faith. He is the acknowledged servant of him who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. He imitates him who went about doing good, and thus becomes a blessing in the family, a source of comfort and usefulness in the house of God, and a tower of moral strength in the community. 6th. He expects heaven at the end of his conflict. He rests on the Lord Jesus as offered in the gospel for eternal salvation. His first and great desire in accepting Christ was salvation from the guilt of sin. This he received in justification. But he has not yet been saved from the power, the love, or the fellowship of sin, nor from the trials and conflicts of life, from his spiritual foes and the last enemy, death. He has received much, but there is much yet to be obtained; and it is eternity stamped on his blessings which gives them their value. He trusts that by heavenly counsel he will be directed in life and afterwards received to glory. That in the use of appointed means accompanied by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, the love and power of sin will be utterly destroyed, and every stain removed from his soul. That the God of peace shall bruise Satan under his feet shortly, and all his spiritual foes be forever conquered. That when the last enemy shall approach, Jesus will be with him and grant an eternal victory. That when his body is committed to the tomb it will still remain united to Christ, who will keep it in safety till the morning of the resurrection. That then the Lord himself will descend with his mighty angels and in great glory, to awake him from his sleep and reunite his soul and body. That then he shall ascend with Christ, be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the judgment, and be made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity. Then shall he be in possession of that salvation for which he accepted the Lord Jesus, and for which he still rests upon him as offered in the gospel. No wonder his faith influences his practice. "He that hath this faith in him, purifieth himself as he is pure.", Many who profess the Christian religion are doubtful respecting their state. They often say, Oh, if I could only know that I am a child of God! They may know, and in most instances it is their sin that they are ignorant. The Bible is plain. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that ye have eternal life." Have we given ourselves in covenant to the Lord Jesus-made an entire consecration? Have we separated from the world-sought and obtained the fellowship of the saints? Does our religion give us comfort? Have we peace and joy in believing? Are we stable, immovable in the service? Does our conduct so adorn our profession that those acquainted with us will be led to honor religion and glorify our heavenly Father? Are we abounding in the work of the Lord? And amid the trials of life are we comforted, in performing its duties are we strengthened? And notwithstanding the imperfection of our sanctification, are we cheered and still encouraged to persevere to the end, because we rest on Christ alone. for eternal salvation? If so, we are Christians. Ere long we will be more than conquerors through him that loved us; we shall receive the crown, and enter into the joy of our Lord. S. A SERMON FOR THE LITTLE CHILDREN. BY REV. D. C. FARIS. LONG ago-many hundreds of years before Christ came into the world-God raised up a wise king, who wrote one of the little books in the Bible. That book is called Ecclesiastes. In the last chapter of this little book, in the first verse of the chapter, you can read these words: "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth." This is what God says to you. Let me preach a sermon for you from this text. First, I want to tell you what it means. You will want to know what is meant by "Creator." A creator is one who makes something out of nothing, or one who takes something and gives it a new form and a new nature, so that it is turned into a new thing. Now, who can do this? None but God. He is the Creator of all things; for he made all things out of nothing. But did God make man out of nothing? No; the Bible tells us that "God formed man of the dust of the ground." But dust is not man, and no man could take dust and make a man of it. A man might take dust and wet it and make mortar of it, and make it look like a man; but it would not be a man. It would have no life. It couldn't think, nor feel, nor move. It would still be nothing but dust. But God created man, for he gave that dust a new nature; for the Bible says, "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." "Thy Creator," then, means your God. Now next, what does the text say you ought to do? Read it and see: "Remember now thy Creator." What does that mean? It means just this: that you learn to know God, and keep him in your mind, and keep in mind what he tells you, and do everything he tells you to do. Not to think about God, nor what he says, or, not to do what he tells you even when you do think about it, is what the Bible means by forgetting God. You are not to forget God, but to remember him. To say it short, to remember Gad means to serve him. Next, when does the text say you ought to serve God? "In the days of thy youth," that is, before you get old-while you are active and full of life-while you are young, The whole text then means, serve God while you are young. while you are young. The first reason is, because God made you to serve him. The Bible says that God is over all. Then he is over the children. So God calls the children to worship him. In a nice psalm he says, "Let all men and children praise the Lord." Then the children ought to sing psalms to him at home, and in the prayer meeting, and at church, as often as the older people do. God sent Christ to bless children, and he is pleased when they praise him. I am sure you have all heard how, when Jesus Christ was in the world, some people were carrying their little babies to him. and asking him to put his hands on them and bless them. Christ's disciples thought that the babies didn't need his blessing, and they told those that brought them to take them away. Do you think that what the disciples were doing pleased Christ? It did not. He saw his disciples trying to get them to take their children away without his blessing, and he said to them, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." If Christ wanted to bless the little children then, he will bless them now; and if Christ blesses the children, he is glad to have them praise him, and thank him for his blessing. One time Christ came into Jerusalem, when the people were running before him and after him, all shouting and singing "Hosanna to the Son of David! blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest!" Jesus came on through the streets till he came to the temple. The little children had heard the people in the streets shouting, and so, when they saw Jesus in the temple they began to shout "Hosanna to the Son of David !" Some bad men, who hated Jesus, were standing there, and when they heard the little children praising him, they were very angry, and asked Jesus if he heard what these children were saying. He said, "Yea, have ye never read, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise." The thirty-fourth psalm says, "O children, hither do ye come, And unto me give ear; I shall you teach to understand God made all things for himself, and so, my little friends, he made you for himself, and I hope you will remember this, and begin to serve God now. The second reason you should serve God while you are young is, because this is the only way you can make sure of being saved. You have heard about heaven and hell. No one wants to go