National Republican., 1886-11-29

for your entire household. This Is nothing
against the advocacy of your own religious
theories, Use all forcible argument, bring all
telling illustration, array al demonstrative facts
but let there be no acerbity, no stinging retort,
no mean insinuation, no superciliousness as
though all Others were wrong and you infalli-
Take hint from astronomy. The Ptolemqic
system made the earth the center of the solar
system, and everything was thought to turn
round the earth. But the Coperncan system
came, and made the sun the center around
which the planets revolved. The bigot otmakes
his little belief the center Of everything, but
the large-souled Christian makes the Sun OF
Righteousness the center, and all deuomina.
tions, without any clashing, and each at Its
own light, and In its own sphere, revolving
around 1t. Over the tomb of Dean Stanley In
Westminster Abbey is the passage of Scripture:
"Thy commandments are exceeding broad"
Let no man crowd us on to a path like the
thinks leads from this world over the abyss OF
hell into paradise, the breadth of the bridge
less than the web OF starved spider or the
edge Of sword or razor, off the edges OF which
many fall. No; while the way is not wide
enough TO take with us any of our SINS II Is
wide enough for all Christian believers to pass
without peril into everlasting safety
But do not any OF you depend upon what you
call q sound creed for salvation. man may
own all the statutes of the state of New York,
and yet not be lawyer, and man may own
all the best medical treatises and not be ply
sician, and man may own all the best works
on painting and architecture and not be either
painter or architect, and man may own all
the sound creeds in the world and yet not be a
Christian. Not what you have In your head
and on your tongue, but In your heart and in
your life will decide everything
In olden times In England before the modern
street lamps were invented every householder
was expected to have a lantern suspended In
front of his house, and the cry of the watch
men In London as they went along at EVENT. lie
putting In your home about the different kinds
OF lantern, as a watchman on the walls of
Zion cry "Let your light so shine before
glorfy your Father which is In heaven
Hang ont your lightsl You may have n Thousand
ideas about religion and yet not the great idea
OF pardoning mercy. II is not the number of
your ideas but the greatness of them. a mouse
has ten ofisprings in their nest, while the lion
ess hath one In her lair. All ideas about
forms, and ceremonies, and church govern
ment put together are not worth the one idea
OF getting to heaven yourself, and taking your
family with you.
But do not reject Christianity, as many do,
because there are so many sects. Standing in
Westminster Hotel, London, looked out of tho
window, and saw three clocks, as near as l can
remember-one ON the Parliament House, nn-
Westminster Abbey-and they were all differ.
ent. One said 10 O'clock at noon, another said
ll:55, another said 1905. might as well have
concluded that there is no such thing as time,
because the three timepieces were different, as
for yon TO conclude thCIe Is no such thing as
pure Christianity because the churches differ
III tnelT htuleIneuI OF IL. ~ IL hDOuL ~ CLOCK
noon of the glorious Gospel disp ,nsation, al
though the church clocks somewhat differ, and
under the present light you have no excuse
for neglecting your duty because you do not
like this or do not like that. "How shall we
escape If We neglect so great salvation?"
But let us all rejoice that although part of
our family may worship on earth In one
church, aud part In another church, or, bowed
at the same altars, 1t must be in a compromise
of preferences we are, If redeemed ON the
way TO a perfect church, where all our prefer.
ences will be fully gratiaed. Great cathedral
of eternity, with arches of amethysts. and
pillars of sapphire and floors of emerald, aud
windows aglOw with the sunrise of heaven
What wide aisles spacious enough to allow
empires to enter What ampitheaters OF piled
up splendor, gallery above gallery princes and
princesses, kings and queens bending over
angel-hoisted and angel'Tung. What myriads
OF worshipers, whiteTobed ana coroneted.
What an oficiator at the altar even 1.-THE
great high priest of our profession" What
walls, hung with the captured shields and
flags, by the church militant passed up to be
church triumphant. What doXolOgles of all
nations, CoTOnet to coronet, cymbal to Gym.
bal, harp to harp, organ TO organ. Pull out
the tremulant stop to recall the suffering
past Pull out the trumpet stop to celebrate
the victory.
"When shall these eyes thy heaven. built walls
And pelrly gates behold2
Thy bulwaTks with salvation strong,
And streets OF shining gold"