USA > West Virginia > The West Virginia pulpit of the Methodist Episcopal church. Sermons from living ministers. With personal sketches of the authors > Part 4
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is true, Christ has promised to be with his Church always, even to the end of the world .* But if all those with whom Christ is present, are infallible, then every sincere Christian in the world is infallible, and then what will become of the Pope's prerogative, when the most ignorant man, provided he is a Christian, will be as infallible a guide as the Pope is.
And to as little purpose for their argument is the other promise of our Savior, " where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them,"+ For if Christ's being in the midst of them makes them infallible it is also certain that if but two or three only shall meet together in his name, in Wheeling, they will then be thus met together infalli- ble. In the words of an old writer, " If infallibility be had at home, and at so cheap a rate, great fools are they who will put themselves to the trouble and ex- pense of a journey to Rome for it."
The Church spoken of in our text, is the Church of Christ. "I will build my Church," he the foundation and chief corner stone, will see to it that none but living stones are built upon himself, the rock of ages. The church which he builds is called his body. Not any one visible church, but "the Church which is Christ's Body, and of which he is the head, standeth only of living stones and true Christians, not only outwardly in name and title, but inwardly, in heart and truth."} Bishop Jeremy Taylor writes in his " Dissuasive from Popery, 1660." "If any will agree to call the universality of professors by the title of the Church, they may if they will. Any word, by consent, may signify anything. But if by a Church we mean that society which is really joined to Christ, which hath received the Holy Ghost, which is heir of the promises and of the good things of God, which is the body of which Christ is the Head, then the invisible part of the visible Church, that is, the true servants of Christ only, are the Church." Again he writes, "Now besides the evidence of the thing itself and the notice of it in Scripture, let me observe that this very thing is in itself a part of the Article of Faith. For
" Matthew xxviii:20. ¡ Matthew xviii:20. į Bishop Ridley, martyr, 1556.
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if it be asked what is the Catholic Church ? The Apostle's creed defines it: it is communio sanctorum. ' I believe the Holy Catholic Church,' that is, 'The Communion of Saints,' the conjunction of all them who heartily serve God through Jesus Christ. The one is exegetical of the other."
In the Irish Articles drawn up by the learned Arch- bishop Usher, in 1615, the Church is described as fol- lows : "There is but one Catholic Church (out of which there is no salvation,) containing the universal com- pany of all the Saints that ever were, are, or shall be, gathered together in one body, under one head, Christ Jesus, part whereof is already triumphant, part as yet militant here upon earth." Barron, in his discourse concerning the unity of the Church, defines the visible church to be "the society of those who at present, or in the course of time, profess the faith and Gospel of Christ, in distinction to all other religions." He says of the mystical body of Christ,-" To the Catholic So- ciety of true believers, and faithful servants of Christ, called the Church mystical and invisible, diffused through all ages, dispersed through all countries, whereof part doth sojourn on earth, part doth reside in Heaven, part is not yet extant, to this especially all the glorious titles and excellent privileges attributed to the Church in Scripture do agree. This is the Body of Christ, the Spouse of Christ, &c."
