, 1886-04-11

~iestants, whatsoever else they belieys b-
sides IL Thsre = no sufIcient certainty bu1
of Scripture only for any considering man b
Duiid upon Propose mo anything ont 81
this book and require whsthor l believe o.
no, and seem Il never so incomprehensible 70
human reason, ] win subscribe II with hand
and heart. as knowing no demonstration can
be stronger than this, go hath said 70,
therefore IL Is trua'r
In favor OF the Bible a. the creed book Il
may be affirmed that 1t is Inspired, that 1t is
authoritative. that 1t Is ineligible, that II Is
moral. that 1t IL perpetual. that 1t is catholic,
that il IL perfect All OF this, and more, can
easily be said In favor OF the Bible a. the
creed book, and In a battle Of the books the
Bible Is the creed. But / call your attention
TO this distinction. 'sThe Bible il the word Of
God to man; the creed Is mans answer to
God. The Bible reveals the truth in the
popular form OF life and fact; the creed states
the truth in the logical form of doctrine"
What Is the creed OF the Church OF Christ
In the very bcginningi Nathaniel, the Israel
tie in whom was no guile, professed his faith
when he said TO Jesus; rabbi. thou art tho
son OF God, thou art the king OF Israeli
Martha. Of the Bethany family, made known
her creed when she declared to Jesus: Al be-
lieve that thou art tho Christ, the son of God,
which should come into the world"
Jesus said to the man born blind, OF whom
We have an account in Johns gospel, ninth
chapter; ''Dost thou believe in the Son of
Godf' He answered. and said; "Who is He,
Lord, that / might believe ON Himf' And Jesus
said unto him: Thou hath both seen Him,
and 1t Is he that talketh with thee. " And be
said: Lord, / believe; and he worshipped
Him" In Cesarea Philippi, when Jesu,
asked his friends: Whom do men say that
!, the son OF man, amf' Simon Potter said,
In reply TO a more direct question Thou
art the Christ, the Son Of the living God"
Jesus said Immediately, ''On this rock | will
build my church, DIR. SchaH says that
"this Is the fundamental Christian confession
and the rock on which the church is built
Doubling Thomas" as men call him, er-
claimed in glad surprise, when the Lord APP
peared to him. after the resurrection, my
Lord and my God" DIR. Schaf, in "Creeds OF
Christendom," says that "this is the strangest
apostolic confession of faith in the lordship
and divinity OF Christ" II you ask me after
this induction what the creed OF the Disciples
Is l reply, Jesus of Nazareth Is the Christ,
the Son OF the living God We are perfectly
satisfied with this rock on which the church
Is built But you say, Do not all Christians
believe thisf Yes, and herein is one pecuh-
arity. with us the divinity aud Chfisthood
Of Jesus is more than a mere item OF doc
trine-it is the central truth OF the Christian
system, and in an important sense the creed
OF Christianity. 1t is the one fundamental
truth which we are j~ealously careful to guard
against all compromise To persuade men to
trust and love and obey a Divine Saviour, is
the one great end for which we labor in
preaching the gospel; assured that IL men
are right about Christ, Christ will bring
them right about everything else. We, there
fore, preach Jesus Christ and him crucified
We demand no other faith, in order to bap-
tism and church membership, than the faith
OF the heart in Jesus as the Christ, the Son OF
the living God; nor nave we any term or
bond OF fellowship but faith In this Divine
kedeemer and obedience to Him. All who
trust in the Son OF Col and obey Him are
our brethren, however wrong they may be
about anything else. and those who do not
trust in this Divine Saviour for salvation and
obey His commandments are not our breth-
rem, however intelligent and excellent they
may be in all beside"
You see, therefore, that our popularity, as
to creed. Is the prominence which we give to
this divine, this fundamental article OF faith
2 Tho confession before baptism. What
is it
Jesus said that ''whosoever shall confess
me before men him viii l confess before my
Father and the holy angels" Tn Apostle
Paul said: ST thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe In
thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved" And the be-
loved disciple said: Every spirit that con,
fesseth that Jesus Christ Is come in the hesh
is OF God; and every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh Is
not OF Cod We therefore demand Of every
applicant for baptism a distinct avowal Of
faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Sa-
vior OF men usually PROFOUND two ques-
tons; |. Do you be ievs with your whole
heart that Jesus OF Nazareth Is the Christ,
the Son OF the living God, and your Savior
2 Do you earnestly desire TO obey Himi
This precise form Is not necessary, but the
thought is, and this well represents the prac-
tce Of the disciples
We submit nc other tests but faith and re
pentance, in admitting persons TO baptism
and church membership We present to
them no articles OF faith other than the one
article concerning the divinity and Christ
hood OF Jesus; we demand no narration Of a
religious experience other than is expressed
In a voluntary confession Of faith in Jesus;
we demand no probation to determine their
fitness to come into the church; but instantly,
on their voluntary confession Of the Christ,
and avowed desire to leave their sins and
serve the Lord Christ, unless there are good
reasons to doubt their sincerity, they are ac-
cepted and baptized, In tho name of the
Lord Jesus, and into the name OF the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit They are thus
welded to Christ, and not TO a set Of doc
trincs or to u party"
II a man asks baptism who believes the
thirty-nine articles, or the doctrine OF de
crees a. set forth by the Westminster assem-
bly,, or that somehow all men viii become
hnlv aud onpaanuaptIv hnppr ua .r.aa hoa..
on his attention Jesus-only Jesus. There is
no salvation in n belief in these other thing
there is salvation by faith in the Son OF
God What think ye OF Christi 'What
will you do with Jesusln II we can get a
man TO think right concerning and to feel
right toward Jesus, we are ready to give the
largest liberty of thought and opinion on
other matters Our union Is on Jesus.
3 Baptism As TO the form Of baptism
disciples agree with the BaptistS Jesus
walked across the country forty miles and
was baptized OF John in the river Jordan.
He hn i hefore his eyes every text in the Old
Tess,ment that speaks of sprinkling, but he
acted as | have indicated. There was also
something in baptism that requires per-
sons to arise when they attend to hi 8
ordinance Saul Of Tarsus, weak and
faint from intense mental excitement, and
from days OF fasting was told to arise and
be baptized. After ward, In speaking Of his
baptism. he described it as a burial In the
~ecund chapter Of the epistle to the Gala
tians, and at the twelfth verse he speaks
the same why OF this ordinance. This
movement for the union OF Godis people, you
must remember, began with scholarly men,
and men OF piety, who did not belisve in
immersion, but they said, whore Gods word
leads We will follow.
In taking our stand in favor OF INNER lon
We hod t. that which bears the stamp Of
cethoIicity and reject that wnish lashes il;
and in d unlon Of Coils people we must have