USA > West Virginia > The West Virginia pulpit of the Methodist Episcopal church. Sermons from living ministers. With personal sketches of the authors > Part 23
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Hence I am authorized to say, that, any theory of life which tends to destroy and not to assert the indi- viduality of man, is inhuman and anti-Christian. But we must distinguish between the true and false individuality. We must remember the double nature in man-the soul life and the sensuous life. The lat- ter has a seeming life which is actual death, and the former a seeming death which is actual life. Hence the language of Scripture, " He that seeketh to save his life shall loose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall find it." That is the development of the un- selfish nature-is life and true individuality.
The selfish man does not preserve his individuality, for his life is sure to grow less. He loses his friends- the world drops him, humanity shuns him ; alone he lives, alone he dies, and the wind and rain which wear out the letters on his tomb, are the only haunters of his pretentious grave. Hence, individuality is not a great bundle of selfishness-is not a flaunting egot- ism-is not personal isolation-but man escaping the curse of self involvement and spreading his being over the world. The stronger the centre and more in- tense the heat and light, the more the radiation. Therefore, let me urge you to be yourselves; your pe- culiarities or eccentricities, as men call them, are your divine endowments for personal use and success. Never let another do your duty and wear your laurels. " Let no man take thy crown."
IV. LASTLY, THE TEXT INFORMS US THAT ANOTHER ESSENTIAL CONDITION OF SUCCESSFUL LIFE IS A RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE COMMISSION. " LORD, WHAT WILT THOU ?"
There is but one sovereign. We are sent. We not only owe allegiance to that God over all, but we work at his expense and fulfill his orders. We are ambassa- dors. We represent the highest court of the universe.
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We are divinely commissioned, as truly as if the di- vine hands had been upon our heads, and we had heard the voice of Christ saying, "Go, preach the Gospel, till the ground, build houses, navigate the seas, weave cloth, teach the young-'whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' " Never forget this fact, " sent of the Lord." The absence of this realiza- tion is an explanation of the dissatisfactions in life, and the jealousy and strife for positions. Let a young man start in life with thisconviction that he is working for eternity-that the eye of God is upon him, and every act will be significant. Life will be intensified, doubled, magnified under the inspiration. Don't for- get your authority, God's will; your supply, divine power. Write his motto on your life, "Sent of the Lord," and your present position in the world and society will become a lofty pedestal, from which your light will shine out far and wide to guide and com- fort the weary and despondent travelers far down the valley and away from home. Your present crosses will change from rough hewn beams to flower wreathed and rose-garlanded ladders of spiritual as- cent, more beautiful and populous than those Jacob saw at Bethel. With a consciousness of a life mis- sion, with the right choice of a vocation, with true indi- viduality, with the realization of the fact, "sent of the Lord"-your life cannot be a failure ; for the divine purpose, and power, and promises are all pledged, and you shall overcome, and be crowned a victor at last. Let your past be full of thanksgivings, your present full of joy, your future full of welcomes.
" So live that when thy summons comes To join the innumerable caravan,
That moves to the silent realms of shade,
.
Thou go not like the quarry slave At night, scourged to his dungeon ; But sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, Approach thy grave like one who wraps the drapery Of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams."
PERSONAL SKETCH.
REV. GEORGE EDGAR HITE, was born September 17th, 1851, in Guyandotte, West Virginia. He was started to school so young that he does not remember when he could not read. The most of his life, from the time he was first put to school, until he was seventeen years of age, was spent in the select and public schools of his native town. At this time, through the kindness of a friend, a scholarship was secured for him in Marshall Academy, now known as the State Normal School of Huntington. Having previously chosen the profession of medicine as a calling in life, he took an optional course in the Academy. During his stay at this school, he paid particular attention to the study of chemis- try, in which he made considerable proficiency.
