BY EMMETT L. MOFFI IT.
IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY.
77
$2.00 PER YEAR.
ESTABLISHED 1844.
RALEIGH, H. 0.. THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 1898.
VOLUME LI: NUMBER 2.
I
Christian SUi^
Tbo Organ of the General Convention
the Christian Church (South).
CARDINAL PRINCIPLES.
1. The Lord Jesus is the only Head of the
cbnroh. . .
4, The name Christian, to the exclusion
of all party and sectarian names.
3. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures of
the Old and New Testaments, sufficient rule
of faith and practice.
4. Christian character, or vital piety, the
only test of fellowship or membership.
6. The right of private judgment, aod
the liberty of conscience, the privilege and
duty of all.
Reflections.
A Georgia legislator intro
duced a bill in the legislature of
that State providing that “no
woman shall be hanged for mur
der unless by the special direc
tion of the jury”. It is a most
beautiful sentiment in man that
causes him, in all things, to pro
tect, honor, and defer to woman.
It is her safe-guard, securing to
her her high position in the
world, and preserving the human
race from degeneration and final
ruin. But it must not be forgot
ten that there are women and
there are women. There are
those who are pure and true, no
ble and ennobling. These are
worthy of our highest respect and
admiration, and around them all
true men and all just laws have
thrown up walls of protection
that are absolutely insurmounta
ble and impregnable. There are
others, however, who are low
and mean and vile, whose influ
ence is not only not elevating to
individuals an*d to society, but,
on the other hand, is degrading
and damning. Their wicked
ness and crime have unsexed
them ; and they deserve no light
er punishment than the most har
dened male criminal who ever
stretched a hangman’s rope. It
is not simply a body, but a crim
inal character that must receive
chastisement; and if this crimi
nal character happens to be in
womau, the chastisement should
be none the less severe. The
Georgia legislator no doubt
thought he wbs actuated by that
beautiful spirit of chivalry that
has-ever characterized the true
men of our Southland ; but this
is an instance of “chivalry gone
to seed”, and once started, the
end would never be in sight.
Away with such sickly sentimen
tality, and let every c/ime bear
its own name, and every crimi
nal be branded wiith that name,
whether man or woman. Our
laws must be respected, and that
“ without partiality to any class or
individual.
Two plans for the improve
ment of the cotton growers
have been suggested. “The
first is”, says The Morning
Post, “that a great number
of cotton planters go into the
market and buy their pros
pective crops, or the number of
bales they generally produce, for
delivery next September and
then plant their cotton lands in
corn,oats and wheat. TheSouth
would have the big end of the
deal, as the yield would be great
ly reduced. The other is that
cotton planters prepare the same
area of land as usual but plant
alternate rows in peas. Those
who have tried this experiment
say the yield, because of addi
tional room and sunlight ob
tained by the cotton plant is about
three-lourths of a full crop, and
that the peavines add so largely
to the nntriment of the soil that
the cost of fertilizer is greatly re
duced.- This plan is highly com
mended by ejj-Senator M. C. But
ler, himselTa large planter. In
speaking of the coming conven
tion to a reporter of The Colum
bia State, Gem Butler said : ‘The
two prominent and controlling
factors that depress the price of
cotton are—first, the overproduc
tion of cotton and the underpro
tection of food crbps, and second,
the inadequacy and inequality in
distribution of the volume of our
currency. The first we can con
trol if we will, the second will be
corrected in time, I trust, by ap
propriate legislation. It we could
limit the crop in ihis country to
7,000,000 or 8,000,000 bales a
year, it would make cotton one
of the best and surest money
crops in the world. To reduce
the acreage and limit production
can only be done by close con
cert ot action and good faith on
the part of the principal cotton
raisers. If time enough has been
allowed to secure a representa
tive convention from the cotton
growing States at Atlanta, I shall
have hopes ot such effective and
earnest concert ot action as will
improve the prospects of cotton
planting throughout the entire
South. It is sad to think that an
agricultural people so favored
by nature as ours should be so
often made the plaything of spec
ulators and drones in the indus
trial world. But we can be the
masters of the situation, and it is
our fault if wc are not.’ ”
Commenting on a recent fight
in the cab ol a railroad train, be
tween the engineer and fireman,
the New York Voice very perti
nently moralizes as follows:
“The three words, “had been
drinking”, explain the whole oc
currence. The incident justifies
anew the regulation made by
many railroads, among them the
Northen Pacific, the Illinois Cen
tral, the Chicago and Rock Is
land, the Boston and Maine, the
Pennsylvania Company’s lines,
the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern, and the Baltimore and
Ohio, forbidding employees to
drink liquor at all while on duty.
