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Christian BY ATKINSON & LAWRENCE. IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY. $2.00 T .v YEAR. ESTABLISHED 1844. ELON COLLEGE, N. 0., THURSDAY, AUGUST 30,1900. VOLUME LT>:: NUMBER 34 Tl^ Ctyisti&rt SUr\ I'UKIjISIIKl> WKKKLY. I'll.- i ittlciul Organ of the Southern Chris tian Convention. CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. 1. The Lord Jesus is the only Head of the Rbnrcb. 2. The name Christian, to the exclusion if all party and sectarian names. 8. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures of i he Old and New Testaments, sufficient rule ■ if faith and practice. 4. Christian character, or vital piety, the only test of fellowship or membership. ft. The right of private Judgment, and the liberty of conscience, the privilege and dutv of all. Editorial Comment. The situation in China, and our relation to that nation, are peculiar to say the least of it. So far as we, as a nation, are concerned there is no war be tween our government and the government of C$>ina. True omr armies are fighting in ChflPf, our soldiers are killing and get ting killed and our war-dogs no longer growl but bite. Still there is no war. It is a clear case of pitched battles, blood —shed, a fight to the deAth, war fare, but no war. The Chiuese minister is in Washington and he goes and comes without hurt or hindrance. ii was uiuugiu mat uic icpic* sentatives of our government in Chtna had been killed. They have not. They seem now to be safe enough. Our armies have been fighting to relieve our foreign representatives in Pekin These representatives have had n irrow escapes That they have not been slain is no fault of the -rebellious Chinese. .They have done what they could to capture and pul to death our representa tives. Now that they are relieved,no one knows, no one can tell wh it will be our future relationship with China or what- course we shall pursue in regard to China ;.s a nation. How shall we pun ish the Chinese for killing so m my of our Christians, merch ants and traders and for attempt ing “assault and battery on our legation with intent to kill?” Or shall we retaliate at all ? The qaestion is indeed a perplexing one and one that we shall not know or hear the settlement ol for some time to come. In the meantime though ou army has confronted and routed the Chinese army, though we have invaded their territory, b itered down their walls and taken possession of their capital, peace still exists between us and China as war has not yet been declared._ _... wiiF We have not yet reached the goldet era of peace, happiness and good will amongst men. We have not yet beaten our swords into plowshares nor our spears into pruning hooks, nor ceased learning war any more. We shall come to this some time, but not yet. During the decade that closes this most splendid and glorious century there have been more than a dozen wars costing more than “200,000 lives and hundreds ■' of millions of dollars. In 1894 and 1895 China and Japan had a war, in 1^897 Turkey and Greece, and since then in rapid succession, so close together that you canifbt number the date of beginning or end, have been wars between Qpba^and Spain, Spain and the United States, the United^Btates and the Filip inos, Great Britain and the c;buth African Republic, And even now actual fighting be tween nations fs going on in many places—in South Africa, China, the Philippines. Not two years ago the Czar 01 Russia called a peace conference 01 the nations. Aplea was made for disarmament. That seemed to have set the nations wild in the opposite direction. More money has been spent lor manu facturing instruments of war since that peace conference than at any other period of like du ration in the history of the world. The nations are now spending over a billion dollars a year on their armies and wars. Even in the United States out* war ex penditures amount to almost a million dollars a day. WtlsP' There is no objection to a young man’s desiring a good position. If he has any ambition or self-respect it is natural lor him to so desire. But there is another desire that should go along with the first. If a young man desires a good position he should at the same time desire to be a good man that the position may be proper ly filled , when he secures it. There is more in the man than there is in the position, after all. A place of trust and honor can not reflect credit or honor on an unworthy or a dishonest man. It more often brings discredit and disgrsce. It is no credit to the traitor, Arnold, that he once held high rank in the United States army and in the esteem of the American people. These served to press harder upon him and bring out in full the glaring faults and moral defects of the man’s character. Benedict Ar nold’s shame and disgrace are the greater because he sought and succeeded in obtaining for himself places and positions of honor and trust thiit his mental and moral traits did not qualify him for filling. Aaron Burr’s great genius and “high rank” in official positions did not save him from the ignomiyn and dis grace to which he foredoomed nimsen Dy immoral conauci ana unchecked passions. We sym pathize with