The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-06-03
PRESBYTERIAN PULPIT.
SERMON BY TILE REV. F. P. MUTUALLY.
Delivered Ia tho Presbyterian ChHrcl
ut .Ab5cyiilc. Aprii. 1850.

The knnwlc,!gc oc self. and the knowlcdg,
of the Holy Scriptures are cnrrclativc, and
hence either one implies the other. For thi:
reason, in oder that the study W The sacred
volume may be- truly proiitab'c. ii must bt
account artrd by self examination. Tic Cos
pcl must lie viewed in relation 10 the spiritual
condition of man, In order That lis iIiii@cni
evidence Of hcing from God may bc seen
and, in order that We may understand why
/; Il, to wii"ln II las com" 'io not feel It's Ill
vim authority. The reason why christianity
wherever ii il pub.i>lIcd fails to convince inri
O! It's heavenly origin, Is TO III found IN The
, heart OF the unhclirvcr, and not III any i'm
perfection Of the evidence given, In proof 1t:
divinity.
, When preachers call upon their hearers tt
believe The Gospel, the response OF many ;
} hrarl-soinctinlrS expressed, Oi.cll"r hidden
! and this sometimes from the full conscious
rcs; OF the nearer hinl>clf-is: ''FlrSt, prove
that the Gospel Is the word OF God. ANA Their
you will he spared tie labor OF URGING Us T.
reference tn what is necessary to ceuSn mcr
to acknowledge and ,hcy the nutl,orit!
claimed for tho scriptures, is the same us tlla
OF hin VIII said MAY. Father Abraham
pcnt.' The unbclievcr thinks, that If Suci
evidence us lie could name, were given him
II" would he p~nrSuadrd, and fully obey Thu
Gospel. ;uttlrnnswcrn f Abraham, to Dive
cts, neither Will they be- persuaded though
one rose from the drad.' Ii the principle en-
, bodied Ina these words was sufficient to cvinc'
! the folly OF asking for more external evidence
docs II condemn The similar call made under
the Christian dispcnsaiion. To those who re
Quirc more striking external evidence of thu
truth OF our holy religion. we may reply: |
yc believe moi Moses and the prophets ant
Jesus and tho apostles and eI an@ells.S, nci
thcr would you be persuaded, If one rose from
the dead.
Iut what Is the principle which undnrlics
and explains the assertion OF Abraham
Some seem to think That the explanatory i'm
plication is lonnd In the proposition that TIT
external evidence of the Scriptures inSpira
| ton cannot he made more fOrcibie, as an ap
peal To the understanding. This rcprcscn
tatinn the candid mind must intuitivrl,
reject. Abraham could not mean that the
proof which the brothers of Dives possessed
that Moses ANA the prophets were hu
the organs of the Holy Spirit, was rs strong ~
/ 1t could he made, Or that IL would not he ut
ding anything to It's weight to send them 1
messenger from tn" world beyond the grave
Neither cnn we believe that the real appear
anccof one from the dead well accredited ~
The messenger of God to us could not increas'
! the weight OF the external argument in faTO
of tho claims Of Christianity.
There are twO propositions implied in, Of
suggested by Abralam's response. The frs
is: the condition of the unbclicvcr'S heart J.
what prevents him from perccivlng the dl
vine glory with which the Gospel Itself IS Ct
fulgent. The Sccoad is: the same disposition
of heart that hindcls men from seeing III
evidence Of divinity in the Scriptures them
selves will lead them TO oppose and resist al
external testimonies.
text suggests that the unbclicf Of men |
not due to their intellrctS hut to their hearts
Where Il strong invctcrate love Of sin ha
made any doctrine, or proposition, who'll!
unsuitable 10 the heart, no argument or de
monst:ation, no, nor miracle whatever. shal
be able to bring tie heart cordially 10 clos
with md receive II. On the other hand If
mans heart were right toward Cod, he woul'
perceive the divinity OF the scriptures Il
soon rs his attention had given to them.
The key and the confirmation OF this view
OF the text is found In tho Gospel acrordin;
to ST. John VII: II, "If amy man will do Hi
will, he shall know Of the doctrine, whcthc
It DC OF God, or whether 1 speak OF myself
You need not be told that the word will, here
is not an auxiliary but II principle verl
Hence in the revised version We have. Il
any man willcth,' &c. The Savinur's mean
ing is-'ic take me Tor Il mere man, md r.
gard my doctrine rs only the product of
human mind, but If We desircd to please God
II yc had a prcdominatin2 practical DISPOSE
ton TO do His will, yo would know my do
trinc has not its origin in UNI genius, Ou
comes directly from God; and your failure t
perceive It's divine source ana authority, /
due to the wrong state OF your hcarts;-th
evidence OF the divinity Of the doctrine
teach Is In that doctrine itself, and II sin hat
not blinded your minds, you would perceive
a. once that this doctrine IS of God We az
then taught here that If a mans heart were
4 CCllIOTIlSO u lIC III vi IN hJuIQ IJCt
crive in the Gospel itself convincing cvidcnc,
of its divinity, and that the reason why mel
continue in unbelief where the Gospel Is pub
liSled is because they arc blinded to tn,
beauty and glory of Its doctrines, by sin.
