Newspapers / The Star of Zion … / Feb. 17, 1898, edition 1 / Page 1
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iRGkA-IN- OF TECES -A-FRIO-A-IST METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZICOST CHURCH IN LUME XXII. CHARLOTTE, N. C„ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY IT, 1898. NUMBER 10. — r THE SEALED VOLUME. A Aew Year’s Sermon Delivered By The Rev. L. G. Hemphill, P. E. WHAT BOOK IS IT ? And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a look written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals, Rev. 5sl. are to contemplate to-day, my brethren, a very curious subject which is infinitely more important than curious. It is the sealed volume of which our text speaks; a volume written by God, replete with the most thrilling informa tion, and yet not read and published, but on the eve of publication, for heaven is opened, God is seated on liis throne, and His volume, now ready to be unfolded, is seen in His hand. What book is this whose pages are about to be read ? It is not the book of nature, for that is not sealed. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.1’ It is not the book of Revelation, for that is -~-.. -7 --r-» — in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me.” It is not the book of Fate for there is no such book, but it is the book of Divine Providence, thebook of the future- It is this book which we are to consider to day— not to read it, but in view of its being read; for though we cannot read it to day, we shall read it hereafter. It is proper that we should consider it to-day, because to-day we stand upon the thres hold of a New Year. The book of Providence is the record of the divine purpose and plans with re spect to the government of the world for all time.' Of this great volume I pro pose with due caution and reverence to observe, 1. That it is thoroughly prepared, com plete. You remember that it was writ ten on the inside and the outside. It had n© blank spaces in or upon it. This is a remarkable fact, and it shows us that every event in the future is per fectly known to God, and that his own purposes and plans are deliberately adopted. There is no future with Him, For “one day is with the Lord as a thou r|g£d years, and a thousand years as one day.” As we see what is passing before us at this moment, in this house, so God sees, perfectly, at one glance, what passes in the whole universe from be ginning to end. Nothing, therefore, can take Him by surprise nor frustrate His designs. As one who writes a book knows its contents, so He, who is infi nitely wise, knows absolutely what is contained in the book of Providence, and that book contains everything in the history of the world. 2. Inasmuch as it is the. book of Di vine Providence it has a perfect record of future events. Without the possibility of knowing times, places, persons and circumstances, we may generalize some of its contents. It contains an ac curate account of the duration and the end of the world, of all the future of the Church, of all the resolutions of na tions, of all the changes in the face of nature, of all the actions and events of human life, of all the births and deaths of human beings and of all the destinies of the wicked and the righteous. These, we know, it must contain. They are all written, and are all known to God. t This shows what a solemn and awful register that book is. 3. The book of Divine Providence is anthAntin Wp lrnnw u/lm it.a AntTinr fa \ before it is opened and read. Wc see it injthe Author’s possession. John saw it in “the right hand of him that sat on the throne.” We can not only identify it as the book of God, but we recognize His authority to prepare and to publish it. Providence is as much the work of God as nature and redemption are, and bears as truly the stamp of His eternal majesty. The world is not left to chance. Its events are not accidents. History is not a fortuitous series of con secutive incidents. It is the result of infinite intelligence superintending the affairs of voluntary beings, and its evolu tions carry along with them an accumu lating proof of the presence .and power of God’s right hand arranging and con trolling their issues. 