The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-08-22
PRESENT SALVATION.
REV. THOMAS DIXON ON DAILY
LIVING BY FAITH.


Daily. ...". .=..... .
NAa's HEAD, N. c., Aug. 21.-Rev.
Thomas Dixon, Jr., still enjoys the free
dom of this undeveloped garden spot of
nature. He regards Nag's Head as che
ideal spot in America to rest. The fish
are always here. There are no land
breezes, as the land is only about half
mile wide. The hunting is unsurpassed,
and the native has not yet learned the
civilized art of swindling. Mr.. Dixon
caught and landed with hook, line and
reel six shark last week in about two
hours. He says that recent experiences
in New York have given him special
training for this sport. His record is the
best made yet in sharking with hook
and line. He preached again today to a
large crowd, composed Of guests and
country people. His texts were:
What must do to DO saved2 Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved
Acts xvi, 81, 81.
am come that they may have lifc.-John
x.l0
He that believeth on the Son hath eternal
Hfc.-John iii, 90.
With the heart man believeth.-Romans
7, 10
All things sacred and divine must
stand the test of the spirit of inquiry in
modern times. An interrogation point
the world insists on writing before
everything. However aged, however
honored, however holy, it must pass
through this trial of fire. That which
cannot pass such a scrutiny certainly
has not in it the elements of the eternal.
Modern thought stands at the threshold
of the modern church and with remorse-
less emphasis puts the question, What
is salvation? 1t is a pointed inquiry. 1t
goes to the heart Of religion. 1t must
be met fairly and squarely and answered
fairly. Has the answer to this question
been uncertain? The real answer to the
question, if given in Bible thought, has
in it the elements of the eternal and the
infinite. Our text teaches us that the
finished Work of sdlrotion is the redemp-
tion Of character through the process Of
dicinelBe born through faith in'Christ.
Salvation, then, is the sequence of the
gift of life. He only is saved who has
within this divine life.
ORGANIC, NOT MECHANICAL.
! First-Salvation, therefore, cannot
consist i'll church membership Sal.
walton through u church is a system of
pure mechanics. If Jesus Christ came
to give life, he did not come to make a
machine. The only mechanics possible
to predicate upon his religion is the
organism incident to the development of
life. Life is organic, not mechanical.
The church of Christ is not city of
refuge therefore, but the Bride of the
Lamb, the mother Of life. Followers Of
Christ cannot be a group of cringing
towards, seeking refuge beneath the
shelter Of great building; but they
must in tho very nature of their calling
be commissioned army sent into the
open aggressive field. The m6nent the
idea of personal safety be made the CEN
trail conception of the church, that mo.
ment begins the degeneracy of church
life. If the problem of personal safety
be the basis of the church, the man seek
ing shelter will degenerate in spite of
himself into condition of neutrality.
NO MIDDLE GROUND.
We are told that there is eternal war
between right and wrong, truth and
error. That in this eternal battle of
spirit there is no middle ground. ''He
that is not for me is against me-" and
the fight is q ceaseless one. Yet there
are many church members who only
think of crawling into the fortress to be
safe from the bullets of the enemy with
ont. Herein lies the weakness of the
church.
The old innkeeper in Tennessee dur
ing the war between the states met at
his gate one day y troop Of Confederate
soldiers who were dressed in Federal
,overcoats which they had captured.
The old man was much puzzled at this
curious garb of the cavalrymen. The
leader accosted him thus: sold man, are
you a Reb On a YankY" The old man
looked at the blue oyercoats and than al
the gray trousers, and then from tn,
trousers to the oyercoats. He was sorel,
puzzled Pausing for moment Ii,
looked up and said, "Well, the truth il,
I'm nothing, and amt much of that"
HE THAT sAvETH HIS LIFE SHALL LOSE 1T
The desire for personal safety pursued
to its logical conclusion makes mar
nothing and not much of that. We
leave the world without to fight it.
battles while we look after number one
AS an old negro man said, he was at tn,
battle Of Antietam. Some one askrt
him il he saw the fight. No; he sal
that he did not see the fight, but he sa,
the dead men after the fight. He sai
that the trouble with him was, "Genera
I 1.
it agin his side and General Mcclellan
was depending on him not to hoop agin
him, and So said he, Il just took and
went down in the cellar, set down on
the hc1d Of a cider barrel and let 'em
fight it out themself.n
The man who goes into tho church
with tho fundamental conception of
seeking personal safety only is apt to
leave the great struggle without to set
tie itself. Tie question Of personal
safety as fundamental principle leads
directly to neutrality and nothingncss.
ale that would save his life shall loso
it."
BLowETH WHERE IT LIsTETH.
Standardization, then, cannot con-
sist in accepting any forms or formulas.
because it is the result of spiritual
birth. You say a spiritual birth-yes,
know what Yon mean. You mean that
man has to como up to the mourners'
bench, weep and wall, repent in tears
and anguish. III going through a GER
tain Irocess he will presently come out
conyertea-bern again. l do not mean
that such birth may imply real spir-
itual birth, but upon its surface it is
purely mechanical. The spiritual birth
Is typifod by the figure of the wind.
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou nearest the sound thereof, but
censt not tell whence it cometh and
whittier it goeth; SO is every one that is
born Of tho Spirit" So are many men
outside of the church born of the Spirit
Tho breath of God, blowing with tho
pp.lt1enpss of tha 1nnLN,. brao tl,as ~,