The herald., 1896-08-17

lHlIk SuCn tiilnS dilu dl tHt Sdiiie
time to claim honestly to hold with the
| church that the Bible is the Word oi
| God. He must believe in inspiration
| and refuse to define 1t in any other fash
ion. It is our duty to turn neither tC
right nor left, but to go on in the direc
! path, loyal to this word of might.
| While we turn a deaf ear to the mar
| row minded Bible worshipers whC
would try TO make the Bible do what
| it was never expected to do, and put ii
| in the place of creed. service book anc
! everything else; while we also turn Q
deaf ear to the shallow minded destroy
ers of the Bible, except so far as we
! listen in order to confute them, we mus
at the same time on our own part handle
the Word of God honorably.
First and last we must, with loving
! reverence use it for a moral and spir-
| itual guide. We are in duty bound To
know all of 1t that we can. beginning
with the most important books. we are
afterwards to turn to the others IN a
natural order. and not to be content
with a few of the writings most attrac-
| tive to our taste. for the Inspiration is
in all the Scripture. We are to make it
the great book and companion or our
| lives, as 1t once was TO our ancestors.
Our public services use the Bible most
| beautifully and we must so esteem anu
| utilize it, For 'it is in truth the Word
his will from it and gain true support
from its pages in our hours of sorrow
and disappointment. SO VIII our rect
be lighted along the way of peace by
the candle of the Lord
In this way the nearest and dearest
truths will shine constantly upon us
such truths as form character. deepen
humility and purify the Will; while Ri
BILE history poetry and matters of curl
ous study will hold the right relation
to one another and thus emphasize the
one truth of the Gospel-Jesus christ
the same yesterday today ana forever
Among the brightest pages OF the
sacred volume is the story of the estab-
lshment of the Diaconate. The zeal and
the gentle self-sacrifce of the Proto-
martyr stephen. and the references here
and there to the acts Of the deacons in-
struct us to esteem the lowest of the
divine orders of ministers very highly
in love, for their works sake.
1t is a good working rule to esteem
highly that which the world rates cheap
or low. The humility of service is more
noticeable in a deacon than in priest
or bishop. because ii is not obscured by
other features. Therefore TO the world
the man who not only serves, but bears
the name of servant, and is peculiarly
marked out as a servant OF servants, is
an object to be little regarded. There
fore we are to honor such, as bearing the
mark of Christ who came not to he
ministered unto, but 10 minister. Es-
TEEN such then. my friends, very highly
in love, because of the work which they
perform. the spiritual work, the modest,
dependent work.
They are honored in the Bible by es-
pecial mention. We then may honor
them whom the King of Heaven de-
lighteth to honor This is the way;
walk We in 1.-THE way of the Bible.
The second word which l name to you
today is: He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved"
This is a command to hold to and to
use the creeds and the sacraments. Let
us take the first point: He that be
lieveth' All things are possible to
him that believeth.'' In order to be def
mite and clear, in order to grasp the rev.
elaton by the practical understanding.
man had to know a definite form of faith.
a creed, short statement of the Gospel,
the words that should rally thought and
sentiment and be the battle-cry of the
militant church.
o. how much is this needed today!
Look at the history of New England
and see how the venerable symbols after
long neglect, have returned into use in
the private and even the public devotions
of sectarians They We're found neces-
sary We may even suspect that to the
disuse of them is to be attributed the
Cnitarfanism which amid the gloom of
New England Caivanism, sought after
the faith of the Gospel, and knew not
where to find it. Certainly that infiu-
ence, once so mighty. has shown clear
marks of yielding to the enlightenment
of the truth voiced by the Catholic
church and now in the very words OF
the Apostles and of the Nicene creeds
are honored in New England. The same
thing appears urder another shape in
the Christian year now SO admired and
used in that same lard of the Pilgrims
pride. Our duty to the creed is to hold
ii in its natural sense, and neither to
eXalt 1t above its true value nor vet to
eYacuate it Of all meaning. We must
sWerNe in neither direction. We must be
careful 20 add to it those other duties
which are as necessary, and not be con-
tent to talk a creed on Sunday. as If
that were the whole of our churchman-
ship. as If it were the whole of Chris
tlanity.
No, we must make it hearty, living
thing, by study. by mediation and by
recalling it in the hours Of ordinary oc-
cupation.
Yet, while loyal to it, with no desire
to make it a mere form, a charm to keen
away bad luck, we must also oppose,
utterly, and if necessary, bitterly, the
fearful heresy that empties the creed
tied in their mental horizon by the use
of human speech. Beyond the natural
significance of language men of ordi-
nary or common sense cannot go. Men of
uncommon sense sometimes dart
off upon a wild hunt after unrealities.
trying to make words mean less OF more
than they do.
This seems to be the fallacy in some
Of the workings of the skeptical mind
upon the truth enshrined in creed.
Born of the Virgin Mary, He descend
ed into hell the third day He rose again
from the dead. He shall come to be our
Judge" This language is within the
reach of ordinary Intelligence and it
states simply and sufficiently the gospel
message. II believe in the holy Catholic
church, the resurrection of the body and
the life everlasting" Here again words
are certainly clear enough and only per
Versity could seek to refine away the
moral force of them. When someone
who denies the autohrity of the church
seeks to turn the declaration, the holy
catholic church." into an unmeaning
phrase, we are not surprised. When
Unitarian denies the article of the virgin
birth. we understand it to be the logical
result of his education. But, what shall
we say of him, who SO abuses his educa-
tion in church ways and the tender fos-
tering of prayer book, catechism ami
theological text books as to proclaim the
creed of his baptism to be true merely
in a general way, and the creed of his
holy communion to require elucidation
and special treatment? We can only
say to such a man that his heart is not
right in the sight of God. or that his in
struction has been hereticai, and in