WE wish to allude to some errors into which some elders have fallen, for their advantage. We have an opportunity of being better acquainted with some difficulties in churches than the elders themselves can. When we visit some congregations, the elders complain that they will not turn out to meeting. The brethren say the reason more will not turn out is, that the elders are in the habit of preaching long and uninteresting sermons, which they have heard over and over again, until they know every comma and semi-colon. And now the congregation has dwindled down to insignificance, and the few who are faithful enough to attend are annoyed with a lengthy harangue on the subject of the non-attendance of the members. There is certainly a great impropriety in this course. But few men are able to interest an audience with a lengthy discourse on every first day of the week. Those men who have been most successful in holding large audiences, where they preach very frequently in the same place, are usually very brief in their addresses, and very fearful of wearying the patience of their hearers. Some men of very fine talent have lost their audiences, on no account but their tediousness; and if it thus fares with men of talent, what may we expect from men of slender abilities? It is very wearisome to those, who can hardly be induced to attend the place of meeting at any time, to hear a brother of limited information, and a poor speaker, for the space of an hour or an hour and a half. Time seems doubly long to them.
The uneasiness seen in this class, causes all the rest to be uneasy, and every one wishes the sermon to close. Some begin to leave, others begin to button up their coats, get their hats and whips ready, look at their watches, and appear almost on the rise, while some through respect try to appear contented. Let the fault lie where it may in such cases, it is as certain as any thing can be, that the preaching is doing no good. If the same brethren would make their addresses very short, and be as interesting as possible, they would not have to complain half so often about the delinquency of their brethren in attending meeting, and secure the reputation of much better preachers.
There is another kind of tediousness, almost as insufferable as long sermons. The selecting and singing of long hymns, in a cold and formal manner, after a tedious sermon, can have no good effect. Lengthy ceremonies in administering the communion, are always in opposition to its good influence, and very wearisome to the restless. But last, though by no means least, it is not to be endured for elders to detain the audience, while they may consult together five or ten minutes, about appointments and other matters of this kind, and then be very tedious in announcing them. All matters of this kind ought to be despatched with readiness.
[RESURRECTION—ADAMIC SIN.]
WE doubt not that precisely what was lost in Adam will be restored in Christ, or, that whatever the injury that resulted from the agency of Adam was, it will be removed by Christ. Whatever was included in the word “die” will be counteracted by what was included in the words “made alive.” The penalty inflicted on account of the Adamic sin will all be removed from the whole race, in Christ, the second Adam, or the Lord from heaven. No man will be lost in the world to come on account of the Adamic sin. There is not an intimation in the Bible of any man being punished in the world to come on account of original sin. The punishment in the world to come is threatened in view of our own, or what schoolmen call “actual sin.” The penalty sentenced on account of Adam’s sin has fallen, as a consequence, on the whole race. By Christ, in the resurrection, this consequence will be removed, and pardon, through the blood of Christ, will release all who come to the Savior, from their own sins, or their actual sins, and thus save them from punishment in the world to come.
[PAYING PREACHERS A STIPULATED SUM.]
IF a man, or a certain body of men, wish to control the labors of a farmer or mechanic, and apply them as they may see proper, it is but the voice of reason and Scripture that they give him a reasonable compensation to support him while performing his labor. In precisely the same way, if any man, church or co-operation, wish to control and appropriate the labors of the preacher of the Word, they should give him a reasonable compensation. But when the question is under advisement, of employing a man at a certain point, and for a certain amount, the question is not whether he will preach, but whether he will preach at that point and for that amount. He is bound in his covenant with the Lord to preach, but the Lord has left him to select his own field of labor. He selects his field, performs his labor, and looks to the Lord for his support. But all this does not say, that his brethren should not promise him a certain amount, and with the utmost punctuality fulfill their promise.