This Is not Il lesson taught only In 4 singh
passage Of Scripture. Our SaviOar repeats
IL frequently. He says, John vii, II: ale
that Is Of God hcareth the words Of God :
cause yc arc not of God and again xviii
81: "To this end have l been born, ant
TO this end am l come INTO the world
that l should bear witness unto the truth
my voice. Oar doctrine is also taught in al
the passages which connect the Knowledge o
! divln" truth with regeneration by Tia
Holy Ghost. For what Is this but the i'm
to God in the sinners Heart. 1t Is lorcibis
| taught by Paul, where he describes those from
whom tie Gospel is hid, as the lost, III whom
the God Of this world hath blinded thu
tic light of the glorious Gospel should shine
into them. The Gospel. tue Apostle implies
is glorious and gives forth the light of q mes
sage from the blessed God, but unbcl!cvers
arc blinded through the influence OF Satan
and therefore know not this divine light.
This doctrine Is in perfect Keeping with nj
analogy. knowledge in whatever depart
nient, or OF whatever nature, requires two
factors in order to lis prodnctionIan objec
TO DC known and a subj Get qualified TO cognlzt
or upprchcnd its properties. In order thu
there may DC KNOWLEDGE of the most primary
kind, IL is necessary that there he not only
the phenomena OF nature or substance, bul
also q subject. with the organs of tNSte, touch
sight, smell, hearing. In order to the knowl
edge of beauty there must bc q subject having
the faculty of taste. Not all the beauty II
the world could produce the knowledge OF TIT
beautiful, unless there was taste to which I
appealed. SO the knowledge of mathemati
cil truth requires the exercise of intellect, H.
order 10 have any existence. and In like man
ner that Of moral truth the application 0
conscience. Is it not then In harmony with
knowledge. that In order to sec the divine
beauty Of Christian doctrine, we must have
a certain power OF perception, corresponding
To It. II that if We lack this power. however
eilulgent the Scriptures may Uc with the gl0-
~ Of God, VIC eau no more SIC 1t, than the
blind can sec the sun in its meridian splendor
or The hear, utterly void Of poetic taste, chi
see the bcauty Of tho lovelicst lardscapc.i ant
on The other hand, that the objcc, and the or
gan adapted to IL being brought into contac
they will in every case operate to the prodnc
ton of the specific knowledge IS our doctrine
asserts they do, when the object is the Cos
pei OF the grace OF God?
We claim no more for the argument from
analogy Just indicated than that IL proves the
rcaSonIblcncss OF the explanation Of the un
belief Which the Scriptures themselves give
trinc, whether it be true or false, that TIT
binding power Of sin being removed, anG
tic organ of spiritual perception thus re
stored to its normal condition., II man may
have the ROVER to sec In Il communicate
from God, directly in Itself, evidence enough
TO DegCt iniiillIblc assurance of its divinity
and may intultivcly and spontaneously fee
the force OF its own infalliile authority, a.
the cultivated ear can not but appreciate TIT
chain OF harmony. The unbelicrcr tllet
must adInit that the reason he does not SCI
sufficient evidence in the Scriptures them
selves of their divinity may be that his Sit
rr la, ,,, fT fl,n (nn1 nf fttc trnrl1 nnar
ating on him through his sin has blindct
his mind. That what Is thus shown to bc rea
sunGble is also true. the positive testimony o
all credible Christians ought TO conyinc'
him.. The reason why you do not sec n thing
may he either that it is not there, ON that y0l
have not the necessary " OF vision. But
If many others declare that they do see i
and their sincerity cannot be doubted, thei
1t Is clear, the reason you do not see it is you
lack or defect Of seeing power. 1t should b,
remembered too, that the force Of good posi-
tive testimony In such Il cRsc cannot be dc
stroycd By any amount of negative teStimo
ny however honest. For nothing but false
hood or the reality Of the Impression testified
to, can be the cause Of the former, but dcfcc
or want of sight might explain the latter. ]
the question ut issue IN Il court OF Justice were
whether n pistol report were heard In II Ger
I tain place ut II certain hour, the testimony o
two men, OF undoubicd vcrncity that they
heard such a noise at that time and place
would outweigh that of twenty men although
Of equal honor, who should swear, that being
ut the same place at the same time. they
heard no such noise. Nothing except proc
that The first two men were unworthy of he
lief, would keep q good jury from believin!
that there was uIi impression made on thell
minds by the rcpor: of Il pistol. Then If thu
unbelicvcr do not charge the whole church o
God with falschoou, he must acknowledge
that the Scriptures have In themselves evil
drncc OF their divinity sufficient to produce
conviction I'm all who are not blinded 10 tht
quality Of divine beauty.
The question may be asked whether THU
disqual.iying condition of heart is sinful Of
not. Tie Scriptures assert that IL Is; the So
viour resolves ii into the absence Of conform
lty to the divine will, and the experience
ni millions Of christians acc0riS with this
analysis. Src! II state Of heart is utter un'
holiness, and in an active being utter re-
bcl;lon within the soul, and the prolific won't
OF external acts of diSObcdicnce only.
The minister therefore,, who has preached
the Gospel faithfully, Is not unreasonable
I when he Immediately demands Tint his hear
CT rec i've the message as Gods word; because
he knows that the message has, in the doc
trincs il contains, AID the system II teaches
inherent evidence OF divinity sufficient Il
| p~rOiuce inialliblc assurance, and because Inc
! knows that the failure OF men to perceive
his evidence is due to the SinfulucSs Of tlcil
, own hpartS-that men arc responsible fol
not believing the Gospel itself, because theil
unbcl;cf Is the prodnct Of dcpravcd atlcc
a = 49,. 49, tEATr rIN 41Iair nnI nII imam