Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-09-30
NJ. E. CONFERENCE.
[conttnued from Second Paqc. /

Nhen EDWARD Bethany pdlnbeu MS
Utopian picture. the public decided that
it was visionary, the means Impractical
BILE, the power inadequate, and it died a
borning. When the temperance reform
was introduced, everybody agreed in
the purpose Of the reform, that uniyer-
sal prohibition was desirable, but every
body did not believe in the means that
were TO be employed, and so the reform
has been retarded, and it viii never be
accomplished until all who believe in the
purpose of the reform, unite upon a
common platform in the employment OF
means.
What answer does Christianity give
to these questions, aud tried by these
tests, what is Christianity? The first
question, what does Christianity pro-
pose TO accomplish? Christ answers
very explicitly in His first published
discourse. Going up from Jerusalem
TO Nazareth, He went into the syna-
gogue; His fame as preacher at Jeru-
salem had preceded Him; and the ruler
of the synagogue, invited Him TO ad-
dress the people. Enough OF this SER
mon has been preserved to give US
clearly the Masters answer to the
question: 'The Spirit Of the Lord
God is upon me, because he hath an
ointed me TO preach the gospel to the
poor: he hath sent me TO heal the
broken hearted, to preach deliverance
TO the captives and recovery OF sight to
the blind; to set at liberty them that
are bruised; to preach the acceptable
year OF the Lord"
This, then, is the purpose OF Chris
tianity. It's end is philanthropic, and
its object is to promote the well-oeing
of mankind. 1t is to comfort the al
hicted, to inspire with new hope the de-
spairing, to set free the enslaved, to
give light to the darkened. When
Christ started His disciples out He gave
them instructions to "Heal the SICK"
''Cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out devils. Freely We have received,
freely give" The purpose Of Chris
tianity, stripped of everything else, is
to benefit mankind and help universal
humanity, and all these other things are
adiuLcts 10 Christianity.
Other systems have proposed the
benefit of mankind within certain
race and class lines, and in certain To-
calitles; but Christianity is the only
system that ever sought the we'll being
of man as its universal purpose.
Christianity does this. II has had this
stamp upon it, this mark of universaliSm
from the very beginning. The Jewish
people had learned the great truth that
God is one; but they had not learned, as
many Christian people to-day apparently
have not learned, the corresponding
and correlative truth that man is also
one. That was the bold, magnificent
doctrine, taught, acted upon, incarnated
by Jesus Christ, and which He sealed
with His blood. And Christ said, $50
and tell this truth to man. 1t is so
grand that men everywhere will want
to hear it. Go into all the world and
tell it TO him, give him the glad and
Joyous faith, that he is son OF God,
and that as a son of God, God wants
him"
In the second place, what means docs
Christianity propose to employ for the
accomplishment of so stupeLdouS
purpose? Christ proposes 10 accom-
pish this work, and lift humanity up,
by working on individual character and
lifting it no. A simple method, but
adequate to the task.
Only one other method has ever been
proposed for the accomplishment of
this work. All those who labor for the
purpose OF lifting men up may be di-
vided roughly into two classes: Those
who hope TO improve the character Of
men by improving their condition; and
those who hope to improve the cOndi-
ton of men by improving their char
acter. The human method puts i'm
provement Of condition first, but Chris
tianity puts Improvement OF character
first. Did you never think how strange
it is, that Jesus Christ lived in the time
of slavery and never said word about
emancipation; Of low wages, and said
nothing about raising them; of
dirty straetS, and said nothing
about sanitary reform; of bad
governments, and said nothing about
political reform; Of drinking and drunk
enneSS, and did not, like Mohammed,
prohibit the wine bottle to His follow
erS. His silence on these questions Is
not to be construed as an Endorsement,
but as setting forth that ChriSt's method
was not that exhibited by some modern
reformers, who in their anxiety TO abol
iSh evils, pass the causes and strike the
evils themselves. Christ's method was
to begin away down at the base of the
evil, in individual character, and pa
tiently lift this up, knowing that when
character was lifted up the evils would
settle themselves.
To Illustrate: The negro is deprived
of suffrage by fraud or force in some
portions of the South. The human
method is TO send federal troops to pro-
tect his right 10 the ballot box; the
method of christianity is TO send the
schOolmaster TO develop in him a man
hood strong enough 10 be Self-prOtect-
ing. The human method seems to be
the shortest cut 10 the desired end, but
it is only in appearance. Drunkenness
is disease in America with the proper
lions of a pestilence. The human
method is TO send the constable and the
magistrate TO close the saloon; the
method of christianity is to send the
teacher and the preacher to make the
man strong enough to control his appe-
title.
Is this method sufficient to accom-
pliSh the purpose of Christianity?
Every candid man knows that it is the
only method that ever can occom pliSh
II. IL seems like a slow method in our
anxiety, aud we are disposed to cut
across lots to reach the goal by less
circuitous way, but the fact remains
that humanity can only be lifted up by
lifting individual character, each char
acter as it is lifted, by law Of spiritual
affinity and attraction, flying toward the
cross, until ct last the number who
have been lifted up becomes so great
that they viii take Calvary for a full