Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1890-03-03

call the names of twenty living Pres
byterian ministers of religion who
could make Il better creed than John
Calvin The Nineteenth century ought
not to be called to sit at the feet of the
Sixteenth
But, " you say, 1t is the same old
Bible, and John Calvin had that as
we'll as the present student of the
Scriptures. Yes; so 1t is the same
old sun in the heavens, but in our
time 1t has gone to making daguerreo-
types and photographs. It is the same
old water, but in our century it has
gone to running steam engines. 1t is
the same old electricity, but in our
time it has become a lightning footed
GRAND boy. So it is the old Bible
but new applications, new uses, new
interpretations. You must remember
that during the last three hundred
years words have changed their mean
ing and some of them now mean more
and some less. [ do not think that
John Calvin believed, as some say he
did, in the damnati0n of infants, al
though some of the recent hot disputes
would seem toimply that there is such
a thing as the damnation of infants.
WILL ANY INFANTS BE DAMNED?
y hlaII W 10 DciICfGS III TIC (IdIlI1d-
ton of infants himself deserves to lose
heaven | do not think any good man
could admit such a possibility. What
Christ will do with all the babies in
the next world [ conclude from what
he did with the babies in Palestine
when he Rugged them and kissed
/ them. When some of you grown peo-
! pie go out of this world your doubtful
! destiny will be an embarrassment to
ministers officiating at your obsequies,
who will have to be cautious so as not
| to hurt surviving friends. But when
| the darling children go there are no
ifs" or butts" Or guesses We must
remember that good John Calvin was
a logician and a metaphysician and by
| the prOclivities Of his nature put some
| things i'll an unfortunate way. Logic
has its use and metaphysics has it's use,
| but they are not good at making
creeds. A gardener hands you a bloom
! ing rose, dewy fresh, but a severe bot
anist comes to you with a rose and
says: I viii show you the structure
| Of this rose. " And he proceeds to take
it apart and pulls off the leaves and
he says: There are the petals" and
/ he takes out the anthers and he says:
Just look at the wonderful structure
of these floral pillars" and then he
cuts the stem to show you the juices of
the plant. So logic or metaphysics
takes the aromatic rose of the Chris
tan religion and says: Il will just
show you how this rose Of religion
was fashioned" and it pulls off Of it
piece and says: THAT is the human
will" and another piece and says:
This Is Gods will, and another
-
and another piece and says: This is
free agency" this is this and that is
| that And while [ stand looking at
the fragments of the rose pulled apart,
| one whom the Marys took for a gar
dener comes in and presents me with
a crimson rose, red as blood, and says:
''Inhale the sweetness of this, wear it
on your heart and wear it forever"
l must confess that prefer the rose
in full bloom to the rose pulled apart.
GODS SOVEREIGNTY AND MANS FREE
AGENCY.
What time we have had with the
dogmatics the apOlogetics and the
hermeneutics The defect III some of
the creeds IS that they try to tell US all
about the DEGREES of God. Now the
only human being that was ever COM
petent to handle that subject was Paul,
and he would not have been competent
had he not been inspired. [ believe in
the sovereignty Of God and believe in
man's free agency, but no one can
harmonic the TWO. 1t is not neces-
sary that he harmonic them. Every
sermon that | have ever heard that at
tempted such harmOnizatiOn was to
me as clear as a London fog, as clear
as mud. My brother of the Nineteenth
century, my brother of the Sixteenth
century, give US PauIs statement and
leave out your own. Better one
chapter of Paul on that sub
ject than all of Calvin's insti-
tutes, able and honest and mighty as
they are. Do not try to measure either
the throne of God or the thunderbolts
of God with your little steel pen.
What do you know about the DEGREES?
You cannot pry open the door of Gods
eternal counsels. You cannot explain
the mysteries of Gods government
now, much less the mysteries of his
government five hundred quintillion
of years ago. move for a creed for
all our denominations made out of
Scripture quotations pure and simple
That would take the earth for God.
That would be impregnable against
infdelity and Apollyonic assault That
would be beyond human criticism.
The denomination, whatever its name
be, that can rise up to that will be the
church of the millennium, will swallow
up all other denominations and be the
one that will be the bride when the
Bridegroom cOmeth. Let us make it
simpler and palmer for people to get
into the kingdom of God Do not
hinder people by the idea that
they may not have been elected. Do
not tag on to the one essential of faith
in Christ any of the innumerable non
essentials. A man who heartily ac-
cepts Christ is Christian and the man
who does n0taccept him is not Chris
tian, and that is all there is of it. He
need not believe in election or repro
baton. He need not believe in the
eternal generation of the Son. He
need not believe in everlasting pun
ishment. He need not believe in in
FAINT baptism. He need not believe in
plenary inspiration. Faith in Christ
is the criterion, is the test, is the pivot,
is the Indispensable But there are
those who would add unto the tests
rather than subtract from them. There
are thousands who would not accept
persons into church membership if
they drink wine Or if they smoke
cigars or if they attend the theatre
or if they play cards or if they
drive fast horse. Now [ do not
drink wine or smoke or attend the
theatre, never played a game Of cards
and do not drive fast horse, although
| would if I owned one. But do not
substitute tests which the Bible does
mot establish. There is one passage of
Scripture wide enough to let all in
who ought to enter and to keep out
allwho ought to be kept out: believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved" Get mans heart right
and his life will be right. But now
that the old creeds have been put I'M
der public scrutiny, something radical
must be done. Some would split Them
some would carve them, some would
elongate them, some would abbreviate
them. At the present moment and in
the present shape they are a hindrance
Lazarus is alive, but hampered with
the old grave clothes. If you want
one glorious church free and unen-
numbered take off the cerements of
old ecclesiastical vocabulary. Loose
her and let her 90!