these, and similar .characters, because they seemed to go sO high and then fell so low. Fact is they were in reality never so high. They were on the brink of ruin all the way up. They were trying to fill positions for which they were not mental ly, morally and spiritually qual ified. The tension on them be came too great. There was too great variane between the lion or which they did not have and that honor which was attached to the high rank to which they had been elevated. A distinguished teacher used to say, “II I had a son, I should tell him many times a day to make himself as big a mad on the inside as possible.” And as a recent writer says, “Young men too olten want to be big men on the outside ; to occupy positions which fit them as a turtle’s shell fits a clam. “Neyer mi id your position, young man. Whatever it may be, try to fill it. The duties which you have to perlorm may seem trivial ; but because it is a small position is no reason why you should be a small man. You may be big inside, you know, it you are small outside.” Better be a big man in a small position thay) a small man in a big position ; for. in the latter case the position usually over shadows, if it does not crush the the man, in the former the man reflects honor upon his position and gets honor for himself. A handsome bronze statue of Hon. Zebulon B. Vance ol N. C. was unveiled at Raleigh, Wednesday, August 22. The statue represents the “great com moner’' standing, as hflteo often stood, in the Senate Chamber of the United States addressing that august assembly, the right j hand holding his eye-glasses, the left hand resting on his desk. The likeness is striking, the ap pearance and effect pleasing and suggestive. To use an expres sion somewhat similar to his own, Vance always “stood” for what he believed to be the best | interests and highest welfare of his State and country. When from arduous labors and over | work in the Senate he lost one eye and received, on that ac count, many expressions of re gret and sympathy from many constituents and admirers, his reply was, “I have always had an eye siugle to the best inter ests of my native State.” We have never heard any man of any political faith doubt that statement of his as being true, or question in the least his hon esty, integrity and patriotism. North Carolina loved Zeb Vance not because he was Zeb Vance or because they wished to honor or exalt that which was temporal, frail or mortal. They loved him because he was honest, brave, sincere, patriotic. That bronze statue erected on Capitol Square in Raleigh, N. C., is not there as an honor to, or reverence, or worship, of a mere man. It is there to do honor to heroic traits, patriotic deeds, manly character, immor tal conduct. It is well, under such circum stances, that we erect statues, construct memorials, build mon uments. In so doing we are honoring, not men, but heroism, not names, but character, not dead things, but living realities, not images and shadows, but life and substance, not vanity and pride, but patriotism and integrity, not mortal but immor | tal, not things temporal but things eternal—principles, attri butes and ideals that make for all that is highest, best and noblest in home, in church and in state. We honor ourselves by paying tribute, honor and re spect to those who have honored themselves, their countrymen and their state with deeds of valor, patriotism and manly con duct. Zeb Vance’s ^name is worth being kept alive not be cause a certain man of a certain name and place wore it, but be cause it stands for the immortal traits of good citizenship and the imperishable virtues of a noble, genuine, honest, liberal-hearted, broad-guaged manhood. WHAT THU SUNDAY SCHOOL OWES TO WOMEN. BY MISS LIZZIE JANE LONG. It has been said o< man that each one is a hero and an oracle to somebody in every instance. Admitting Mr. Emerson’s affirm ative, we deal just now with the Bible hero. How did it come that Paul instead of some other apostle became the most promi nent and powerful? Peter, James and John all held higher ecclesiastical rank than did Paul We cannot account for it on the theory ofinspiration. The o her apostles were as much inspired as was he. The answer to this question must be found in the firmness of character. But we must not lorget the Bible women whose faith claims for them a prominent mention in this con nection, for it was a woman who first stood by the empty tomb of our Lord. Ah ! what glories sprang over heaven and earth and what mu sic from angelic harps on that happy meeting; The risen, Savior gave his first commission to a woman, to tell or teach the apostl s of his res urrection. The good Samari tan woman left Jesus at Jacob’s well while she went proclaiming His love and mercy to the peo pie. It was a woman who first went in search of souls for the Master. juixewise 10 woman we must pay tribute for being the stay and support of our Sunday schools. Woman is virtuous not from impulse or instinct for she knows that evil exists as well as good, but she abhors the former and chooses the latter. And such strong character carries with it an influence for good and the right. These characters, I be lieve, are destined to take an