Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1880-04-29
Extracts from the Thursday
Evening Lecture.

We have been kindly furnished with the
following extracts Of lecture delivered by
Rev. A. w. Moore, in the Methodist Church
on laat Thursday evening We feel suro our
readers will road them with intorost and
profit;
THE GREAT CONFESSION.
1t is now being made, not so much by
words as By deeds, sclr.dcnting deeds, such
acts as flow from spirit of conservation to
God:
"Wbom do mon say that /, tho Son of
Nun. am?''-hlatt xvi:l3.
Whom do sc say that 1, the Sun Of Man,
am?" Mat. xvi;15.
Tho section Of Scripture comprising our
lesson has been fruitful of controversy in tho
history Of the church; The Roman Catholics
claiming that tho declaration to st. Peter,
about his being rock and having the keys
of the Kingdom Of Heaven, is justification
Of the pnpal usurpatinn with MI its monstrous
rervcrsions; and tho protostants rcsorting to
forced and funciful interpretations that no
apparent coloring even might be given to a
theory which is felt to be radically unscrip-
tural in principle and pornicious to mankind
Controversy, eren religious controversy
may have huh and may have its uscs,
for in tho ncmbic oi discussion the trutl. is
precipi,ated,
My purpose on this occasinn, ms it is on
every occasion, shall be to prompt you to n
confession of the Christ not formally nor
ritually, nor externally, but truly. inwardly.
diviucly, in your own spirit, in yonr own
spiri, in your cons cous relations TO Guh and
the immortal life, in your own spirit in the
conscious cSultntion that you have found
Gods appointed Christ in your salvation, the
salvation Of your soul, the salvation of your
life.
My object shall lie by the grace of God :,
the help of the ever blessed Spirit to cause
these living ideas to grow larger and fuller
in your mind aud these principles to become
more and mere The frircir:cs CT your life,
that in these revealed methods OF self! cnnn.
citation and sclf-sncriicc, this foregoing Of
the lower FOR the sake oC the higher, this
daily. hahinn Ecarng of the cross, yon may
have in your own peaceful experience a
constant experimental test of the grace aud
power Of the Christ.
w "ouih, RiSlCtolct ilit'U tno OCCuSl0n
sancti6cd to other and nobler uses than those
Of controversy.
If wc have read the signs of tho times
aright, if Tc have interpreted the present
cxigency Of human life, the great need Of
the church now is not the spirit of con!ro-
vcrsy, but the spirit Of the Lord; not tho
spirit which revels in orthodoxes, crecds
and rituals. but the spirit which delights in
good works; not tho spirit of ccclesiasti-
cal proselytisni, but the spirit, strenuous for
Christian consccratiop, Christian confess
sion, instifying itself before men by acts Of
genuine sclr-denial and the brave and trusts
inl and patient bearing of the cross, whatever
may be the duty, the trial, tho sclf,restraint
in which we find our cross.
1t may MD us in attaining fuller apprc-
hensiun of tho truths. the great truths of this
chronological sequence, the probable time in
the intense. historic manifestation Of our
Lords ministry.
The enthusiasm which His gracious words
AID His great works had first cnkndled Ind
now subsided and the opposition had
become cmbudcncd and was cmbodyir q
itself in such sources of influence aud power
as rendered it very formidable.
Neither His doctrine, pure and broad and
deep, nor His spirit, meek and patient,
manifes,ing itself in n universal syn ta;hY
and in II universal charity, nor His works,
which bore tho seal Of Almighty energy, had
prevented the formation Of tho deadly mur-
dcrous purpose Of Ills speedy cxtcrmination.
His very purity, His very charity, His trans
cendant, immcasnrable superiority had
aroused and intensified tho opposition.
St. John, the Baptist, tho greatest Of the
prophets, had been but recently bchcadcd, and
beheadcd at tho request Of an ambitious,
abandoned woman, because the man of God
had boldly said to arrogant, unbridlcd, kingly
authority, 1T is lawful for thee to have
her"
The fate Of Ills kinsman and His great
! herald, and tho signs OF that deepening oppo-
sition, which was gathering around Him,
forcshadowcd His own more ,rngical end.
y! Mas now entering moro fully into the
deep, chill shadow Of the cross. For pur-
poses Of safety as well as Of retirement and
rest, lie had withdrawn into the less populous
and less frcqucntcd region, tho coasts of
Ccsarca Philippi.
While tho answer to tho question, "Whom
do men say that !, the Son of Man, ann"
shows that lie was regarded by the mass of
the people as moro than an ordinary man, rs
q prophet and ono of the greatest prophets,
it also demonstrates that this extraordinary
teaching and this extraordinary working
Lnl lnnn ol Il,