The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-05-19

true spiritual coin it is, needing nothing
more to give it specific individual valu-
alton for the Master said, "of such is
the kingdom of heaven"
A child properly trained will be con-
verted at the line of accountability from
passive Christianity, or infantile justi
fcation, to active Christianity, by faith,
and by obedience to the gospel. This
is the normal plan of salvation and it's
progress is easy and natural, when its
conditions are met, and this is Gods
plan for its development.
The chief difficulty in the way of the
success of the church in all Christian
lands is to be found in the fact that
this normal plan has been lost sight of,
and the theory has practically obtained
in the world, through the orthodox"
churches, that the child-poor little de-
PRAYED creature-must plunge into sin,
and then the church must pursue him
with the standard whip and lash, until
he is tanned and brought back through
repentance and faith. Hence, the great
forces of the church are expended in
laboring to recover those who have
slipped through her fingers and fallen
from the grace of infantile justification.
The manner in which the church
seems to have lost sight of her great
heritage is truly alarming. She has
drifted out of the broad, deep channel
of the normal plan of human recovery,
and has dogmatized herself out Of sight
of the important duty and high privi-
lege of keeping and training her chill
dren up in the way that leads to glory
and to God. This looks much like pre-
Stunning upon the abundant mercy of
God, who in his boundless goodness,
has made an Gddend,tm to the general,
or normal plan, and instituted special
provision of m Grey, that those who for
felt their interest in the normal plan,
through the neglect Of the church, may
still, by repentance and faith, have part
in the glories of ''the first resurrection .
that they may have second chance
in this life to be reconciled to God,
and to be made Kings and priests unto
him at his coming. It is in this spe-
cial provision that repentance and faith
constitute the way of return-"We
trust in the living God, who is the Sa-
vior of all men, specially of them that
believe" Il Tim. iv. 10.) In this
Scripture the apostle makes the dis
tinction between the general or normal
plan of salvation, and the special plan
in this life, clear and sharp, and follows
it by an imperative injunction to Tim.
othy to make it everywhere a part oil
his message. "These things command
and teach"
In the sad fact that the church thus
loses her precious treasures, not a;
did the woman, in the ratio of one tt
nine, but rather of nine to one, is found
the necessity for revivals in the com
mon acceptation of the term. If the
church in every Christian land would
do her duty, and fully meet her divine
obligations, before another generation
J should come and go, Christianity would
, arise and as 5ert her power. Infidelity
like dark mist, would be driven away
, by the pure, strong breath of truth, and
our children would be, spiritually, as
, aforetime and our congregations would
be established before God. Then we
! should hear no more of modern revivals
We should have revivals, certainly We
should; but they would be produced
when some man "full of faith and OF
, the Holy Ghost should go out from
the great centers of Christianity an6
preach Jesus and the resurrection tC
those who had never before heard the
word of life; such revivals as Philip
had when he went down into Samaria
preaching Jesus and converted whole
city. Then would be fulfilled the
prophecy of ''a nation born unto God
in a day." God help US by faithful
ness to hasten that day.
| The woman's search illustrates
) church work in revival. She saw
and felt her loss. First, she lighted a
| candle; secondly she sought diligently
/ she swept; third, she persevered-
, che sought till she found; fourth, the
result-she rejoiced. When the church
sees her children merging into man and
womanhood, without assuming her
VOWS or being confirmed among her
membership, she begins to feel he1
| loss. Then she rises up and by prayer
and faith the candles of her spirituality
and zeal blaze up, and by protracted
preaching, exhortation, and private
admonition, "diligent search" is made
for the unconverted--thel lost coins
, until they are found (converted); then
| the father, the mother, the whole
church rejoice and the tidings are borne
to heaven that the lost is found, the
dead liveth, land there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God I"
III. A certain man had two SONS.
In this third parable we have presented
an important feature in the practical