All the time that could be spared from the studies he was pur- suing in school, he assiduously devoted to the study of the usual text books which are prescribed for a medical student, before at- tending lectures. Eighteen months, or more, he was a student of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. A. B. McGinnis of Guyandotte-one of the most successful practitioners in the State. He very naturally holds the Doctor, who was one of the warmest friends of his early youth, in grateful remembrance to this day. Brother Hite made rapid progress in the study of his chosen pro- fession,-the healing art. His parents not being in circumstan- ces to furnish the money for his course at a Medical College, he began teaching school to supply himself with the necessary funds, with which to complete a thorough medical training, be- fore entering upon the practice of his chosen profession.
Up to this time he had not made any religious profession, or connected himself with the Church, though he had been asso- ciated, in some way, with the Sabbath School all his life. In Feb- ruary 1870, during a revival conducted by Rev. Samuel E. Steele, he was brought under a deep and pungent conviction, which, after a long and desperate struggle, was followed by his conver- sion. He united with the M. E. Church, and at once became an active and useful member. He soon attracted the attention of his pastor and brethren in the Church, by his gift of prayer, and readiness of expression in experience meetings.
Not long after his conversion, his mind underwent a complete change. He lost interest in his medical books, and developed an absorbing interest in religious and theological studies. He read, with avidity, nearly everything of a religious character
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which came within his reach. At last, in spite of himself, the conviction seized his mind that the Great Disposer of men's lives designed him not to be a healer of men's bodies, but to car- ry to sin-sick humanity the " Balm of Gilead." He was greatly troubled at the thought of incurring the displeasure of his old friend Dr. McGinnis, who had taken no little pride in his pupil. He was also troubled with the idea that to abandon the calling for which he had been so long preparing, for one about which he knew scarcely aynthing, would subject him to unkind criti- cisms. He also dreaded to inform his parents of the change of his mind, for he felt convinced that they would strongly oppose the idea of his becoming a preacher. These things, together with personal difficulties, greatly distressed his mind ; but at last, feeling that a woe was upon him if he refused to preach the Gos- pel, he announced the change of his purpose as to his life work, and his intention of entering the ministry at once.
Brother Hite was received on trial in the West Virginia Con- ference, at its session in the city of Wheeling, March 1872, Bish- op Simpson presiding; and was appointed, as junior preacher, on the Knottsville and Fetterman Circuit, Rev. E. S. Wilson be- ing preacher in charge. He labored with acceptability on this work, and at the earnest request of the Quarterly Conference was returned the following year with Rev. C. J. Trippett as senior preacher. He was next appointed as pastor in charge of Barboursville Circuit, Guyandotte District. His labors on this work were successful. Many were converted and added to the Church. He was next appointed to Rowlesburg Station, Morgantown District. In the fall of this year, he resigned his charge and went to Drew Theological Seminary, but feeble health and other weighty considerations, influenced him soon to return. He resumed the pastorate of the Rowlesburg Church, and during the winter conducted a revival of unusual power,- over one hundred were received into the Church that year. His next appointment was Fulton Circuit, Wheeling District. He remained the full term of the pastorate here ; and from this place was appointed to Zane Street Station, Wheeling.
The following June he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Phipps, an accomplished young lady of Wheeling. His pas- torate at Zane Street Station was a very laborious one, on account of the financial embarrassment in which he found the Church, when he became its pastor; but at the end of his term, every dol- lar of the debt was paid, the church was handsomely frescoed and generally improved, and the society was left in an unusu- ally prosperous condition. In this station, though quite a young man, Brother Hite made for himself an enviable reputation in his Conference. The next year, 1881, he was sent to Chapline Street Station, Wheeling, where he is now rendering acceptable and efficient service. His congregations are always large, and he never fails to have gracious revivals in all his fields of labor.
Brother Hite is a successful preacher. He is a close student, and goes into his pulpit with a fresh message for his congrega-
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tion, and therefore never fails to interest and instruct them. He has studied both Greek and Latin under private instruction, and in the Latin has madb considerable proficiency. He ha a voice of unusual compass, and speaks with great freedom and earnestness. He is thoroughly devoted to his profession, and has the courage, in the pulpit and on the platform, to attack sin in all its forms. He is among the most popular ministers of his age in West Vir- ginia.
ยท
SERMONXXIII .*
BY
REV. GEORGE E. HITE.
THEME :- CHRISTIANITY'S CHALLENGE TO UNBELIEF.
