North Carolina Newspapers

THE EPISCOPAL METHODIST. PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF METHODISM IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. Vol. II. EALEIGH, 2ST. C.? -A.TTGT7ST 10, 18G8. . :J1 Stjc fulfil 3IctIioUisiu. Extract from a Sermon delivered by Jlcv. H. Craven, D. I). 3. 2nc Holy Spirit is given in pro portion to 'prayer and faith. All the Protestant churches taught at and be fore "Wesley's day, that the Spirit ac companies the Word, and that by Him are wrought all spiritual changes ia the heart, but that He would be mani fested without limit, in answer to pra-er and faith, to convict, to con vert, and to bless, was not only a new Biblical interpretation, but was so re pugnant to the lifeless formalism of the age, as to be scorned as a mad en thusiasm, and most bitterly hated as a dangerous innovation. No specialty of Methodism has been so generally opposed, or so sneeringly contemned, and yet it is as clearly taught in tho Bible as that Jesus Christ died for sin ners. This is the divine power and fire, working with and through the two preceding functions, and making them able to pull down the strong holds of the devil. It is not our the ology, or zeal, or organization, or itin erancy, that has been the effective ' force to keep us up with the success of nations, and to give us the mastery over all the activities of modern life; but mighty men of God, asking and j receiving the Holy Ghost in large measure, have preached the word ia power, and have produced effects that were a stumbling-block to formalists and foolishness to worldly wisdom. Tln3 heavenly unction, this anointing of the Holy Ghost, this clothing of words, gestures and tones with the eternal spiri, was first developed in the modern pulpit by Mr. "Wesley, and is infinitelv more convincing than all argument, and higher aau nobler than oratory. It is this which has made our uneducated, inexperienced preaeh .ts, such invincible sons of thunder; it i this that has made oar exhorta tion, now sadly neglected, such a blessing to tho church and to the -world. "Whoever has been in a great Ale tho dist congregation upon a day, when the Holy Ghost gave great power and efficiency to all the service, and richly dwelt in the hf arts cf the people, will never forget it; even down to old age, j he will remember that he has stood upon Mt. Pisgab, and felt breezes from the better-land. There is noth ing sublimer this side of heaven, than the effects of prayer and faith upon a congregation ; it was astonishing to England at first, and is a marvel 3-et .even to some evangelical Churches. These great displays of divino power were perhaps more sought, and more -common, but not more needed in oth ,er days than at present; we are most unwisely relying more upon talent and culture, plans and visiting, and less upon the Holy Ghost, However beau tiful and useful these agencies may be as auxiliaries, none of them can sub stitute the living Spirit of God in the Methodist Church. "We have some times seen these works of the Spirit as clearly as objects of sense. Sometimes, when the sermon and the exhortation have failed to bring weeping penitents to the altar, the congregation hs ris en in the silent grandeur of faith, and soon the hardest hearts by scores were melted before the Lord; or when praying penitents have failed to be converted, and father and mothers were weeping over their children, the Church in deep humiliation has pray ed as one man, and not long after wards, shouts and hosannahs were heard as the sounds of many waters; or when tho spiritual heavens have long been as brass, and every soul was fam ishing, then in answer to fervent pray er, the Lord has suddenly come to his temple, and all hayo been filled with glory and with God. Then all could feel and sing, " Tho men of grace have found Glory bepfun below; Celestial fruit on earthly ground From faith and hopo may grow." Whatever may be the experience of individuals and of Churches, this mani festation of tho Spirit in answer to prayer is thoroughly Methodistie, and without it we are aa sounding brass and as tinkling cymbals. This same Gospel function has been dism, in another particular closely al lied to the above, viz: that when we are converted we may kncio our acceptance with God. The old interpretation was, that the Bible describes a Christian, we by consciousness and observation know that we accord with the descrip tion; therefore and thus, we know we are Christians. But Methodism takes a standpoint higher, clearer and vast ly more satisfactory, viz: that the Holy Ghost bears witness or gives evidence directly to our souls that we are the children