Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-02-07

| represented by the enemies of evangelism
They say that church substitutes forms
and ceremonies for heart religion, and il
is all matter of liturgy and genuhexion.
False again All Episcopalians will tell
you that the forms and creeds Of their
church are worse than nothing unless the
heart 60 with them.
SO also the Baptist Church has been mis- :
represented The enemies of evangelism
say the Baptist Church believes that I'M
less a man is immersed he will never
get into Heaven. False again. All the
Baptists, close communion and open COM
munion, believe that if man accept the
Lord Jesus Christ he will be saved, wheth =
er he be baptized by one drop Of water on
the forehead. or be plunged into the Ohio
or Susquehanna, although immersion is
the only gate by which one enters their
| earthly communion.
The enemies Of evangelism also misrep-
resent the Methodist Church. They say
the Methodist Church believes that a man
can convert himself, and that conversion
in that church is a temporary emotion,
| and that all a man has to do is to kneel
down at the altar and feel bad and then
the minister pats him on the back and
| says: 1T is all right" and that is all
there is of it. False again. The Meth
odist Church believes that the Holy Ghost
alone can convert a heart, and in the
church conversion is an earthquake of con-
viction and a sunburst of pardon. And as
to mere Temporary emotion" l wish we
all had more of the Temporary emotion"
which lasted Bishop James and Matthew
Simpson for half century, keeping them
on fire for God until their holy enthusi-
asm consumed their bodies. So all the
| evangelical denominations are misrepre-
| scented.
And then these enemies of evangelism
| go on and hold up the great doctrines Of
| Christian churches as absurd, dry and in
applicable technicalities. There is your
doctrine of the Trinity" they say. Sab
surd beyond all bounds. The idea that
there is God in three persons. Impossi-
BILE. If 1t is one God He can't be three.
and if there are three they can't be one."
At the same time all OF us-they with us
acknowledge trinities all around US. Trim
ity in our own makeup-body, mind, soul.
body with which we move, mind with
which we think, soul with which we love.
Three, yet one man. Trinity in the air
| light, heat, moisture-yet one atmoS-
phere. Trinity in the court room-three
| judges ON the bench, but one court. Trim
| tiles all around about us, in earthly gov
eminent and in nature. OF course all the
illustrations are defective for the reason
that the natural can no. fully illustrate
the spiritual. But suppose an ignor
ant man should come up to
chemist and say: 81 deny what you
say about the water and about the
air; they are not made of different
IL L -
day. The water is one; l drink it every
day. You can't deceive me about the ele-
ments that go to make up the air and
water" The chemist would say: "You
come up into by laboratory and l will
demonstrate the whole thing to you"
The ignorant man goes into the chemists
| laboratory and sees for himself He learns
that the water is one and the air is one,
but they are made up of different parts.
So hear is a man who says: 81 can't I'M
derstand the doctrine of the Trinity"
God says: you come up here into the
laboratory after your death and you will
see-you will see it explained, you will see
it demonstrated" The ignorant man can
not understand the chemistry of the water
and the air until he goes into the labora-
tory, and we will never understand the
ignorance of the man who can not under
stand the chemistry of the air and water
does not change the fact in regard to the
composition of air and water. Because
we do not understand the TRULY, does
that change the fact?
And there is your absurd doctrine
about justification by faith, "say these an
tagonists who have chewed up the little
book of evangelism, and have the conse-
quent embttered stomach-'justifica
by faith; you can't explain it." lean ex-
plain it. 1t is simply this: When a man
takes the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour
from sin, God lets the offender off. Just
as you have a difference with some one
he has injured you, he apologies, or he
makes PREPARATION, you say: Snow, that's
all right, that's all right. Justification by
faith is this: A man takes Jesus Christ as
his Saviour, and Col says to the man:
Now, it was all wrong before but it is all
right now; 1t is all right" That wa
what made Martin Luther what he was
justification by faith-it is going to con-
quer all nations.
There is your absurd doctrine about
regeneration" these antagonists of evan
gelism say. What is regeneration? Why
regeneration is recon Struction. ANYBODY
can understand that. Have you not Sc N
people who are all made over again by
some wonderful influence? In other
words, they are just as different now from
what they used to be as possible. The old
Constellation, man. war. lay down here
at the Brooklyn navy yard. Famine came
to Ireland. The old Constellation was
fitted up, and though it had been carrying
gunpowder and bullets it took bread to
Ireland. You remember the enthusIas
as the old Constellation went out of our
harbor, and with what joy it was greeted
by the furnishing nation on the other side
of the sea. That is regeneration. A man
loaded up with sin and death loaded up
with life. Refitted. Your observation
has been very small indeed if you have
not seen changes in character as radical
as that
A mau came into this church one night
and he was intoxicated and at an utter
ance of the pulpit he said in a subdued
tone: That's a lie." An officer of The
church tapped HIM on the shoulder and
said: "Y on must be silent or you must go
out" The next night that stranger came.
and he was converted to God. He was in
the liquor business He res gned the busi-
ness. The next day he sent back the
samples that had just been sent him. He
began to love that which he hated. |
baptized him by immersion in the baptistry
under this platform. A large salary was
offered him if he would return to his for-
mer business. He declined it. He won. d
rather suffer with Jesus Christ than be
prospered in the world He wrote home
letter to his Christian mother The Chris
tian mother wrote back congratulating
him, and said: IF in the change of your
business you have lack OF means, come