TEXT :- " Which of you convinceth me of sin."-John viii : 46.
The keen-scented blood-hound never more savagely or untiringly followed the trail of the fugitive slave, than were the footsteps of Jesus hounded by the chief priests and scribes who were eager for his blood. They set hired lawyers to entrap him in his conversa- tion. In almost every public audience that he ad- dressed, during the three years of his ministry on earth, there were present paid or volunteer spies, lis- tening with eagerness to catch some word by which they might bring a charge against him. With the cun- ning of foxes and the stealth of tigers, they followed his every movement. They knew where he was, and what he was doing, nearly every hour of his time on earth, after he began his public ministry. Scarcely a word fell from his lips they did not hear, and report to the Council. They knew every house he entered- they knew whether he ate with washed or unwashed hands. They knew everybody with whom he con- versed and the theme of conversation. But it was all of no avail. He foiled them at every point. This maddened them beyond control. Christ fully compre-
*Preached before the West Va. Annual Conference, at Clarksburg, Oct. 10, 1882.
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hended the situation ; he knew the animus of the hier- archy toward him, but he was not afraid. In that courage that can only come from the consciousness of the perfect integrity of life, and purity of motive, Christ fearlessly confronted these spies, and challenged them to point to a single flaw in his life. False and malicious slanders must down before the steady gaze of innocence and truth. They never dared, with all the unblushing effrontery they manifested toward him, to accuse him to his face of violations of the moral law. The only charge they could bring against him, for which they could find any ground in truth, was that he disregarded the ritual and rubric of ecclesias- tical conventionalism of his time. He would not trammel himself with the burdensome and useless cer- emonial-touching the observance of the Sabbath, fastings and ablutions. He calmly pointed to his life and confidently asked, " Which of you convinceth me of sin ?" And he was fully as willing to have his teaching subject to a close and critical inspection as his life. For he was sure that they could not say that the doctrines that he taught, when accepted and reduced to practice, tended to make men more false and vain, and hateful and selfish.
The challenge that Christ gave to the Pharisees is the challenge of Christianity to her enemies to-day, " Which of you convinceth me of sin ?" The Chris- tian religion does not shrink from candid investiga- tion and fair test. It does not dread the broad light of day ; it courts the most careful examination. There is no attempt at secrecy ; nothing hidden or kept away from the eyes of the world. The Bible is an open book, and he who will, may read and judge for him- self. In any system of doctrine, or set of principles, the end sought is a matter of prime importance with us, in trying to make up an opinion as to whether we will give to the same our approval and confidence.
I. WHAT IS THE AIM OF CHRISTIANITY ?
Is it the weal or woe of the human race it seeks ? If it can be shown that it strikes at the happiness and freedom of the masses, and seeks to create castes
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and class distinctions, to build up a hierarchial des- potism, the enslavement and degradation of man, in- stead of his highest elevation and fullest liberty, then let it be blotted from the love and faith of mankind. Let not tongue and pen cease their labors, until the pernicious system is rooted out, and thrown aside as one of the many false and wicked religions that from time to time have made their appearance in the world. But on the other hand, if it can be demon strated that it is the amelioration of man-his phys- ical, intellectual and moral good-it seeks, securing unto him liberty of conscience, and civil freedom, and all the rights and immunities which an impar- tial and merciful God has willed to him, as his in- alienable inheritance-mitigating his sufferings, les- sening his cares and lightening his burdens, then I ask where is the miscreant that dare lift pen or voice against the Christian religion, or attempt to rob his troubled and burdened race of this God-given boon ? Such is the aim of our holy religion. Its only mission, to a lost world, is the bettering of hu- man condition in every direction. It comes to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, visit the sick and set the prisoner free. I challenge any man to prove to the contrary. The man has not lived, does not live, and will not live, who after carefully studying our holy Christianity, can rise up and declare its aim to be the aggravation of man's troubles, the increas- ing of his burdens, the intensifying of his sufferings, the dwarfing of his intellect, the enslavement of his conscience, and the pollution of his affections. I am aware that for ages the whole civilized world was under the heel of an ecclesiastical despotism, which was as foreign to the spirit of Christ as hell is foreign to heaven. Papacy ruled the kingdoms of this world with a rod of iron. The Pope in his sumptuous pal- ace in the Eternal City, was the acknowledged "King ot kings and Lord of lords," over all the earth. He made and unmade kings at will. The nations waited his nod. Restrictions hard to be borne were laid on the governments of earth. Man was deprived of the last vesitige of liberty, whether religious or civil.