of God; that our spirit by consciousness testifies to the reality of this witness of the spirit and to our new condition; and that by observa tion we verify these inward testimo nies by the fruits of the spirit; and furthermore, that in this condition in answer to prayer and faith, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and that thus we not only have promise and hope, but present personal joy, in describable and full of glory. This, in Mr. Wesley's day, was believed by none but the Moravians, and by all others was most furiously and scoffing -y opposed. Tho Moravians had neith er comprehended nor enjoyed religion in such fulness and power as did the Methodists; this laughing, crying, shouting and praising Ood was a now bloom upon the Gospel tree, and. with all its heavenly hues and divine fra grance, is the jest and sarcasm of near ly all who oppose us. This is pecu liarly Mt'thadistic, and our earnest prayer is, that it may rapidly grow in extent and power; that those among us who never praised God, may soon begin ; that in winter and summer, in youth and in age,- " We may tell to all around What a dear Saviour we have found." This is the strength of the Church in extending the kingdom of God, and nurturing souls for heaven. O, that God would powerfully re vive religion in all the Churches; that mere morality, formality and luke warraness. may I o qnickt ned and kin dled into ablaze of holy fire, and that Methodism in her fulness of spiritual life may everywhere be heard singing and shouting on her journey home. Is our Christianity Lapsing? There are plenty of people to bi found, and there have always been those who constantly aver that the "good old times" were better than the present; that the people were more virtuous, their habits less extravagant, and that religion and morals were bet ter conserved; as well w-r3 a 1th material interests of lifo on amor, sound and prosperous footiug. B t we are not of these. We believe that in most respects this age in all its a: -plianees for human happiness is muc in advance of any former one. have but to compare our state at the present time with those times ot feu dal bondage that cursed Europe for so many centuries, to become convin ced of this. Imagine our present de veloped civilization, its knowledge, tol eration and humanity transformed in -to the condition of Europe in medieval ages. Where now we have the broad beam of science shining upon our pathway, the most unrestricted liber ality oi thought and conscience; where we now see the ancient walls of re striction and intolerance broken down and millions of earth shaking hands over their ruins; 'where novy is frater nity and co-operation in great human itarian enterprises, we should see mil lions trodden down under tho mean est and most cruel military despotism that ever cursed the earth. We have developed jn a large ap plication of Christian philanthropy, If wo only now know hey to use what wo possess, rightfully, temperately, how to make the advantages that are thicklv strewn about us redound to our highest good, tho world wonld soon be very much better than it now is. But we haye gone to an extreme, just as we human beings are wqnt to do. We have learned grand lessons during the last fifty years; we have be come infatuated with knowing merely, while we have not paused to review and apply what we nave learned. Learning new facts, be they ever so wondrous in their manifestations, is no benefit to the individual unless er type. But while we have been da zed by this whirl of rapidly developing things and thoughts, wo have forgot ten this important fact, and character culture is being very much neglected. Sensatiou is the felt want of the peo ple now something that can please for a passing hour, that shall titillate the nerves, and give excitement to the senses. Things of yesterday are dash ed away in disgust, and the hungry cry is, ''Give us some unheard novelty or wonder." Commonplaces, which are really the best things this lifo can I aflord, are endured, not enjoyed. Tho common modes . of life are never thought of by our young xeople when they start out in life. Somo extraor dinary course is marked out, full of the exquisite and sensuous for a life occupation and for enjoyment. Thou sands of men and women are yearly coming to maturity filled with this disgust of common life, and are seek ing some grand,- famous sphere of ac tivity, or, if actuated by lower motives, are seeking enjoyment in scenes of sensuous excitement, in "gay and fes tive" circles. Of course most of them are disappointed, and, becoming dis gusted with life, they go off into hy pochondria, vice, and often suicide. We