m Iwslitawi New Series, Vol. v: JohnAWeir 15ju1y69 Strictly in Advanoe $2.50, Otherwise $3. 1 Postage 20cts, to be paid where delivered. > f roman |to£tajtem THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1869. REGENERATION. ITS MYSTERY NOT A PRACTICAL DIFFICULTY. This has been, a mystery to unscriptural minds over since the days of Nicodemus. We wish to .show that for practical uses, the doctrine of re generation is no more a mystery than many other doctrines of which all' persons' continually avail themselves without asking,. “ How' can 'these things be.” ,t , A myßtery is something that cannot be scien tifically explained. The circulation of the blood is a mystery to one who has never studied physi ology. It is still a mystery to him who has learn ed all that physiology in its present stage can teach. But who hesitates on that account to ob serve those conditions of life which will promote the healthful circulation of the blood? The mag netic telegraph is a mystery to most of the mer chants who use it every day. The secrets of mag netic currents have not all been discovered by l’rof. Morse himself. One reason sometimes given for regarding re generation as a special mystery, is its supernatu ralness. It is a kind of miracle, and if it is ever wrought on or in us, it must be because of a su pernatural action which we cannot control. But there is no authority for the assertion that re generation may not have its fates, just as the clouds have in their coming and going. Indeed our Saviour’s illustration of the new birth is taken from the realm of nature.' “Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof: but oanst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born; of the Spirit.” Who marvels at the laws of the winds, so aB not to take advantage of them ? The sailor sees the white-caps and sets his sails, though he knows nothing of vacuums at the Equator. The laws which govern the action of the Spirit may be still unknown to us, when we 1 have ex hausted the knowledge of all the Espys of me teorological soience. But if we. have plain di rections as to how we mayayail oursef VCsof-the Spirit’s power in regeneration, the supernatural ncss of the change ought to be the last thing about which we should trouble ourselves. Much unnecessary mystery has doubtless been thrown about this doctriue by one-sided views of Scripture. There are two classes of passages which describe the spiritual change referred to. ‘•Ye must be born again,” or'; more correctly, ‘•Ye must be boro from above is the type of one class. “Then will I wash you and make you clean,” “I will give you a new heart,” are pas sages similar in their import. The type ol the other class of passages is ‘‘Re pent,” ‘‘Wash yourselves and make you clean,” ‘•Make you a new heart and a new spirit, for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel?” These are kin dred passages. The first class seem to represent the soul as wholly, passive in the matter, as if ac tion on our part could be of no avail. The second class seem to represent the soul as wholly active, as if the responsibility of regeneration were en tirely with ourselves. If a person were to dwell only on the first class, he might wait forever for a change which would never come. Were he to act in accordance with the second class, failing of dependence upon God, he might imagine himself converted while he has only reformed. Were he to consider these passages as contradictory, he might be left in a hopeless puzzle’between the two. Now there are passages on whioh these two classes meet, as e. g. “ Repent and be converted, ‘•Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure;” . These pas sages bring out tbe two great ideas which run run through warp ahd woof of the Bible: man S responsibility and man’s dependence. The un necessary mystery which clouds the whole sub ject disappears, when we take our stand On these passages and say, “ I will do my duty and God will help me. I will offer Him my heart, and He will cleanse it.” ■< We are seldom puzzled by the mingling of activity and dependence which marks our daily lives. If my hand is cold, I hold it by the fire. I know that it will not be warm unless it is heat ed. I know it will be warm when! take the necessary means, I am free in going to the fire. I am dependent upon the fire., God’s work is, indeed, associated with map's Work .in, the pro cess of regeneration, throughout ; Ifot, practically, this occasions no difficulty.. man 8 work, so far as his free turning from sip is con cerned ; it is God’s work so far as the influence of the Holy Spirit is involved. _ never think our freedom is violated when ce act undcr the influences of our associates, Man’s will is rectified by God in regeneration, but it is freely submitted to God, as a chronometer is freely car ried to a watch-maker for repairs. We do not offer these analogies as perfect, only as showing that, practically, there is no more difficulty in the puzzle of God’s sovereignty and man’s free agency, than there is in many things which nev er occasion hesitancy in the conduct of our daily lives.: Any one who ip .ready'to “repent”..can “be converted.” 