4. The book of Divine Providence is full of mysteries. It was “Sealed with Seven Seals.” Important as its con tents must be, and conscious as we are that they concern ourselves, they are known only to God. The secrets of that volume are impenetrable in advance. No finite intelligence can ^ascertain them, or reveal them to us. The “Seven Seals” symbolize the inscru tability of Providence. Its inaccessibil is .farther shown by the following ement (verse 3): “And no man in yen, nor in earth, neither under the .h, was able to open the book, neith to look thereon.” The inhabitants f heaven, exalted as they are, do not mprehend the mysteries of Provi nce. The inhabitants of earth, though ey have tried their utmost skill, can it foresee the future. The devils, ough fallen angels, cannot read the ik of Providence. God alone under itands it. 5. The desire to penetrate into the future, to look beyond the veil of time is one of the most natural and irrepressible human passions. We feel that the e is before us. We have present! ments, foreb >dings of it. Our temporal, our eternal, i.l 1 are in the future. Oh! how earnestly do we wish to know what will happen ;o-morrow, next week, this year, years t) come. We study science, the past; si;;ns, but no response falls upon the ear no ray of light relieves the sight. All is silent as death, all is dark as the shad js of night. The depth of the desire of humanity to pry into the mysteries o: the future is pathetically expressed by the apostle who witnessed the failure tc read the Providential book Said he, “I wept much, because no man was found w orthy to open and to read the book, ne ither to look thereon.” 6. In the midst of this absolute ignor ance of the f iture, of this impenetrable, oppressive d irkness, there is one source of unspeaka >le, unbounded consolation to us, that tl eliook of Divine Providence according to the merciful dispensation of God the E ather, has passed for us sin ners into thi hand of Jesus Christ His Son and olr Mediator. He is able to read it; and He alone is worthy to re ceive it in )ur behalf. ‘‘He came and took the bock out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.” And so, my brethren the whole Providential gov ernment of this world is in the hands and under be administration of “the Lamtsthat was slain for us.” While he is “the only begottou Son of God,” He is our brot ier, our Deliverer on the throne,” at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” We can leave all events in the hands of Him who “bore our sins in His body bn the tree-” This is our con solation and it is the joy of the whole earth. Whi n the book passed into the hands of Jesus, the exultation was overwhelmi lg (verses 8-14). Blind and stupid as we are, we can well afford to have the management of ah our interest i in the hands of our ascend ed Lord. And in this, we should re joice. It is infinitely better that they should be tl ere, than we should know them oursel res. 7. This sealed book will be gradually unfolded. it was written to be ulti mately read to be seen, studied and finally understood. 1. The events of Divine Providence are not known until they take place, and' they never have been, excep. to prophets. Their occur rence is to iiS the page itself which we read. It is then that the seal is broken, and we disc >ver what was written in the book. (2.) These events trauspire to uc bytheagenjy of that Saviour who re ceived the book for us. He not only prevailed tc receive it, but breaks the seals. The events of life are thus dealt out to us, a sd it is our duty to recognize tlje hand of Christ in them. (3.) These events in he hands of Jesus Christ transpire nuccessively. They do not all come at once. Each has its time and place. There is a plan and there is order in Di /ine Providence. The book had seven s^als, and these seals enclosed seven folds and each of these seven folds contained its own catalogue of events. We learn also that the seals were broke l at intervals one after anoth er, until thi; last compartment of the book revea ed the last recorded transac tions. It iii so with the course of Divine Providence toward the world, toward the Church, toward individuals. Its movements are wisely distributed with a view to ths divine glory and humaD good acco ding to our necessity and ability, anti they continue in a regular series until the work of Providence shall be fulfilled. o. me dook or i'rovidence will be finally anc fully unsealed. Not only will all it! contents be realized iu the history of :hc race, but they will all be intelligible when read in the light of eternity. All the events of the Divine Governme it will be vindicated to the reason of mankind, and will extort the universal commendation: “Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Al mighty. Tust and true are thy ways, thou Kin/; of Saints.” And what will be the mos t wonderful of all conclusions will be th( perfect agreement between the three great books of God—the books of Nature, of Revelation and ef Provi dence. A11 three of them will be the history of God Himself. Let us i nprove this subject to-day. (1.) T1 is first Sabbath of the year re minds us )f the darkened future which lies beforo'us. The experience of the past shedi no light upon it. It is full of events, be t we know not what they are. Many