active part in our Sunday schools, for today in every Sun day school we find the majority are women. Is it that they are more pious, can it be that God made women more religious than men? If so he would have given to each a religion adapted to their own peculiar sex. We are as religious as we make ourselves, and we may say according as we use our opportunities as they pres* nt themselves. We should imbibe all that is pure and good aud abhor that which is evil, the*vby preparing ourselves lor useful ness in dur Lord’s vineyard. The enrollment ol the women in our Sunday schools is ol a greater per ci ut than the men, because they are more eager for truth and love. In many wa^s does God reveal Himself to us. The tailing water is God’s love in music, the llower is God’s love in beauty, the tree is God’s love in drapery ; by these and through the$e dp**” He appear in love anrf'ehlorl^t'ntPfrutn of His ex istence. And when darkness and danger hover over us we should study the Book of Life for its pages contain sweet prom ises which are like a rainbow, it gives assurance of peace and joy in the future, and while we pon der the truths of life we should not forget our brother who stands in darkness by our side waiting and ready fur a word from the Master. We are all sent on this great mission for Christ. “The har vest is great but the laborers are few.” The work is here, both human want and woe are here, souls are perishing, thy brother’s blood crieth to God. Heathens are at our door. Will you lend a helping hand? The true missionary spirit makes no ar; ficial distinction, it recognizes a brother in every man. We should not forget that Christ himself, even Irom his childhood, attended the synagogue on the Sabbath day. The command of God and the example of Christ ought to be sufficient to establish it among us who profess to be Christians; so let us not wait one for another in this age of progress which is calling young men and womeu into the field of service. in 1003 lvir ana ivirs. uivie Bithune, who had studied in the Raikies system in England, started a Sundayschool in New York modeled after the English plan. Again in 1805 Mrs. Elen Everette, organized the first ex clusively religious school in America from which the secular feature was wholly eliminated. A number of Sunday schools or ganized by both men and women could be mentioned but time will not permit. But since most of these Sunday schools have been organized the devout women have merited the crown of praise for faithful work in the Sunday schools. They, with their gentle touch and kind words have succeeded in keep ing the Sunday schools of our country in a perpetual motion for good. They have gone out in the highways and hedges and through their persuasion have from those dark abodes brought many into the fold ot Christ. Never before was there so great need of noble men and women with large hearts to accomplish this glorious work. If we are to be victorious we must go hand in hand. Let us take on new life and hope, though the past is dark with the record of broken vows. Let us hail the new century with many trophies, for the nineteenth century is rapidly waning and in the beau tiful twilight of the twentieth century we turn toward our Zion ; this century will likewise witness a hundred years, years of broader vision, years of start ling inventions and innumerable improvements. With all these let us be equal to the occasion and be prepared to discharge the duties that await us. 5 SQME THINGS I DO NOT TEACH! MY REV. J. I». BARRETT, D. 1>. 1. I do not teach th at regen eration precedes conversion, for conversion in the sinner is his turning from sin in penitence unto the Lord for life in Christ. Now, if he gets regeneration without turning unto the Lord, who gives it to him? Peter ask ed in John 6:68, “Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” 2. I do not teach that regere rated man is held in possession of the devil, and I never did so teach. I do teach that without regeneration sanctification is im possible, as the Lord would not sanctify that which'is held in possession of the devil, as the unregenerate man is. The re generate'man is the only one who can be sanctified. 3. I do not teach that God gives birth to carnality, or sin ; I never did. This treasure is held in an earthen vessel. (See 2 Cor. 4:7) The treasure is pure, but the vessel is not as pure as God, for though it be a regenerated vessel, yet the carnal nature lives in it till Jesus destroys it in sanc tification. To show that in the re generated heart both the Spirit and the carnal nature are living is an easy task. Read Gal. 5 517, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” There can be no question as to the fact that in that case both the flesh and the Spirit are ia the same heart at the same time. That statement was made not to sinners, but to the church at Galatia. To say it was address ed to sinners would prove too much, even that the Holy Spirit lives in the heart of the sinner. I know of none who claim so much. Paul also enforced the same idea in Rom. 7 :12—25. He was a regenerated man, and yet he says in verse 21“ * * *when I would do good evil is present with me.” What evil ? The car