Sharp County record., 1886-12-09


best church or denomination, one at one
end of the table saying he could not endure
the rigid doctrines of Presbyterianism; one
at the other end responding that she never
could stand the forms of Episcopacy; and
one at one side of the table saying he did
not understand how anybody could bear the
noise in the Methodist Church, and another
declaring all the Baptists bigots. There
are hundreds Of families hOpele5sly split on
ecclesiastlcism, and in the middle of every
discussion on such subjects there is kind
ling of indignation, and it needs some old
father Abram to come and put his foot on
the loaded fuse before the explosion takes
place. and say: "Let there be no strife,
pray thee, between Inc and thee, and be-
tween my herdmen and thy herdmen. Is
not the whole land before theeM
undertake a subject never before under
taken in any pulpit, for it is an exceedingly
delicate subject. and if not rightly handled
might give serious offense; but approach
it without the slightest trepidatiOn, for l
am sure I have the Divine direction in the
matters l propose to present 1t !S tre-
mendous question, asked all over Christen-
dom, often asked with tears and sObs and
heart breaks, and involving the peace Of
families, the eternal happiness of many
souls: In the matter of church attendance
should the wife go with the husband, or the
husband go with the wife!
First, remember that all the evangelical
churches have enough truth in them to
save the soul and prepare us for happiness
on earth and in Heaven. | will go with
YOU into any well-selected theological
library, and | will show you sermons from
ministers in all denominations that set
forth man as a sinner and Christ as q de-
liverer from sin and sorrow. That is the
whole Gospel. Get that into your soul and
you are fitted for the here and the here
after The world has twenty-siX letters in
its alphabet, and there are only two letters
in the Gospel alphabet-S and c; S stand
ing for our sin, standing for Christ, our
rescue, blessed be His glorious name for
ever In any church where you can
thoroughly learn these two letters, and all
they stand for, you ought to be edited and
happy.
There are differences, we admit and
some denominations we like better than
Others But suppose three or four OF us
make solemn agreement to meet each other
week from now in Chicago on important
business, and one goes by the New York
Central railroad, another by the Erie rail
road, another by the Pennsylvania rail-
road, another by the Baltimore q Ohio
railroad. One goes this way, because the
mountains are grander; another takes this,
because the cars are more luxurious; an
other that, because the speed is greater;
another takes the other, because he has
long been accustomed to that route and all
the employees are familiar. So far as our
engagement is concerned it makes no diff
ference if we only get there Now, any
one of the innumerable evangelical demon
nations, if you practice its teaching-al
though some of their trains run on broad
gauge and some on narrow-will BRING
you out at the city OF the New Jerusalem,
It being evident that you will be safe IL
any of the evangelical denominations,
proceed to remark, first: If one of the mar
ried couple DC Christian and the other
not. the one Christian is bound to go any
where to a church where the unconvertet
companion is willing to go, if he or she VII
90 to no other. You of the connubal part
nership. are a Christian; you are safe tol
the skies; then it is your first duty to Sc
cure the safety of your lifetime associate
Is not the everlasting welfare Of your wifi
impenitent, of your husband impenitent. o
more importance than your church rela
tionship, Is not the residence of your com
panion for .hc next Quadrillion Of years