Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

Observer, April 1, '71.

Each message was received, and heard, and heeded,
And yet we welcome no responsive word.
We know that Thou art blessing, whilst withholding;
We know that Thou art near us, though apart;
And though we list no answer, Thou art folding
Our poor petitions to Thy smitten heart.
A bright and glorious answer is preparing,
Hid in the heights of love-the depths of grace;
We know that Thou, the Risen, still art bearing
Our cause as Thine within the holy place.
And so we trust our pleadings to Thy keeping;
So at Thy feet we lay our burden down;
Content to bear the earthly cross, with weeping,
Till at Thy feet we cast the heavenly crown.

Intelligence of Churches, &q.

J. C.

been favoured with the labours of Edward Evans, who arrived on the first of the present year. With his customary zeal he sowed the good seed under very discouraging circumstances. He also opened a preaching station at the Guide Post, a village two miles distant, where by dint of hard labour and Divine assistance four made the good confession, who were, in addition to two others at this place, buried with Christ in baptism on the 19th ult., making in all, six as the fruit of his labours. He left here for Spittal, near Berwick, on the day following, having received a cordial invitation to go to the above place. His visit was very opportune in removing certain difficulties and greatly improving the state of the Church.-R. M.

CARLISLE.-Since our last report, and while John Strang was with us, two persons were immersed and added to the saved, from the enemy's kingdom; also, two who had wandered from the fold were restored. On the eve of Bro. Strang's departure we had a social meeting, a truly happy and useful one it was. Short and affectionate addresses were delivered, songs of praise, supplications, and thanksgivings ascended to God, whose ears are ever open to the cry of His people, and an answer came back to cheer and encourage us in the good confession being made by two more, whose hearts were melted by the love of Jesus. They were immersed on the evening after the departure of Bro. Strang, the prospect of which event served to cheer SPITTAL.-Edward Evans laboured during his heart in his leave taking. He has left some good part of the last month in Spittal. behind him the remembrance of his work Every night in the week a large Mission of faith and labour of love, and the above Hall was occupied and crowded, and such results, added to those of our last report, attention and anxiety were manifested as are gracious tokens of the Lord having used are but rarely seen. D.King, being urgently him for the advancement of His kingdom requested to visit, occupied the Hall on two and the honour of His name. G. C. evenings, upon the things of the Kingdom NEWCASTLE.-Mr. Bradlaugh having and Church of Christ. The place was full given some four lectures here, D. King was and the attention intense. Four persons, announced to lecture in the same hall on the after confession of faith, were immersed in Sunday afternoon following. 'There were the rolling sea by Edward Evans. There is a some nine hundred people present. Mr. good work waiting to be done in this place. King's exposure of Secularism, and particularly of the charlatanry of Mr. Bradlaugh, was so far of a stunning character, that though the leading Secularists, including Mr. Bradlaugh's Chairman, were present, not one, when opportunity was given, ventured a word of denial or defence. In the evening of the same day Mr. King lectured in the commodious chapel of the Brethren, Gloucester Street, upon Christianity as it is and misrepresented by its opponents. The house was crowded to the doors. Mr. King's services are continued, but with almost exclusive reference to the affairs of the Church. One confessor was immersed into the name of the Lord. March 18.

BEDLINGTON.-The Church here has again

WOLVERHAMPTON.-The Church meeting in Temple Street had lately the pleasure of receiving two into its fellowship, who, having professed faith in Christ and manifested repentance towards God, were immersed into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. There seems a prospect of further additions.

H. F.

EARLSTOWN and BOLTON.-We had excellent meetings at Earlstown. The cause there is hopeful. Two have been restored to fellowship and two have been added by immersion. We immersed a young man at Bolton on Friday evening last.-D. SCOTT.