thi igs will befall ourselves, our families a nd our friends, but we know them not, The whole is a sealed vol ume, seal ;d with “seven seals.” It is well that God has concealed this knowl edge fron. us. Could we attain it we would not be lenefited by it. It would en hance neither our happiness nor our vir tue. If some of those seals were broken to us to-day, we could not endure the sight. We pray God to fold up the volume a ;ain. We shall witness them full soon Let us not indulge in painful appreher sion. (2.) Tie solemnity of the future is greatly iiicreased by the present condi tion of t he country. Dismal shadows flit betor b us. The state of public affairs does not seem to improve. The future, in this r aspect, is* not cheering. The old greet ing of friendship and hope even appears unseasonable. A Happy New Year is i lmosl a mockery. Those bright expectat ons ol business and prosperity which w b formerly indulged in at th'e beginnir g of each year, have ceased to lend the: r charms to the new epoch of our livet. [OONUNtJND ON FOURTH PAQS.] BIBLICAL EPISCOPACY. Distinctive Orders: Summing Up The Evidences Regarding It. BY BISHOP C. C. PJETTBY, A. M., D. D.# LETTSB NO. 5. I do not believe in the parity of the ministry. Bro. Bloice said in his first ar ticle that our Lord “created no distinc tion in the ministry of those whom He called to preach.” From the very beginning Bro. Bloice seems to have directed his arrows at our own Church polity; and could he substantiate his' above assertion, and that the Apostles commissioned by Christ recognized no distinction in the order of the ministry, Zion in common with al* other Churches having the Episcopal form of government would be found baseless, unwarranted as the work of self-aggrandizing men, and without scriptural support left unprotected to the fusillade of our enemies. Could I believe it, I would exclaim to the watch men on the towers of Zion, “Come down from thy watch, for the treasure thou guardest is valueless, and thine orders clandestine.” But I thank God that this is not true, for the old Ship *of Church as launched by our fathers is ironclad and safe. I never knew the full extent of my love for Zion and her Episcopal polity until one of her own sons turned his battery against her very foundations. To me, this is a very serious matter. I am not writing to gain public notoriety; but as a steward of the Lord And a ser vant of my Church, I feel it to be my in dispensable duty to defend my Chureh, together with the polity established by the Apostles and Fathers, and “bear wit ness to the truth.” “For this cause’’ said Jesus, when standing before Pilate’s bar, “came I into the world.” Let us sum up the evidences regarding distinctive orders in the ministry. See Luke 10:1 “After these things, the Lord appointed other seventy also; and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place whither he himself would come.” In the revised version it reads thus—“Now after these things, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them two and two,” etc. Norton’s translation reads thus—“Af ter this the Master selected seventy others also,” etc. The literal interpre tation as I find it in the Hellenistic Greek is “Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy others also,”— using the Greek word anedeixen (appoint ed) and apesteilen autous (sent them.) Bro. Bloice in his last article referring to the ordination of the Apostles says the word “epoiesen” in Mark 3 :14 also means “to appoint.” Then these seven ty like the twelve were appointed with out any distinction as to orders, ac cording to Bro Bloice’s translation. He reminds , me of a three-year-old child which came into my study the other day with a pictorial primer in its hands, and looking at the pictures, said a b c, cow; a b c, horse; a b c, dog; a b c, bird, etc So with Bro. Bloice. Epoiesen means to appoint, anedeixen means to appoint and apesteilen means to appoint. All these Greek words seemingly look alike, and mean the same to him.' Now take the word epoiesen from poieo which will bear twenty or more renditions: (1) It means to make, create, build, construct. (2) To compose. (3) To create, etc., etc. Sn with all nf these words thev are cana ble of many renditions Bro. Bloice or any one who can read Greek at all could separate these words from the several contexts and so translate them into his ideal harmony as to destroy every mean ing that they now Jiavo in the New Testiment Scriptures and thus build for himself a distinct and independent sys tem of theology. Too much of this has already been practiced by selfish men; some trying to air their scholastic attain ments and others endeavoring to shield their erroneous denominational dog mas. In order to translate these