are each week shocked with the announcement of cases of suicide oc curring in all the walks of life. Th e rich as well as the poor are victims of this anomolous manifestation of hu man frailty. These are characteristics cf tho present, which, if fully developed, shall vitiate our civilization and cause us to retrograde towards barbarism despite onr science, railroads, telegraphs, and all our discoveries in the arts. The faculties of men must be mobilized in to strong characters, And the best agency to this end is Christian, moral culture. We may possess faculties of invention, discovery, wonder and prog ress, but if we have not that stead fastness that coraes of fixity of moral principle, oar genious shall only con duce to the supply of curious trapping to pamper the vitiated tastes of an ef fete civilization, instead of aiding in the harmonious development of hu man character, which can only make life happy or even endurable. We, as a whole, are not lapsing, yet are forced to admit that thero are ie:i dencies in our social circles that must be counteracted by the efforts of all Christians. Let ua not sigh over "the good old days but honor God and work for Christ by striking at the root of every existing vice. Let us raise the standard Gf Christianity by bing more devoted, more consecrated, more in sympathy with the erring and fall en. Let us tenderly, kindly manifest our anxiety for lost souls by inviting theiu to a purer, a holier life. Then will all these direful sins vanish before the brightness of heaven's own gl ry, the dark and barren wilderness bloom as the rose of Sharon, the sons of men shout fur joy, and the Church movo on to victory !- Golden Censer. Contentment. Rothschild with all his wealth must be satisfied with the same sky that is over the poor man, He cannot order a private sunset, that be Pfty enjoy it with a circle cf friends, nor can he add one single ray to the clear, bright beams of the queen of night, as she sails magnifieiently through the heav ens. The richest banker cannot have more than his share of the air to breathe, and the poorest of all men can have the same. Wealth may buy a brilliant bracelet, dazzling with diamonds and rubies, but wealth cannot buy a grace ful and well-turned arm on which to display its splendor. God only can give that, and to many of the poor he has given it. " I wish I had the health of that rosy peasant girl," sighs the aristocrat ic invalid, propped up with pillows in her costly carriage. " Ab, me !'" sighs the girl, if I could only ride in such style as that." Wealth cannot pur chase health, nor can it give a content ed mind. All that is most valuable can bo had for nothing. They come as presents from the hand of a kind in dulgent parent, and neither the air nor tho sky, no beauty, health, strength, nor genius, can be bought and sold. Whatever may ba thy condition in life remember these things and therewith The Love of Christ. m BEV. r. UAVIES, sea without The love of Christ ! a bottom or shore, a river without be ginning or end. This love of Christ shed abroad in the hearts of tho apos tles constrained them, inspired, actu ated, incited or impelled them to brave all dangers, to make all sacrifice, run all risks, and to count not their lives dear unto them, so they might carry out the great plan of redemption in bringing souls to Jesus, and pluck ing brands from the eternal burn ing, It was this love that gave them such power to turn tho world upside down, and fill not only Palestine but also tho civilized world with their doc trine. Without temples, without wealth, without secular or political power, still they went on till they numbered their converts not only in the city of Rome but in the palace of Ciesar. This wa s the lovo that inspir ed the reformers and martyrs, which led theni to do and daro, and to die for the souls of men. This sustains the missionary in his self-sacrificing toil, See the sainted Judson with his devoted wives, sustained amid their awful sufferings in the wilds of India. An Indian missionary said, " I could only hear one Indian cry out, God be merciful to me a sinner." Such was the love of Christ in the hearts of tho Moravian missionaries when they were told that they could find no wood in Greeland to build ; houses, they replied: ! "Then wo will die in flm ornnnd .nirl live there." mi . j t . j.ms is mo uurnmg love inat eve rfl minister of Christ ought to have. This will give them the right temper of soul for pulpit for pastoral work. This will lead them to plead with men to come to Christ, in public and from house to house. What is learning without love ? It is like coals without fire, Gr like gunpowder without