The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-03-13

and another piece and saws: "This Is free
agency" this is this and that is that. And
while stand looking at the fragments OF
mel rose pulled apart one whom the MargS
took Tor gardener comes in and presents ne
with a crimson rose, red as blood, and SAYS;
'lnhale the sweetness of this, wear it on your
heart and wear it forever" must confess
that prefer the rose in full bloom TO the rose
pulled apart.
What a time we have had with the dogma.
ties, the apologetics and the hermeneutics.
The defect in some of the creeds Is that they
try to tell MS all about the DEGREES of God.
Now the 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 So
vereignty OF God and believe in mans free
agency, but no one can harmonic the two. 1t is
not necessary that he harmonIze them. Every
sermon that l have ever heard that at
tempted such harmonization was to me as
clear as u London fog, as clear as mud. My
brother of the nineteenth century my
brother of the sixteenth century, give us
Paul's statement and leave out our own.
Better one chapter of Paul on that subject
than all of Calvins institutes, 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
tine mysteries of Gods government
now, much less the mysteries of His
government five hundred quintillion of years
ago. move for creed for all our denom-
nations made out of Scripture quotations
pure and simple. That would take the earth
for God That would be impregnable against
infidelity and Apollyonic assault. That
would be beyond human criticism. The de-
nomination, whatever its name be, that can
rise up to that will be the church of the mil.
lennium will swallow up all other denomi.
nations 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, Donot 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 nonessentials,
A man who heartily accepts Christ is a
Christian and the man who does not accent
Him is not Christian, and that is all there is
of it. He need not believe in election or rep
rotation. He need not believe in the eternal
generation of the Son. He need not believe
in everlasting punishment. He need not be-
lieve in infant baptism. He need not believe
in plenary inspiration. Faith in Christ
i, 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
vino would not accept persons into church
membership if they drink wine or it they
smoke cigars or if they attend the theater
or if they play cards or if they drive fast
horse. Now do not drink wine or smoke or
attend the theater, never played game of
cards and do not drive fast horse, although
I would If owned one But do not
substitute tests which the Bible does
not establish There is one passage of
Scripture wide enough to let all in
who ought to enter and TO keep out all who
ought to be kept out: believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Get
a mans heart right and his life will be
right. But now that the old creeds have
been put under public scrutiny something
radical must be done. Some would split
them. some would carve them, some would
elongate them, some would abbrcvate them.
At the present moment and in the present
shape they are n hindrance. Lazarus is
alive, but hampered with the old grave
clothes. If you want one glorious church
free and unencumbered take off the eerements
of old ecclesiastical vocabulary. Loose her
and let her go!
Again, there are Christians who are under
sepulchral shadows and hindered and hoppled
by doubts and fears and sins long ago re-
pented Of What they need is to understand
the liberty of the sons of God They spend
more time under the shadow of Sinai than at
the base of Calvary. They have been sing
ing the only poor hymn that Newton ever
wrote.