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The dungeons were foul with the stench of dead men whose only crime was the holding of views concern- ing the Bible not authorized by the holy (?) Catholic Church of Rome. The flames fed on their flesh ; the sword, the guillotine were drenched with their blood. The very earth was drunk with the blood of the saints. I have read the sad story of the persecutions of the Va- doise, the terrible Spanish Inquisition, the sickening horrors of St. Bartholomew, and other crimes which blacken the pages of Church history, committed not alone by Romanists, but in some instances by Protest- ants as well,-done in the name of Christ. But Christ gives no sanction whatever in his teachings to violence crime, as instruments for the conversion of the world. " The weapons of our warfare are not carnal."
What similarity is there between the ferocious and murderous spirit-which found vent in the deeds of cruelty and blood just described-and the lamb-like spirit of the Son of God ? Christ came into the world to bind up the broken hearted, to open prison doors and preach deliverance to the captives. His aim is to seek and save that which was lost. Where, I ask, is there anything in such an unselfish, laudable aim which justifies the savage and relentless war that mod- ern unbelief wages against Christianity ?
II. WHAT OF THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIAN RE-
LIGION ?
Let us next inspect these doctrines. We found no grounds for indictment in the aims of Christianity, can we find it here ? An attempt, in this place, to run the whole range of Christian doctrine, giving to each that attention its importance merits, would be to be- tray our ignorance, and far transcend the limits of a discourse of this kind. Each of these precious doc- trines deserve a volume ; and we do not know of one to which some Christian scholar has not paid this de- served tribute. We can only review the principal ones, and these but briefly and imperfectly.
1. The existence of God. The first verse of the Bi- ble reveals the sublime idea of a God-infinite, self- existent, source and head of all things. No method
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of argumentation is employed to prove the fact. The statement is positively made, " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth ;" and then the in- spired penman proceeds to give the successive acts by which this system of material things around us was made. There are men who reject this funda- mental doctrine of the Christian religion, because it is a mystery. They have tried to solve this great mystery, and have been baffled, and for this reason they tell us they will not believe it. It is granted that the secret of God's existence is a mystery no finite mind can grasp and lay bare. But I ask the votaries of the god Reason which is the most rational thing to do, (I employ the words of another), " accept this one great mystery, or reject it, and involve our- selves in a maze of a million mysteries. Equally inex- plicable-in every blade of grass, grain of sand, or creeping thing, not one of which has a solution with- out the concession of this one infinite and fundamen- tal mystery."
A German scientist, in an essay on " The limits of Natural Philosophy," read before the "Berlin Academy of Sciences," propounds to his brother scientists sev- en world problems, which no one of them has been able to solve : (1) The existence of matter and power. (2) The source of motion. (3) The beginning of life. (4) The manifest proofs of design in nature. (5) The origin of simple perception. (6) Logical think-
ing and the origin of language. (7) Free will. Con- cede the existence of an eternal, almighty God-orig- in and sustainer of all things, and all these mysteries are readily solved. Ignore the Creator, and there is no solution for them. One cannot but be both amused
and pained by reading the baseless theories advocated by infidel science, in its vain endeavors to solve the problem of the universe by leaving the great factor God out. Says the author of a very remarkable book, written in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints : " The mind of man needs rest, and must find a sure abiding place somewhere from the harrassing plague of doubt and uncertainty, or else wear itself out in perpetual agitation. There is but one safe po-
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sition, either in philosophy or religion where the soul can find rest, and that is to merge all Nature's mys- teries back into the one great mystery of Nature's God. Let us seek that resting place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
2. Free agency and depravity. These are doctrines of the Christian religion. They are unquestionably established by experience and observation. As to the freedom of the will, this is the special boast of in- fidelity. This doctrine of free choice is not only in harmony with our reason and experience, but it is in the most perfect accord with infidel philosophy, which seeks to make a god out of man by descanting on " the sovereignity of man," "the sacredness of man," etc., to which I offer no objection. Man is a sovereign-he is sacred and noble; and yet there seems a strange inconsistency in this, when we remember his con- temptible origin. A certain school of scientists (so called) tell us that man is a lineal descendant of the baboon, a prince of the royal line. If that be true, is it not high time that such a low sprung individual cease to glorify himself? For if that old maxim of philosophy be true, viz : that "like produces like," the conclusion which forces itself upon him, to say the least, is not complimentary to his lordship.
