The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-06-20
THE GOSPELS WORK.
Source of All the Worlds Moral
and Social Reforms.
NO LIGHT WITHOUT CHRIST.
rev. g. j. Burchett's Learned Sermon
Before the Northwest Baptist
Association ut vancouver.

The Rev. G. ]. Burchett, of the First
Baptist church, delivered a sermon on
June at the meeting of the Northwestern
Baptist Association, which was held at
Vancouver, B. C. By request the Posr-IN-
rELIIeEScER prints the discourse in full.
Its subject was "The Gospel the Source of
All Moral and Social Reforms" The text
was from Matthew vii: xvi, which
reads: Eye shall know them by their
fruits Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles?" The preacher said:
Over this battle torn planet two sets of forces
have been in deadly conflict for 5000 years. One
OF these sets Of forces has been striving to trans
form creation into an ugly den of every foul and
repulsive thing. To bring on q night which
should be penetrated by no star OF hope; to
"trip the mind of all peace and moral dignity,
and invest 1t with utter wretchedness in this
present life and degrade 1t eternally in the life
10 come. And that set of forces has sown and
raped enough harvests to enable US to under.
stand fully the character of the fruits produced,
And submit that the fruit is the most reason
able and certain test that can be applied to any
plant or tree that ever grew. By this test we are
asked by the great Teacher to Judge OF the forces
which have been planting gigantic wrongs in
the earth.
And by this same test he would have US try
those forces which have been at work to redeem
this planet from utter ruin. God be praised
that there are powers at work here which are to
transform this world into a veritabls paradise of
God. While other forces are unfurling the dark
banners and leading on to spiritual bondage,
these powers from the upper world are here
among US with a commission to roll this world
back to the light of God. You would expect
that great efforts would be made by the Evil One
to confuse the minds OF men and keep them
from seeing clearly the import of his plans, and
What IL TO DO the final outcome of all his
works.
For every poisonous plant that evil hands put
In the soil Satan has commissioned false
prophet to herald its exceliencies, and to claim
for 1t far-reaching good. There has never been
deadly Upas planted in this earth that did not
have q smooth tongued demon assuming the
garb of light and speaking with the words of de-
cspton OF what blessings were to flow from IL.
And this makes serious business for those
who are to gain or lose an immortality by the
decisions they make AZ to which are the good
and the bad trees. How am / to know when
am safe, or when / am in danger of being de.
ceived by one who speaks so eloquently OF the
seeds he Plants? ''By their fruit" You may
Is well seek for grapes on thistles as good where
the spirit Of Jesus Christ has not inspired it.
here to spend this hour examining the claims of
the Gospel for being the source of all moral and
social reforms This is timely theme from the
fact that we are living in an age In which tor
rents OF cheap literature poured forth against
the Bible. Our age that prides itself upon its
advance steps in all things high and noble may
well ask from whence all these upward tenden.
cies? We are all agreed that our age stands out
far in advance OF every preceding age. Such
moral and social reforms az mark our age
were never seen before. Happy il
humanity in this age compared with
any othsr age. So we are to ask why all this?
Whence have come all these noble impulses to
lift up humanity? If this age stands far ahead
OF all other ages in culture, refinement and all
the arts OF intellectual and moral improvements
We may probably look into the reasons for this.
II the Bible held the ages chained In darkness,
and opposed all the onward movements OF sci
ence, and tried to thwart all great discoveries,
and retard all the upward steps and keep wo-
man in slavery and childhood in bondage, we
ought to know 1t and get rid of that book as
soon as possible. But If this world was in hope
less moral degradation till the Gospel came to
redeem is; and If II has been breaking fet-
tiers, driving away the darkness, setting in
motion great moral forces which have been lift
up AUD transforming the nations of the earth,
let us be just in giving our decision.
And as We enter this investigation wish to
ask you to most earnestly bear in mind this
fact that because some professors Of the Chris
tan religion have abused their calling, and
committed nameless and numberless crimes,
1t Is not to be charged to any defect in the
Holy Scriptures. Unless you rightly discrimi-
nate at this point you will not be able to under
stand the dark ages. and much else which has
hindered Gospel work in the march of Christ
ba feat If n
Christian dispensation whea the light of the
Gospel was permitted to flash its radiance to
perishing men the nations were fast being
lifted up TO righteousness. But it was when
the Bible was chained that the ages of darkness
set in. Then in close connection with this you
will need TO remember that the Gospel IL en-
titled TO all the credit for moral and social re-
forms for which it furnished the conditions,
even though those reforms may have been led
by rankest in;idels. With these plain and just
principles before us we may reach right con-
eusions in this matter And in doing this
wish first to have you note the fact that the
world did have q chance to rise without the
Gospel
In the absence OF the Gospel what record did
the race make for itself? At this point history
has mighty lesson for us. Ii is fact of no
small significance that all of those Eastern
which lived and died without the
Gospel; enjoying that condition of things
which inhdels so loudly profess to des!re-all
these monarchies, no matter how many cent
uries they existed, were more corrupt and de-
graded at their death than at their beginning.
In giving the Gospel its true place in the world
you must meet this fact You take up these
Kingdoms one by one and there read ont your
lesson. That kingdom whose capital was
Babylon was a comparatively moral government
when IL began; they had some of the traits of
Character which enabled their fathers to escape
The flood in an ark. But when that Kingdom
ended II was under the accumulated and long
continued corruption OF the people, who had be-
come SO etfeminate that they could not Withstand
an enemy, and so they died the death OF
The wicked Great Nineveh went In the same
wsy With what good blood they received from
their ancestors they laid the foundation of
great city and great kingdom. But like all
other people who have lived without the Gospel,
they lived on the descending moral scale till
there wa, not enough moral worth left among
Them 70 preserve them from total extinction.
faaibcc, Luxor, Thebes and Memphis al speak
from the graves OF the past, and they tell tho
lame sad story. They lived without the Gospel
md they died hopelessly. When the great
Roman republic began, its founders had some
moral capital with which to begin. And they
were not hindersd by the Gospel Why did not
hey live upon a rising scale of morals' They
Certainly had all that any people could ask that
they might rise very high, even TO the pinnacle
Of ST moral excellence. But stand at her gates
In her tenth century and ask her what she hes
10 show you Of real moral worth. Let her high
priests meet the first missionary of the cross
Who came into her streets 10 preach the Gospel
D. the crucided Christ, and let those priests
,pen their temples and let them explain what
hey have done TO raise humanity. Let this pris-
,ner, the first herald of Christ, come To the
Roman Forum. let these priests meet him there
.ni explain all the reasons why there should
hot come q new religion among them, better
sne than they have ever known. Then let their
'iosing argument be based upon the moral
Progress which they have made in nearly zen