It justifies anew the still more
rigid rule in force on the Chicago
and Rock Island, the Central
Vermont, the New England, the
Chattanooga and Memphis, the
Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg,
the Colorado Midland, the South
Carolina and Georgia, the Iowa
Central, the Alleghany Valley,
and the Western New York
and Pennsylvania, against the
employment of any man who
is known to drink at all. There
is no sentiment about such regu
lations as these. As a cold busi
ness proposition, a man who
fuddles his brain with liquor—
and any man who drinks at all is
liable to take a glass too much
before he knows it—is in no
condition to run a train, to attend
to a switch, to receive or 3end de
spatches/ And eta the same
principle, no man who drinks is
a safe man to have around in
any occupation where life or
property may be put in jeopardy
by a careless hand or a muddled
head. Machinery makes no
allowances for the excuses a “jol
ly good fellow” may invent for
an occasional indulgence. Poets
may praise the vine, after dinner
orators may sound praises of the
flowing bowl, political speakers
may orate in defence of “personal
liberty” ; but railroad men know
that a locomotve has no senti
ment, and no amount of rhetoric
will pay for a train that has been
wrecked by an open switch, or
for the lives destroyed by an
engineer who has confused his
orders. What is true of a loco,*,
motive is true of factory iynd
mill machinery. The increased
use of machinery is the notable
fact of the century. By means of
it a man’s power has been multi
plied, sometimes by 5, some
times by 50, sometimes by 100.
Four men and six girls will
now manufacture an amount of
paper that 100 persons could
barely turn out in former days ;
and in making wall-paper one
person will now do the work of
100. Five persons in the weaving
of silk will do the work formerly
done by 100. One spinner used
to turn out five hanks in the
same time in which he can now
turnout over 55,000 hanks. A
weaver who used to turn out 42
yards of shirting a week will
now turn out 1,500 yards. And
even in agriculture, we find that
the annual product of one man’s
labor in Dakota may be 5,500
bushels of wheat. The labor of
another man will convert thisin-^
to 1,000 barrels of flour (enough
to supply 1,000 people with
bread for a year), and the laboi
of anather man will transport it
to the Atlantic seaboard !”
Contributions.
THE SPHERE OF HOME iUTHORITY
BY PETER.
The husband is by divine ap
pointment the head of the home.
“For the husband is the head ot
the wife, even as Christ is the
Head of the church.” This
Scripture, along with a great
many paissages, places the hus
band as the chief executive of the
home. Throughout that domin
ion he walks as a king whose
words are “law and gospel”.
Such responsibility is not to be
coveted. It cannot be thought
of lightly by the serious and in
telligent. It is a responsibility
that is far-reaching in its influ
ence and effects. Tjje Great
Judge and Maker of us all will
call some day for an account of
such trusts and responsibilities.
To meet the responsibility and
discharge its duties well means
to be every whit a man. Faith
ful performance along that line
has sent order, peace, harmony
arid blessing to many homes;
while unfaithfulness and failure
on the part of the husband to
stand manfully where God has
put him has caused strife and
bitter confusion in thousands of
homes.
There are two spheres in the
home ; and while the husbatld is
the chief executive, there is a
sphere in which the wife is
queen.
It naturally devolves upon the
husband to provide shelter, food
and raiment for the family. To
do that, and all that it includes,
necessitates his going out in the
world and fighting against strong
tides and enduring such hard
ships and disappointments as tell
upon the strongest constitutions.
In doing his part honestly and
honorably he finds the margin of
time indeed small. Suppose he
is a farmer. Then the manage
ment of the farm is his. He has
no right to annoy his~'#ife''with
the matter of purchasing tools,
should be cultivated, kinds of
crops to be planted, the buying
of farm implements, and the like.
If the wife has refined concep
tions of woman’s sphere and du
ties, she does not care to ha've
anything to do with those things.
If the husband is every whit a
man, he will give attention to
such matters without calling even
the attention of his wife to them.
I have ever thought that a wom
an seems entirely out of place
when trying to occupy man’s
sphere in life.
It belongs to the husband to do
all he can in reason to provide
the necessary comforts and con
veniences for the family, and
study the moral and mental needs
of the household, as also the re
ligious and spiritual.
