Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org
Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org
only professing to take away what is vitiated. A backslider is one who once knew less or more of the salvation of God. Hear what God says concerning such: "Turn, ye backsliders, for I am married unto you." See how unwilling he is to give them up! He suffers long, and is kind: do thou likewise; and when thou art obliged to cut off the offender from the church of Christ, follow him still with thy best advice and heartiest prayers. There are some who seem to take a barbarous pleasure in expelling members from the church. They should be continued in as long as possible: while they are in the church, under its ordinances and discipline, there is some hope that their errors may be corrected; but when once driven out again into the world, that hope must necessarily become extinct. As judgment is God's strange work, so excommunication should be the strange, the last, and the most reluctantly performed work of every Christian minister. "Without preferring one before another."—Without prejudice. Promote no man's cause; make not up thy mind on any case, till thou hast weighed both sides and heard both parties, with their respective witnesses, and then act impartially, as the matter may appear to be proved. Do not treat any man, in religions matters, according to the rank he holds in life, or according to any personal attachment thou mayest have for him. Every man should be dealt with in the church as he will be dealt with at the judgment seat of Christ. A minister of the gospel, who, in the exercise of discipline in the church, is swayed and warped by secular considerations, will be a curse rather than a blessing to the people of God. Accepting the persons of the rich, in ecclesiastical matters, has been a source of corruption in Christianity. With some ministers, the show of piety in a rich man goes farther than the soundest Christian experience in the poor. What account can such persons give of their stewardship? A useful, zealous preacher, though unskilled in learned languages, is much greater in the sight of God, and in the eye of sound common sense, than he who has the gift of those learned tongues; "except he interpret:"
and we seldom find great scholars good preachers. This should humble the scholar, who is too apt to be proud of his attainments, and despise his less learned but most useful brother. This judgment of St. Paul is too little regarded. Ever let your ear be open to the cry of the afflicted and dying; in the warmest and most affectionate manner give them directions and exhortations, open to them the Fountain of mercy, and lead them straight to God through the sacrifice of his Son. Show them, prove to them, that with him is mercy, and with him a plenteous salvation; and that in very faithfulness he has afflicted them. While you are ready at every call, make use of all your prudence to prevent the reception of contagion. Do not breathe near the infected person. Contagion is generally taken into the stomach by means of the breath; not that the breath goes into the stomach, but the noxious effluvia are by inspiration brought into the mouth, and immediately connect themselves with the whole surface of the tongue and fauces, and, in swallowing the saliva, are taken down into the stomach, and, there mixing with the aliment in the process of digestion, are conveyed, by means of the lacteal vessels, through the whole of the circulation, corrupting and assimilating to themselves the whole mass of blood, and thus carry death to the heart, lungs, and to the utmost of the capillary system. In visiting fever cases, I have been often conscious of having taken the contagion. On my returning home, I have drunk a few mouthfuls of warm water, and then with the small point of a feather, irritated the stomach to cause it to eject its contents. By these means I have frequently, through mercy, been enabled to escape many a danger and many a death. Never swallow your saliva in a sick room, especially where there is contagion; keep a handkerchief for this purpose, and wash your mouth frequently with tepid water. Keep to windward of every corpse you bury. Never go out with an empty stomach, nor let your strength be prostrated by long abstinence from food. In a thousand instances an apostolic preacher, who goes into the wilderness to seek the lost sheep, will be exposed to hunger and cold, and to other inconveniences; he must therefore resign himself to God,
- Page 277 and 278: than celibacy; and hence I execrate
- Page 279 and 280: supposes the fact of the bride's gr
- Page 281 and 282: found. If we wish them to be wise,
- Page 283 and 284: saves the soul, and fills the heart
- Page 285 and 286: means of grace. This is your work,
- Page 287 and 288: "Fathers, provoke not your children
- Page 289 and 290: How ruinous are family distractions
- Page 291 and 292: operations of nature, and the synth
