they heard this they were baptized in thename of the Lord Jesus. And
when had laid his hands on them the Holy Ghost came on them, and
they spake with tongues and prophesied. [Acts 2]
The Blood of Christ.
We have now pointed out to the penitent believer the path that
leads to eternal life, the straight and narrow way, and carefull noted
the inscriptions along the line, down into the water through the door
into the kingdom of God. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of
all sins, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, gift of the
Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands; this is the course marked out by
the Father to prepare His children to receive the benefits of the aton-
ing blood of Jesus Christ. Earthly things are typical of heavenly
things as set forth in the following (1 John 5, 7-8) "For there are
three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one; and there are three that bear witness
in the earth, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and these three agree
in one." By the water we keep the commandment, by the spirit are we
justified and by the blood are we sanctified; and thus we become Saints.
He who has fully repented of his sins and been baptized for the remiss-
ion thereof, and received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, may
then partake of the emblems of the Savior's flesh and blood; and in
that sacred ordinance eat and drink to His soul the benefits of that
atoning blood. And such have the promise of the Savior that they shall
never hunger or thirst. There is no other way provided on earth by
which mankind can secure the benefits of the aton)ing blood of Christ.
AUTHORITY.
Upon this question hinges the validity of all the acts of men.
Every officer of our Government must be elected or appointed according
to the mode established by the constitution of the United States, or
his official acts fall to the ground as null and void. The decisions
of the court involving the validity of titles to land or other great inter-
ests would be void if it could be shown that the judge rendering the
decision had not been elected or appointed legally. Every deed issued
by a Sheriff at a sherriff's sale of real estate would be void if it
could be shown that the sheriff was a usurper and not legally authorized
to officiate in the duties of the office. All naturalization papers
issued by a judge when it could be shown that he had never been elected
or appointed according to constitutional requirements, would by a legal
tribunal be declared worthless and the holder deprived of his citizen-
ship. In fact the question of authority to act in any of the affairs of
human life is so clearly understood by all persons of ordinary intell-
igence that time would seem to be wasted in discussing it; but not so
in questions involving the future of the human soul. In these sacred
and vastly more important matters upon which hang all our hopes of
eternal life, the average man seems willing to trust to the opinions of
a minister of some of the orthodox sects or to the wild vagaries of any
upstart who cries "Lo here is Christ," or "Lo he is there" without for
a single moment raising the question—Where is his authority to offic-
they heard this they were baptized in thename of the Lord Jesus. And
when had laid his hands on them the Holy Ghost came on them, and
they spake with tongues and prophesied.
The Blood of Christ.
We have now pointed out to the penitent believer the path that
leads to eternal life, the straight and narrow way, and carefull noted
the inscriptions along the line, down into the water through the door
into the kingdom of God. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of
all sins, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, gift of the
Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands; this is the course marked out by
the Father to prepare His children to receive the benefits of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Earthly things are typical of heavenly
things as set forth in the following (1 John 5, 7-8) "For there are
three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one; and there are three that bear witness
in the earth, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and these three agree
in one." By the water we keep the commandment, by the spirit are we
justified and by the blood are we sanctified; and thus we become Saints.
He who has fully repented of his sins and been baptized for the remission thereof, and received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, may
then partake of the emblems of the Savior's flesh and blood; and in
that sacred ordinance eat and drink to His soul the benefits of that
atoning blood. And such have the promise of the Savior that they shall
never hunger or thirst. There is no other way provided on earth by
which mankind can secure the benefits of the atoning blood of Christ.
AUTHORITY.
Upon this question hinges the validity of all the acts of men.
Every officer of our Government must be elected or appointed according
to the mode established by the constitution of the United States, or
his official acts fall to the ground as null and void. The decisions
of the court involving the validity of titles to land or other great interests would be void if it could be shown that the judge rendering the
decision had not been elected or appointed legally. Every deed issued
by a Sheriff at a sheriff's sale of real estate would be void if it
could be shown that the sheriff was a usurper and not legally authorized
to officiate in the duties of the office. All naturalization papers
issued by a judge when it could be shown that he had never been elected
or appointed according to constitutional requirements, would by a legal
tribunal be declared worthless and the holder deprived of his citizenship. In fact the question of authority to act in any of the affairs of
human life is so clearly understood by all persons of ordinary intelligence that time would seem to be wasted in discussing it; but not so
in questions involving the future of the human soul. In these sacred
and vastly more important matters upon which hang all our hopes of
eternal life, the average man seems willing to trust to the opinions of
a minister of some of the orthodox sects or to the wild vagaries of any
upstart who cries "Lo here is Christ," or "Lo he is there" without for
a single moment raising the question—Where is his authority to offic-