ROME.-The Rev. James Lewis, D.D., first went to Rome in 1864, and by him the Presbyterian services there have ever since continued to be maintained, despite

all the difficulties. From the first the services were held at the minister's house in the most private manner, so as not to attract the attention of the Papal authorities. No public notice was given, and the people were requested to come and to disperse few at a time, not openly carrying their Bible. Singing, being considered dangerous, was not attempted. But notwithstanding all these precautions, in 1867 Dr. Lewis received an intimation from the British Consul to the effect that the Governor of Rome, unless Mr. Lewis desisted from holding the meetings in his house, would subject him to imprisonment or "exile" (banishment was intended to be signified). But Mr. Lewis was not the man to be imposed upon, and he at once secured an upper room in the Locanda dei Tre Rè, resolving to make a last stand there to preach the Gospel. The attempt at suppression on the part of the Roman Government of the Presbyterian services providentially caused the triumph of the preaching of the Word. The attention of the British and American press being attracted by the event, such publicity was given to the affair that the extramural services became so numerously attended as to overcrowd the spacious hall at the Tre Rè, and the necessity of a larger place of worship being recognised, a collection to build a church was opened. Pecuniary means becoming sufficient, the next question was how to build the church under the eyes of a vigilant police. Heretics could not hold property on Roman soil, and who would risk renting a piece of ground for such a purpose? But even this difficulty was overcome. The landlord of a field behind the English church consented to let a portion of it, and to purchase the building about to be erected upon it when no longer required. During the summer of 1869 the foundations were laid, and the work steadily prosecuted throughout the ensuing year. Though every precaution was taken to give the building as little as possible the outward appearance of a church, it was feared by the most sanguine that the intolerance of the priests might not allow it to be used for divine service. The entrance of the Italian troops into Rome dispelled all apprehensions on that score, and on the 8th of January this first Protestant church ever built on Roman soil was opened, the inauguration being publicly announced by the local press. The Rev. John Macdougall (of Florence) conducted the morning service, taking for his text 2 Cor. viii. 9. The Rev. Dr. Lewis preached in the afternoon on 1 John iv. 9. Though the number of Roman visitors is unusually small this year, both morning and afternoon services were well attended. The interior of the

Observer, April 1, "71.

church is decorated with designs in stucco and marble imitation, in which work the Roman painters excel, and the general appearance of the church is nobler than what had been contemplated under the Papal régime, and is generally admired. Signor Gavazzi is now preaching in Rome. A letter from Italy says:-"I had the pleasure of hearing Gavazzi begin his labours by an excellent Gospel sermon on I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.' He and Lagomarsino, another Free Church Evangelist, preach alternately every evening in a large room in Via Seminario. Messrs. Wall and Colt and Giannini are also much encouraged in their work. I had great pleasure in meeting all the brethren labouring in Rome under the hospitable roof of Dr. Lewis, and planning a united effort of an educational character.'

Obituary.

MATTHEW TEMPLETON departed this life here on 13th March, aged seventy. He was a member of the Church in Brown Street, Glasgow, for about twenty years, when he became a member of the Church here. He is deeply lamented by all who knew him, being much respected for his steadfastness in the Gospel of Christ. For nine months he has been afflicted, bearing all with patience and resignation. last words he was heard distinctly to utter, were "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." Millport.

The

T.

Sister HOLLAND, wife of Bro. Holland, of Maidstone, departed this life, after a very short illness, on the 21st of February, aged fifty-four, having been for many years a disciple of Christ, in whom was no guile. W. C.

Sister LEAVESLEY, Senr., of the Leicester Church, aged seventy-eight, fell asleep in Jesus, March 6, 1871. She has been connected with the Church here since its formation by members of her own family about twelve years ago. As she followed Christ in her keen sympathy with distress, in earnest yet unaffected piety of life, so we hope to tread in her footsteps. A mother in Israel has gone home, leaving her aged partner in life to finish his course alone; yet all the bereaved ones can sorrow with joyful hope, for she was a ripe sheaf ready to be gathered to the garnery above. Worn out with life's struggle, after a lingering illness, her desire to depart and be with Christ has been granted, and now waiting for the resurrection morn she lies where there is

"Rest for the toiling hand,

Rest for the anxious brow, Rest for the weary, way-worn feet, Rest from all labour now."

J. A.

Observer, May 1, '71.

THE LIFE OF FAITH.

