Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1889-08-17
Necessity of Doctrine.
EpiscOnal Recorder.

cious influences and instructions, we
know nothing of our need Of God, or
our relations to him for peace, for
service, for life, testimony, or consis-
tency. But the Comforter only acts
in the channel of doctrine, that is, of
revealed, recorded truth concerning
him who rulesNour life.
The happiness of the Christian
largely consists in the knowledge
that of himself he can do nothing,
and therefore in joyfully falling into
the arms of everlasting love. With
out doctrine this gracious experience
cannot be had, for it is only as the
doctrine of the fullness and sufficiency
of Christ's atoning work for us is re-
vealed to us by the Spirit, that we
can make the words of the hymn our
own, and exclaim, so Lamb of God,
l come"
Without the teaching of the Spirit
as the meaning of the revealed word
is by him made plain, we should
never know that we may come; that
we may come just as we are. Left to
himself, guilty man would never be-
lieve that the way had been opened
through the substitutionary work of
another. 1t is natural to say, Ode
part from me, for / am guilty man,
O Lordp. Nature indeed teaches the
duty of sacrifice, but nowhere in her
whole arcana is there to be found a
hint of one bearing the guilt of an
other. Against the blessed doctrine
of substitution the natural man re-
volts. When we behold in Scripture
Him who was punished for our sins,
inviting us to come to Him, we have
met with something unknown to hui
man wisdom, with something oppos-
ed to human sufficiency, with some
thing clearly revealed to us by God
it is doctrine, and without it we
; can have no intelligent apprehension
of our relations with God.
Do we feel'our own weakness? are
, we oppressed with sense Of our own
unworthiness? do we tremble at the
= weakness of the flesh? 1t is the
- knowledge of the cleansing efficacy
of Christ's blood which brings us
= peace, and that knowledge is doc
trine.
Do we enter upon any given patti
=. of duty? do we seek to serve God il
. any way? We struggle on, we perse
= we're, despite all discouragements, be
i cause we have learned that we arr
:. the children of God in Christ Jesus
! because by our union with him w
. know that we must do as he does
-, and so all the fullness of teachin,
i which we discern in the blessed fac
- of our oneness with Christ, sustains
9 strengthens, and leads us on to d.
his will, and that knowledge is doc
70 trine.
:, Do we seek the salvation Of others
10 1t is because we have known some
thing of the preciousness Of the salva
!, ton which is in Christ, because W
u have had revealed to us in the wri
ten word the awful ending of thos
.. who have no interest in that saliva
> tion-all this is revealed inf0rmatio
- all is doctrine.
Do we persevere unto the end? d
II we press on pursuing, if faint, to tn
80 very end of life? 1t is because OF
eyes are fixed on him who is invis
BILE, it is because we see Jesus Chri
% himself, it is because we know hin
el by the Spirit, through the teachin
W of the inspired word; and all tn
again is doctrine.
Il Do we contemplate the end of tn
ne earth's life? do we prepare to leaN
We the trials of life's journey, to unders
In the final test, to pass through Il
AT river which cannot be passed owe
10 and do we do so calmly, without pc
II turbation, as one who lies down
ey pleasant dreams, undisturbed by Il
IN knowledge of our sins, or by the no
eS- ness of God? 1t is because we kno
ur him in whom we have believed, it
Re, because we have recognized Jesus
nj our Mediator, it is because we knO
nj the covenant Of peace, it is becau
IN. we know that it is better to depa
co. and be with Christ, it is because tn
ell while we know that the sting
10 death is sin, and the strength Of 5
as is the law, we also know that G;
his giveth us the victory, that his she
shall never perish, and that God W
lis raise us up at the last day; and ;
life this knowledge is revealed to US
it'll doctrine.
the Were the subject pursued by a col