1 The doctrine of regeneration is often beclouded also by relations ’ of remarkable experiences. Men beginning to, reflect seriously upon this sub ject, catch eagerly at the accounts others give .of, their supposed renewal. They sift religious bi ographies for testimony. And when they hear persons in prayer-meetings relate I ''their over whelming ' cohviOtions or their overwhelming joys, they imagine that such experienced are necessary, to conversion, whereas, they ;are only the adjuncts of it. Remarkable experiences are' often due'as much to nervous reactions as to the influenced of the Holy Ghost. The negroes at.the' South think no conversion is genuine unless it,is attended by voices in the air, or vivid spasmodic convulsion, or by some strange-physiaAl phenomena. We must clear ourselves of all such' impressions. Regeneration is a mora? change. It adds nothing to sense or blood, of jperye.j It changes no physical drop or fiber.. It may-take; place in the calm as well as in the .storm. The silent rain may fructify tlie field as well 'as 1 the driving tempest.’' The whirlwind is not necessary, to the springing of the grass. Furthermore, wp'cannot-expect that our ex periences in regeneration will ever, be 1 precisely like those of another. We ureindividuah. and each of us will have peculiarities in'moral as well as in intellectual movements and ,changes, If, now, any one is really anxious to ; solve what is really mysterious in regeneration,' he must be con tent with its practical tests. If he asks jp'repisely how 'God works in the change, he will get ho. an- If he seeks, to know precisely; how divine, sovereignty and human free agency are blended,' be will get no answer. But if he will comply with the jnyitations of the Gospel .JULshall hive': ttaeresult of a practaffiirexperle nee. Music is a mystery Until you hear itf; painting until you see it; Sweetness until' you teste it; regeneration until you are the subject of it by repentance and faith. “He that hath ears to hear let him Lear.”, “If any inan will, let him come and take of the i water of Life freely/’ ’ ' - Z. M. H. WHOLESOMENESS OF SICKNESS. Among the■ sore trials of life is’the severe sickness of a leading member of the household'. When man or woman, father or mother, in middle life is stricken down, and all the serious,,duties of their station are left undone, and in place of their daily and almost indispensable presence in all the affairs of the household, comes a great blank, and a fearful apprehension of something still worse, then both the sick and, the well pass through some of, those -stern: experiences of life that make up no small part: Of its discipline. What is it that they are meant to teach? 1. The lesson of frailty, mortality, and sin. Sick ness is but the symptom of, a .deeper fact,,the shadow of a sterner reality, and a more pweeping disaster than itself. It is a significant hint that we are marked as the prey of the destroyer, and that our time must come at last. - It is a warning to be ready. It is the forerunner of the king of terrors. The beams and timbers of our taberd nacle already tremble under his -grasp. We may recover. Strength, health, and elasticity may come back to us in the glow of a happy conval escence. The hope of; long years of lift may again animate us.' Tet, after all, it is only a re-i prieve. After, all we must die-'; Mortal sickness, accident, decay must at last be oUr lot. It is an unalterable moral and physical, arrangement. The wages of sin is death. , ; , , 2. Blessed is he to whom sickness- is.as the herald of the Lord, reminding him of his final release, and of the Welcome summons, sure to come at last, to depart and be with Christ, which, is far better. Severe sickness brings no fore shadowing of gloom to his soul; His tabernacle is indeed frail and shackling, but he would not have it as a prison, to, keep him pent up here, away from the glories, of his Sayiour and his heavenly home. Sickness reminds him that his body is rather a moving tent, which shall one day be taken 5 down; a “ muddy vesture of decay, that shall not forever dlose itf 'tbe sou'l.and pre vent its hearing the celestial harmonies. The outward man perishes, but the inward man is renewed day by day. Flesh and-- heart ’fe.il, but only that the sufferer may feel 'thatGod is the strength of ’Kis heart’and his portion foreyer., 3. But sickness is one of the most important PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1869. parts of discipline'for this world, as well as for the next. How every petulant, irascible, pro voking part of- human nature is apt to display ' itbelf upon the sick bed. . How trying, not only 1 the pain that will hot be lulled,'the disorder of the chief' bodily functions that will not b'e set right, hut, more than 1 all, the