In every life there is a ruling principle or passion, to which all other forces of one's nature play a subordinate part. Sometimes, indeed, the autocratic power may be so influenced and swayed by a combination of other powers that its supremacy may not be seen; at others a riotous outbreak of the serf-passions may sweep away its sovereignty, and it may be even permanently dethroned as the result of revolution, and some other passion succeed to the sovereignty; but in that case there is a new character installed-a 'new creature" born, for better or worse, according to the character and aims of the new autocrat. No man's character can be understood and appreciated, until the key-note of his life is known— the ruling passion of his soul detected.

66

In Christian life this remains true. It is the incorporation of Christ into one's being as its sovereign potency. If regeneration and conversion mean anything, they mean the dethronement of all other sovereigns of the soul, the election of Christ Jesus the Lord as absolute possessor and disposer of life and destiny, and the voluntary subjection to Him of all the powers, interests and aims of our being. It is not mere assent to a creed, nor adoption of a ritual, as if by mere mechanical force, or by a process of ratiocination, we could be translated from darkness to light, and transformed from guiltiness and pollution into justification and holiness, Nor is it merely acceptance of Christ, as a Saviour, to release us from the dire consequences of sin. It is such a soul weariness of self and sin, and of all world sovereignties as lead to a renunciation of their sway, a dethronement of their power, and a joyous welcoming of the living and loving and adorable Christ as the rightful and worthy monarch of life; so that, as Paul says, "to live is Christ." He comes, indeed, not as a tyrant, to assert despotic sway, or to rule us by naked authority. He is not the mere embodiment of Law, robed in awfulness, clothed with thunder, compelling us into obedience before the lightning-flashes of His majesty, and proclaiming from the thick darkness of angry clouds, "Thou shalt " or, "Thou shalt not." He besieges the soul with the power of truth, in the "still, small voice" of compassion and mercy; He distills the sweetness of His presence in gentle words of wisdom and love; He enters with pardon, and adopting grace, and the divine charms of redeeming love, and sweetly wins every faculty and sentiment of our spiritual nature into joyful and even rapturous devotion to His service. His people are willing in the day of His power, and they are never so free as when bending their neck to His yoke and confessing His lordship. His thoughts become their thoughts, His loves their loves, His purposes their purposes, and they are happy only in the consciousness of oneness with Him. Time and eternity, sin and righteousness, are seen with His eyes and judged with His judgment. Gratitude for the mighty deliverance He has wrought through death and resurrection, reverence and adoration in view of His divine perfections, joyful trust in His power to save, and the sense of our completeness in Him who is the head of all principalities and powers-all these lead us to cherish Christ in our hearts as the chief among ten thousands and to consecrate our lives to Him as alone worthy to live and reign in us. Thus says Paul: "I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN ME." Christ is thus not the cold creed of the head, but the life-power of the heart. We are ready to suffer with Him, to bear His cross, to struggle with sin, to strive against the world, to bear the loss of all things, if we may but win Christ and be found in Him. Silently,

Observer, May 1, '71

but powerfully, he moulds our ideas, tastes, and aims, and changes us into His own image, "from glory to glory." He is thus "our life." His love constrains us to live no longer to ourselves, but to Him that died for us and rose again. He enters not merely into the sanctuary with us, and into the ordinances; but he enters into all the scenes of every-day life, and into the innermost recesses of our spirits-into our thoughts, our plans, our words, our deeds. He guides us in our business transactions and stands by us when we weigh the tea and sugar, or measure the silk and calicoes, or seal a contract for the delivery of coal or the building of a bridge; and every entry in the day-book and ledger, and every promise to pay, and every bargain with servants, and every agreement with masters, is made in the presence of Christ and under His supervision. He guides us into the lanes and alleys, to the abodes of poverty and wretchedness, and teaches us how to give "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;" and when poverty or wretchedness is our own lot, teaches us through His own homeless lot and His ever-present burden of sorrow, how to "suffer and be strong." He goes with us to funerals and to weddings, to feasts and to fasts, to triumphal marches and into the saddest and awfullest loneliness, and teaches us how to live an unselfish life, even to the forgiveness of enemies, and the performance of thankless labours for others' good. He teaches us to love flowers, to gather lessons from the rain-drops and the sunbeams, to bless little children, to throw the radiant spirit of piety over all things, and infuse the lofty spirit of justice into all the actions of life. A life of toil and suffering, sanctified by the love of God and man, is that to which we are led—a stern, rugged, yet gentle and cheerful life, brave and beautiful; not a life of asceticism, of dreamy sentimentalism, or of wild romance.