words so as to give them the meaning intended by the authors of the Greek texts, each passage should be translated with an eye to the mind and spirit of the author which alone is found in the context; and as regards the full meaning of these words, I think I might add that it would be necessary to study the conduct and practice of the Apostles who used them. Tie Greek language is more flexible than the English and this is the reason why infidels and skeptics can prove Biblical discrepancies. They select passages, place their own construction thereon without any regard for the con text, apparently making the Bible lie. It is very strange that all of the various denominations, (Quakers and the like excepted,) wiih their learned Doctors o^ Divinity, recognize a n ordination as necessary to constitute the ministry, and then find some of these same learned men who have received these orders arguing against the ordina. tion of the Apostles. Are we charged with greater responsibilities than they? For the sake of argument, I will accept of the Apostles being' simply ap pointed (and not ordained) if Bro. Bloice will agree that his ordination as an elder was simply an appointment by the Bishop to that office. It matters very little what you call it, as it is not tbename of the act so much that we are discussing as it is the act itself. Bro- Bloice in his last article reminds me of the fact that Peter speaking in reference to the bishopric in Acte 1:30 did not use the Hebrew tongue, but the Septuagint Greek. Tijank you, Bro ! Bloice, this makes it miich better. Pe ! ter then doubtless b id a thorough knowledge of both languages; the Septuagint in which bespoke, and the Hebrew from which it wa# translated. In speaking of Ailing the vacancy of Judas, ho said, “Kai tain Epitcopain autou laboi heterot." (An 1 hts bishopric let another take.) Petei here uses the word Epitcopain referrli.g to, the office; then it follows that the Tuan who filled the Epitcopain mast have been an Epit copot. : Once, again Bro. Bloice, I ask you to retire with Peter and straighten this matter. [TO BE CONTIS IJBD.] Newbern, N. C. YONKERS (N. Y.) NOTES. BY SARAH E. OLIVER. Mr. Editor: It hat been a long time since I have had the pleasure of' writing to the Star or Zion. As our church and Sunday-school have not been reported in some time, I would like to tell vou ih a fsw words how Zion is getting along in Yonkers. Under the efficient pastorate of our most worthy pastor, Rev. W. H. Newby, I can truly say that our church is improving spiritually and financially. The membership is also increasing. We have with us now one of Zion’s most enthusiastic Chris tians to help Rev. Newby in the revi val meetings which began on New Year’s night. I imagine when the members and friends tj>f the Virginia Conference read the nam6 of Rev. Edeny, of Franklin, Va., they will know of the power we have among us in Yonkers, N. Y. J haVW heard of his being a great singer, but when I heard him, I did not wonder that any one could not express in words the real charm of his mua.cal talent. We have had him v/ith ns only one night, but the impression which he made upon both Christians and sinners is wonderful, and Binders will not "be able to resist his powerful singing and preaching long, j We had with us Sunday night, Bishop A. Walters who preached a most beautiful and etaquept sermon. I say beautiful, because it is the ad jective best fitted to describe it, as everything in it pertained to sublime beauty. Now a word abort the Sunday school, and I am through. It is in a progressive condition. On the 2nd of December the Suo day-school gave a very nice concert, ind through the efforts of the superintendent, who was assisted by the teichers, it proved a success. We realiz< d enough money to give a Christmas s:ar instead of a Christmas tree, which was quite a novelty in Yonkers, as many had never seen any before, and everybody was very much pleased wi$jh it. Each member was made happy with a pres ent off the Star. . The exercises were very interesting and enjoyed by a large congregation. On Sunday afternoon the Sunday school enjoyed a very instructive and impressive address by Bifehop A. falters, which I i.m sure all who heard it will never fsrget. The Odd Fellow’s Lodge of Tuske gee, Ala., appointed J. “Williams, W. P. Frazier and W. N. Chambliss a committee to extend thanks to the kind, studious, thoightful and elo quent 6. M. Gudgsr for the noble sermon he preached to them the second of May. The J^dge prom ised to heed his advice: and make glad his heart in tt e neajr future by giving him something that none of us would refuse. —o— Miss Frances Vickers, of Key West, Fla., writes: Oar pastor, Rev. G. W. Maize, B. D. is doing a good work here. Zion iB alive. Oar Sab bath-school is prosf erous under Sup erintendent Isaac ' Murray. Our Woman’s Day service is^the th’rd Sabbath in this mor th. The young ladies will take an active part in it. We love to read th.i sparkling Stab. We love our great Zion.. —-c— Bishop Hood always writes strong, sensible, masterly article.’ He has the happy faculty o> saying something at the right time! and in the right place. The presiding elder system is one of the organic laws of the Metho dist Church—a fh ture^-and can no more be changed linan can the G< THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS The Life More Abundant. Illustrated By Bible Mountain*. V. D. DAVID, TAMIL EVANGELIST OP INDIA. I will now take up the subject of “the life more abundant,” illustrating this truth by pointing out Seven Mountains which will give you a clear idea of God’s teaching in His Word 0:1 this very im portant subject. .FIRST MOUNTAIN: MT. SINAI. This typifies the law 7f God. Every sinner must come to the experience of this mountain before he goes any further. When the Spirit of God convicts a man of his sins by His law, he sees the wretehedneae and misery of seal. He experiences the flames an d smoke of Mt. Sinai. He sees the true photograph of his heart, and he finds that nothing in the world can satisfy him. He realizes the condemnation testing on his head, and he cries out “What ihall I do to be saved ?” (Acts 16:30 ) To know the true God and* His Son Jesus Christ is .life eternal. “And this is life eternal, that they may know then, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, vrliom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3 ) Friend, did you visit this mountain when you were convicted of your sins ? Was this vour exnerienei ? Perhana von did not see yourself a g -eat sinner; but did not you see that .you were a lost sinner and going to hell" Did not you see that you were wrong in the sight of God? That is the first n ountain visited by every sinner convictel of his sinful ness by the Spirit of God. “And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and oi! righteousness, and of judgment.” (R. '7. John 16:8.) SECOND MOUNTAIN: MT. CALVARY. This represents the grace ofOod. When the Spirit of God convicts a man of hit sin and shows him the need of a Savior, then he is brought face o face with Mt Calvary where he sees Jesus crucified. In Him he finds pardon for 1 is sins and peace within. Calvary was the place where God’s justice and mercy met together. That is, judgment was passed upon Je sus, and the door of mercy was opened to every sinner that repcnteth. “Mercy and truth are met together. Righteous ness and peace have kissed each other.” (Ps. 85:10.) The Spirit of God shows him very clearly what Christ has done for him, and how God laid his sins on Him on the tree, (“Wiio his own sell bare our sins in his own body on tht tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed,” I Peter 2:24), and hov he can find pardon for Ms sins and have “peace with God.” He sees that all of his sins were laid on Christ, and now he knows that he has “pansed from death unto life.” (I John 3:14) He sees very clearly that his sins were laid on Jesus, and cannot be laid on him again. Chrisi was punished, and he cannot be pun ished again. He realises that his sins cannot be in two places, and he believes what the Lord says: “ ill we like sheet have gone astray; we hs ve turned ever\ one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Is. 53:6 ) He takes Him at His word and says: “Oh, I praise the Lord ! My sins are laid on Jesus. I k iow it. I see it. I believe it. I have it. God says it. Peace with God,” (Rem. 5:1.) Pardon for all sins to whosoever believetb. (Rom. 10:10.) “With ;he heart man bc lieveth unto righteousness.” I THIRD MOUNTAIN: MT. BEATITUDE, The Spirit of God then takes him to Ann f nnniihi^n tlin ooKnnl 4 r\m nh J1 dren who are bom of God. Mt. Beati tude is the place whore all Christian* must gc for their learn: ng. It is at the feet of Jesus. “His disciples came unto him, and he taught them.” (Matt. 5:1.) You may attend on 3 of the greatest colleges in America or elsewhere; you may go under a great teacher who un derstands theology, Greek, Latin and Hebrew;but he can only stuff your brain with knowledge, he cannot teach you heavenly things unless you have first been taught- in this theological class at the feet of Jesus. This is t he trouble nowa days. 1 do not despiue theological sem inaries, nor do I despise Greek, Latin and all that. It is a very nice thing to have good materials; but you should have the Tree of Lifo before you have the Tree of Knowledge. Now a-days people climb up on the Tree of Knowl edge and eat all to fruits before they get the Tree of Life. Many seminaries are