The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1897-04-01


be saved? or, believe in Arminius and
thou shalt be saved ? or. believe in synod
of bort and thou shalt be saved or, be-
lieve in the Thirty-nine Articles and
thou shalt be saved? A man may be
orthodox and go to hell, or heterodoN
and go to Heaven. The man who in the
deep affection of his heart accepts
Christ is saved. and The man who does
not accept HIM is lost.
| believe in both the Heidelberg and
West minister catechisms, and | wish
YOU all did, but you may believe in moth
ing they contain except the one idea,
that Christ came to save sinners, and
tnat you are one OF them. and you are
instantly rescued. If you can come in
on the grand old ship, | would rather
have you get aboard, but if you can only
find a piece of wood as long as the
human body, or piece rs wide as the
outspread human arms, and either oe
them is piece Of the cross. come in on
that piece. Tens of thousands of people
are to-day kept out Of the kingdom of
Cod because they cannot believe every
thing.
am talking with man thoughtful
about his soul who has lately travelled
through New England and passed the
night at Andover. lie says to me: IL
cannot believe that in this life the des-
tiny is irrevocaby fixed; think there
will be another opportunity of repent
once after death" ! say to him: My
brother. what has that to do with you?
| Don't YOU realize that the man who
waits for another chance after death
when he has Il goo1 chance before death
is stark fool? Had not you better take
the plank that is thrown to you now
and head for shore rather than wait for
a plank that may by invisible hands be
thrown to you after you are dead? DO
as you please, but as for myself, with
pardon for all my sins offered me now.
and all the joys of time and eternity
offered me now, | instantly take them,
rather than run the risk of such other
chance as wise men think they can peel
off or twist out OF a Scripture passage
that has for all the Christian centuries
been INTERPRETED another way" You
say: Il do not like Princeton theology,
or New Haven theology, or Andover
theology" | do moi ask you on board
either of these great mcn-of-war, their
portfolios filled with the great siege
guns of ecclesiastical battle, but do
ask you to take the one plank of the
Gospel that you do believe in and strike
out for the pearlstrung beach OF
Heaven.
Says some other man: II would at
tend to religion ii | was quite sure
about the doctrine of election and free
agency, but that mixes me all up
Those things used to bother me. but
have no more perp!cNity about them,
for say to myself: "lf love CHRIST
and live a good, honest, useful i1e' !
, am elected TO be saved, and # do not
love Christ and live bad life, | will
, be damned. and all the theological SEM
, inaries of the universe cannot make il
= any different' foundered a long while
: in the sea of sin and doubt, and it was
t as rough as the Mediterranean on the
fourteenth night, when they threw the
r grain overheard, but l saw there was
! mercy for the sinner, and that plank
= took, and | have been warming myself
j! bv the bright fire on the shore evel
: since.
While | am talking to another maj
:? about his soul he tells me: 81 do not be
S come a Christian because ! do not be
a ieve there is any hell at all" All
e don't you? Do all the people of all be
- liefs and no belief at all, of good moral
- and bad morals, go straight to happ.
E Heaven? Dothe holy and the debauche'
c have the same destination? At mid
;, night, in a hallway, the owner of
!, house and burglar meet. They bot
! fire, and both are wounded, but tn
:. burglar dies in five minutes. and th
e owner of the house lives week after
s Will the burglar be at the gate of fieav
e en-, waiting when the house owne
l.. comes in? VIII the debauchee and til
a Ebertine go straight in among the fam
r lies of Heaven? | wonder if Herod
s playing on the banks of the river of Inf
V with the children he massacred. Iwor
); der if Charles Guiteau and John Wiike
d Booth are up there shooting at mari
5 | do not now controvert it, although
is must say that for such a miserabl
4, Heaven have no admiration. But tn
Bible does not say: "Believe in perd
.e ton and be saved" because all ar
,e saved, according to your theory, tn;
Il, ought not to keep you from loving an
c, serving Christ. Do not refuse to CON
m ashore because all the others, accordln
10 to your theory, are going to get ashor
to You may have different theory abol
,e chemistry, about astronomy, about II
if atmosphere, from that which othe
g. adopt, but you are not therefore hi
I'd dered from action.
ty But | don't believe in revivals
Of Then go to your room. and all alon
at with your door locked. give your hea
tt God, and join some church whe
g the thermometer never gets high
Ell than so in the shade.
in "But | do not believe in baptism
in Come in without it and settle that ma
al ter afterward. But there are so mai
ct Inconsistent Christians!" Then cor
he in and show them by good eNamr
by how professors should act. "Rut dol