Mr. Watson's view is much the same as that already given. He says: " The Church of Christ, in its larg- est sense, consists of all who have been baptized in the name of Christ. In a stricter sense, it consists of those who are vitally united to Christ, as the members of the body to the head, and who being thus imbued with spiritual life, walk no longer after the flesh, but after the spirit." He adds, "taken in either view, it is a visible society." He differs from most of the re- formers in this view, as may be seen in the definitions of the divines of the English Church. They held that the whole visible church, as well as each particular church of which it is made up, may be considered un- der two aspects : First, In its widest amplitude, as a mixed society, embracing all baptized persons who
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profess the faith of Christ, and, so, are in external communion with him; and, secondly, in a more re- stricted sense, special reference being had to the por- tion of it which already corresponds to, and fulfills, the true and essential idea of the Church of God. There are not two Churches, the one visible, the other invisible, but one and the same Church, regarded under two dif- ferent points of view, internally as respects its funda- mental properties and nature; externally, in reference to its outer framework and actual circumstances. This distinction is not happily expressed by the epithets "visible" and "invisible." For they suggest as Roman- ists have not failed to observe, the notion of two dis- tinct Churches, and the word " invisible " seems to im- ply that the members of Christ's Mystical Body are in no respect within the sphere of human sense. But without contending for the propriety of the term "invisible," as applied to the Church, the distinction to which it points is a real one, and is virtually admitted by the Romanists themselves .*
According to the Romish theory of the Church, the supremacy by Divine right of the Roman Pontiff, con- stitutes the principle of organic union, which com- bines into one, the whole visible Church. The proof of this divinely instituted supremacy of the Pope, which was given by Bellarmine, and the older cham- pions of Rome, was based partly on texts of Scripture, partly on a priori arguments, and partly on the testi- mony of early Christian antiquity. This agreement has been met, refuted and triumphantly demolished by Barron and others. And the more recent school of Romish theologians, have virtually admitted the un- satisfactory nature of the old argument. Möhler, in his very able work on the subject, omits all appeal to Scripture and tradition, and abandons the attempt to derive from the institution of Christ, or his apostles anything beyond the simple episcopate. From the latter, he derives the Papacy, by a process of natural development-Bishops, Metropolitans, Patriarchs, the Pope. " They," he says, " who require incontroverti- ble historical proofs of the existence of a primacy be-
*See Bellarmine Barron and Mohler.
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fore that period, when men became fully conscious of the unity of the Church, require what is unreasonable, because impossible according to the law of a true de- velopment."*
And again: " It is evident that during the first three centuries and even up to the close of them, the prima- cy does not begin to raise itself above the first rudim- entary traces, that its movements are destitute of any form."+
To the same effect Cardinal, then Dr. Manning wrote:# "St. Ignatius is silent in his epistles on the subject of the Pope's authority, that authority was not, and could not be in active operation then. * * *
In course of time, first the power of the bishop displayed itself, and then the power of the Pope." "A Pope would not arise but in proportion as the Church was consoli- dated." Hence it appears from the admission of learn- ed Romanists themselves, that the Papal supremacy- the very foundation, as well as the keystone of the Romish theory of the Church-so far from implying a supernatural origin, was the result of purely natural causes.§
But we must hasten to a close. Suffice it to say that the keys given to Peter, are explained by the very opposite and obviously explanatory fact, that this Apostle was the first preacher of the Gospel Dispensa- tion in its perfected form, both to the Jews on the Day of Pentecost, and afterward to the Gentiles. " What- soever ye shall bind, &c."-In Matt. xviii:18, the same binding and losing power is given to all the Apostles. These expressions manifestly refer to the authortative declaration of anything to be obligatory and its infrac- tion to be sinful, and, therefore, subject to punish- ment, or the contrary. This power was connected with the plenary inspiration of the Apostles, and be- yond these inspired men, it could not extend."||
We have now come to the end of our discourse. We think that we have proved that Peter received no primacy of jurisdiction, &c., in these words of our
* Sect. 68, Cyprians Age. + Sect. 70, Einhert in der Kirche. Essay į on De velopment, p. 165. ¿ See Butcher on Reunion with Rome. I See Wat- son's Inst., II vol. 602, 603.
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blessed Lord ; that he is not the Rock of our text, and that the claims of the Pope of Rome to be the head of the Church, and infallible, are without any founda- tion whatever, in God's Word, or in the teachings of the Apostolic Church.
PERSONAL SKETCH.
The subject of this sketch, the Rev. Benjamin Ison, was born November 12, 1824, in the village of New Dale, Shropshire, Eng- land-four miles from Madely, the home of the sainted Fletcher. When about sixteen years of age, he joined the Wesleyan Methodist society ; and two years thereafter, he was licensed to preach. When twenty years of age, and after he had preached two years in his native land, he bade farewell to home and friends, and came to the New World-America. Immediately after his arrival in this country, October 17, 1844, he united with the Liberty Street M. E. Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rev. G. S. Holmes, being the pastor.
