The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-30

Joined to his predecessor? Was his
| successor rightly Joined to him? This
is the pipeline idea Of obtaining re-
ligiOus blessings from God. This is a
case of ecclesiastical plumbing. If there
was any defect in the churchly SOL
dering the connection is lost and the
divine communication is destroyed.
Really this idea of religion makes the
whole subject wholly unworthy of hu-
man Intelligence.
Both in England and in America
certain men have proposed church
unity on the basis Of our acceptance OF
the Historic Episcopate; and behold,
now the Pope tells them that they have
no Historic Episcopate" for them
selves. They are all sent with us into
the outer court of the gentiles.
Against this conception the human
mind utterly reVOltS. No wonder that
in countries where these ecclesiastical
ideas prevail large numbers of the peo-
pie are infidels in faith and atheistical
in practice. The Word of God every
| where appeals to our divinely-g:ven
reason. God nowhere shocks our noDie
reasoning faculties; We nowhere read
that we are saved by Parker. We are
nowhere informed that our salvation
depends upon ecclesiastical plumbing
The Word of God uniformly represents
the true minister as a prophet and not
| as priest. He is nowhere performer
| of priestly ceremonies, but Is always
and everywhere a proclaimer of divine
truths. This priestly conception makes
| the minister merely a channel through
which certain religious blessings now
He need not be a man of education. in
| the broad sense. nor a man of high
| moral qualities, for he is simply a con-
| hl1 nf Il cntc nj al Si,,nc
According to the theory of the Roman
church the ministers may be called
| consistently a priest because in that
church the Offering of the mass Is "a
real though unbloody Offering of the
Christ.
| MINISTER'S TRUE IDEA.
"This idea is consistent with the fun
damental principle of that church, al
though it is an unscriptural conception.
But in a Protestant church the priestly
function is both inconsistent and un-
| scrptural. The true idea of the min
lister Is that he is q foreteller a forth
teller and forteller He is therefore
to be master of knowledge in it's broad
est ranges. He is to be living man
and to represent living God, declar-
ing living truths: and the church Is to
be the living body of the living Christ.
We serve not a dead but living, un-
throned and triumphant Redeemer.
The body Of this Redeemer is to be
living body as is its living Head.
The prosperous church Is also a la
boring church. God gives us no good
| thing except as the reward of toll.
Cost and worth are ever close neigh
bors God does nothing for us which
we can do for ourselves. The miracu-
lous element is found in Scripture but
1t Is always reduced to it's lowest point.
/ a q ms r 90 nct N
Cana of Galilee could fill the water
pots with water. and they could draw
out the wine; but they could not change
| the water into wine. Between the fill
| ing and the dra wing the divine power
came down and, as Crashawe long ago
| said:
THE conscious water saw its God and
| blushed."
"Whatever we can do. that the
Providence Of God requires us to do.
| Labor in the church and the world Is
| evermore the true standard of value.
An ounce of gold Is worth more than
an ounce of silver just because, as
| things are. 1t costs more labor to Sc
| cure an ounce Of gold than an ounce of
| silver. No fiat values can maintain a
ratio which is contrary to the laws of
nature. The laws of nature are the
| laws of God. God has never vacated
his throne. He will not be relegated
| to ancient centuries and to remote
which violates the relation between
| spiritual labor and spiritual blessing.
| This law is as universal and as ire
sistible as the law Of gravitation. 1t
| applies to all our secular, as truly as to
our religious rela tions. Congress might
pass a law that three bushels of pota-
| toes should always be equal to one
i Inns ho1 ~
do, but If the laws of nature gave us
| in any season an enormous crop Of
potatoes and a very scanty crop Of
! wheat, all the laws of all the legsla-
| tors of the world could not maintain
| the ratio of three bushels Of potatoes
to one Of wheat. There is a relation
| as exact as any law of nature which
| we express by the law of supply and
| demand.
| CHURCH LAW OF RATIO.
| "In accordance to that law we have
| recently seen wheat going up and sill
yer going down. All the politicians
and political candidates in the world
| could not long reverse or hold in cheek
| this natural law. 1t is not otherwise
| in the church of God. We are to be
| laborers together with God No church
! can expect to reap In harvest time eX-
cept 1t sows in spring time. No church
can rejoice in increasing numbers and
| in a deeper spirituality except 1t labors
for that end. An idle church Is not
| worthy to be called church of Christ.
| Christ himself was the true worker.
He worked up to the limit of his
| strength; and He teaches us that we
must follow His divine example. No
church can neglect this universal law
| and prosper. Whatsoever man SOW
eth that shall he also reap
| "A prosperous church Is also a loyal
| church. 1t must be loyal to the word
| of God as the only rule of faith and
practice The so-called long and
e4rong creeds do not conserve doctrine.
Many churches reciting such creeds
| have departed more widely from Scrip
ture teaching than churches which
have no creeds, in the technical sense
of the term. All the historical creeds
| are the results of compromises. The
| circumstances Of their origin rob them
largely Of their spiritual authority. 1t
| Is often far more difficult to under
stand the creeds than to understand
| the scriptures on which they are sup
| posed to be based. Creeds often OBJ
scure rather than clarity Scripture
teaching The word Of God should be
| the only rule of faith and practice in
| every church of Jesus Christ. When
| it is exalted spiritual blessings may be
| expected. The church must also be
| loyal to Jesus Christ as its Divine
| Head. He alone is the true King in
| Zion.
His word is the supreme law. II
we depart from his commandment and
| His example we are like men at sea
without ruddel or compass. Only as
we listen to His voice and walk in His
| footsteps are we safe. There is no
| stopping place between rationalism on
| the one side and the dangers of extreme
ecclesiasticism on the other il we re-