Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-09-13

Rev. Samuel Schwarm, pastor OF the
English Lutheran Church, last evening
delivered a sermon at Odd Fellows
Hall, where the congregation are wor-
shipping during the remodeling OF
their church, that made a deep impress
sion. The subject spoken on was
Personal Conservation" He said:
A sacrifice is an offering made to
God. 1t is the consecrating of an OBJ
iect to Him to be used for His honor
and glory.
The great need of the church Of to-
day is a complete conservation on the
part of those who profess to love God.
This may be said to have always been
the one great need of the church. 1t
was for the want of such a consecra-
ton that the old Jewish Church was
rejected. This was also the great need
of the church in the days of the Apes
ties, hence Paul's earnest exhortation
as found in the text.
There is no power in existance that
could withstand the progress of the
Church of Jesus Christ if all those who
profess his name were completely con-
secrated to His service. The twelve
Apostles Of the Lord revolutionized the
history of the world Idolatry and
heather skepticism went down before
them in a short time. There was no
power that could withstand them, not
even the sword, nor fire, nor the inqui-
sition. They endured all these for
Christ, and although they persisted, the
cause of Christ triumphed over all op-
position. So the Church . Of Christ
might triumph over all to-day if we
who profess His name were only wholly
consecrated to His service. Even as it
is, with all the laxness and looseness,
and infidelity of many of those who
the name of Christ, the Church
of Christ is still the salt of the earth,
the salvation of the world. And just
in the degree that men and women
who profess the name of Christ become
consecrated to His cause will wicked
ness cease and righteousness and truth
triumph. I sincerely believe that If
every man and woman and child who
profess to love Christ were wholly
consecrated to His service the miller
MUM would dawn upon us in less than
ten years.
Talk about the great number OF
heathens In the worId. There arc
enough protesting Christians, and
enough wealth in the hands OF the
protesting Christians, to preach the
gospel to every sinner on the globe
In five years time. But there are only
a. few of these who do anything for
the cause of Christ outside Of their
own church, and many who do but
little even in their own church. Hence
consider the exhortation of the Apos-
tie the most important. subject that
could possibly be taken up.
Brethren, I beseech you, by the
mercies of God, present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, to
God, which is your reasonable service y
Let us examine this once and see what
kind of a sacrifice, or conservation, we
are to make.
A sacrifice was an offering, a gift
to the Lord. There were two classes:
Sacrifices of atonement and sacrifices
Of acknowledgment. Those which
were made for an atonement of sins
committed and those which were made
as an acknowledgment of sin. The
latter class, of course, is the kind oil
sacrifice that the Apostle urged us tc
make. God has already made the great
sacrifice of atonement in the person o.
His dear Son, Or as the poet has ex-
pressed it in our day,
"Jesus died and paid it all,
All the debt I owe"
God had done all in this respec
that was necessary, all that could bt
done. We are now to make sacrific,
Of acknowledgment. We are to show
our sense of our own sinfulness, an(
also of the wonderful love of God. il
giving His own son for us. This sac
rifice is to be a bodily sacrifice w,
are not to bring the first fruits of ou
soil, nor animals, nor yet money, as tn,
Jews did to the Temple, but our owl
bodies. We are to give ourselves Il
Cor unreservedly. Il beseech you
present your bodies living sacrifice
Just as an animal, chosen upder tn
old Jewish law for an Offering to GU
Lord was led to the door of the sane
tuary and there delivered over to b
used for the service of God, SO we ar