In July, 1845, he was received, on probation, into the. Pitts- burgh Conference, and was sent to Weston circuit, Lewis coun- ty, West Virginia, which was then a part of the Pittsburgh Con- ference. Rev. F. S. DeHass-now F. S. DeHass, D.D., of Brook- lyn-was the preacher in charge, and Bro. Ison was his colleague as junior preacher. On this circuit, as in fact in all his fields of labor amid the hills of this Switzerland of America, he was quite successful in awakening a religious sentiment among the people, and pointing them to another and a better life.
Brother Ison, in the course of his ministry among our peaple, traveled the following circuits, viz: Weston, Beverly, Lumber- port, Pruntytown, Selbyport, Morgantown, Palatine, West Mil- ford and Oakland. Morgantown and Pruntytown, he traveled twice. He has also filled the following stations, viz: Morgan- town, Moundsville, North Street-Wheeling-and Parkersburg. Some years ago he was Presiding Elder of the Parkersburg dis- trict, and is now serving his fourth year in the same office, on the Oakland district, part of which lies in the State of Maryland.
May 28, 1850, Bro. Ison was united in marriage with Ellen Elizabeth Robinson, near Pruntytown, Taylor county, this State. Miss Robinson was the daughter of Joshua Robinson, Esq., and sister of Col. Robinson, who is at this time one of the Regents of the West Virginia University. Six children were the result of their union-five sons and one daughter. Three only are now living-two sons and the daughter. One of the sons, William, a graduate of the West Virginia University, a thorough scholar and a conscientious Christian gentleman, is professor in a military school in Port Chester, New York. The other son is employed in the Government printing office at Washington, D. C. All of the children, like their parents before them, are communicants in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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Bro. Ison is highly esteemed by his brethren in the ministry, as a man of both ability and worth. He preaches with power and acceptability. His language is choice, and his sermons are always well prepared.
He has not yet been honored with an election as delegate to the General Conference, but, in 1872, he was elected first re- serve delegate by an almost unanimous vote. He is yet in the midst of his usefulness, and is daily rendering earnest and efficient service in the Master's work.
SERMON IV.
BY
REV. BENJAMIN ISON, P.E.
THEME :- THE BETTER COUNTRY.
TEXT :- "But now they desire a better country."-HEBREWS xi: 16.
From time immemorial, there has been a disposition among men to travel for the purposes of discovery, adventure, sight-seeing, recreation, speculation, and settlement. To this Western World, Columbus and others turned their attention and their steps.
" To this fair land the Pilgrims trod- This land we fondly call our own."
The former came on voyages of discovery, the latter, in quest of religious liberty-" Freedo u to worship God." Multitudes are now coming to our shores from lands beyond the seas ; and here they are going from one part of the country to another, but mostly to some part of the great West. "Westward the star of em- pire takes its way." If you ask these persons why they are traveling, they will tell you " They desire a better country"-a country where they will have bet- ter facilities for improving their temporal condition, and perhaps enjoy greater religious privileges. Many succeed, some even get rich, while thousands acquire a home and a competence. But numbers are doomed to disappointment. Many who embark for these shores never reach them. Through rocks, and storms, and fires, and collisions, they find a watery grave; while many, who attempt to change their places of abode by going from one State to another, after traveling many
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long, weary miles, undergoing many hardships, and sometimes spending their little all, return to the places from which they set out, having learned from sad experience that "It is not all gold that glitters," and that often
" 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view."
Christians are "strangers and pilgrims" on the earth. Having "no abiding city" here, they "seek one to come." "This is not their rest, because it is poluted." " They desire a better country, that is a heavenly." And animated and influenced by this desire to the end, they are never disappointed. This was the dy- ing testimony of our beloved Bishop Janes. "I am not disappointed." Millions have reached " the shin- ing shore," and millions more are on their way, to whom "an abundant entrance will be ministered unto the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." In the text, the Apostle is speaking of some of the Old Testament saints. "They desired a better country." But this is true of good men of all ages and all climes. Job said : "I would not live alway ;" and Paul " desired to depart and be with Christ," which, he said, was "far better."
