USA > Virginia > City of Staunton > City of Staunton > The First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia > Part 2
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bewildered traveller, "Go no further in that direction, stop and see how strange is your position, how threaten- ing the prospect, inquire the way back to the old road from which you have strayed, and having found it walk in it, for that alone will lead to peace." "Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."
The call of God was not vague, therefore, nor general, but a summons to seek a specific blessing the fathers had had and the descendants had lost. It was an appeal to return to the commandments and covenant of Sinai, and to resume the pursuit of the true religion which had been revealed from Heaven. It was called "the good way" because it was right. It was known to be right because it had been divinely revealed and certified. It carried the imprimatur of Heaven and was stamped with the great seal of the kingdom of God. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scorn- ful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
The question may here be asked, of what practical consequence is all of this to those who live in this gener- ation ? We are not Jews but Christians. We are not un- der the Old Testament but under the New Testament, we are not come to Mount Sinai in Arabia but "we are come unto Mount Zion." My answer is that the religion which God revealed from Sinai is the only religion which God has ever revealed to men. The conditions of re- ligion to-day are substantially the same that they were when Moses gathered the Israelites around Mt. Sinai, and no different religion has ever been given to men. The old
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religion has not been repealed nor superseded. There have been other revelations since the days of Jeremiah, but they have only thrown a stronger light on the same religion. The Son of God has come in the flesh bringing "life and immortality to light through the gospel," but He is the incarnation of all the principles involved in the old revelation, the meaning in living form of all that God had made known concerning the way of salvation and the way to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, which is the chief end of man. The coming of Christ abolished many rites and customs but this did not impair the integrity of the scheme of religion as given at Sinai. It was merely a re- moving of the drapery from the figure that its true outline and its beauty might be the more clearly seen. Christ was the promised "Seed" of Abraham. He was the "Rock" that followed the Israelites in the wilderness. He was "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." "To him give all the prophets witness." He was the antitype of all their typical forms. He was the theme of every song, the burden of every prophecy, the meaning of history, the Messiah of Israel, the hope of all ages, the desire of all nations, the light of the world, the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person, "the King eternal, immortal, in- visible, the only wise God," to whom "be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
Do you grant that there is a God, "A spirit infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth?" Of course, you do. The existence of such a Being is the indispensable con- dition of all thought and indeed of all other existence. But if such a Being exists it follows as a matter of course that He can communicate with His intelligent creatures, else He would be inferior to them, for they can communicate with each other. Then there is a God who can communicate with men.
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Is there a body of literature called "the Bible" which claims to be such a revelation from God to men? Of course there is. That is a fact of common knowledge. Are there convincing evidences that this Bible did really come from God? See how transcendant, incomparable, immeasurable it stands amidst all human literature. It is transcendant in "the heavenliness of its matter," in its majesty and authority. It is transcendant in its form and in the cir- cumstances of its construction. It is composed of sixty- six books, written by many different authors, and the time consumed in the construction of the whole was not less than fifteen hundred years, and yet there is an ab- solute unity of purpose and consistency of statement in it. The giving of this Bible to men was at all times accom- panied by miracles, the sign manual of divinity. More- over, it is transcendant in its effects upon both individ- uals and nations. Its influence falls as gently as the dew upon the unfolding life of the child in the pious home, causing it to blossom into rectitude, and spirituality and strength and beauty. Through the Bible, the most de- graded are purified and lifted up and given a place among those who respect themselves and win the confidence of men and render a useful service to humanity. By it the self-righteous learn humility through tortures of repent- ance. The transformation of nations is no less marked than that of individuals. Every thing lives whither this river cometh. Savagery and barbarism yield to civiliza- tion, ignorance to learning, suffering and despair to heal- ing and content, hatred to charity, and besotted vice and superstition to the cultivation of intelligent piety.
Once more, do you grant that the mind of man is im- perfect and that his heart is prone to sin? These are mat- ters of universal consciousness. Then man is not qualified to frame a religion for himself to supplant the one that God has given him.
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Now, if all these things be true, if man is unable to devise a religion for himself and if God has revealed a religion to him, it necessarily follows that that religion revealed by God remains in force until it is re- pealed or another is given in its stead which is equally as well authenticated. To seek the old paths then is to hark back to the Bible, ever back to the Bible, away from all human invention, however plausible or fascinating, back to the Bible as the only infallible rule of faith and practice. In the language of a distinguished English controversialist, "The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Pros- testants."
