The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-12-10
The church il beautiful in


God is light to men. His spirit shines
out of Zion. He shines in the glory that
sccrues to himself in the WORK OF tne
church The anthems OF the redeemed
before his throne, and the people IN Zion
here are tributes due him.
This church will observe communion
service on next Sabbath.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
Text. Hosea 10, II, Break up your
fsllow ground, &C." Hosea lived and
prophesied in q time OF national pros
nerity, but of great spiritual declenslon.
lie commenced young aud continued
through q long and faithful ministry TO
denounce sin and commend truth. de
began 800 years before Christ ana
preached sixty years, and yet saw ou'
little good resulting from his ministry.
They despised hisyouth and sighted his
age. But he being dead yet speaks, ana
his uttersnces are as applicable to tins
generation Is when made two thousand
wears ago. New as then, men plow IN
yickedness and reap 10 iniqulty, eat the
fruit of lies and trust in the might OF
man. Our grounds are untitled and
resources undeveoped, and it Is
time to seek the Lord until ne
come and rain Righteousness upon us.
The text is addressed to an agricultural
people, but is Ineligible to all.
The fallow ground is at rest, producing
no useful fruits. God provides rest Tor
His creatures for season. de glveth
HIS beloved sleep, and there remalneth
rest for His people.
All truth rs presented in the scripture
aims TO assure, instruct or arouse. Inc
text does ell. 1t srouses the dormant,
instructs the ignorant and assures the
faint. There comes cry: "Break up
this fallow ground, subdue Its weeds,
mellow its hardness, prepare for good
seed-for rain"
1t teaches, among other lessons; First,
special times require special attention;
second, God IN some way calls our at
tention; third, we may look for results
from religious duties as certslnl y AS for
fruitful harvests from skilled husbandry.
A summary is: First, reasonable duty
enioined; second, legitimate srgu-
ment and policy advanced, and
third, assuring encouragement gwen
reflections. The occasion demands ac-
tior rather than lamentations. Tears
may relieve our pent-up emotion and
manifest our sorrow or sympathy, but
they furnish no substitute for action.
Jesus wept with the sisters and then
raised Lazarus. He lamented the obdu-
racy OF Jerusalem when his efforts TO
gather them were rejected, but shed no
tears to satisfy justice or to secure our
salvation. And no amount OF tears will
suffice to revive the church, pay lis
debts or save one soul. Christianity Is
life, and life is manifested in action.
2. The means are adapted to the end,
and both should be clear y understood.
The field is plowed to prepare the soil
not to form the clouds or to produce
rain. So prayer prepares the heart to
receive Gods blessing, and confession
numbles it, but neither is intended to In
form Him, or change His will concerning
US. He is ever willing to give al! We are
prepared and willing to receive. His peo-
pie are a Wiling people IN the day OF
His power.
3. There must De mutual cooperation
among all employed agencies. To break
I'D field there must be the pillow, plow-
man and competent team, and these
must work in harmony, whether they
comprehend osch other or not. The
oxen may have but an indefinite concep
ton of the plowmsn, and he may not
Understand tho lsws and agencies Eov-
orning the growth OF plants. yet all
work. Intelligence directs and results
ensue. God gave all the two hundred
and seventy-six souls on board to Paul,
vet he said, Except these abide IN the
ship, ye cannot be saved"
There is distant sound as OF coming
rain. The upper leaves are moving.
Are we all ready2 1t is better to pillow
before than In the rain; and the I'M
plowed fallow receives no benefit, Let
US all be up and dong.
AT THE ENGLISH LUTHERAN CHURCH,
on Sixteenth street, Rev. g. w. Halder-
nan, of Lancaster, Ohio, ofticiated,
greatly interestir g his audience by plain
Scripture truths, uniquely told. Rev.
Haldermsn is man with jet black hair,
cembed up upon the top OF his head,
and keen discerning eyes. The reverend
stranger announced as his text yester-
day morning. l Corinthians, xii:27, aye
are the body at Christ" He said: In
the beginning God created this world
alter the fashion of Heaven. Holiness
and harmony prevailed. The law of
unity in variety pervsded its entire
realm. Nothing was out OF tune, nor
was there jarrlng note In all creation.
Whatever of confusion may now exist,
God is not the author OF il. Ii does not
belong to His original plan-but has
been superinduCed by some other means.
The seeds OF discord have been sOwn by
| some other hand than that OF the CrestOr
and have sprung up in some other soil
than that OF Gods original Eden.
The world OF Nature is constructed on
the same plan with the world of grace.
While unity is a law of God, unitorml-
ty is not. There is quite difference be-
tween the two. The one is simply q
uniting OF forms, and the other OF pur-
poses. The one is external, the other IN
ternal. The one admits of variety, the
other excludes il. God, while lie pre-
serves unity, delights in variety.
This part of. the discourse WAS bcauti-
fully illustrated by the variety in trees,
fields, mountains, men. flowers, &c
Hence, why should We insist on all
Observing our uniform style OF worship,
or thinking alike on matters not essen
tial to salvation. Mems minds differ
moro than their bodies. Attempts Vt en-
forcing uniformity Of thought and wor
ship in religion have scared stakes, piled
isgots, drenched the world IN blood, ard
sent the church into msny more parts
than she would otherwise be.
Divisions are bad things, yet we have
no sympathy with those who, contound-
ing charity VITA indifference, regard
matters of religion as not worth dlsput-
ing about. Such state o; death Is worse
| than VAT.
"Ye are the body of Christ" OF all
the forms of imagery employed to repre-
| sent the Church, there is none that so