wearineSs Bf ihae-' tiony the ehfbfced and distasteful quiet,' the ldhg days' and thie' longer nights, the thought of bbsi : ' nesssuffering, bf' home and family adrift, of 1 public : <fufies 'left undbneMih ! opportunity in sill to let patience have her perfect wo'ifki' ’ How hard, and yet how wholesoinb the' 1 lesson, that whatever estimate wemayhavbo'f our own importance; ! Gbd x ‘does not' think'ns‘in'2 dispensable in family,'clmrch, or business: How sharplv drawn, how 'emphatic the lesson 1 , iHkt, after all our planning, and enterprise, and in'de fati'gableness',' we and all !l our interests 'arO in Go'd’s hands : that except the Lbrd bnild the house,' ; th'ey labor in* vain who build ft;-that' man lives not by bread alone, but by every word' that proeeedeth out of the mouth bf &od. f , k/ And among' the associates and ‘immediate family ana helpers bf the sick, what for'forbearance, for unvarying kindness, for'.'t&e culture of ,! a '-far highep, ’ more more, tender Sort of regard,'us given in attbn|aqce on the sick! Devotion is' perhaps tlie^bne'wofd which more than ahbjiher •descfib^ n itJ ill ' Chris-’ tianity accepts waiting on the sick !, as one of its characteristic acts; f Sick and ye visited me, is bnb'o’f the' approval;#^''the Bay pf judgment. It is by no means a false' tendency that unites those, who would especutHy train themselvbs in Christian yirtne,’ in organizations, for theuystbhiatic visitation 1 and care of the, sick.; ' But; abdye all things, the virtues of the Chris tian home 'should glow and grow undpr the train- 1 ing of severe sickness in the household. The sick" chamber is the high schbol pf domestic morals and affections. And as the aAioted one emerges from the shadow of death, from the restraintsof convalescence, Und'enters once hupp the round of hbmb duties andrclations, it should be with a wealthof bewaiid tehdereriissp.ciatibns that will enrich andj£ello,w~§,]f.the after-history Jand memorip.n of Woven .me* • the picture of helpless dependenee'relieyed a thousand little ministries, and not least among them all, an itnage of ' the keenly watchful eye’," the unflagging assiduity, the calm zeal, the never - quite baffled sagacity of; the physician, blest of l Gbd to. the restoration of the loved onoi 1 ■ 4. Few seasons of' sickness are''without their warning against needless r '6v4r-exertioh'.’ ! Many' of the most dangerous : and prolonged; like" ty- ; phoid fever, aTe : nature’s manifest 1 reaction and 1 revenge' against o'ur merciless treatment'of'our-' i selves. They are a rebellion against Self oppres sion and extortion. < We overload ourselves; or, linbelievifigly- imagine ourselves to be overloaded' with duty ; we goad ourselves'with greater am bitions tbanGod made usi capable of*'for Wealth, Tor business’success; for household thrift; we go; iin a wild, restless chase after pleasure;' we rob' from the time of, rest, and, add-to the time of labor and excitement; but nature, like conscience, 'unnoticed behind her,desk, is keeping strict Re count of all; and; well ftp; us, if she but stops payment before ,we are,, utterly bankrupt,, .and. gives us some chance, by long weCks of enforced' rest, for squaring up accounts again ; rather than to tumble us unceremoniously add without warn ing out of our ' misused bodies: If may be we shall be more reasonable with ourselves, and more ! patient of the limitations of our bodily powers after such a warning. , So may we grow fetter for being, ill,, learn wisdom from our deliriums, gain new. visions of heavenly good when shut from the earthly, and , live better,'and help all others to live better for having bepn at the verge of the grave. PERSISTENCE IN A GREAT WRONG. The Chinese in California, numbering sixty thousand, and filling many'industrial positions, which would be almost unsupplied without them, are still treated with the most outrageous injus tice. ■ Neither Congressional legislation nor frea-; ties between the' two’ 'Governments avail for'their' protection. Mr. Burlingame’s ; mission, which has excited such interest througho.ut-she civilized world, and which promised such great results for the Chinese, has had no perceptible effect in Cal ifornia. Our country, which furnished the Am bassador, which; was the first to' ratify the treaty, and which contains^the largfest: Chinese popula- we fear will' only become' jno're conspicuous in the violation of the treaty. " Chinese .testimony ; is refused in the Culifornia Courts, and conse quently all the.protection derived.from this most important civil-right is withheld from the 'Chi nese/ The duestiou was ‘recently ’argued 'in ; 'one*' •; . , , pi . .Tl'f t !,.i !