nal mind. Hear him : “I am car nal, sold under sin Ver.14. Again in Ver. 17, he tells the source of his trouble: * * * “sin (not sins) that dwelleth in me.” Not the sins of yesterday, but the sin that is dwelling in me all the. time. He also confirms this view of the matter in verses 22—23, where de claims both the new life and the carnal mind. listen "for l aengnt m tne law of God after the inward man (that is not a sinner, for the sin ner does not like God’s law at all), “but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bring ing me into captiivty to the law of sin which is in my members.” Notice, he had had victory, but this law in his members was bringing him back into captivity. Notic, too, it was not the sins he committed yesterday, but the sin which is in his members, abid ing in his body, soul and Spirit. He had been converted on the road to Damascus years ago, but this carnal mind was still in his life, hindering his joys and use fulness in the Lord, verses 21-24. Paul got a pure spiritual life in his regeneration, but years after wards he was tar from being pure. Verse 14. It is a clear fact that the life of the believer is not freed from sin in regeneration. This is clearly shown in T Cor. 3:1-3. There Paul calls the Corinthians “brethern” and says they were “babes in Christ.” So they cer tainly had been regenerated, but in the third verse he tells them that they are yet carnal, and he shows them wherein—in “ envying, strife, and divisions.” I dare to say that God gave them a pure life, but the men so receiving it were not as pure as the God who gave it to them. | God gave them their new life in ! Christ. He did not ' give them their carnality. It was already in the heart, and the giving ot the new life did not destroy it, as is clearly shown in 1 Cor. 13:1-3 ; Rom. 7 512-25 ; Gal. 5 117, | and many other passages. God made Adam and Eve. He made ; them pure, and yet in t$em was [found carnality. Who put it there? Not God, but the devil. I So you see it is possible (or the devil to do his work in a pure j heart, much less is if, to do his | work in a heart where the carnal i nature lives, as he does in the heart of the regenerated, till in the work of sanctification Jesus takes it out. Even then man is not as pure as the God who sanctified him% because, just as in the other work, the treasure is in an earthen vessel, but he has been lifted by the Holy Spirit out ot a double life in which the flesh and the Spirit are in conflict, enabling him to serve God with singleness of heart. Now being free from the carnal nature, he is all op the Lord’s side, and all the time for God and the right, as far as he • - • iVt’i *£ v ..i: fit-1:. knows it, so long as he is true to the sanctifying work of the Spirit. This view of tha matter is cer tainly sustained by the word of God, if I understand it, for Rom. 7 :i 2-25, shows beyond a doubt that the presence and power of the carnal mind was in Paul in his regenerated life, till in the 24th verse, he cries out: “O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (same idea as “body of sin” in Rom. 6:6.) Then in the next verse he ex, ultantly exclaims: 1 thank God through Jesus Christ.” Here Paul got the victory over the carnal nature in his sanctification. This we know by the pact that he at once steps right out of the carnal state in which he had had so much trouble with himself in to exultknt joy. What was the occasion of his joy? Why in his regenerated slate the “body of sin” had kept him under such a sense of condemnation that he could not be happy; but now, with the “ body of sin” destroy ed, his sense of condemnation is gone, and in the very .next verse (Rom. 8:1), he exultantly de clares : “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh,Out after theSpirit.” Here Paul recognizes two classes of Christians, both are in Christ, but one class is walking £(fter the flesh (under the influence of the carnal mind and Spirit) ; while the other is under the inftuence of the Holy Spirit only. That is plainly the regnerated Chris tian and the sanctified Christian. It was in Rorrt. 7:24-25, that Paul had by faith been lifted out of the one state into the other. ne aia not mean mis, tuen why did he in :he next verse (Rom. 8 :2 ) say :“For the law of the Spirit ot lile in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”? In Rom. 7, Paul over and over acknowledg ed that he was under the domin ion of sin, that he was carnal, but in Rom. 8 :2, the very next chapter, he just as explicitly de clared that he is free from this great burden, and then he goes rigt on rejoicing over his deliv erance, till he reaches verse 6, when mentally he seems to draw a contrast between his regenera ted life under the power and in fluence of the carnal nature, and his sanctified life, free from the carnal nature and wholly under the Spirit, and as he sees the re al situation from both standpoints he declares : “For to be carnally minded is death : but to be Spir itually minded is life and peace.” The contrast is striking indeed. Kind reader, honestly, before God, to which class do you sin cerely believe you truly belong? 