In pursuing this theme, for our mutual edification and encouragement, I shall consider,
I. THE OBJECT OF THE CHRISTIAN'S DESIRE-"A BETTER COUNTRY."
Our heavenly Father, knowing the dullness of our apprehension, to stimulate us in our Christian course, has given us some conception of heaven by familiar comparisons. He calls it " a house," " a kingdom," " a city," "an inheritance," " Paradise," and in the text, "a better country." It is better than was Ur, of the Chal- dees, which Abraham left for the land of Canaan. It is better than was the land of Canaan itself, in its palmy days, though that was "a goodly land," a land of abundance, "a land flowing with milk and honey." It is better than this world, the Christians' present dwelling place, or any part of it. And it is as con- trasted with this world that I shall speak of it. The
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language of the text does not imply that this is alto- gether a bad world, but the contrary. Although sin has greatly deranged and injured it, yet still there is much of beauty, much of loveliness, much of happi- ness in it. But heaven is a better country, superla- tively better, infinitely better. It is so,
1. With respect to the character of its inhabitants. It has been truthfully said that it is the people that make a country. Hence we would rather live in un- congenial climes, where civilization reigns, than in regions more favored by nature, but where ignorance and its concomitants abound. In this life, there is a mixture of good and evil. The tares and the wheat grow together. The godly and the ungodly associate. They sit together in church, they belong to the same family and eat at the same table. They mingle at the social party, and meet for the transaction of busi-
ness. And often are the souls of the righteous " vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked." They behold the transgressors and are grieved. But in that better land, "The wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." In the language of the pro- phet Isaiah, the people are "all righteous." In the great multitude that John saw before the throne, there was not one ungodly person, not one hypocrite or unbeliever. The society there is composed of the pure and good of all ages and all countries, " who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ;" of holy angels who never knew sin ; and of the Triune God who is " glorious in holiness."
Heaven is the region of sinless perfection. "No sin in heaven is found." "No shadow of evil is there " There is no dark suspicion, no evil surmising, no cruel envy, or hatred, or jealousy, no bad passions or bad principles.
"There love, unchanging love abounds."
" There joy, like morning dew, distills, And all the air is love."
" There friend holds fellowship with friend,"
And there is no enemy to interrupt or annoy. Hap- py country ! Blessed people !
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2. Heaven is a better country with respect to its government and laws. These, of course, have much to do with the happiness of a people. Hence many come from under the despotisms of the old world to live under our free and mild government. Every- thing considered, ours, is doubtless, the best govern- ment in the world. But who would dare to say that it is perfect ? Imperfection pertains to everything human. If we could collect together the wisest states- men and the purest patriots on earth, to make laws and to frame systems of government, they could not make them perfect. But the laws governing the inhabitants of the better land are absolutely perfect. Like their divine author, they are "holy, just and good." They are a transcript of the divine mind. His will is the law of his people. And " what he wills is best." He is infinitely wise and infinitely good. He loves his people and delights in their happiness, and they are happy in doing his will. "His com- mandments are not grievous, and in keeping of them there is great reward."
Again : A good government may not be well admin- istered. The laws may not be justly executed. Jus- tice may not always be done. In our own free and happy land, so-called, men with money and friends often violate the laws with impunity, while the poor man goes to the wall. " Wealth makes many friends, but the poor is separated from his neighbor." But in the better country, all are equal before the law. "God is no respecter of persons." He "rewards every man according to his works," having respect not only to the quality but also to the quantity. They that do most and suffer most for Christ and his cause, and that take most holiness to heaven will have the high- est positions and the richest rewards in the heavenly world. "As one star differeth from another star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead." "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- ment, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." St. John informs us that they who had come out of great tribulation, hav- ing washed their robes and made them white in the
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blood of the Lamb, were, for this reason, " before the throne of God."