■*> iStf 1 ' J of the Gorirta of that State, and the Fourteenth Amendment and Civil Rights bill were quoted in support'of'the 1 right of the Chinamen to testify, but the 'baVbaroiis State’laws of California, uhder which the : right is denied, wete sustained by the Judge, oii the ground that the Chinese are not and' therefore db : hot come within the provision's' of ihb acts. : ‘ ‘Such decisions do not only* leave'these 'dndustribuS people withhoade quate proteetabh from the 7 'injuries which might ordirfarily*be risited' upon' them, but thdy aetufcl persecuting impulseßofdep'raved human nature; It' ‘is not surprising, Vi therefore, * thread - ' in San Frah'cißco-‘papers suoh a shameful "narrative; 'as thei’fortowing:’ ! n -' v ‘ s ‘ •• l“ On Suriday laat 'the Oakland boat brought over 7 tcj.pufijcij® qui,w: a.pjiunber of Chinamen, whocatne in their holiday attire, to visit their friends on thiß Bide of the Bay. As they' severally were ‘ walking’ peaceabTy albn'g Paeiflc st.; they were wassailed with a[B|iower_ofi Btonas, [hurled, by,half-grown, boys, set on and' encjouragedjpy ttyeir parents,* who,'every , tithela stone 1 wbiiTcNtrikeohe of the’ poor*creatures 1 and cause :bjnfvtdiye'll.6ut with - pain, would set up a laufth of approval,, This still further encouraged tiife boys',n'bt 'to'Ve&t contented With bfhisiug their offensive'vietims, but they gathered-uphandsful of befoul their gajfnents, b^lideq T .npqn tliem tli/ee large-sized bull-dogs, who bit and wor ried theta 1 ! Sevferal poori fellows took refuge ihside neigh boring storeb, obliged to whit an hour, or long er, up,tjl; cpuldeeecpining .along appie persons to escort them oiit'of'harm’s way. 1 , This kind of amusemerit wak kept up 1 for at least an hbiirj in the 1 open- Sftbb%th ( 4ay, without ,a policeman abound, to Check the outrage,” ~ ■ -jv7 ii : v . ■>;;:r -')■<_■ i We.oannot .beliqvethat.publiosentiaient in .of .such brutality,;,<if does* we are sur.e the, public, sentiment .of the country jloes not, andyt„,shppld be strong-and decided;, enongh.tp procure suchlegislatiqn as will, put qn end^.it., putoryw.ould .be made over a]l the a, qompany of travellers or missionaries, treated .with half, so much vio lence tp [One pf.the seaport. towns of : China; it, Would baregarded as proof of.,theheathenish pxcli^iv«^j?^ ? of,,,tl^e : speedy, Apology and .reparation wopld Jretheresvilt., In comparably )vqrae,,—yea, ;incomparably Vforse is. jntoh cppduct .ip. ,a, professedly, Christian,, popn try,, p ? pepially:if. .indifference f by C^ris protest against it, and wash our hands ofthe iniquity. - •- MERTING OF THE ASSEMBLY’S COM MITTEE ON REUNION. !' In view of tlie new aspect given to the Reunion question by th e rejection of the' Jbiht Commit tee’s 'Basis by the ' Presbyteries ‘ of the other Branch,' and by the unauthorized but very general bffer'of Reunion without guarantees : from those 1 Presbyteries, a meeting of the Committee of our Branch was held in New York last- week. The iColn&itteb of the other Branch -is no longer' in jexistbnde! The meeting Was largely attended, and" was prolbnged, 1 earnest' and' substantially un'ani mbtis: ' r Theco'nclusioU reached, but yet to be fully' Waturfed before it can be considered final, involved the recommendation of a certain line of 'policy to' the' General Assetably designed ‘to pre serve the orthodox-liberal type Of Presbyterianism, while removing 1 every obstacle' from the way of 'Reunion, so far as it can be "done, consistently with that policy:" We trust'the Committee will' lay thOir matured action Before 5 the Churieh' in time for our Presbyteries, meeting in' the Spring,' » , ; , ; . . ,f'T' ». • ■ . t . ; to' harmonizo upon it. _ ' In the last number of Lippincott’s Magazine there is an article, on Southern Reconstruction, from,the pen*qf one “connected.with an institu tion of learning, at; the South.’.’ The, writer, avoiding the important, matter, of, the ttatus of; ■: th? Jreedmen,.,hea*tily,accepts the political situa 'tion in other .respects, and writes in a spirit •whiph, if shared in .by Southern leaders, would, 'open a favourable prospect.for.the future of that section. . He, howeyer, regards,; the attitude of : the positively loyal Churches,of the North ,as a i formidable obstacle in, the way. of. social restpra tion. . .These ,Churches he contemptuously, calls certain politico-ecclesiastical,bodies, which per sist in. regarding the mass of .the .Southern peo ple as. incorrigible,rebels, ahd reprobate sinners againßt the laws of God and man.” A little more 'respectfully he atjds; “ lyhile , great .bodieß pf ' (jjhyisjians refuse to hold communion with their Southern.brethren on the ground of a. quasi con nection in. the past with' slayery:and the rebellion there can be no genuine reconstruction,” &,o. Two orj .three grave errors are manifest here, as throughout the article., (1), There is no re cognition of the sin and crime of unjustifiable rebellion 1 against God's ordinance of Government; (2j It is implied that when any huge social and political.wrong, like slavery, or rebellion, is re T buked by, the Church, it sacrifices its sacred character and becomes so far a political body,., prder-to escape censure from „the, great Genesee Evangelist, 3STo. 1184. f Home & Foreign Miss. $2.00. I Address:—l334 Chestnut