The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-06-19

priest with his episcopal manipulation and
Christless ritual. Words once spoken to a
sister church are applicable to you: "You
seek no investiture from prelate or primate.
You have succeeded to no dead mems places.
You derive authority from no dead mems
credentials There is no smell OF the sepul-
cher about you. Your call Is direct from
our risen and living Lord, recognized aud
authenticated by a living church, made
valid and vital by the living God"
You have a genuine Christian succession
of sound doctrIne-personal faith in Christ,
love for souls-and your share in the work
of the worlds salvation. YO1 are COM
PEELED to choose between pedigreeism and
evangelism. You rejected the questionable
honors Of mere prelatical sanction, and as
sumed the burdens OF a living ministry.
Your bishops and presbyters are ministers
and preachers, not priests. They preach
atoning blood, repentance toward God and
faith in Christ but leave the ''absolution"
with Christ who alone "hath power on
earth to forgive sins" In doing this you
have guarded mans right of personal ap-
proach directly to God, and have saved him
from priestly tyranny. Your organization
has struck another blow at prelatical absolu-
tion, and has strengthened the bond of
Christian charity. You are accused
of breaking The peace OF chutch
organization; but am remind-
ed that there is such a thing
as graveyard peace - the peace OF the
corpse, the peace of death and putrifsction.
The resurrection trumpet Will break that
peace. All over our land thousands of Chris
tian souls have been paralyzed into deadly
peace by the icy grip of sacerdotalism. BY
the grace of God you have broken that peace;
your trumpet has reused these souls to the
warm blooded, thrilling life of Christian ac-
tivity. God forbid that your trumpet should
be silent Let blast follow blast until every
cou1 ohalI hear he 90 uyaka
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light"
You have been denounced as "forsaking
your old flag" Is the charge a just one?
Suppose regiment of soldiers had taken the
eagle, the stars and stripes and the national
motto from their flag, and had substituted
the symbols and motto OF rebellion, what
| ought loyal soldier to do? Shall he stand
by this false banner, simply because a ma
| jority of the regiment have adopted it?
| Would it not rather be his duty to forsske
| the rebel flag and Its adherentS, and hasten
| to one which carried the old flag. and was
| loyal to the old principle? The flag of the
apostolic church, the msrtyrs and reformers,
bore the motto, Christ, our only and all suf-
| ficient sacrifice" Strange leaders have
| brought in another flag, Haunting upon its
hateful fold the inscriptions "baptismal re-
| generation" and "the real presence" AS
| loyal soldiers of Christ, you have rejected
| Juc ldlsc nag duu us pOplSu doSuup ptlUiS
| and have rallied under the old banner, with
| the old motto of Jesus and His blood" I"
| The vassals of the vatican and the disci pies
| of Bonner and Gardiner may curse you; but
/ the spirits of Luther, and Melanchthon, and
Zwingle, and Latimer, and Ridley, and Wes-
| ley will bless you.
| But 1 am reminded tonight that in this
| general council there is one vacant chair
| one loved face, one noble heart is missing.
| Bishop Cummins is not here. What tribute
can pay to his honOred memory? The re-
/ membrance of his visit 10 our general con-
i ference at Baltimore is fresh in my mind.
| But how shall l tell OF his eloquence, his
| earnestness, his lover His words were the
| utterances of a grea', manly, Christian soul.
| A soul which had been purified and cultur-
ed, aud which WAS ripening in the sunbeams
which fell from the glory world. He was
your Luther. Alas, that he should have
fallen so soon. But Bisop Cummins is not
dead. Such men do not die. They can not
| die. Like Moses and Paul. like Luther and
| Wesley, like Thompson and Morris and
James, Bishop Cummins has stepped from
| the councils of Israel below into his seat in
| the senate of Israel on high. May his man.
tie fall upon the young men of your minis
| try and may a double portion of his spirit
be upon theml
But / most close. In the name of the
Methdist Episcopal church, extend to you
the right hand of Christian fellowship. May
| peace and love prevail in your parishes
May success attend your ministry May the
glory of the Lord shine upon your pathway
i Amen