This is the claim which the Bible makes for itself. It calls itself the "incorruptible seed," "the word of God which liveth and abideth forever." Christ said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Paul said "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," and "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." To Timothy he said, "I charge thee, therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom: Preach the word." Concerning those who would persuade the Galatians to modify their rule of faith, he says, "Though we, or an angel from Heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Finally among the closing sentences of the Bible we find this startling warning: "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA.
We hear of the "effete doctrines of the seventeenth century," and much also of a "new theology" and "ad- vanced views in religion." Of course, we can see how such expressions might be used with propriety in cer- tain circumstances. If by the "effete doctrines of the seventeeth century," it is meant that those doctrines did not agree with the teaching of God's word, it is proper to describe them as "effete." Indeed in that case they never did have any life in them. But if by "effete doc- trines" it is meant that those doctrines correctly represent the teachings of the Bible, but that the human race has outgrown them and no longer needs them in this pro- gressive age, the error is fundamental and deadly. If by a "new theology" is meant a re-study of the Bible and a more correct statement of its teachings, well and good. But if the "new theology" is something wrought out by the mind of scholars, different from the Bible and supposed to be an improvement on it, then the name and the thing are alike to be repudiated and to be feared as a malignant poison.
The Bible bears the same relation to Theology that nature bears to science. It contains the ultimate facts and it is the final appeal. If we find we have misunder- stood the Bible we must change our doctrine, as we abandoned Scholasticism for the Baconian system. But we may no more change or discard the Bible than we may discredit nature.
We also hear of "new methods" in religion. If these new methods are intended to win the attention of men and bring them into contact with the gospel, they are harmless and may be beneficial. But if they are new methods to secure peace with God and holiness of life, they are alien and hostile to Christ and an affront to the Almighty Spirit of grace.
We do not need a new religion, for none of the. con- ditions have changed since the old one was given us.
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1. Human nature has not changed. Man has the same dual nature, soul and body, with the same intricate and inscrutable relations to each other. Man's body has the same members, and is composed of the same materials, and the same chemical, physical, and mechanical laws control its life and action as when Jeremiah or Moses lived. What was food then is food now and what was poison then is poison now. Man's soul is the same. The mind has the same faculties of reception, reproduction and thought. The heart bears the same affections and emotions, the same joys and sorrows, loves and hates, hopes and fears. The moral nature is the same and makes the same dis- tinction between right and wrong. What was moral in former days is moral now and what was immoral then is im- moral now. Conscience approves the right and condemns the wrong just as it always did, and man has lost none of his fear of punishment or hope of reward. Human virtues and vices have not undergone any changes. The unprinci- pled business man of to-day who regards conscience in business and a consideration for the interests of others as antiquated, is startled on reading the story of Jacob and Laban to find the same sharp practice in their dealings with each other that he imagined were discovered in the present age. The artful politician finds his counterpart in Absolom and the resourceful public man finds his in Joab. And where shall we find constructive statesman- ship, or where such versatilily of genius as in Moses, the poet, orator, historian, lawgiver, statesman, masterful leader of men?
2. God is the same, three persons and one God for- ever. He has the same attributes, omniscience, omnipo- tence and omnipresence. When David's meditations on these themes were gathered up from a life time of varied experiences, from the shepherd life, from the court, the camp, the battle field, the exile's cave, and he gave ex- pression to them in that magnificent outburst:
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"O, Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me,
"Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou under- standest my thought afar off,
"Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art ac- quainted with all my ways.
"For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou- knowest it altogether.
"Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
"If I ascend up into heaven, thou are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou are there.
"If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ;
"Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me,
"If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
"Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."
We are sure that we can never get beyond that description of these attributes.
If God was love when the New Testament was written He is love to-day, and all the infinite reaches of His nature are permeated with that divine tenderness. He is char- acterized by the same righteousness and holiness, "dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." He is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look, on iniquity.". He has the same indignation against sin and the same delight in holiness. Therefore God's attitude toward sin and the sinner remains unchanged and if He were to promulgate another plan of salvation to-day, his nature must express itself in the same way and reproduce the same old plan,
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embodying the same principles of righteousness and mercy.
