to those passages of Scrip
ture where these are set forth with so
much clearness and force. q Tim.
ill.,, S-14 The deacon should COM
NIT these verses to memory and digest
them very thoroughly. 1t will be
found that these qualifications are very
high. But high as they are, every
Christian gentleman should endeavor
to attain them. A deacon should be
full Of the Holy Ghost. The Spirits
power should pervade the whole char
acter. There is no reason why men
should not be as full of the Spirit now
as in the primitive times. They should
have wisdom and prudence, gravity
and sincerity, liberslity and public
spirit, that they may be examples in
the church where they exercise their
functions. They must hold fast to the
faith as it is in the Word, opposing by
speech and example all error in doc
trihe and practice. Aud SO should
these virtues and graces shine out
in the whole life that no man
may charge them with being greedy
of filthy lucre" or doubled tongued"
ia their conversation. They must be
tried men and proven, not novices in
the church, that she may not suffer
from their incompetency. It is fact
taught most clearly in the Word, that
he who would rush into any official
position in the church, disregarding
the essential qualifications, or the
Scriptural mode OF being indicted into
the same, is in great danger of being