Now suppose we turn for a
time to the other sphere and see
some of the duties of the wife
and mother. Here we find A
queen. True she 'is in the do
minion of the king and lives in
his territory, still she is none the
less a queen. There are rights
and duties that belong to her. If
husband has furnished the
house and means lor supplying it
with such things as are usually
needed in a home to make it
comfortable, then does it not
seem quite reasonable for the
wife to attend to the arrange
ment of the furniture, the cup
board, closets, dining hall, pan
tries, and so on? It belongs to
her to see to the meals, decide
buying horses, how the land
lan
questions of dress (or the chil
dren and herself, but not for the
husband. In a word,she is sup
posed to have the care and re
sponsibility of the interior of the
home. How she shall arrange
the pantry, cut the dresses for
the children and herself, arrange
the rooms, serve her dinners, do
her visiting, is none of the hus
band’s business—unless it is an
exceptional case, and you know
we are now speaking on general
principles.
When the husband returns
home after the worry and disap
pointments of the day, where he
has been struggling against the
strong tides of opposition and
disappointment,.tired, and often
discouraged, there are certain
comforts that he naturally looks
for and expects ©o reaching
home. For the benefit of the
wife, may I tell of just a few
things that the faithful husband
expects of the faithful wife? On
reaching home after the day’s
work he does not like to meet
complaints. He has met them,
perhaps, all day—a^d such as
would have crazed the wife if she
could have known of them. He
likes to find a chair ready and a
kind word to greet him. He
should not be necessitated to
hunt the house for a chai%no go
right about mending the fires, or
down town to attend to an er
rand, or jump up from the table
to get a drink of water, or hunt
the house for a lamp—or to fill
and clean a lamp before he can
have one to use. I have seen the
confusion of such conditions and
the discouragements of them.
Many a man has sought rest and
comfort elsewhere than at home
after the trials of the day’s work
were ended rather than to go
home to be met by complaints,
and requests to perform duties
that he has paid others to per
form. He wants to find his wife
at home filling her sphere as a
wise queen and wife. She can
make the home indeed a place of
retreat for her husband, and so
inviting to him that no other
qilace in all the world will be half
so dear to him. The rooms are
kept, the meals are on time, the
fires and chairs invite him to rest,
and the most inviting thing about
the home is the sweet-spirited
Christian wife. She needs tact,
and she usually has it.
Happy Home, Eastern Virginia.
THE LIFE MOKE ABUNDANT.
BY V. D. DAVID (TAMIL EVANGEL
IST) , OF INDIA.
I will now take up the subject
of “the life more abundant”, illus
trating this truth by pointing out
seven mountains which will give
you a clear idea of God’s teach
ing in his Word on this very im
portant subject.
FIRST MOUNTAIN : MT. SINAI.
This typifies the law of God.
Every sinner must come to the
experience of this mountain be
fore he goes any further. When
the Spirit of God convicts a man
of his sin by His law, he sees the
j/iretchedness and misery of his
soul. He experiences the flames
and 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 rest
ing on his head, and he cries out,
“What shall 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
might know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent.” John 17:3.
Friend, did you visit this
mountain when you were con
victed of vour sins? Was this
your experience? Perhaps you
did not see yourself a great sin
ner, hut did not you see that you
were wrong in the sight of God?
That is the first mountain visited
by every sinner convicted of his
sinfulness by the Spirit of God.
“And he, when he is come, will
convict the world in respect of
sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment.” R. V. John 16: 8.
second mountain: mt. calvary.
This represents the grace of
God. When the Spirit of God
convicts a man of his sin and
shows him the need of a Saviour,
then he is brought face to face
with Mt. Calvary, where he sees
Jesus crucified. In him he finds
pardon for his sins and peace
within. Calvary was the place
where God's justice and mercy
met together. That is, judgment
was passed upon Jesus, and the
door of mercy was opened to ev
ery sinner that repenteth. “Mer
cy and truth are met together.
Righteousness 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 (“Who
his own self bare our sins in his
own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sins, should live
unto righteousness: by whose
stripes ye were healed”, 1 Peter
2 : 24), and how he can find par
don for his sins and have “peace.
with God”. He sees that all ol
his sins were laid on Christ, and
now he knows that he has
“passed hom death unto life”,
i John 3 : 14.
He sees very clearly that his
sins were laid on Jesus, and can
not be laid on him again. Christ
was punished, and he cannot be
punished again. He realizes
that his sins cannot be in two
places, and he believes what the
Lord says: “All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have
turned every 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
know it. I see it. I believe it.
I have it. God says it.”
“Peac^with God.” Rom. 5 :
1. Pardon for all sins to whoso
ever believeth. Rom. 10:* to.
“With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness.”
THIRD MOUNTAIN: MT. BEATITUDE.