the spark. The learned John Smith said, "I am resolved to lay aside all other studies, and to travail in tho salva tion of men's sords." ! Besidtjs subordinate, historical and Eloquence in the minister can never allegorical figures, the gigantic rcprc take the place of this lovo of Christ, sentaiion of Luther, at Worms, stands Take this love from the hearts of Pun- amid a group of four other colossal shon cr Spurgeon, and you have taken j statues, above all of which it rises six awav their strength. What would ! teen and a half feet. Theso statues the devoted Suinnierfield or the flam ing Payson have been without this fire of love ? This love will help tho minister to overcome the wickedness of tho hu man heart. This will givo hitu the victory when evory othor sourco fails. This love will not rest without success. The author of "Allrine's Alarm was infinitely and insatiably greedy of the conviction of souls, and to thi3endhe poured out his very heart in prayer and preaching. Bunyan said, "In my preaching I could not be satisfied un less somo fruit did appear in my work."' Matthew Henry said, "I would think it a greater happiness to gain one soul to Christ than mountains of gold and silver to myself. If I do not gather souls I shall enjoy all other gains with little satisfaction'" Dr. Doddridge wrote to a friend, "I long for tho conversion of souls more sensibly than for anything else beside. Methinks I could not only labor but die for it with pleasure." The local preacher, class leader, Sabbath School teacher, yea, all the laborers in tho vineyard of tho Lord, need this all-inspiring, all-conquering spirit, till they can sing with tho po et, "The love of Christ doth mo constrain To seek i he wandering souls of men ; With cries, entreaties, tears to save, And snatch them from a gaping grave." To secure this lovo be much in pray er, and in tho exercises of faith, and give full vent thereto, in tho earnest and constant toil for the salvation of men. May this heayfisly flro fall on all. The Gospel is just good news about God and his Son Jesus Christ. It is nGt g sod news about inyself but sim ply and solely about God and Christ. It tells me of the exceeding riches f the grace of God. It tells me that there is salvation for me salvation to tho uttermost through the cross and Which will You do? j Which will you do, smile and make i others happy, or be crabbed and make I ever3'ty around you miserable ? You can live among beautiful flowers and singing birds, or in the mire surround ed by fogs and frogs. The amount of happiness which yon can produce is incalculable, if you will only show a smiling face, a kind heart, and speak pleasant words. On the other hand, by sour looks, cross words, and a fret ful disposition, you can make hundreds unhappy almost beyond endurance. Which will you do ? Wear a pleasant countenance; let joy beam in your eyo and love glow in your forehead. There is no joy so great as that which springs from a kind act or pleasant deed, and you may feel it at night when you rest, and in the morning when you rise, and thrughout tho day when about your daily business. Fate of the Apostles. Matthew is supposed to have suffer ed martyrdom, or was slain in tho city of Ethiopia, Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria, in Egypt, till ho expired, Luke was hanged to an olive tree in Greece. John was put in a boiling cauldron at Borne, but escaped death. Re died a natural death in Ephesus, Asia James, tho great, was beheaded at Jerusalem. James, the less, was thrown from a pinnacle ami beaten to death. Philip was beheaded- Bartholomew was skinned alive. Andrew was crucified and pounded while dying. Thomas was run through with a lance. Judo wa3 shot with arrows. Simon was crucified.. Matthias was stcned to death. Barnabas was stoned, Paul was beheaded by tho tyrant Nero at Rome. Lutacr. represent the four precursors of the Reformation the French Peter Wal do, tho English John Wycliffe, the Bo hemian John Huss, and the Italian Jerome Savonarola. The Law of Veracity is Violated. When we state as true what wo do not know to be true. When wo intentionally produce a false impression. When wo find that tye have, though undesignedly, conveyed a false im pression and do not hasten to correct it. When in the statement of what may bo true in fact, we purposely omit any circumstances which are necessary to a correct apprehension of the truth. When we exaggerate or extenuate any of those circumstances. When we purposely arrange the facts of a true representation in such a man ner as to deceive. When, with intention to deceive, we accompany a stat&ment with a look of the eve, a tone of the