There is no new Christ, the Son of God incarnate, very God and very man. The apostle exclaims, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day and forever."
The virgin birth has not ceased to be a fact. Christ's ministry of love and reconciliation is still a fact. His cru- cifixion, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension are all as much realities as they ever were. Are we to imagine that all these stupendous facts involved in God's gift of His Son for a perishing world are of temporary effect? Has the atonement lost its meaning? Has the blood of Christ lost its value?
"Dear dying Lamb thy precious blood
"Shall never lose its power
" "Till all the ransomed church of God
"Be saved to sin no more."
The Holy Spirit is the same, in His nature, His office and His work, renewing, convincing, persuading, enable- ing, sanctifying, guiding, comforting and crowning with final triumph.
3. The old methods of delivering souls out of the estate of in and misery and bringing them into the estate of salvation, are found by experience to be as effective to-day as they ever were and they are the only methods that produce the unmistakably genuine results. They are the methods of Peter and Paul and the other apostles. They narrated the facts of the gospel story. They told how the Son of God became incarnate, how He lived among men and ministered to them with divine sympathy and almighty power, how He died for them and rose again and ascended to heaven, where seated on the right hand of the majesty on high, He has all power in heaven and in earth and wields it with the same loving heart He displayed when He was in the flesh. Having
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told this story they offered eternal life without money and without price to all who would turn from their sins and trust in the mercy of God as it had been displayed in Jesus Christ. As they preached this curious gospel the hearts of hearers were opened by the Holy Ghost so that they accepted the divine offer and embraced Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord forever. Henceforth these converts had peace of conscience and their lives were more and more altered into the likeness of Christ.
These methods have been found sufficient for all the religious effects desired among men, in whatever age and regardless of the learning or the abilities of the preacher. They were the methods of Augustine, of Bernard of Clairvaux, of Savonarola, of Luther and Calvin and Knox, and Jonathan Edwards, and Whitefield, and the Wesleys and Spurgeon and Moody. They are adapted to all classes of hearers. Here is a convict in his cell, a profane swearer, a drunkard, a burglar, a libertine, a murderer all in one. By what we call an accident, some fragment of the old story falls under his eye and the familiar trans- formation takes place within him. He comes forth a dif- ferent man. A live coal from off the altar of God has touched and purged his lips. He becomes a preacher of the gospel and multitudes of every shade of moral char- acter and every degree of intelligence attend his preach- ing and many are brought in penitence and faith and whole surrender to the feet of Jesus. Here is another case at the opposite pole of morality and intelligence, the scion of a long line of scholars and moralists, himself the exponent of high ethical refinement and an eminent in- structor. He attends an evangelistic meeting, that as a student of social and religious phenomena, he may observe the enthusiasms which he pities. He hears the simple gospel story, his heart is touched by the Spirit of God, he is completely humbled at the foot of the cross and is not
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afraid in the face of all his antecedents to avow his change of heart and declare, "God is in you of a truth."
What holy enthusiasm, what high loyalty to con- science, what exalted heroism this religion has excited.
What great men have come from its crucibles, whether greatness be measured by the standards of earth or heaven? On the one side, what intensity and dimensions of intellect, what breadth of view, what fer- tility of resource, what indomitable purpose, what capacity to wait, to endure and to command success. On the other side, what sublime unselfishness and self-sacrifice, what passion for truth, for humanity, for God. Consider a Joseph, in the home, in the fields, in prison, upon the throne; a Moses, in the sublimity of self-repression and solitude, and in the equal sublimity of confronting and subduing Pharaoh, "seeing Him who is invisible;" an Elijah at the brook Cherith or on Mt. Carmel or on Mt. Horeb; the Hebrew captives before the fiery furnace; Daniel in the den of lions; the disciples before the council in Jerusalem; Paul before Agrippa; Wicklif, Huss, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Latimer, Ridley and a host of others who cannot be mentioned, who in all ages of the church "through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens;" who "were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection;" who "had trial of cruel mock- ings and scourgings, yea morover of bonds and imprison- ment;" who 'were stoned, were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword, wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tor- mented, of whom the world was not worthy.'