helping their pupil* to know the Tree of Knowledge and its fruits before imparting the kuowlt dge of the saving, keeping and satisfying power of the Tree of Life. This improves the knowl edge of the young stt dents and satisfies their .bra^ns^ but their hearts are dissat isfied and empty without the Tree of Life, Jesus. “Knowsledge puffeth up.” (I Cor. 8:1.) It only helps young men to go on to the Tree of Knowledge and eat all those poisonous fruits before they get the Tree of Life in their hearts. O, friend, first eat the fruit .of the Tree of Life at the feet of C irist/^nd be filled with the grace of Christ and^is Spirit? aiovely thing to sit at the feet of Christ on Mount Beatitude! There your Lord teaches you all about yourself, and all about Himself, and leads you unto all truth. May God help y m! First the Tree of Life, and second the Tree of Knowledge “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev. 22:3.) “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt. 11:29.) FOURTH MOUNT AIM: MOUNT MORIAH. After learning more of your life at the feet of Christ, you find the necessity of contecration and of yielding your will to Him once for ail, and you are led to Mount Moriah, the place of consecra tion. There all your pet theories are -ex ploded. Tour Isaacs are sacrificed. You lay everything on the altar, your nets, boats and'old father Zebedee as well. Thgn you will be willingto be anything, to go anywhere, to sit or be sat upon, to be called mad, fanatic, or to be hooted at, even to become the very dust of the earth for Christ’s sake. Many have not found the necessity of going to Mt. Mo riah to yield their all, especially their will, because they were not taught at the feet of Christ to understand the exact state of their inward life and the beauty of Christ. This mountain represents separation, yielding and cleansing. “And he said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thon lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering npon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” (Gen. 22:2.) “Present your bodies a living sacrifice.” (Rom. 12:1.) Have you visited this mountain? Have you yielded your all? Have you really separated yourself from all the evils of the world, the habits of the world and the fashions of the world? Can you honestly say that your darling Isaacs have been sacrificed before God ? Have you really yielded your wills uncondi tionally, once for all? Oh, friend, until you pass Mount Moriah, you cannot be led to the experience of transfiguration and to serve God. Yield all on the altar aow! Do away with your Isaacs. Be honest with God. Ask Him to cut you '.hrough and through, to scrutinize your heart, thoughts, motives and desires. Yield all, and believe He has accepted it. “I the Lord search the heart, I try the rains.” (Jer. 17:10) FIFTH MOUNTAIN: MT. HEBMON. /The Spirit of God then leads to Mount Hermon, the place of transfiguration. The transfigured Christian is brought face to face with Christ in His glory. All human understandings, flesh, self-like, dl disappear, and he sees Jesus only. He sees Him, and wants to abide with Him. He does not wish to come down from the Mount of Transfiguration. He feels as if he wanted to put- three' tents ipon the mountain. He is altogether taken up with the Lord; he forgets the world and all the pleasures of the world. He is satisfied with seeing his own Sa vior and admiring His comeliness, and he is also lost in His beauty, and “Changed into the same image,. from glory to <lory.” • (2 Cor. 3:18.) * Have you been transfigured? Have vou visited this mountain? Can you <ay you are “made to sit in heavenly olaccs” now (Eph. 2:6)? Are you sitting ■n heavenly places now, or do you think vou are going to get there after death)? Do you see anybody else, or “Jesus on ly” nowf_ What is your topic when you ^peak ?^Vhat are your thoughts? What is your aim ? Jesus only or something else? If not Jesus only, there is still ahnnti von. Yon need to no to YIt. Moriah to get rid of your old man, flesh and self* If yon are on the Mount of Transfiguration, you see Jesus only living in your heart* He Himself is the Dower, the victory, joy and peace. You shall always be in the spirit, and un broken communion will be your experi ence in life. You will surely go from glory to glory, seeing Jesus only. They saw Jeans only. They did not see them selves, nor did they see Moses and Eli jah, although they saw them first. Now they see “no mac but Jesus only.” (Matt. 17:8.) The trouble now in churches, meet ings and great gatherings is that people seek applause, and almost every one likes to be praised; but when Jesus, the wonderful Ark of the Covenant, lives in the heart, Dagon falls prostrate. Ish mael is cast out and then all