voice, a motion of the head, or anything which may influence the mind and conduce to a false impression. When we answer a question evasive ly, so as to deceive, under the secret pretense that the enquirer has no right to know tho truth. When by word or aut wo create an expectation which we do not intend to j fulfil. When v.e create an expectation which, though wo intend to fulfil it,; we afterwards fail to fulfil, without due j care to explain cau.se of the fail ure. Wheu we do not fulfil a promise in every respect precisely as we supposed the promise understood it. When we fulfil a contract or a prom ise in every particular except as to " time," and make no effort, show no disposition, to givo early notice that On Swearing. Cowjierwasan English poet. Ho wrote beautiful hymns. Ho wrote some line3 also about swearing, which it would be worth while for every boy in the land to learn. "It diills my blood to bear the blent Supreme Kutl'-iy appealed to oa each trifling tbcnic; Maintain your rank; vulgarity deapiae; Te .-voar id neither brave, polito nor wise." If you wish never to swear big oaths, tho best plau is not to make use of little ones. Somo who would not swear by tho name of God, think nothing of swear ing "by George," or "by jingo," or by something else; others often cry out, " good gracious," or " mercy on mc," and the like. These are the beginnings of swearing. They are to profano swearing what acorns are to tho oak. Our Savior said, when on earth, "Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; for whatever is more than this cometh of evil." This means we should use plain, simplo language. Davidhad ft short prayer to this point "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; and keep the door of my lips." The Piguity of the Ministry. When tho celebrated George Her bert informed a court friend of hie res olution to enter into holy orders, he endeavored to dissuade him from it, as too mean an employment, and too much below his birth, and the excel lent abilities and endowment of his mind. To whom Heibert replied: " It hath been formerly judged that the domcatic servants of the King of heaven should bo of the noblest fami lies on earth. And though tho iniqui ties of the late time have made clorgy mea meanly valued, and tho sacred name of priest contemptible, yet I will labor to make it honorable, by conao -crating all my learning and all my poor abilities to advance tho glory of that God that gave them, knowing that I can never do too much for Him that hath done so much for me, as to make me a Christian, And I will labor te be like my Saviour, by making humili ty lovely in the eyes of all men, and by following the merciful and meek exam ple of my beloved J esus. God Uitchanseable. God can aa well cease to exist as cease to bo true. Here is a safe an chorage: " He will not alter the thing that is gone out of his lips." Tho pub lic faith of heaven is engaged to be lievers. C;iu we have better security? Tho whole earth hangs upon the word of God'u power, and shall not our faith; hrng upon ths word of God's truth i Thero is nothing else wo can believu in but God's unchanging truth. This is a golden pillar, on which faitli car; rest. God will not deny hi msel f. Old Author. Some New Statistics. A statistical geniuB declares that "more ia expend ed in the Unitod States for cigars than f r all the common schools in tho coun try." A wag, undoubtedly a lover of tho weed, seeing the statement going through the papers, gets off the follow ing: " It haa been estimated that tho cost of washing linea that might just as well bo worn two days longer, amounts to enough in this country to more than defray the expenses of the American Board of Foreign Missions. The expenses of buttons on tho backs of our coats, where they are of no earthly use, is equal to the support of all our orphan asylums. It is estima ted that the value of old boots thrown aside, which might have been worn at least a day longer, is more than enough to buy flannel night-gowDS for every baby in the land. Also, that tho cost of every inch on the full shirt collars of our young men is equal to the sum necessary to put a Bible in tho hands of every Patagonian giant." A clergyman observing a poor man by the road breakiug stones, and kneeling to get at his work better, made tho remark, "Ah, John, I wish 1 could break tho stony hearts of my hearers as easily you are breaking those stones." " Perhaps, master, you do not work on your kptes," was the reply. The door between us and Heaver; cannot bo opened if that between us and our fellowmen be shut. Crop reports from Arkacsas are very encouraging. Tho late rains .--- -.t, 1 J.tprli,