The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1881-08-18

made, but by the kind of life which
we may be leading. mot every one
that saith unto me Lord, Lord,
but he that doeth the will
of his Father which is in heaven,
and, by their fruits We shall know
them"
Again, the teaching of the Scrip
lures is equally clear as to manner in
which the religious character is to be
attained, and the condition prescribed
for our acceptance with God. While
there may be difficulty in repenting of
sin and believing in Jesus, the terms
proposed whereby we are to cast off
the old man and put on the neac, we
can have no difficulty in compre-
hending The change of life from
bad to good, from that of the unpar-
doned sinner to that Of the soul re-
joicing in God, is represented about as
clearly as language can express it,
and moreover this change according
to the Scripture idea, is made pretty
much in the same way as any other
change in life is brought about. If
one aciU, man so far as understand
ing the subject is concerned, may
change the religious character of his
life as easily as he can change the di-
rection in which he has been walking
or the business by which he makes his
livelihood. While, Of course, there is
divine power brought to bear upon
the heart and life in all such changes,
this is not a matter for us to take into
the account, except to ask that we
may receiUe the method The peculiar
times and circumstances Of the opera
ton of this divine power are not for
our consideration, because it is God,
not ourselves, by whom it is welded
In this we are the recipients, not the
giuers-the acted upon, not the agents.
In all accounts given in the Bible
of the preaching of the word, it ap-
pears that men conducted themselves
under its influence in the same way
that has always characterized them,
when appeals have been made to their
intellectual and moral nature, that is,
the truth wrought its way into the
mind, the conscience and the sensi-
bilities were more or less awakened,
the will was persuaded, the resolve
taken, and the new life was entered.
We have no evidence that either
Jesus or any of his contemporaries
ever used any other instrumentality
in their teachings or exhortations
than the earnest presentation of the
truth in such manner as to make it
perfectly comprehensive to the minds
of their hearers. They preached,
they reasoned, they fully recognized
the intellectual character Of their
auditors, and when these yielded to
the call made upon them, and sought
the better, happier life offered in the
Gospel, they appeared to act. so far as
we can see, about as naturally and as
nationally as men generally act in any
of the other manifold interests of life.
Sometimes the action was attended
with great excitement of the ONO
tional nature; at other times it was as
cool and deliberate as the solving of
problem in mathematics, or the weigh
ing of a box of merchandise But
whenever the former was the case, the
source of the excited feeling was in
the peculiar circumstances or antece-
dent moral condition Of those affected
not in any special effort of the
speakers to arouse feeling where rea-
son should hold sway, to make men
feel or weep by remembrance of
''death-bed scenes" or of friends "gone
to glory''-to stir them up to repent
ance Of sin by having them ''hold up
their hands" or crowd around the
altar and engage in such scenes as
may now be witnessed in many parts
Of our country, and are gloriously de-
scribed as revivals Of religion.
There is no indications that any of
those concerned in the earliest plant
ing Of the Church had the remotest
of our present altar a0ork
had any idea of the general turmoil
and stir gotten up by many modern
revivalists as a means of lodging tie
truth in the minds of their hearers,
Or of inducing the spirit of God to
act more benignantly in their behalf,
Dr. Of persuading Jesus to be a more
earnest intercessor for them, or of
making God more merciful.
Nor have we any trace in the life
Of the great founder of Methodism
that he resorted to any such appll-
ances for spreading scriptural holi-
ness over the lands. On the other
hand his ministrations of the word
we're all of the most calm and orderly
character. His requirement still de-
nanded Of all entering the ministry
that they shall preach neither too
'ong nor too loud" speaks volumes in
the way of letting us know his ideas
lpon the subject; and, indeed, the
very first schism which took place
from the societies which he formed
was, If we are not mistaken, because
the services of these societies as Or
lered by Mr.. Wesley were in many
regards too quiet and regular for the
wild enthusiasm of the turbulent
Maxfeld. The fact that Mr.. Wesley
never left the Church of England and
exhorted his followers to maintain
their connection with the same,
shows as clearly that he was utterly
stranger to the various Instrumental
tiles now so largely in use for induc-
ing men to become religious.
For awhile it seems that the Meth
odists alone employed these new log
ical modes and figures, and. among
them the latter were usually limited
to the less intelligent, but now, alas,
they are adopted to large extent by !
all the denominations Of the land. 1t !
is no unusual thing to see the sober
minded congregations of the Church |
of Calvin aroused in way that must .
sorely disturb his long repose, if he
knows what is now going on in the |