to hell. Every one wants to go to heaven. To go to hell is to be lost. To go to heaven is to be saved. Well, children, do you know how to be saved and go to heaven? The Bible tells you how. It says, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." God saves old and young in one way. He has only one way of saving; for the Bible says again, "There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," but the name of Jesus. To believe on Jesus is to serve God. That is the work that he tells us to do. So, if you do not serve God by believing on Jesus, you must be lost. It may be you think, "I will not believe on Christ now, but will wait till I get older, and then I will believe and be saved." Don't you know that some people never get old. Children die. "Yes," you will say, "weak and sickly children die, I know, but I am strong and well." Let me tell you about two children that died. One little boy took his sled and went out on the street to play. As he was sliding down the street, he struck against a tree, and he was dead in a short time. He was not a sick boy. I knew a little boy four or five years old; he was strong and well; he got sick, and in less than a day from the time he got sick, he was dead. So do not say, and do not think, that you will wait till you get older and then come to Christ and serve God, for you may not live a day longer. But if you believe on Christ you shall be saved whenever you die. The third reason you should serve God while you are young is, because you cannot be happy without serving God. God made us to be happy in serving him. When God made Adam and Eve he made a nice garden for them to live in. They had everything they wanted. As long as they believed God and served him, they were happy. One day, while they were still happy, the devil came into the garden and told them a lie, and they believed that lie more than they believed God's truth. So they ate the fruit that God told them not to eat. God was angry. He told them that they should die, and that as long as they lived they should have trouble. God turned them out of the nice garden, and would not let them live there any longer. If Adam and Eve had always served God they would have been happy, and every person now would live and be happy. But now we live in trouble, are sick and die. Don't you feel sorry? Still, God loves the world, and he sent his Son to die for his people, so that they might be made happy again. They begin to be happy as soon as they come to Christ, and take him for their Saviour. Then they love Christ and do what he tells them. God forgives their sins; he loves them; and he keeps them always from evil. So they are happy in this world, and after they die they shall be happy for ever and ever in heaven. Don't you feel glad that there is a new way to be happy? I hope you will try this way-the way of serving God in Christ. The fourth reason you should serve God while you are young is, because you can be of no use till you begin to serve God. You have seen a sewing machine; you know what it was made for. Now, if the sewing machine gets out of order and won't sew, is it of any use? No; your mother will have to take her needle and thimble and sew in the old way till she gets her machine mended. For what did God make you? To serve him. Well, now, if you don't serve him, are you of any use? No; you are just like that broken sewing machine. Do you know why a man plants a peach tree? To get peaches, of course. Let me tell you about a peach tree that I knew when I was a little boy. It was old enough to bear peaches. In spring it was full of blossoms. After that it was full of little green peaches, just like the other peach trees; but when the peaches on the other trees got ripe those on this tree were still green. They were green when the frost came. Then they were frozen and fell off. It was so every year; we never ate any peaches from that tree. Was it of any use? No; it was only in the way. God made you to bear fruit. The fruit that you are to bear is good works. God made you to do what he tells you. Now if you don't do what he tells you, you are like that peach tree on which the peaches never got ripe. Be of use, then. Serve God. The fifth reason you should serve God while you are young is, because in this way you may become very useful. Some people do a little good. Some people do much good. They are very useful. Some people do good a little while. They are useful. Some do good a long time. They are very useful. Christ says, "Herein is my Father glorified, ye bear much fruit." I told you that the fruit you are to bear is that good works. If you want to bear much fruit, the way to do it is to begin early to serve God by doing all that he tells you. Then, if you live only a few years, you will have done good and been useful; but if God gives you a long life you will be very useful. were none on it. One time a man took a fig tree and planted it in a good place. When it got old enough to bear figs, he went out to get some, but there So he waited till the next year; then he went out again and looked. Still it had no figs. The third year he went out and looked for figs, but he found none. So he told the man that was working for him to cut the tree down, because it was of no use, and was in the way. He was tired waiting for figs. So God will not have you wait too long before you begin to serve him. He wants you to be like trees that begin to bear fruit early and keep bearing for a great many years. you, My dear little friends, I hope you will think about what I have told and begin to serve God now. "REMEMBER NOW THY CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH." Don't wait any longer. God is ready and waiting for you. Come then, Oh! come to Christ. SOUTH CAROLINA COVENANTERS. WE publish, by request of the writer, who is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church (General Synod), the greater part of a communication occasioned by the articles of Messrs. Faris and TrumIt is not necessary bull, which appeared in our pages some time ago. to do do more than call attention to that part of the article in which an attempt is made to define the position of the two Synods. The writer fails to comprehend that maintained by us, and of course is not able clearly to state it. The position of dissent which we occupy in this country, a consistent maintenance of our position would require us to Occupy were we to live in any other country, the organic law of which is radically defective, as is the organic law of this, whether or not directly or indirectly its inhabitants were guilty of covenant-breaking. Our distinctive position of dissent we believe to be scriptural, in harmony with the teaching and practices of the fathers, and required by our standards, which, by the way, our correspondent thinks, and in this he is mistaken, have by us been altered. The communication is valuable as showing what are the views entertained by at least a portion of cur former brethren who deprecate the present division, and are sincerely deEDS. sirous that it be healed. I have no doubt that the Rev. Thomas Donely made the utterance (mentioned by Mr. Faris,) in the hearing of Elder John Donely and Elder Thomas Smith, also of Mrs. Nancy Linn, and that the Rev. Thomas Donely adhered closely to the settlement the committee of the Scotch Presbytery gave to the civil relation question in South Carolina. All these are facts, but the difference in the opinions held by the membership of the Reformed Presbyterian Church at the time of this settlement, is the thin edge of defection, as he terms it, seen by the minute discernment of Mr. Donely. The action of the Scotch committee was in the year 1790 and 1791, and modified by presbytery after its |