What national life and character have been wrought by this religion! What virile intellectuality, what dis-
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covery, what invention, what mastery of nature, what civilization, what progress, what achievement, what civic righteousness, what sobriety, what honest commerce, what industry, what home life, what peace, what prosperity, what love of man, what care for the unfortunate, what sense of the infinite and the eternal!
Consider the illustration of itself our religion has put on the pages of history, the story of the Waldensian Church, the rise of the Dutch Republic; the romance of the Huguenots, their sufferings at home, the splendor of their deeds abroad, the leaven of their blood among the nations; the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant in the Greyfriars churchyard in Edinburgh; the record of the founding of religious liberty in America; and last but not least, in our own day, the martyrdom of thousands of Chinese in the Boxer uprising, "not accepting deliv- erance."
But we need not go beyond our local history to find an illustration of the divine energy of our religion. When the fathers came to settle in this Valley, so the historian records, one controlling reason of their coming was that they might have unrestricted enjoyment of their religion, which they could not pursue in peace at home and which they could not be forced to abandon. Here they made their homes in the solitudes of the forests or prairies, among the wild beasts, without human neighbors, without shelter till they could build one, with only such food as the streams and the woods supplied till they could clear the land and raise a crop. Here they were exposed to the incursions of savages from a distance and in course of time actually suffered every species of anxiety and loss and torture from that source. All of this they endured rather than renounce their religion, or be oppressed in the enjoyment of it. All this was the measure of their devotion to their religion and through all of this they were sustained by the comforts this religion afforded. Among
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the effects brought with them across the sea, and along the wilderness trail to these remote localities were "their Bibles, the Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism and Rouse's Version of the Psalms of David." Nor did they wait for the home missionary to come at the sug- gestion and the expense of others to preach the gospel to them. As soon as they were well settled and in sufficient numbers, they began their "supplication" to the nearest Presbytery, hundreds of miles distant, to send them a minister. And they continued these "supplications" till the man of God appeared among them. Soon houses of worship were built and congregations were organized. Then the school and later the college followed in succes- sion. There came inroads of Indians, with massacres, burn- ings, captivities, tortures, bondages and daring escapes. Through it all we are sure they found comfort and support and hope in the teachings of the old religion, in Bible texts, catechism answers and stanzas of Rouse's Ver- sion, with all which the mind had been stored in youth against such a time as this.
It is now not far from two hundred years since the first settler came to this vicinity. In that time the people of whom this congregation forms a representative part, have done their share of what the country has accomplished. In every war, in the French and Indian War, in the Re- volution, in the War of 1812, in the Mexican War, in the War between the States they have never been behind their countrymen in sacrifice, in service, in courage or in achievement. And religion has been a conspicuous motive in it all. They orginated the declaration of independence and were leaders in the movement for religious liberty and the separation of Church and State. It was their religion that taught them these things. They gave an Archibald Alexander to the church and a Stonewall Jackson to the State.
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Now whether this religion is to be preserved in the future and continue a power for good, bringing men into communion with God, training them for service on earth and glory in heaven, will depend upon how closely you adhere to the old paths as they are charted in the old Bible. Once for all, acquire the truth that the Bible is a revelation of God, infallibly inspired. Buy this truth and sell it not. Avoid the poison of all criticism that tends to weaken your confidence in that truth. Let the heart be imbued with the spirit of the Word of God and the mind be stored with its teachings and its promises. Teach them diligently to your children in the home and in the Sabbath School and let them come, with authority and confidence from the pulpit. In this much depends upon the preacher and quite as much upon the congregation. It is yours to call your minister and to dispense with him if he proves untrue. What you demand and expect of him will largely determine the character of his preaching. The preacher and his congregation act and react on each other. He fashions them and they fashion him as well. "Like priest, like people," and like people like priest. If you are of the number of those of whom the apostle prophesied that "they will not endure sound doctrine," but will "heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears," that is their ears will so itch for novelties that if their teachers cannot supply those novelties they will keep on changing their teachers; if you demand that he shall prophesy only pleasant things, and your greatest ambition for him is to be able to say to him as they said to their preachers in Ezekiel's day, "Thou art as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument of music," you can easily emasculate his ministry of all spiritual virility. But if you ask him for "the old paths," and inquire of him "Where is the good way," if you heartily sustain him when he declares to you all the counsel of God, saying in the language of an old hymn:
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