Is it asked how Christ may thus live in us-the answer is given by Paul in the text to which we have already referred: "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." It is a life of faith. Christ " dwells in our hearts by faith." Wherever the trust and love of the heart go, there the character goes. It is possible to let the heart go out in admiration and confidence after a historical character-a military hero, a philosopher, a poet, or an artistor even after a character in fiction-until, enshrined in our deepest affections, it sways thought and sentiment and action, and moulds the life into its own image. It is thus that Christ lives in us; with this difference, however, that the opening of the heart to Christ lets in all heavenly influences to strengthen and ennoble us, and the power of God works in us mightily. But so far as the human side of it is concerned, it is a life of faith. The constant study of the life of Jesus, the constant appropriation of its lessons, the habitual cultivation of love and reverence for Him, are the necessary means of securing the great blessing. The Bible must be read, not to become expert in doctrinal controversy—not to brace the heart in preconceived notions-nor yet to emasculate the soul by a selection of texts that will seem to grant indulgence to weakness; but with the one grand object of knowing Christ, that we may follow Him and share alike with Him the cross and the crown.

Christ in us, the strength of life-Christ in us the hope of glory; this is the "fulness of the blessing of the gospel." I. ERRETT.

"I AM crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."-PAUL.

Observer, May 1, '71.

THE CHURCH OF THE FUTURE.

"In these days," says the Rev. H. W. Beecher, "a new puzzle occupies men's thoughts, namely: The Church of the Future.' Will there be one? What will be its form? What will be its doctrines ?"

Mr. Beecher, answers for himself, that "whether the future church will ordain by bishops, worship by the ritual of England or Rome, baptize by immersion, (immerse or not) keep the first or the seventh day of the week, believe in this or that theological puzzle, no one knows and no one ought much to care." In his view, the church of the future is to be "a development" of the church of the present, regarding the church of the present as "a development" of the church of the past-the apostolic church. "It is enough," he says, "that we believe in the indestructibility of Christianity," but that "Christianity is the name not only of the seedforms of truth planted in the early day, but of all the true developments and normal fruits of those seed-forms, as well."

[ocr errors]

To get this development theory of church growth and of Christianity fully before us, we make another extract or two: Christ, as God manifest in human flesh, gathered in His hand the threads of all moral truths made known before; and all moral truths which shall be made known till the final consummation, run back to His hand. He is the author and finisher of universal faith; but not by any process of philosophical statement; not by the delivery of a symmetrical system embracing the whole of truth. Christ's method of revealing truth is yet hardly appreciated. Christ inculcated right living as the method of coming at divine revelations. He would set the world to living aright. Out of that would come moral insight, inspiration, the knowledge of God. All the fruit of right-living through ages becomes a part of Christianity."

66

In Mr. Beecher's view, then, Christianity is indestructible as to its developing force and fruitfulness," and it matter little what "its external form" or specific teachings may be in any age of the world. We are all asking," he says, "after the bodily church, the dogmatic forms, the physical order and management. But rising to a higher view, the holy men of old saw the purely spiritual and moral attributes." So likewise, he thinks that "when love shall have had a perfect sway for generations in the souls of men, it will not be surprising if men find something higher for belief than mere intellectual doctrine; if they drop the helps in their infancy; if they care more for holiness than for ecclesiastical patterns or theories of doctrine."

Taking Mr. Beecher with us, let us, in imagination, transport ourselves to the second half of the first century of the Christian Era, and propound the question, What will be the form and doctrines of the future church? Mr. Beecher responds : "No one knows and no one ought much to care.' Paul responds: "The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts, having itching ears, shall they heap to themselves teachers; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables." Mr. Beecher mutters: It will not be surprising if men find something higher for belief then mere intellectual doctrine." Paul thunders back: "Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee."- 66 Speak thou the things which become sound doctrine." "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine."

[ocr errors]

The grand apostacy itself was but an application of this theory of church

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »