The Forrest City times., 1890-03-08

put new applications, new uses, new inter. pretations You must remember that dur. ing the last three hundred years words have changed their meaning and some of them now mean more and somc lesA l do not think that John Calvin believed, as some say he did, in the damnation of infants, al though some of tho recent hot disputes would seem to imply that there is such thing as the damnatioE of infants.
 man who believes in the damnation of infants hlmself deserves to losc heaven. do not think any good man could admit such a possibility. What Christ will do with all the babies in the next world con- clude from what he did with the babies in Palestine when he hugged and kissed them When some of you grown people go out of this world your doubtful destiny will be an embarrassment to ministers officiating at your ohsequies, who will have to be cautious 80 as not to hurt surviving friends But when the darling children go there are no ifs or "buts" or "guesses" We must remember that John Calvin was n logcian and d metaphvsician and by the proclivi- ties of his nature put some things in an un- fortunate way. Logic has its use and meta physics has it's use, bEt they are not good at making creeds A gardner hands you blooming rose dewy fresh, but severe botanist comes to you with rose and says: "I will show you the structure oi this rose" And he proceeds to take 1t apart and pulls off the leaves and ho says: "Ihere arc the petals,n and he takes out the anthers and he says Just look at tho wonderful structure of these floral pillars" and then he cuts thoi stem to show you the iuicss of the plant So logic or metaphysics takes tho aromatic rose of the Christian rel zion and says; "l will just show you how this rose of religion was fashioned :" and 1t pulls off of it a piece and says That is the human will" and another piece and says. This is Gods will" and another piece and says; This is sovereignty" and another piece and says; "This is free agency,n this Is this and that is that And while l stand looking at the fragments of the rose pulled apart one whom the Marys took for a gardener 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" I must confess that l prefer the rose in full bloom to the TO 80 pulled apart What time we have had with the dogmatics, the apologetics and the hermeneutics. The defect in some of the creeds is that they try to tell us all about tho decrees of God, Now tho only human being that was ever competent 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 1 believe in mans free agency, but no ono can harmonize tho two It is not necessary that hc harmonize them. Every sermon that have ever heard that attempted such harmonization was to me as clear London fog, as clear as mud My brother of the Nineteenth century, my brother Of the Sixteenth cen tury, give us Paul's statement and leave out your own. Better ono chapter of Paul on that subject than all of Calvin's institutes, able and honest and mighty as they are Do not try to measure either the throne of God or the thunder bolts of God with your little steel pen N hat do you know about the deereesl You cannot pry open the door of Gods eternal coansels. You cannot explain the myste ries of Gods government now, much less the mysteries of his government five hun dred quintllion Of years ago. l 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 inhdelity and Apollyonic assault That would be beyond human criticism. The denomination, whatever it's name be- that can rise up to that will be the church Of the millennium, will swallow up all other denominations an be the one that will be the bride when tho Bridegroom cometh Let us make 1t simpler and plainer for peo- pie 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 tho one essential faith in Christ any of the innumerahle non esseutails. A man who heartily accepts Christ is Christian and the man who does not accept him Is not Chris tam, aud that is all there is Of 1t He need not believe in ese stioa or reproduction ae need not believe in the eternal genera tioa of tho Son. He need not believe in everlasting punishment He need not be- iievc tn infant baptism. He need not be. lieve in plenary inspiration. Faith in Christ is the criterion, is the test is the pivot, is the indispensable. But there are those who Woaid adj unto tho tests rather than sub tract from them. There are thousands who would not accept persons into church membership II they drink wine or if tEoy smoke cigars or If they attend the theatre or if they play cards or if they drive a fast horse Now l do not drinS wine or smoke or attend the theatre, never played a game of cards aud do not drive d fast horse, althoIgn [ would if owned ono. But do not substitute tests which the Bible does not establish. There Is one passage Of Scripture wide enough ,o let all m who ought to enter and to keep out nll who ought to ho kept out. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Get d mans heart right and his life wilt be right But noa that the old ereeds have been put under pubic scrutiny something radical must be done. Some wo3id split thom, some would carve them some would eIou gato them, some would sbbreviata them. At tha present moment and ln the present saape they arc hindrance. Lazarus is alive, but hamperel with tho old grave clothes If you want one glorious church freo and unencumberad take of the cere. ments Of old eecles astical vocabularly. Loose her, anl let her go
 Again, there arg Christians who are un. deg sepulchrai shadows and hinderel and hoppied by doubts and fears and sins long ago Fepented of What they neal is to uu dcrsfand tho hhsrty oI the sons of God IheF spend more time under the shadow of Snai than at the base ot Calvary They have oeon singing the onIy~poor hymn that Newton ever wrote
 lis point ! long to know,
 on II causeS nnX loQs thought
 Do love the Lord or no,
 Am his or am not
 Long 10 know, do yoai Why do you not find eati Go to work for C oi and you will very soon ilud out The man who is all the time feeling of hts pulse and looking at h.s tongue to see whether it is coated is morbid and cannot be physically well. The doctor will say: 't'o out into the fresh air anu into active life and stop thinking of yourself and you will get well and strong" Sa there arc people who are watch ing their spiritual symtoms. and they call il sef-examinatioa and they got weaker and sioklier in their faith all the time Go out and do something no9ly Christian. Take holy exercise and hea examiue yourself, and, Instead Of Naw oA's saturniae and bilious hymn that iis quoted, yoI wilt sing Newton's other hyma
 Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
 4tAstf -sANf4fi si t.sh lskfs.