Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1892-02-19
CHRIST ON THE PLAIN.
DR.. TALMAOE'S CREED AND THE
NEEDS OF THE CHURCH.
Ins tead OF Revision OF Creeds, New
Creed - The Work to Bs Done by
the Youn: Men of tho MIN
istry--Fres Salvation.


gregation sang:
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journey run.
The sermon which followed was appar-
emily suggested by the storm Of theologic-
al controversy now raging in the churches.
In these times when it is quite uncerta in
what many of the clergy really do believe,
this sermon makes it very plain what the
pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle believes.
II text was taken from Luke 6;l7, And
he came down with them and stood in the
plain
Christ on the mountains is frequent
study. We have seen HIM on the Mount
OF Olives. Mount OF Beatitudes, Mount
Moriah. Mount Calvary, Mount OF Ascen-
sion and 1t is glorious TO study Him on
these great natural elevations. But, how
is it that never before have we noticed
Him on the planl Amid the rocks, high
up on the mountain, Christ had passed the
night but nov, at early dawn, H. is COM
ing down with some especial friends, step
ping from shelving TO shelving, here and
there loose stone rolling down the steep
sides ahead OF Him, until He gets in a
level place, so that He can be approached
without climbing from all sides. He is on
the level My text says, "He came down
with them and stood in the plain"
Now, that is what the word wants to-
day more than anything elsa Christ on
the level easy to get at no ascending, no
desc, nding, approachable from all sides
Christ on the plain. Toe question among
all consecrated people to-day is, what is
the matter with the ministersi Many of
them are engaged in picking holes in the
Bible and apologzng for this and apollo
giving for that. In an age when the whole
tendency is TO pay too little reverence TO
the Bible, they are fighting against Bib!i-
olatry or too much reverence for the
Bible. They are building fence
on the wrong side of the road;
not on the SIDE whore the
precipice is and of which mu.titudes ara
falling, bat, On the upper side OF the road,
SO that people will not fall uphill, of
which there is no danger There is no
more danger of Bibliolatry, or too much
reverence for the Scriptures, than there is
that astrology will take the place of as
tronOmy, or alchemy the place Of chem
lstry, or the canal boat the place of the
limited express raii-train. What "a theo-
logical farce it is; ministers fighting
against too much reverence for the Scrip
lures; ministers making apology for the
Scriptures; ministers pretending to be
friends Of the Bible, yet doing the book
more damage than all the blatant infidels
on all the earth. The trouble is our theol-
ogians are up in the mountain in fight
above the clouds about things which they
do not understand. Come down on the
plain and stand beside Christ, who never
preached technicality or a didacticism.
+ 40 a cd i.o
know about the DEGREES of Cod! VINO
? cares fig about your sublapsarianism or
you upralapsariauisml
WnGt asspectacle we have Of our de-
nomination to-day; committees trying 10
patch up an old creed made two or three
hundred years ago, so that it will fit on
the nineteenth century Why do not our
millinery establishments take out of the
earrets the coal-scuttle bonnets which
your OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES wore and try
TO fit them on the head OF the modern
maiden! You cannot fix up a three hun
dred year old creed so as TO tit our time.
Princeton will sew on a little piece, and
+ Union seminary will sew on a little piece,
/ aud Allegheny seminary and Danv.lle
/ Seminary will sew on other pieces and by
the time the creed is done il will be as
variegated as Joseph's coat of many colors.
I Think Of having to change an Old creed
( TO make it clear that infants dying &c TO
heaven! l am so glad that the COM
mittees are going TO let the babies in.
Thank you. So many of them are al.
ready in that all the nils OF heaven look
like Sunday school anniversary. Now,
/ what is the use OF fixing up a creed which
/ left any doubt on the subject No man
ever doubted that all infants dying go to
heaven, unless he be "a Herod or a Charles
Giteau. | was opposed TO overuauling
the old creed at all, but, now that it has
been lifted up aud its imperfections set
/ up in the sight of the world, l say, Over
board with it and make "a new creed.
There are today in our demon nation five
hundred men who could maze a better
one. l could make a better ono myself. AS
we are now in progress OF chan ng the
creed and no one knows what we are ex-
pected To believe, or will two or three
years hence be expected TO believe,
could not wait and so | have creed Of
my own, which l intend TO observe the
rest of my life. / wrote it down in my
memorandum book some six months ago,
and IL reads as follows: "My creed: The
glorious Lord. To trust him. love him and
obey him s all that is required. To that
creed ! invite my mankind. II. Dewitt
Talmage"
The reason Christianity has not made
more rapid advance is because the people
are asked to believe too many .ings
There are | believe, today millions OF
good Christians who have never joined the
church and are not counted among the
Lords friends, because they cannot be-
leve all the things that they are required
to believe. One-half the things "a man is
/ expected TO believe in order 10 enter the
church and reach heaven have no more to
do with his salvation than the question,
How many volcanoes are there in the
moon. or, How far apart from
each other are the rings of Saturn
or. How many teeth there were
in the iaw-bone with which Samson
smOte the Philistines. i believe ten thou
sand things, but none OF them have any
thing TO do with my salvation, except
these two i am a sinner and Christ came
to save me. Musicians tell US that the
octave consists only OF five tones and two
sem-tones, and all the Handles and
Haydns and Mozarts and Wagners and