THE people of the world look upon a member of the church, that enters the dance, as let down, degraded, and his profession trailed in the dust. “Look there,” he exclaims, “that lady is a member of the church. I saw her immersed, and have seen her commune; she is no better than I am, and I know I am no Christian.” If the dancing professors could hear the numerous remarks thus made, in regard to their letting themselves down, degrading their profession and putting themselves on a level with the world, or below that level, their faces would burn, if they were not too much hardened to exercise a lively conscience.
We are only deceiving ourselves, and that too, most woefully, if we think that the dancers, theater-goers, horse-racers, gamblers and drunkards, claiming to be members of a church, are on their way to heaven. Their baptism is all nothing. Their communion is mockery, an insult to the Majesty of heaven and earth. Their sitting in choirs and taking into their polluted lips the pure words of praises, supplications and thanksgiving, in the midst of the pure worship of saints, is a desecration of the appointments of God.
When we think of saving men, we must not think merely of getting them into immersion, or into the church, but, in the true sense, we must turn them to God—turn them from their sins. The love of sin must be destroyed in them, and the love of God established. They must, in the full import of the term, be made “new creatures,” conformed to the image of Christ. We must see in them not simply a desire to see how near they can be like the world, and not be excluded from the church; how deep they can dip into the follies of the world, and not be lost; how near the verge of perdition they can run and not fall in. But they must “love not the world, nor the things of the world,” make it a matter of prayer, and study how to live and walk with God; how to have the continual care and gracious providence of God over them. No man is a profitable member of the church, that simply escapes being turned out, any more than he is a good citizen who barely escapes fines, imprisonment and the gallows, or who does everything and any thing that the law does not expressly forbid. A man may be a bad and worthless fellow and not be fined nor imprisoned. So a member of the church may be bad, and not only worthless but injurious to the church, and not be turned out. There may not be enough spiritual life, moral standing and respect for the law of God, in the church, to enforce the law of Christ.
May we awake to the state of things, cry aloud and spare not, and never cease our supplications to heaven till we see an improvement. We are only deceived in dancers to allow them to remain in the church, and thus permit them to enjoy the idea that they are Christians.
[SAVED WITHOUT BAPTISM.]
JESUS don’t say, “He that is not baptized shall be damned.” Suppose he does not. Baptism is a commandment. To do a commandment is an act of obedience. To refuse to do a commandment is to refuse to do an act of obedience. The Lord will take vengeance on them who know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But our friend says, “I believe if a man willfully and stubbornly refuses to receive the ordinance of baptism, that man will be lost.” What, then, of all those people who have the Bible in their houses, printed plainly in their mother tongue, and know that baptism is commanded, or may know it, as certainly as they know their names, and will not be baptized? And what of the preachers who encourage them in it? The Lord’s will is that they should obey—be baptized. They refuse to do this. They know his will and do it not. Will they be saved?
But there are cases in which baptism is impossible. There are cases where the gospel can not be administered. Where the gospel can not be administered, we can not have the promise of the gospel. But will they not be saved by the atonement? The atonement is the reconciliation, and reconciliation is by the Mediator, or by the belief and obedience of the gospel. But what of those who can not hear the gospel? They are not gospel subjects. The gospel can not be administered to them. What will you do with them? Nothing. Where the gospel can be made known preach it to the people. Where they can believe and obey it, urge them to do it, that they may be saved. Gospel salvation is the only salvation we have anything to do with. It is freely and graciously offered to men who believe and obey the gospel. The work of the preacher is to preach the gospel to all and exhort all to obey it, showing that “God commands all men everywhere to repent,” and that this repentance is in view of the judgment.