The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-02-16

BROOKLYN, N. Y, February 14.-[Spccial.1
At the tabernacle service this morning. after
the usual reading of the scriptures, the congre-
cation sang,
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run
The sermon that followed was apparently
suggested by the storm of theological contro-
yersy now raging in the churches. In these
times when it is quite uncertain what many OF
the clergy really do believe. dis sermon makes
it very plain what the pastor of the Brooklyn
tabernacle believes. His text was taken from
Luke VI II: "And hc came down with them
and stood in the plain"
Christ on the mountains is frequent study.
We have seen Him OH the Mount OF Olives,
Mount of Beatitudes, Mount Moriah, Mount
Calvary Mount of Ascension, and it is giori-
Gus to study Him on these great natural oleva-
tions. But, how is it that never before we
have noticed Him on the plain? Amid the
rocks high up OH the mountain. Christ had
passed the night but now, at early dawn. lie
is coming down with some especial friends,
stepping from shelving to shelving. here and
there a ioosened 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 OF the level.
MY text says: "He came down with them and
stood in the plain"
Now that is what tho world wants today
moro than anything else-a Christ on the level,
easy to set at, no ascending, no descending, APP
proaciable from all sides-Christ on the plain.
The question among all consecrated people
TODAY is what is the matter with the ministers?
Many of them arc engaged In picking holes in
the Bible and apologizing for this and apollo
giving fer that In an age when the Whoie
tendency is to pay too little reverence TO tho
Bible they are fighting against bbolatry, or
f1rtl
building fence on thewrong side OF the road:
not on the side where the precipice is and Oil
which multitudes arc falling but on the upper
side Of the road So that peSPe Will T r0s 1a
Me~socfa, N~rns scriptures. than there
acpe c,o will ,bs take nIace sne Of c P,a9e
with population Of. al boat tho place of the linn
3 as per CAPITA An train. What theological
Of cotton would ha fasters fighting against too much
tx a. ss ,ss scriptures; ministers making
s,s Shrre aJ Gle scriptures; ministers pretend
s' the ENDS of the Bible. yet doing the
ee.. Tuere| damage than all the blatant intidels
sH:::i.ls2y. earth. The trouble is our theologI-
.dsT1s,T "a hip in the mountain in fight above
~ tl.s' ads about things which they do not
,,ense stand. Come down the plain and
beside Christ who never preached
e :cality or didactcism What do you,
se-headed ecc'esiaStIc, know about the
reEees OF God? Who cares fig about your
", elapsaranism or your supralapsaranismP
y,-lWEat spectacle we have in our denomlna-
. zion today; committees trying to patch up an
I'D creed made two or three hundred years
ago so that it will fit on the nineteenth CEN
tury Why do not our millinery establish
ments take out of tho gaIrets tho coal-scuttle
bonncts which your at-5randmothcrs wore
and try to fit them OF the head of the modern
maiden? You cannot fix up three-hundred-
year-od creed to fit our time. Princeton
will sew on little piece and Union seminary
will sew on a little piece, and Allegheny semi
many and Dauvillc seminary Will sew on other
pieces and by the time the creed is done 1t
will be as yariegated as Joseph's coat OF many
co!ors Think of having to change al old
creed to make it clear that all infants dying go
to heaven! am so glad that the committees
are going to let the babies in. Thank
Won. So many of them are already
in that all the hills of heaven look
like Sunday school anniversary. Now,
what is the use of fixing up creed which left
any doubt on that subject9 No man ever
doubted that al! infants dying go to heaven,
unless lie DO Herod ora Charles Guiteau: L
was opposed to oyerhauiing the old creed at
ALL but now that it has been lifted up and its
imperfections set up in the sight OF the world,
/ say overheard with it and make new creed.
There are today III our denomination 800 men
who could make better one. L could make Il
better one myself. AS we now in process
of changing the creed, and no one knows Wha5
we are expected to believe, or will two or three
years hence be expected to believe, could not
wait. and so have made creed OF my own,
which intend to observe the rest OF my life.
/ wrote it down III my memorandum book
some SIX months ago, and it reads as follows:
INV creed-The glorious Lord To trus; Him,
love Him and obey Him is all that is required.
TO that creed l invite all mankind L. De-
Witt Tamage."
The reason Christianity has not made more
rand advance is because the people are asked
to believe too many things. There are. l be-
lieve, today millions of good Christians who
have never Joined the church aud are not
counted among the Lords friends, because
they cannot believe all the things that they
are required to believe One-half the things q
man is expected to believe in order to 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 lar apart from each other are the rings OF
Saturn? or how many teeth there were III the
iawbone with which Samson smote the
Philistines 1 believe ten thousand things,
but none of them have anything to do with my
salvation, except these two, l am sinner and
Christ came to save me- Musicians tell us
that the octave consists only of five tones and
two semi-tones. and all the Handles and
Haydns and Mozarts and Wagners and
Schumanns of all ages must do their work
within the range OF those I'VE tones ana Two
semi-tones. So l have to tell you that all the
theology that will he of practical use in our
world is made out of the two facts of human
sintulnes5 and divine atonement. Within
that octave swing The Song of Moses and
the Lamb" the Christmas chant above Beth
lehen1. and the alloluiah of all the choirs
standing seas OF glass.
is there not some mode OF getting out of the
way these non-essentials, these superliuites
these Emergencies from the main issue? Is
there not some way of bringing the church
down out of the mountain of controversy and
conyentionalism and put it on the plane where
Christ stands? The present attitude of things
is like this: In faminestruck dis
trict table has been provided and it
is loaded with food enough for all. The
odors of the meats fill the air. Everything is
ready The platters full. The chalices
are full. The baskets of fruit are full. Why
not let the people in? The door is open. Yes,
go =, 81, sc x..n ny
the door, discussing the contents of the castor
standing mid-table. They are shaking their
fists at each other. One says there is too much
vinegar i'll that castor, and one says there is
too much sweet oil, and another says there is
not the proper proportion of red pepper. say:
"Get out of the way and let the hungry people
come in" Now, our blessed Lord has pro
vided grand supper, and the oxen and the tat
lIngs have been killed and fruits from all the
vineyards and orchards of heaven crown the
table The world has been invited TO come.