, 1877-01-14


10 Any WAY now obtainabe; and that even could
it DC. there Is in it, as literal blool. no moral
virtue whatever. 1t is tie grace OF Uol COLI
sc'oustr accepted into the soul Vi the believer
that saves, and it is for this Era:e OF God
that the bloou o[ the crlcifed Savior stands.
Inc need Of the world is not tho eppro-
priatior Of the literal blood OF Christ, but the
application u the grace Of God Nor do in
tllls statement IN any way underyalue the
grandeur Of the death Of Christ, or lessen the
efficacy Of His sacrifice on Calvary. Your views
OF substituted righteousness are exceptional in
the Christian Cnurch Of to-day. Such men as
tac sanity Robertson Of England, aud the now
lanlcntca Horace Bushnell OF this country, have
divines, both in Europe and America, to reject
tho dogma that guilt is transn,iss1ble. ALI this
criticism and denial you utterly ignore. You
tald as if to reject your Interpretation OF the
Bible is to be damned; as If error in belief is
sin; and as II only infldcls and irreligious peo-
ple differed from you.
But perhaps you point to the results Of your
labors and say, "This method Of preaching
saves people. No other theory, has in 1t SO
sly brother, that which liberties to-day may en-
slave Tomorrow. A false theory may effect
present encouraging results, but If the theory
is Incorrect, it may IN the cpd work far more
harm than good. You do nit recommend i'm
age-Worship among Parans on the ground that
they can best be reached In that wayl The
trinkets and relics of Rornan:sts are helpful to
many dcyout Catholics, but do you encourage
the use Of them? Would you favor the sale OF
indulgenccs By some enthusiastic Tetzel, though
he might feel that he WAS serving the Church IT
God thereby!
My brother, there is no substitute for personal
character, and, true you live, the Bible puts
the emphasis upon the state of the heart, and
not upon the blood OF Christ.
Furthermore, your teaching not only discour-
ages morality, but is virtually at issue with
modern civilization. For, it the chief work OF
this lille is salvation from hell, and educated
people cannot be made to see their peril, then
what better can we do with our schoolhouses
than to close them, and with our cities than to
burn thcms
The same error appears in what you say about
wealth aud worldly possessions generally. You
discourage the accumulation of property In
this you are in the wrong. 4 competence is
desirable. Poverty is not to be preferred: WHY,
my brother, who would build the Tabernacles
you occupy, and pay the bills for occupying
them, if al were poor alike. The evil is not IN
the money, but in the wrong use of it.
What We, call business, is just as
RI: purpose of the Church should not be TO
discourage either the ono or the other, but to
unite the txo. A character that is all picty is
pcr1ersion as much as one that is a1l business.
The complete man is "not slothful In busl-
ness,' while at the same time he is ''ferrent in
spirit.''
OF like tenor arc some Of your observations
under the head OF faith. Your sermon on
Daniel Is an example Of what mean. You en-
courage your converts to hope that, il they trust
implicitly in Christ, Tie will care for them. Ii
wchud Daniels faith, we, too, might venture into
the lions' den without fear of harm. Is this
teaching true to liic. my brother! Are the
righteous saved from physical injury,-from
sickness, aud from sudden deaths Had
The The 23 ta qay a; 81 Srote the tRe
bridge us Ashtabula anything to do with the
disasterl Did tire. or frost, spare the body OF
the swec: singer whose death all good people
dcploTct You do harm TO the cause OF religion
wien you set up these extravagent claims Tor it.
People, especially young people, need to DC
taught to rely upoa themselves There are al
ready too many lrones in the hive OF the Church
OF Christ rcad5 to live upon the industry OF
others. It is simply fact, that the reward Of q
aud joy in the Holy Ghost.
Third-There is one other point on which l
wish to say word It is the narrowness OF
your theology. You insist that no one can be
merits Of Christ, and that the substitutional or
transferred righteousness must be accepted By
the sinner previous to the death Of the body
AL vino die without this sanctifcation are lost,
and can never scc God. And yet you talk cio-
quently about the sufIiciency OF Christ, and
probably thu best sermon you have preached in
this city is on the Love Of God.
Nv brother, LET us make few figures. There
are now on this earth, according to recent data,
l, ,4a33, 917, 600 human beings. These are distrib
uted rs follows:
Europe .-......-.:. ..-.3o9 1!S, 3oo @
Africa -199 AL. 600
Australia and Polynesia .........:.... i, 74s, 600
or this billion anl one half, how many think
you will DC saved, according to your theory
Asia with her S24.0O0, 900 must be thrown out
almost wholly Africa much the same. Polynesia
3tr. h
Tabernacle audience And as to Europe and
America, while the case is more hopeful, the
proportion of those who could be saved
according to your rigid test is very small.
Remember, as you phrase it, 1t Is not char
acter, nor honesty: OF purpose, nor doing
the best one knows, that saves, but
the actual appropriation of the sinner
of the blood OF Christ with the conscious ac-
ccptance OF the imputed righteousness which
he possesses. How many think you, In Europe
tions! Take tue saved on these terms, even in
this very city, OF in any other large community,
as basis, and you will have to figure very 1iber-
ally to make more than e, ooo ooo,-thc present
population Of the United States Forty millions
out Of one billion and about four hundred and
twenty-tour milioas! Ny brother, ponder
these figures. In riew OF them, who rules this
universe, God or the devil: Is this the
pest that the grace OF Tod ..rssa ean
do tor manknaa na n,t,,ra LOU Is sa },re nat
that the grace Of God is.'' But are you right in
this! If the grace of God save only one small
fraction Of the ntcger Of the race, what Is it but
failure? God created man and fashioned him
as He chose, and from the beginning He has
controlled every other element TINT cutters into
this question OF salvation: and it now it IS
made 10 appear that He has lost the control Of
all but mere remnant Of His great family, aud
That devils have riscn up and wrcstcu the sceptre
both from Him aud the Son OF His love, whom
He sent to redeem the world, I Respectfully sub
nit on this showing that the govcrainent OF
God is q failure, and that He'll and the rulers OF
It. and not Heaven aud its rulers, have gained
the victory.
But the government OF God is not failure.
Human nature Is not failure. The world IS
not getting worse. You arc in the wrong when
you say so. You employ tile cant phrascology
Of the Church, my brother, when you talk IN
that way. History is against you. In true evil
ization The inhabitants Of this earth were never
SO lar advanced as now. God rules: Tie fills all
the space in all His universe The Deyil you
speak ol, VINO disputes the throne with Him, IS
a nyth. Our blessed Lord recognized no such
devil as that; and the devil Of which Paul speaks
he saws Christ has destroyed.
| 0, my brother, millions OF human SOUS re-
loire in 4 better hope than this which you
breach. How dare you shut the gates OF Heaven
aea;nst uncountcl millions OF all the human
racc. But if YOU must, how can you preach the
1oyc OF God and the triumph Of the Cross!
Fnt,re punishment Is the doctrine OF the