Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1898-09-02
the church of God was never intended

Une Cuurcn OF bOu was never lnlCnu4d
for war barracS. People are afraid
OF riot, You go down the street and
you see an excitement and missiles
flying through the ai:, and you hear
the shock OF firearms. DO you, the
peaceful and industrious citizen, go
through that street. Oh, no! you will
say, "Ill go around that block" Now,
men come and look upon this narrow
path to Heaven, and sometimes see the
ecclesiastical brick. k.bats flying every
whittier, and they say. "Wcll, guess
I'll take the broad road; there is so
much sharpshooting on the narrow
road, guess I'll try the broad road!"
Francis |. so hated the Lutherans
that he said that if he thought that
there was one drop of Lutheran blood in
his veins he would puncture them and
let that drop out. Just as long as
there is so much hostility between de-
nomination and denomination, or be-
tween one professed Christian and an
other, or between one church and an
other, so long will men be disgusted
with the Christian religion, and say:
1T that is religion, want none of it.
Again, bigotry and sectarianism do
great damage in the fact that they
hinder the triumph Of the Gospel. Oh,
now much wasted ammunition! How
many men of splendid intellect have
given their whole life to controversial
disputes, when, If they had given their
life to something practical, they might
have been vastly useful! Suppose,
while l speak, there were common
enemy coming up the bay, and all the
forts around the harbor began to fire
into each other you would cry out
National suicidel Why don't those
forts blaze away ia one direction and
that against the common enemy?"
Ane yet sometimes see in the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ n strange
thing going on Church against
church, minister against minister,
denomination against denomination,
firing away into their own fort, or the
fort which ought to be on the same
side, instead of concentrating their
energy and giving one mighty and
everlasting volley against the navies
of darkness riding up through the bay!
What did intolerance accomplish
against the Baptist church? If laugh
ing scorn and TRADE could have de-
stroyed the church it would not have
to-day a disciple left, The Baptists
were hurled out of Boston in olden
times. Those who sympathized with
them were imprisoned, and when
petition was offered asking leniency in
their behalf, all the men who signed il
were indicted Has intolerance stopped
the Baptist church? The last statistics
in regard TO it showed $4,000 churche:
and 4,010,0C0 communicates Intoler'
ance never put down anything.
; But now, my friends, having showr
you the origin of bigoiry and sec
; tarianism, and having shown you the
damage it does, | want briefly TO show
E you how we are TO war against this
terrible evil, and think we ought t
begin our war by realizing our owl
weakness and our imperfections. l
we make so many mistakes in the com
mon affairs of life, is it not possible
' that we may make mistakes in regarC
: to our religious affairs? Shall we TAXI
u man by the throat or by the colla
because he can not see religious
y truths Just as we do? In the ligh
of eternity 1t will be found out,
: think, there was something wrong il
. all our creeds, aud something right If
NJ our creeds, but since we may max
mistakes in regard to things OF the
5 world. do not let us be so egotistic and
k so puffed up as to have an idea tha
{ we can not make any mistabe in re
u gard to religious theories. And then
y think we will do a great deal to over
II throw the sectaranism from our heart
Il and the sectarianism from the world
g by chiefly charging in those things i
u which we agree, rather those on whicI
,. we differ.
IL Now, here is great Gospel platform
% A man comes up on this side OF tn
], platform and says: Il don't believe /
u baby sprink ling" Shall shove hi
,e off? Here Is a man coming up on thi
/ side OF the platform, and he says; .
'e don't believe in the perseverance OF tn
I, saints" Shall shove him off -? No.
u will say: "Do you believed in the Lor
Jesus as your Saviour? Do you tru'
" Him for time and for eternity?' "Yes
~ "Do YOU take Christ for time and fc
III eternity" Yes" | say: Come ol
III brother: one in time and one
d eternity; brother now, brother 10
" ever" Blessed be God for Gosp
re platform so large That all who recciy
!" Christ may stand on it'll
&c | think we may overthrow the sever
is scctarianism and bigotry in our heart
~ and in the church also, by realizir
that all the denominations of Chri
II. tians have yielded noble institution
and noble men. There is nothing tn
IiS so stirs my soul as this thought. Or
e. denomination yielded Robert lila
IL and an Adoniram Judson; anoth
III yielded Latimer and a Melvill
or another yielded John Wesley al
H. the blessed Sulnmerfeld, while o.
h' own denomination yielded Jol
,m Knox and the Alexanders men
nc whom the world was not worth
M Now, | say, if we are honest and fa
M minded men, when we come lin I
presence OF such churches and such
49, nominations, although they may
nc different from our own, we ought
as admire them, and we ought to love a
lal honor them. Churches which can pl
TO duce such men, and sach large heart
al charity, and such magnificent mart,
ne dom, ought to win our affections
an any rate, our respect. So come
&c We six hundred thousand Episcopalia
les in this country, and ye fourteen hundr
.er thousand Presbyterians and ye four n
Isl -. 1l.nAinAr ii IN Hua mil Lion NJ LII