As to the doctrine of depravity, I admit that it is not pleasant to contemplate. Especially are the sym- bols employed by the Bible to represent the moral con- dition of the unrenewed heart distasteful to the proud spirit of man. A grave full of dead men's bones-a hu- man body covered with putrefaction from head to foot- a cage of unclean birds. But a fact is none the less a fact because it is unpleasant. The pleasant things we hear are much easier to be believed than the unpleasant. News may be brought to the master of a vessel that she is sinking-unpleasant news, indeed. Hedislikes to be- lieve it, but this does not save the ship from sink- ing. You are up town, the fire alarms strike. Some one comes rushing into your place of business and says, " It's your house that is on fire." You say, " That is unpleasant tidings, therefore I will not believe it." But the house burns down, nevertheless. Your child is sick ; you call in a physician ; he makes a careful
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examination of the case ; his face grows serious, and at last hesitatingly tells you the child must die. Sad tidings indeed. You say, " I cannot, I will not believe it." Yet this does not save the little one's life. That strange doctrine that man, instead of beginning life with a spotless moral nature, began at the greatest possible remove from such a state-moral zero, and has been gradually climbing up to that ideal condi- tion, meets its death in the fact that in the ascent of. life, humanity reached the summit of moral perfec- tion more than eighteen hundred years ago, in the per- son of the incarnate Son of God.
This doctrine of depravity, I claim, is corroborated by the deranged and chaotic condition of the moral world. All order and harmony are gone, and perpet- ual unrest and tumult reign. How has this been brought about ? You may search, but will search in vain for a parallel elsewhere in nature. Order and content- ment reign throughout. Everything else seems in harmony with itself and its environments. Gaze into yonder sky at the stars floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear, calm lake. How tranquil they seem. No tumult or strife there, but all in harmoni- ous intercourse with each other. Turn away from this radiant scene, and look upon faithful mother earth. Age on age through the mighty reaches of im- mensity. She has been making her solemn rounds, never varying the millioneth part of a second in a thousand years-never failing to bring to us winter and summer, seed time and harvest. What bountiful provision she makes for the sustenance of every liv- ing thing, with unstinted hand yielding up to man the treasures of her bosom. How contented and satisfied in her lot. Put down thine ear and listen close and long, but never a sound or a murmur of complaint wilt thou hear from the lips of patient earth. Go to the cat- tle that graze upon a thousand hills. Tranquil and satisfied they pass their time away. The flowers bloom and the birds sing to tell us of their peace and joy. All nature is contented and happy. Her stars are shin- ing, her seas are smiling, her rivers are laughing, the tall cedars of Lebanon are clapping their hands for
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joy. Let everything that has breath join in the har- monious song of praise that nature sings to nature's God.
But hark, there is a discordant sound-a break has been made in the harmony. From whence does it come ? Man alone, amidst all this harmony, is dis- cordant, out of tune with his environments. O, man, why is it that all other things are in their way happy in their lot, and thou art deprived of peace ! Thy soul a battle-field where opposing forces wage a ceaseless strife. How does it come that the servants of the king are all satisfied and happy, and only the king himself is wretched ? Answer, if thou canst. Thou failest ; I am not surprised. The Bible will answer for thee in tho doctrine of the fall. Unhappy being, ques- tion thine own heart, and read the dark pages of human crime and thou canst no longer doubt.
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