The Spirit of God then takes
him to Mount Beatitude, the
school for children who are born
of God. Mt. Beatitude is the
place where all Christians must
go for their learning. It is at the
(eet of Jesus. “His disciples
came unto him, and he taught
them.” Matt. 5 : I.
You may attend one of the
greatest colleges in America or
elsewhere ; you may go under a
great teacher who understands
theology, Greek, Latin or He
brew ; but he can only stuffyour
brain with knowledge, he cannot
teach you heavenly things unless
vou have first been taught in-this
theological class at the feet of
Jesus. This is the trouble now
a-davs. I do not despise theo
logical seminaries, nor do I de
spise Greek, Latin, and all that.
It is a very nice thing to have
good materials, but you should
have the Tree of Life before you
have the Tree of Knowledge.
Now-a-days people climb up on
the Tree of Knowledge and eat
all its fruits before they get the.
Tree of Life. Many seminaries
are helping their pupils to know
the Tree of Knowledge and its
fruits before imparting the
knowledge of the saving, keep
ing and satisfying power of the
Tree ot Life. This improves the
knowledge of the young students
and satisfies their brains, but
their hearts are dissatisfied and
empty without the Tree of Life,
Jesus. “Knowledge puffeth up.”
1 Cor. 8: 1. It only helps young
men to go on to the Tree of
Knowledge and eat all those poi
sonous fruits before they get the
Tree ot Life in their hearts.
O, friend, first eat the fruits of
the Tree of Life at the feel of
Christ, and he filled with the
grace of Christ and his Spirit!
Learn of him and by him, and
then the Tree of knowledge
won’t hurt you. Have plentyof
materials, hut be sure to first be
lieve Christ,know Christ, receive
Christ, have the teaching of
Christ, and fill your heart with
his words and his truth. Have
you been to this college? Are
you learning at his feet? Oh, it
is a lovely 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 into all
truth.
May God help you! 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: 2.
“Learn of me ; for I am meek
and lowlv in heart: and ye shall
find rest unto your souls.” Matt.
11 : 29.
FOURTH MOUNTAIN : MT. MORIAH.
After learning more of your
self and your life at tile feet of
Christ, you find the necessity of
consecration and of yielding your
will to him once for all, and you
are led to Mount Moriah, the
place of consecration. There all
vour pet theories are exploded.
Your Isaacs are sacrificed. You
lay everything on the altar, your
nets, boats, and old father Zebe
dee as well. Then you will be
willing to 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 un
derstand the exact state of their
inward life and the beauty of
Christ. This mountain repre
sents separation, yielding and
cleansing. “And he said, Take
now thy son, thine only son
Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get
into the land of Moriah ; and of
fer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of fhe mountains which
I wilj tell thee of.” Gen. 22 : 2.
“Present your bodies a living
.sacrifice.” Rom. 12: 1.
Have you visited this moun
tain? 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 sacri
ficed befqre God? Have you
really yielded your will uncondi
tionally, once and 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 anew. Do away with your
Isaacs. Be honest with God.
Ask him to cut you through and
through, to scrutinize your
heart, thoughts, motives and de
sires. Yield all, and believe he
has accepted it. “I the Lord
search the heart, I try the rains.”
Jer. 17: 10.
FIFTH MOUNTAIN : MT. HERMON.
The Spirit of God then leads
to Mt. Hermon, the place of
transfiguration. The transfig
ured Christian is brought face to
face with Christ in his glory.
All human understandings, flesh,
self-life, all disappear, and he
sees Jesus only. He sees him,
and wants to abide with him.
He does not wish fo come down
from the Mount of Transfigura
tion. He feels as if be wanted
to put three tents upon the moun
tain. He is altogether taken up
with the Lord ; he forgets the
world and all the pleasure of the
world. He is satisfied with see
ing his own Saviour and admir
ing his comeliness, and he is al
so lost in his beauty, and
“Changed into the same image,
from glory to glory.” 2 Cor. 3 :
18.
Have you been transfigured?
Have.you visited this mountain ?
Can you say you are “made to
sit in heavenly places” now
(Eph. 2:6)? Are you sitting
in heavenly places now, or do
you think you are going to get
there after death ? Do you see
anybody else, or “Jesus only”
now? What is your topic when
you speak ? What are your
thoughts? What is your aim?
Jesus only or something else? If
not Jesus only, there is still self
life about you. You need to go
to Mt. Moriah to get rid of your
old man, flesh and self.