4. I have never taught that God does not do a perfect work in saving men. In the most ex plicit manner of which I am cap able, I teach that He does do a perfect work. When He con victs a sinner, He does it thor oughly. When He justifies (or forgives the repentant sinner), He does it abundantly*, vv nen | He regenerates the forgiven sin-1 nerfand He regenerates no other! kind) it is done perfectly. Not a thing is omitted, and when He sanctifies the regenerated man; (and He sanctifies no other kind), He does that fully and gloriously. I think this is a clear view as to God doing His work perfectly. 5. I never have taught that a truly regenerated man will be, lost, if he continue faithful to that life to the end. He may know nothing of the sanctification as a doctrine, but dir answer to his continual “crying unto God for all the fullness of Jesus, as the truly hungry soul will do, God will graciously give him the ex perience before He calls him home to Heaven, because when God begins a good work of grace in a human life, He will finish it, if he, in whom it is be gun, will follow on to know the Lord, as the Spirit and Word may lead him. Phil. 1 :6. The dear old saint of God, who never heard of sanctiti nation as a doc trine, if she lives true to her regenerated life w ill be glorious ly sanctified before she is called home. Then what is the need ; caching it and livingJ it in this life under the name of sanctification? Why, because it qualifies us for service as we otherwise never could be. Be sides it gives us a joyful life in Christ and helps us to show to the world by a meek and sweet and quiet spirit that God’s people are one in Spirt, and it convinces the world that the Father did send His Son into the world to save the world, and this is the j reason Jesus gives in John 17:21, I for asking the Father to sanctify His disciples. If this is heresy, I am guilty ; if it be truth,it is truth to the glory of God in Christ. CONCERN FOR SOULS. A deeper solicitude for the un saved is the great need of every Christian and every church ; a solicitude which takes hold of the very fountains and founda tions of our being and controls it; a divine passion for souls such as our Master had. Out bursts of feeling and expresion are not the essential signs of it. A movement of the whole life in this direction is the true indica tion. When a man is dreadful ly in earnest he is generally calm. His feejings are too deep for fringes. They have become set tled and fixed in a principle of action which holds the whole life in its steady grasp. A life-saving crew does not waste its time in frantic cries and wringing of hands on the shore. The men set theit—teeth hard, and go to work. They plunge into the boiling waters with their life-boat, and work till they drop in rescuing the perishing. JL uv. L/l CALX MV" count lately of a large vessel wrecked on the coast ot Nova Scotia, but the name ot the ves sel could not be ascertained, and the fate of crew and passengers was m suspense. A friend read ing remarked: “Oh the agony of suspense in many hearts as they read this news !” A con cern like this should be in the hearts of Christians for their dy- ^ ing, unsaved tellow-men. It ought to be an agony before God like the agony of Gethsemane, and then out of ,such Gethsem ane would grow a cross on which selfis crucified, and Christ thereafter would animate the body with His own life. Why is it that God’s people do not have such solicitude for the perishing? Is it because they do not believe that every soul which passeth out ot this life not having accepted Christ is lost? What a double condemnation, then, is at their door!—not be lieving God’s word, and through lack of faith giving languid effort in place of the mightiest strain of which their natures are capable. Let us not wildly beat the air; let us not indulge in gush ; let us not pray loudly and tearfully in public, while we, are not doing much agonizing in secret before God ; but let us rather try to get so near to Christ that we shall get his spirit into our.lives, of sympathy and love andlabor for the lost.—Mission Bulletin. Phillip Brooks says : “What a vast portion of our lives is spent in anxious and useless forebod ings concerning the future, either our own or that of dear ones ! Present joys, present blessings, slip by and we miss halt ot their sweet flavor, aud sil for want of faith in Him who provides for the tiniest insect in. the sunbeam. (Jhp'wheu shall we learn the sweet trust in God our little chili dren teach us every day by their confiding faithJn us? We who are so mutable, so faulty, so ir ritable, so unjust; and He, who js so watchful, so pitiful, so lov ing, so forgiving ! Why cannot we, slipping our hand in His' each day, walk trustingly over — that day’s appointed path, thorny or flowery, crooked or straight, knowing that evening will bring us sleep, peace, and home?” * [ I Am I keeping the first com mandment—loving God with ait my heart? Can I say with the Psalmist: “O how love I thy law ! It is my meditation all the day?’* How does my daily life look to those who are not Christians? —Sel. ‘1
The Christian Sun (Elon College, N.C.)
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Aug. 30, 1900, edition 1
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