glory reigns within. Oh, what a difference will be the result when every believer gets on the Mount of Transfiguration! Then they will lose all sight of man, and all sight of themselves, and will 'see Jesus only. Friends, you cannot glorify God until you come to this Mount of Trans figuration. sixth uouHTAnr rrr. PiSGAH. Then the Spirit of God leads unto Mt. Pisgah to see the Glory-land, (Deut. 34:-1 1)—that is the foretaste of heaven. -Heav en is not, as some people seem to think, only to be enjoyed after death. That is a serious mistake. Do you see the Glo ry-land? How far is it? Is it a long journey to you? Christians who are transfigured art now rejoicing and are already in the Glory-land by faith. By faith you shall see all that is for you. “Eye coHTunnD off SPARES FROM ELMIRA. BMce—Davenport—Editor— No Color Line In.Wy Church. BY REV. SYLVESTER L. CORBOTHEBS. I haven’t written to the Star in two or three years. I see that Rev. Mr. Bloice and Rev. Mr. Davenport are determined to let Zion Connec tion know that they are still living. Rev. Bloice seems to think that our ministry ie not threefold in its ordi nation. I hope he will be able to prove it, bat it looks doabtfal. Pos sibly he can prove that the Trinity is a mere supposition, and that the three in one are without foundation. Rev. Mi. Davenport was perhaps, “accidently,” left off the program committee at the Bishop’s reception in Philadelpaia, and he is up in arm^ about it. He is representing the sixth episcopal district without au thority. He iB a very brilliant young man. Well, I believe every man ought to make himself felt if he has not the ability to gather great congregations, organize and build great churches and raise large sums of money for the religious and mate riai au van cement oi me cnurcn ana the people he serve?. I suppose they have to do as a great many of onv. ~ men are doing—raise a row with the men that can do these things. Mr. EJi'or, I congratulate you op* on the very splendid euccegs you are making of the Star. You were my choice for editor before the General Conference assembled in Mobile. I felt you were the man for the place. I think that it can be said without re gard to others that you are the most fearless and the ablest defender of • the interest and reputation of the A. M. E. Zion Church that has ever en tered its cfficial organ. I suppose you have heard of the wonderful progress that God has granted us in this field of labor. Our church has grown from a small frame structure to a mammoth btiok build- ' ing, 90x53, with a Beating capacity of abont eight hundred or a thousand, with a lec ture room, dining room, re ception room, pastor’8 study and two beautiful parlors. In our parlor we can seat over 100 persons; in our dining room over 150. Oar mem bership h is grown from about 70 to 300. Wo have an attendance from abont 40(1 to 500. The color line is broken. Scores of white people attend all onr serv ices, and several have joined our church. We have a Citizeh’s Com mittee composed of 15 or 20 white citizens that are known as the “Citi zen’s Committee of the A. M. E. Zion church of Elmira, New York.” Many of them are of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of onr city. This committee was organized after tho great Winter revival of 1896 which resulted in the conver sion of over 100 white persons. In many respects this is one of the greatest churches in Zion, called the Douglas* Memorial A. M. E. Zion church. Mr. Editor, I extend to yon at your convenience a cordial invitation to this the queen city of the great State of New York. Elmira, N. Y. H Sister Henrietta Holley, of Annis ton, Alg., says* Eav. J. H. Booker, f.hp. riffht man in the riohfc nlace. is oar pact or. We have had several ac cession* to the church this year. Oar charch is flourishing. I am one of the young members of the charch. —o— “Different Thoughts" is my theme. A.t the day of Judgment the book of memory will be opened. Every man will be at the judgment seat. Many illustrious man hive gine over the Jordan :>f death leaving their marks on the sands of time. In Zion to-day great a en are preaching, teaching, working. Our Zion has had many assailants Dr. J. M. Henderson and bis crowd had better let Z<on alone. Our Editor and Bishop Walters are watching him. Henderson is a great man—ia his own estimation. He shot at a mark and missed it entire ly. Tie Sabbath-echool literature has improved under Superintendent Blackwell. I look with desire for the St/.r. I love its editorials. Dr. Smith, you are a brown skiq white gentleman. The brethren ought to feel as named to address you “col
The Star of Zion (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 17, 1898, edition 1
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