If you are on the Mount of
Transfiguration, you see Jesus
only living in your heart. He
himself is the power, the victory,
joy and peace. You shall al
ways be in the spirit, and unbro
ken communion will be your ex
perience in life. You will sure
ly go from glory to glory, seeing
Jesus only. They saw Jesus on
ly. They did not see them
selves, nor did they see Moses
and Elijah, although they saw
them first. Now they see “no
man but Jesus only”. Mat. 17: 8.
The trouble now in churches,
meetings and great gatherings
is that people seek applause, and
almost every one likes to be
praised, but when Jesus, the won
derful Ark, of the Covenant, lives
in the heart, Dagon falls pros
trate. Ishmael 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 Transfigu
ration ! Then they will lose all
sight of themselves, and will see
Jesus only.
Friends, you cannot glorify
Go*l until you come to this Mount
of Transfiguration.
SIXTH MOUNTAIN : MT. PISGAH.
Then the Spirit of God leads
you to Mt. Pisgah to see the
Glor3'-land (Deut. 34: 1),—that
is the foretaste of heaven. Heav
en is not, as some people seem
to think, only to be enjoyed af
ter death. That is a serious mis
take. Do you see the Glory
land? How far is it? Is it a Jong
journey to you. Christians who
are transfigured are now rejoic
ing and are already in the Glo
ry-land by faith. By faith you
shall see all that is prepared for
you. “Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the
things which God hath pre
pared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them un
to us by his Spirit.” i Cor. 2:
9, 10. While you meditate upon
these things you too may
be caught up even to the
third heaven. “I knew a
man in Christ above four
teen years ago, (whether in
the body, I cannot tell: God
knoweth ;) such an one caught
up to the third heaven.” (2 Cor.
12: 2), and hear unspeakable
words. Praise God !
SEVENTH MOUNTAIN : MT. ZION.
Next he brings you to Mt.^
Zion, and there you enjoy
praising life all the days of yc
life, praising at all times, giV‘
thanks tor everything, “In ev<
rything give thanks: for this
the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you”, (i "The*. 5:
18), under all circumstances,
even under tribulations. Nothing
troubles you. When Christians
reach this life, the following Ex
perience becomes practical in
their daily life. “I will bless the
Lord at all times”, not only once
in a while, or only when there
are revival meetings or conven
tions, but “at all times”. “His
praise shall continually be in my
mouth.” Ps. 34:1. “They glo
ry in tribulations.” Rom. 5 : 5*
They “are changed into the
same image from glory to glo
ry.” 2 Cor. 3:18.
We “rejoice with joy unspeak
able and full cf glory.” i Peter
I : 8. “In his temple everything
saith Glory.” Psa. 29: 9. They
clap their hands; they shout.
They are enjoying this life, not
only when they have plenty, but
under all circumstances. Won
derful life ! “Although the fig
tree shall ^not blossom, neither
shall fruit be in the vines; the^
labour of the olive shall tail, and ||
the fields shall yield no meat; -•*
the flock shall be cut off from tbeS
fold, and there shall be no herd p
in the stalls : yet I will rejoice '
in the Lord. I will joy in the
God of my salvation.” Hab. 3 : >
17. This is the life of praising'.
Are you on Mount Zion now?
Can you praise the Lord, money
or no money, work or no work?
Friends, have you got this life?
We “have” come to Mount Zion,
not we “shall”. “Ye are come
unto Mount Zion.” Heb. 12:
22. Do not change the Word of
God. It says “are”—not “shall”.
I don’t believe in those people
who are waiting for tlie^yj^s*
rience of Mt. Zion iu-tlffe future.
God says “now”, heaven now,
joy now. This is a life worth
living—a praising life. This life
only will glorify God, and bring
souls to Christ.
Friends, as you read this, make
up your minds to possess this
life. Lose no time. I found this
secret eight years ago. Ever
since I have been in this moun
tain, and it is glory in and glory
out. I am happy all the day,
under all circumstances, and this
life enables me to preach hi»
with all boldness, and has mad#
my Christian lite natural, easy
and of no effort at all. “My
yoke is easy.” Matt. 11 : 29. It
makes everything appear as a
privilege, not as a duty. This
has changed my trying life into
a praising lite, a doubting life
into a shouting lite, and a wor
rying life into a resting lite. My
heart is full. I want you to go
up on Mt. Zion belore you finish
reading this.
May God bless you and bring
you to the possession of the life
more abundant! You can get it
at once ; it depends upon y our
faith. Then your life will be
from glory to glory, and peace
will be llowing like a river.
pie will see this, and they will
glorify God, their Father.
“But the path the just is as
the shining light that shineff j
more and more unto the peri;
day.” Prov. 4:18. * > «*•"* jJS