The morning news., 1889-04-22
DIR. pRIPPs INSTALLED.
The Independent Presbyterian's New
Pastor Given Charge OF the Church

installation OF lCS new pastor, heY. j. r.
Dtpps. D. D., yesterday, but it heard an
able discourse eloquently presented by DR..
Thompson Of the First Presbyterian church
of Charleston, and after the installation
services listened TO an address TO the pastor
and the congregation which must
have mutually impressed the new shepherd
and his flock, and stimulated the zeal of the
congregation to come out of the furnace Of
affilction and go forward to greater achieve
ment as the eloquent visiting minister coun-
seled
The services were held in the Sunday
school room of the Trinity Methodist church,
and the hall was filled There were no
decorations incident to Easter. Vases of
spring flowers were arranged about the
organ and baskets of flowers were placed on
the two small tables on either side of the
altar.
The services began by the reading of the
first chapter of First Peter, followed by
prayer. After singing the hymn, THE
Lord is Risen,n DR.. Thompson selected as
his text the Sd, 4th, 5th. 9th and 7th verses
of the chapter previously read, more par
ticularly anslyzing the 7th verse, and
basing his discourse upon the value of faith,
which he characterized as more precious
than gold. The unlettered fisherman of
Galilee, he said, had often applied the
adjective precious and in the in
stance spoken Of in the text the
writer had applied it to show that faith is
even more precious than the most precious
metal. Men strive for gold for the power
it confers to procure comfort, to relieve
poverty, to promote earthly ambitious, and
with it palaces are built, desert places are
made to bloom and blossom like the rose.
The multitude strives for gold, and the
miser boards it for the sordid passion of ac-
cumulating it until death dissipates the
fond delusion But there can be no COM
parison of gold with saving faith which
unites the soul with Christ This is why
Peter said it was more precious than gold.
Faith is more precious than gold because it
is a peculiar gift. Saving faith required
the death of the Saviour on Calvary. 1t is
more precious than gold because it is within
the reach of all. Gold relates
to time and other things which belong to
time, but faith leads beyond this; to a
world of bliss open to all; to depth which
gold cannot fathom and necessities which
gold cannot reach. Gold cannot lift the
guilt from soul, cannot whisper peace in
the dark valley of the shadow of death, nor
purchase homo in the mansions of the
blest. Faith can and does, and the speaker
most eloquently presented his inferential
comparisons He described gold as being
one mans today and the property of an
other on the morrow, but faith is abiding,
and pausing, and in most impassioned ap-
peal, the speaker said: "Oh, men with all
your gettings get faith, for without it all
earthly possessions are valueless."
DR.. Thompson argued that faith must be
tried, as all Gods people have been tried,
as David was tried, as Daniel was en-
dangered in the den of wild beasts, as the
Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, as
Joseph in the land of Egypt, as Job in the
cyclone of affection, as Paul in the prison.
Trial is the test of character. Only through
trial do we know who are brave, truthful,
virtuous and honest, and we can only know
the faithful followers of Jesus Christ until
they have been tried in the furnace of
affliction, the spurious faith removed and
the refined remain-the precious gold that
passes current in tde kingdom of God.
The speaker related an incident of faith
in the life of the Rev. Ephraim Peabody,
whose child died, his young wife became
temporarily blind. and her husband afflicted
with hemorrhage, the family having to re-
move to humber quarters. One day, re-
turning from a walk, the wife said that she
had been thinking over tneir Affections, and
she had about concluded to be submissive to
the divine will and patient under affection,
when he replied, I'VE have many of life's
comforts left-we can submit To
that; we have a shelter for our
heads-that we can submit to; we
are not without sympathetic friends; Ger
tainly we can be submissive to that; God has
spared our lives, and that is not hard to sub
NIT to"-''Stop there" said Mrs. Peabody
go no further. | will say no more of sub
mission" This was faith more precious
than gold. All our previous and present
trials have been noted and recorded and the
children of God will one day hear the
Master tell how the cross has been borne
for bis names sake.
On visit to the war museum in Wash
ington some time ago the speaker was at
tracted by the battle flags upon which had
been inscribed the fields OF valor over which
the colors had been borne by the boys in
gray-Manassas, Chancellorsvllle, Gettys-
burg and Malvern Hill. but the banners
carried by the hosts of christians, the
achievements over the trials and Affections,
are more eloquent in their inscription and
inspiration.
The speaker. in concluding, said that out
of the furnace of the congregations affiic-
ton, through faith it will have a welc ome
yonder, a coronation and an enthronement
and an exalted fellowship 10 the better land.
where the righteous shall snine forth as the
sun. The trial of faith iudi vidually aud as
congregation which has led to worship
ing in strangers hall, the minister
prayed might rebound TO the glory OF jesus
Christ.
After singing the first four stanzas of the
hymn,
love thy kingdom, Lord
The church OF thy abode,
DR.. Thompson Introduced Rev. DR.. Arson
as your venerable pastor emeritus, and
my dear brother" DR.. Arson held in his
trembling hands paper, from which he
read slowly and in a resonant voice
After describing what was meant by
installation of pastor, he said
Happy is the minister who is called to
serve such approving and trusting people,"
DR.. Arson then propounded the usual ques-
tions to DR.. Dripps, If hs willingly took
charge as pastor, if with a sincere desire to
promote the will of God and the good of
the church, and pledged himself TO per
formance of the duties of the pastorete, to
all Of which the new pastor answered, 81
do
After this the congregation rose and ac-
cepted Rev. DR.. Dripps as pastor by hold
ing up tneir right hands. The elders of the
church then advanced and welcomed their
new minister by hearty hand shake, Col.
Olmstead being the first to extend the hand
of welcome. Dr.. Arson descendsd from the
pulpit following his blessing with the hand
of greeting DR.. Axson, III concluding the
installation services said that he PRAYED
that the fire Of afliction would stimulate to
greater endeavor aud rebound 70 the glory
OF God and the church.
After the installation an able and earnest
address to the new pastor and the congre-
gation was delivered by DR.. Thompson, in
which he impressed upon tho congregation
the relations which should exist between