Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-03-29

mission OF the Calvanistic Church TO
preach the complete sovereignty .
God; OF the Arminian Church to pre-
sent mans free agency; OF the EpiscO-
pal Church to show the importance Of
order and solemn ceremony; OF the Bap-
fist Church to show the necessity Of
ordinances ;ofthe Congregational Chuph
to show the individual responsibility OF
its members; Of the Methodist Church
TO show what holy enthusiasm and good,
hearty, congregational singing can ac-
complish. While, as / say each de-
nomination ought to present all doc
trines, each denomination ought to
make one of these doctrines emphatic.
Now, sectarianism shuts one out from
all these lessons. The man will not
make an impartial investigation, and he
cannot reason, "All others are wrong,
and / am right, and there the matter
ends" From the glorious realm Of
Gods truth, over which the Archangel
might fly from eternity to eternity with
out touching the limits, they shut them
selves out, and die like blind moles I'M
der a cOTn-shOCk.
Another evil OF sectarianism is, that it
prejudiccs people against Christianity.
The churches OF God were not made for
war barracks. This perpetual lombard
ment of other sects drives men away
from religion. People are afraid OF riots.
You 90 down the street and you see Il
couteSt-men fighting with men, and
missiles thrown. You hear the report
OF firearms. You are not foolish enough
to 20 through that street; you go around
the block. Well, men have looked of,
sometimes, upon this narrow path to
heaven, and they have said, 81 believe
| will take the broad road. There are so
many ecclesiastical brickbats being
thrown in that narrow path, and there
is so much sharpshoOting | thing will
take the broad road" Oh, my friends,
that religion is not worth much which is
not tall enough to look over the fence.
| have more admiration for Spanish
bull fight, and believe it to be more mer;
ciful and honorable, than the combating
OftheSc carnivOrOuse CClesiastiCS. Francis
the First was so preiudiced against
Luthcrans that he said ii there was a
drop of l.uthern blood in his veins he
would puncture them with knife and
let that drop out. Ii men have such
hostility against other denominations OF
Christians they drive men from the
Cross.
WASTED ENERGY.
So, also, sectarianism hinders the
church's triumph. How much wasted
energy; how many men OF large intellect
who have given their time to abstract
and controversial dispute when, il they
had devoted it in the right direction.
they would have been glorious bv useful.
Their books lie ON the shelves oi college
and State libraries, sleeping the long
sleep OF ages. Who cares now which OF
the doctors OF divinity got the victory IN
that thirty years war about particle?
Suppose there were a common enemy
riding up the NarrOWs tomorrow morn
ing, and our batteries here around New
York were to fire into each other, you
would saw national suicide" And yet
that very thing is often done in the
Church OF Christ. While all the navicS
of darkness have been riding up the bay,
sect has been warning with sect, and theo-
logical belief, and there has been suicide
instead Oi conquest |. 90 out some sum-
mer day and | find there are two bee
hives quarreling with each other. l
come up toward them, / do not come
near enough to get stung, but | come
near enough To hear the contest between
them. The one cries out That field OF
clover is the sweetest The other cries
out. THAT field OF clover is the sweet
est" | say. "Stop this quarrel; II You
think that is the sweetest, 90 there; II
YOU think this is the sweetest, go here.
/ want YOU 10 understand that that hive
j. the best that gets the most hOney.
| see different denominations OF Chris
tians i'm contest with each other, some
prcicrring this field of evangelical belief,
and others that field. say, Take your
choice. Ii YOU like that evangelical be-
lief the best, take it; ii you like this evan
gelical belief the best take 1t; but under
stand Christ thinks most of that church
which gets the most OF the honey OF
Christian grace in the heart, and the
most oi the honey OF Christian grace IN
the life
How are we To war against this blgOtcd
feeling which fingers in the hearts OF hun
dreds and thousands OF Christians? We
do So bv realizations OF our own inhrm-
itiesand weakness. Ii we make 50 many
mistakes upon other things, ought We
not 10 he little modest in regard to our
religious belief? suppose that the light
from the eternal throne in the last day
will show us that there was something
wrong in all our Creeds.
We will overthrow sectarianism by
dwelling chiefly upon those things on
which we agree, rather than upon those
i'm which We differ. Here is the great
broad platform OF the Gospel. | see a
man coming up on one side of the plat
(, rm. lie saws, IL don't believe in baby
sprinkling." Must I'll shove him oil?
Here is another man coming up on thus
side. He SAYS, al don't believe IN the
perseverance Oi the saints. Must | shove
him orr No, DO YOU believe in Jesus
Christ? Then come on, Brother now,
brother forever. The gospel platform y
large enough to hold all who put their
trust i'm my Lord Jesus Christ.
War against ScCtarianlsm by reallZlng
that all denominations OF Christians
have Welded bcnelicent institutions and
noble men, and therefore are To Ice re-
spcc,cd. Onc OF the denominations
gave To- the world a Robert Hall and an
Aduniram; another gave Latimcr and
a Melville; another John Wesley and
the blessed Summerfeld; our own yield
ed a John Knox and the AleXanders,
men Of whom the world was not worthy.
All these denominations have produced
noble men and blessed instructions, and
thus demand our respect. 30 say,
come on We ninety thousand commun-
.stS of the Episcopal church, We four
hundred thousand of the Presbyterian
church, We nine hundred thousand OF
the Baptist Church, We two millions Of
OF the Methodist church, Let w. march
shoulder to shoulder, for there is a
world 10 be- saved and God demands
that YOU and help do IL.
Tho Tidv Housewife