3. Heaven is a better country with respect to its climate and healthfulness. There is no excessive heat or cold, no torrid or frigid zone. " For," says St. John, " Neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat ;" and the absence of the opposite discomfort may reasonably be inferred. There are no scorching si- moons, no chilling winds, no destructive tempests, no vitiated air, no impure water, no unwholesome food, no blighting mildew, no poisonous elements, in short, nothing to induce disease and death. The causes be- ing absent, the effects, of course, do not exist. In that "sunbright clime" there are no burning fevers, no racking pains, no weakening consumption, no feeble and tottering old age, "no weary wasting of the frame away." There are no sick beds, no houses of mourning, no cities of the dead. For " there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying." There is " life for- evermore." How different it is in this world ! Here, we are in constant danger. The elements war against us. We inhale disease from the atmosphere. We take it in our food and drink.
"Death rides on every passing breeze, And lurks in every flower. Each season has its own disease, Its peril, every hour."
Fires, famines, floods, storms, earthquakes, diseases, epidemics, accidents on land and on sea, all combine to hurry man to his "long home," while " the mourn- ers go about the streets." This world has been called " the land of the living." but it is also the land of the dying. There is no place in this wide, wide world, however healthful, that is exempt from disea e and death. I have seen the invalid, with hectic flush and pale blue eyes and almost transparent hands, leaving home in care of friends, in search of health, by a change of air and scenery. But he has returned home disappointed, or strangers' hands have closed his eyes in death. There is but one place known to us in the vast dominions of the Almighty where disease and death enter not; that place is heaven. There only are life and immortality. There grows the tree of life,
-
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there flows the river of life, and to these the inhabi- tants have constant access, and live forever-they are " forever with the Lord."
4. Heaven is a better country with respect to its scenery and prospects.
There are lovely views to be had in this world. We have the beautiful and the sublime, the romantic and the picturesque. We have grand old forests, moss covered rocks, towering mountains, lovely hills and valleys, dashing cascades, and beautiful, meandering streams. Then we have the beauties of nature and art combined. There is the palatial mansion, with its corresponding surroundings, its grassy lawn, its beautiful and fragrant flowers, its terraced slopes, its sparkling fountains, its ornamental statuary, its gaily plumaged birds-in short, everything to please the eye. But all this is only a faint emblem of the heav- enly landscape. We read of " a river of water of life clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." On either side of the river grows the tree of life, bearing "twelve manner of fruits," "and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." There is the city whose walls are of jasper and gold, her buildings clear as crystal, her founda- tions, all manner of precious stones; and her gates, of pearl. The inhabitants thereof, are clothed in white robes ; they wave verdant palms, and tune harps of gold. And yet " Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, what the Lord hath laid up for them that love him." "We walk by faith, not by sight." Again: In this world, night periodically shuts out the beauties of creation from our sight. But "there shall be no night there."
"All o'er those wide extended plains, Shines one eternal day."
Moreover, in this world, in consequence of the rotund- ity of the earth and of our imperfect sight, our views are circumscribed and limited. But there, our sight will be perfect, and our views wide, extensive, illimit- able. "Shores in sunlight stretch away ;" away, ad infinitum. Moses, the servant of God, was permitted, from the top of Pisgah, to view the land of Canaan, in 5
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all its length and breadth, but not to enter upon it. But the Christian, at the end of life's pilgrimage, will have an abundant entrance into the heavenly Canaan, and will "view the landscape o'er." His eyes shall "see the King in his beauty : they shall behold the land that is [now] very far off."
5. Heaven is a better country with respect to its employments and pleasures. Our employments here are laborious. It is the lot of mortals to toil, either with the body or mind ; and labor, either physical or men- tal, is "a weariness of the flesh." Even the service of God, with these dull bodies about us, often causes weariness. Our employments in heaven will, doubt- less, consist, in part, of the worship of God and the study of his character and works; conversation with saints and angels ; and in offices of mutual kindness and love. More than this we do not know. But these dull bodies will be left behind, and when raised again, will be spiritualized and made like the glori- ous body of Christ. Their powers will be vigorous and incapable of decay, and the service of our heav- enly Father will give pleasure without pain and exer- cise, without weariness; yea, " fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore."
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