The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-06-03

"What must we DO that we may Work
the works of God ?" He told them:
"This is the work of God, that ye believe
on Him whom He hath sent. John VI,
29).
Let us also, my brethren, bear In mind
that the word salvation is unquestionably
used in the Scriptures in several differ
ent senses. Sometimes it is used in
wide, comprehensive sense, including the
dawnings of light in the soul, until it
stands in all its glory and fulness at
Gods right hand. Then again it is
looked at as referring to the cleansing of
the soul from the guilt of sin by the
atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus
Christ. In that sense salvation is COM
plete, it is finished; for not all the pow
ers in the universe can add one jot or
title to the merit of our Savior's atoning
sacrifice. Salvation, therefore, in that
sense is regarded as complete, for it is
the righteousness of Jesus Christ that
becomes the ground of our acceptance
in the sight of God, and is the cause of
our salvation.
Again, salvation is said to be present.
That is past of which l have just spoken.
It is past, the debt is paid, the sacrifice
has been offered, Christ will never come
again to make sacrifice for human sin;
it is done for all ages and nothing can
add to it or diminish from it. But sal
vation is present. Salvation is present
inasmuch as our activities and energies
are turning to Christ through Gods grace
In that sense we are being saved, and
that was the sort of people that Luke
says were brought into the Church,
(Acts II: 47) Those that were being
saved the Lord added to the Church
daily. So it comes to this, viz: That in
the daily practice of obedience, in the
daily cruci6xion of the flesh with its
affections and lusts, in the daily struggle
for higher attainments, in all that con-
stitutes true Christian excellence, ne
are to make fully our own what we have
received through faith in Jesus Christ.
Again, there is sense in which saliva
tion is future. Oh! who can tell of
what it is to be spotless-free from sin |!
Oh! who can tell what it is to be safe
within the fold, with no danger around
you to feel that no trouble is ever to
come again, no head is ever to ache any
more, no eye is ever to shed more tears,
no heart is ever to throb with pain, dis.
tress, afliction, anxiety or carel Breth'
rem, that is all future. Do you not see
that salvation is a great and glorious and
comprehensive blessing? 1t is to be a
living power, for it is a living faith
Through Christ it is to be accomplished,
it is to be wrought out, it is to be carried
forward by all the energy and earnest
ness of our whole being and our whole
nature. Regarding this same thing, the
Apostle Peter says: Give all diligence
to make your calling and election sure.
If people see paradoxes in my theo-
logy, my defence is, the Bible says these
things; and 1 stand upon it and rejoice
in its declaration of great, glorious and
blessed truths.
The second paradox is this: That
God works all in US and that we ourselves
must work.
Brethren, nothing can be more clear
than what the Apostle Paul says: That
God worketh in you for two things
What are they? The first is to will, the
second to work. He attributes that en-
tirely to God. 1t is God that worketh in
you; He communicates His energy, and
that energy establishes connection be-
tween our will and our power to act.
What is paralysis? Did you ever see
anybody paralyzed? Paralysis is simply
the sundering of that subtle connection
between the will of the living man and
the power to act. Did you ever see any
one paralyzed whose mind was perfectly
clear and who actually could not raise
his arms? What is the matter? He j;
paralyzed you say and mean that though
he has exercise of his will, Of his mind
of his power of thought and volition
yet the connection between the will ane
act is broken, and he cannot act. NJ
metaphysician can tell you any more
than that.
The Bible says, God works in us tt
will. That is certainly plain. Some o
you may suppose that one of these side
of truth must be false. Why cannc
both be true? 1 believe that both ar'
true, and, therefore, hold to them.
God works in us to will and then HI
wills in us to do. We live by virtue o
Gods being in us, and our doing, ou
energy, our action is Gods. Yet, m!
brethren, human agency and human re
sponsibility are just as fully asserted
when you work a work though it is Coz
that worketh in you both to will and d.
work. What can be more clear-distinc
than this? There can be no contradic
tion in these statements. Each is strong
lv supported. My consciousness teache
me that am a responsible being. Wh!
there is not boy or girl in this hous
that is old enough to understand wha
I am talking about, that does not fee
that they do their own thinking ant
willing. We are conscious, and ou
consciousness is the ground of ofknowledg'
which the Creator has implanted withil
us, which cannot be taken away from us
which no system of philosophy can de
stroy. For our consciousness and ou
reason, we are indebted to Being VIII
is omnipresent, omnipotent. This Being
is spirit, not limited by space and tim
like we are, but represented TO us in al
our activities.
If God may be seen in every plant an'