- Page 293 and 294: ingeth salvation to all men," Titus
- Page 295 and 296: CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. Adam Clarke XXI
- Page 297 and 298: CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. Adam Clarke XXI
- Page 299 and 300: II. OBEDIENCE. There can be no gove
- Page 301 and 302: CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. Adam Clarke XXI
- Page 303 and 304: etter understood! Great possessions
- Page 305 and 306: eternal life of God, for the sacrif
- Page 307 and 308: CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. Adam Clarke XXV
- Page 309 and 310: heaven can make him a proper preach
- Page 311 and 312: deeply studied man; one who has pra
- Page 313 and 314: should take care to have his own so
- Page 315 and 316: general, and of man in particular;
- Page 317 and 318: authority of God, let him be carefu
- Page 319 and 320: for a living: ye who gather a congr
- Page 321 and 322: disgrace every department in the Ch
- Page 323 and 324: evenues, if he have God's wo, how m
- Page 325 and 326: Avoid the error of those who are co
- Page 327: truth by any indiscretions or unsea
- Page 331 and 332: to use a familiar expression, there
- Page 333 and 334: tobacco will also fall before the S
- Page 335 and 336: Earnest frequent prayer to God, and
- Page 337 and 338: How careful should the ministers of
- Page 339 and 340: Avoid paraphrasing a whole book or
- Page 341 and 342: Give out the page and measure of th
- Page 343 and 344: The only preaching worth any thing,
- Page 345 and 346: He who knows the value of time, and
- Page 347 and 348: God requires that his people should
- Page 349 and 350: It is the privilege of the churches
- Page 351 and 352: But he is found in his temple, wher
- Page 353 and 354: must be mixed with all that we hear
- Page 355 and 356: Endeavour to get your minds deeply
- Page 357 and 358: spoken to you as if your name were
- Page 359 and 360: mind prudent counsels, profitable d
- Page 361 and 362: God has often permitted demons to a
- Page 363 and 364: Satan, who works in the heart of th
- Page 365 and 366: otherwise impregnable fortification
- Page 367 and 368: CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. Adam Clarke XXV
- Page 369 and 370: Human strength and human weakness a
- Page 371 and 372: CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. Adam Clarke XXV
- Page 373 and 374: It is no certain proof of the displ
- Page 375 and 376: own faith and obedience; and that h
- Page 377 and 378: vain; and at last, by the power of
only professing to take away what is vitiated. A backslider is one who<br />
once knew less or more of the salvation of God. Hear what God says<br />
concerning such: "Turn, ye backsliders, for I am married unto you." See<br />
how unwilling he is to give them up! He suffers long, and is kind: do thou<br />
likewise; and when thou art obliged to cut off the offender from the<br />
church of Christ, follow him still with thy best advice and heartiest<br />
prayers.<br />
There are some who seem to take a barbarous pleasure in expelling<br />
members from the church. They should be continued in as long as<br />
possible: while they are in the church, under its ordinances and discipline,<br />
there is some hope that their errors may be corrected; but when once<br />
driven out again into the world, that hope must necessarily become<br />
extinct. As judgment is God's strange work, so excommunication should<br />
be the strange, the last, and the most reluctantly performed work of every<br />
<strong>Christian</strong> minister.<br />
"Without preferring one before another."—Without prejudice. Promote<br />
no man's cause; make not up thy mind on any case, till thou hast weighed<br />
both sides and heard both parties, with their respective witnesses, and<br />
then act impartially, as the matter may appear to be proved. Do not treat<br />
any man, in religions matters, according to the rank he holds in life, or<br />
according to any personal attachment thou mayest have for him. Every<br />
man should be dealt with in the church as he will be dealt with at the<br />
judgment seat of Christ. A minister of the gospel, who, in the exercise of<br />
discipline in the church, is swayed and warped by secular considerations,<br />
will be a curse rather than a blessing to the people of God. Accepting the<br />
persons of the rich, in ecclesiastical matters, has been a source of<br />
corruption in <strong>Christian</strong>ity. With some ministers, the show of piety in a<br />
rich man goes farther than the soundest <strong>Christian</strong> experience in the poor.<br />
What account can such persons give of their stewardship?<br />
A useful, zealous preacher, though unskilled in learned languages, is<br />
much greater in the sight of God, and in the eye of sound common sense,<br />
than he who has the gift of those learned tongues; "except he interpret:"
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