Morning journal and courier., 1891-06-08
CHRISTIAN UNITY.

Rev. pr. Twfteheu Breaches His
 Sixth Anniversary Sermon in
 Dwight Pldce ChuFch-A General
 Review of the Status Of the. Chris ,. tian Oh Church-Various Timely Topics
 Are Alluded to. .~-~ -
 Rev. Dr. Twitchell yesterday morning delivered his sixth anniversary sermon in the Dwight Place church. He did not give the usual statistics, and the reason will be found in the following interesting abstract of his sermon preached on the text: 4'Tin we all come into the unity of the faith."- ."-Ephesians iv, 13.
 "The unity of the faith here means com mon union of purpose. This is Pauls con- ception of what the result will be of a per feet Christian church. No differences of opinion will exist about the great revela-
 tions of God or nature. He had in mind large and stable Christian fellowship.
 The apostle here is drawing contrast be-
 tween the imperfect Christianity of his age and the consummation. Looking on
 the church of his time, full of error and heresies, am not surprised he exhorted them to keep in unity. Now I suppose
 there will always be different denomina-
 tions. There is, however, one holy Cath
 olic church. Christ did not come
 to save denominations or races-but
 to gather all races into one fold. No
 name-Methodist or Baptist, or Presbyte-
 rian-has mortgage on the kingdom.
 The time is coming when all will forget
 their individual creeds and sing together the "Gloria in Excelsis." No more about
 hymn books and prayer books and long
 and short services, but men shall talk about their salvation. This is what Paul foresaw.
 ''These days are not here yet. Witness the Episcopal church to-day regarding the appointment of a bishop of Massachusetts. Witness the Presbyterians and the beliefs of 8 certain professor in the church. Wit ness the close communion controversies of
 the Baptist church, and witness inward
 broils in our own church. But the creeds
 unwritten if not witten are becoming
 more and more alike. By the songs or
 the words of the preacher you can hardly
 tell of what denomination the church is
 The church goes onward to unity.
 'We should never forget that those who differ from us may be and probably are as honest as ourselves. Many things even in science are found to be true which were not believed before. Men question every thing to-day. Still we approach nearer COuGluudl1y LILO UIubu udfo uO 1CdI Ol the Pentateuch, whoever may be found to all discovered and verified. Once it was 1944 that the end was to come, now it is 1899. We are passing through 8 testing it, character should be exalted above | creed. Belief is of small account, except
 as it is the builder up of Christian man.
 hood. One thing only is essential to the building of Christian manhood, and that is l to believe in Jesus Christ as the son of
 God. Many an adult, I am confident, is l kept out of the church by serious moral | reservations as to belief in it's creed.
 Many child is made skeptical by ap- parently meaningless doctrines, winch ! they cannot understand. There is dan ger in having unsettled views of truth ,and | it is danger to character It is marvel ous how much error 8 man may hold and yet be a mighty man of valor. I have | known men, too, who were very orthodox | in the faith, but not overland or over generous or over-noble in their lives. ''This is our sixth anniversary sermon | I might have brought you figures to show | the number of births and deaths and bap- | tisms, but of what use? Figures are of
 small account except as expressing the moral condition of the church. Of what | Faluo tO say GIlab GucIo dIo dOO lueLAUoIS III | our church if they are at variances We are illustrating here I believe, charity tc one another for which we have to praise 1 God. For six years have not once need. ed to turn aside and denounce for differ ences of views. There is no one here who
 insists on having hls own way. I believe
 we are trying to exalt Christian character
 instead of unity of belief. We are not per l feet in our faith or in our characters, bu we are united as Christians. Courage
 brethren! We move on, confidently wait | ing for the consummation, and may tht
 God of all grace grant us ever increasing | prosperity"