The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-12-17
SAINTS.
Called to be saints.-l Cor. i: 2.

SAINTS
Called to be saints-l Cor. /: 2
Few terms have been more mischieyous-
ly misused among men than this word
saints. By some it is exclusively APP
piled to apostles and evangelists. They
would deem it an irreverence to name
the apostle of the Gentiles without call
ing him st. Paul; but they do not feel
themselves under any obligation to say
St. Abraham or st. Moses. Thus they
seem to imagine that the idea of saint
hood is restricted 20 the New Testament
dispensation, and that even under its
spiritual system the name Of saint be-
longs only to the inspired and extraor-
binary Office bearers of the Christian
Church. Others confer it only upon those
who have a place in the calendar Of the
Romish Church in which truthful history
declares that we may find the names alike
of the worthiest and the vilest of our race.
While third class employ it in cyni-
cal and contemptuous fashion, to desig-
nate those whose Righteousness, for [ will
not call it religion, wears a grabbed,
gnarled and repulsive FORM and some
have even gone so far as to make it a
synonym for a contemplate hypocrite.
Thus, among these various parties, this
term has Jared most unfortunately By
the first it is regarded as altogether too
good for common use by the second it is
applied so indiscriminately as to be de-
prived Of all significance whatever; and
by the third it is considered as too bad
to be desired. l think, therefore, that !
shall do a good service this evening if
can set clearly before you the teaching
of Scripture on this subject and redeem
this grand old word alike from the ignor-
ant reverence of the superstitious and the
supercilious contempt Of the profane.
i x +
In the first place, then, let it be OBJ
served that it is not indispensable to saint
hood that ne should withdraw oatrselves
from social, business, or political life. Nc
doubt there is to be distinction between
the Christian and the unbeiever, be-
tween the saint and the sinner The dis
ciple of Christ is not to be conformed to
the world, but to be transformed from
it; yet that is quite different thing from
saying that he is to isolate himself com
pletely and hold no intercourse of any
sort with the unconverted. If he were
to attempt to do any such thing it would
be impossible for him to discharge many
of the duties which his Lord requires him
i to perform. Thus he is commanded to
.ssTs--,,.. yz..os-Ae Es-enjoihed to
be the salt Of the earth but it is very
clear that before he can in any proper
way obey these precepts he must come
into contact with the ungodly. The con
version of the world depends upon the
right influence of the Christian on the
world and in it, and so'we are not sur
prised to find in our Lords supplicatior
for his people these words &c pray not
that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil" Still, not fully compre-
hending these principles, and misunder-
standing the meaning of the apostles pre-
cept, Come out from among them and
be ye separate and touch not the unclean
thing there have, in almost every age
been some, who have supposed it to be
essential to thorough conservation to
Christ that they should seclude them
selves from society and bury themselves
in the living tomb of the monastery OF
the cloister. Now | do not mean to af-
firm that saints have never been found in
such places On the contrary, when
read the hymns of some of those medieval
monks, and feel how my soul responds to
their breathings after fellowship with
Christ and their expressions of love to
him, am compelled to acknowledge that
saints of very high order have lived in
these establishments. But what allege
is that such withdrawal from society is
by no means essential to saintliness Of
heart and life. The Bernards, and Fran
cises, and others like them, were saints
not in consequence of their seclusion, but
in spite of it. There have been many
equally noble as they, without their mon
asticism Nay, will go farther still
and say that one will become a better
saint in society than he would be in re-
tirement, provided only he be careful to
maintain due proportion between his
public engagements and his closet devo-
tons. The dollhouse plant may have q
more brilliant leaf or more beautiful
flower than it's humber sister of the gar
den or of the glacier edge; but it lacks
hardness and will not stand the breath Of
the outer air. Luther was undoubtedly
much the better for his monastic studies
but as monk he never would have beer