Street. bodies of Christians which control public opinion, a great wrong needs but link itself with the po litical structure. It must then be rigidly let alone. (3) Our ‘'Southern brethren” in the Church had only, a quasi connection with slavery and rebellion ! Fervently, and in the name of half a million men slaughtered without shadow of j ustification, by, the rebellion, do we. wish that the connection,of : the Church in, the South with slavery and the rebellion had not been so, intense ly real and effective •as it was. Without that, there, could have been neither slavery nor rebel lion in the South j and without the more than quasi connection of certain Churches in the North with slavery, there would have b.een im measurably, less sympathy with the, rebellion among us and less difficulty in subduing it.' " How Church-reconstruction is to be hronght about, we know not ; but we.are perfectly clear on one point ; that next in mischief.to the success of a great and bjoody rebellion in the, interest of slavery, is to-let such a rebellion pass without em phatic and lasting rebuke from the great Chris tian bodies of the, land. —?Some,weeks ago we announced, the final result of .the suit, instituted against .the rector of, St. Alban’s, London, being a condemnation of the, extreme Romanizing practices maintained in that notorious r church; In another part,of the paper, . we giye the particulars of the case, with the‘com ments of various English journals., It is , the greatest blow, probably, that tHe Ritualists have received, and they, seem quite at their-wit’s .ends in consequence. , Possibly we shall soon -see a , very large exodus from the Established Church to Rome. All, however, ( depends upon the real strength, of, the Romanizing .party., If they feel strong enough, they,may make a move for a free Anglo-Catholic Church, in, the .hope of parrying the ‘main part of the Church, of, yjith them.. Those who have madejqch .an ado about thp aesthetic and sentimentel sprt eff eross-bearipg will then have an opportunity of tasting thing. This they must do, or suppress their con victions, play tlie hypocrite, and bide their time for a change. Meanwhile, there appears to be the’Church qf England to cheek keretical opinion* of the moßt ultra and contradictory sort. , —A society styling-itself the American Branch of the Universal Peace Association, b,ut which would more correctly be .styled the UniyorsaliLi cense and Anarchy A 9 sociation,,met last,week in Washington, and majestically resolved “ that all idea of punishment, both in .the human.and di vine governments, should be, dope away with”! If only now some Universal Association would hot merely resolve, but put the .resolve in prac tice,, that all vice and crime should be done away with, we do not know thatjvo should have any serious objection to the former resolution. —Oxford .chapel was crowded to an unusual degree .on Sabbath. , Pour, services were held, and a deep solemnity prevailed. ’ Boxes to Home Missi<3NAßi&s.-fThe ladies of our Churches’ are at work as usual iii this most pleasant and effective' sphere’ of Home Mis sionary effort. It takes so little time and labor from each 'of ’ the many in every large congrega tion, and if accomplishes such an untold amount in filling up the gaps, multiplying the comforts and lightening' the he'dvy hardens of the' missiodary’s family, and it brings back so indny'prayers and blessings upon the donors, that w& wonder it is not engaged iri far more frequently. We have before ud a letter frbm a missionary in Jefferson Co., Missouri, in acknowledgment of a box re ceived from the ladies in Hanover church, Wil mington; the box coming to hand three days be fore the letter announcing it. The letter, not mednt for publication, is so full of grateful ex pressions for 1 the ' varied' and carefully adapted contents, including Candjf and toys for the children, and a sum of money, besidesdutfitsfor the different members of the family, that it must work pow erfully to eUcburage them' in similar labors for the future. One of the mdst thoughtful ladies of the First Church In this city has an excellent practice of enclosing a; receipt for’ a year’s subscription to the American Presbyterian in the boxes in which her liberal hand apd heart are engaged- Flume Missionaries are charged $2. LIFE’S MYSTERY. . A little smiling, mingled oft with tears; A little hoping, linked’with many fears; A- little trusting, chased: by doubt and dread; A little light, much darkness wed; This call we life—to breathe, to love, to die! Who shall for us unfold, the great, sad mystery) Heaven’s radiance, making rainbow? through the tears; Humility’s sweet Sower,* up-springing from the fears; Theholyshield of .faith, tempered in fires of grief; The seed in, weeping. ?own, returned a golden sheaf; Oh glorious i tife in ‘Dfeath*! no more, no more to die 1 One hath dissolved for us the deep, sweet mystery! , . JK. U. J.
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