Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1898-07-25


sectarianism and bigotry of the church
is that it disgusts people with the
Christian religion. Now, my friends,
the church of God was never intended
for war barrack People are afraid of
riot You 60 down the street and you
see an excitement and missiles flying
! through the air, and you hear the shock
Cf firearms Do you, the peaceful and
Industrious citizen, go through that
street? Oh, no. You will say, ''I'll go
around the block. Now men come
and look upon this narrow path to
heaven. and sometimes see the ecclesi-
astical brickbats flying every whittier,
and they say: "Well, guess I'll take
the broad road. There is SO much sharp
shooting on the narrow road [ guess I'll
try the broad road. -
Francis [ SO hated the Lutherans that
he said that if he thought 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 denomination
and denomination, or between one pro-
fessed Christian al another, Or between
one church and an Ter, SO long men
will be disguised With the Christian re-
ligion and say, eff thtt is religion, /
want none of it.
! Wasted Ammunition.
Again, bigotry and sectarianism do
/ great damage in the fact that they him
der the triumph Of the gospel. Oh, how
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 I
speak. there were a common enemy
coming up the bay, and all the forts
around the harbor began to fire into
each other. You would cry out ''Na-
tional suicidel Why don't those forts
blaze away in one direction, and that
against the common enemy?'' And yet
[ sometimes see in the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ 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 concentrate
ing their energy and giving one mighty
and everlasting volley against the navies
Of darkness riding up through the bay
go OUT SOU1oClul0S III TIE summer anu
[ find two beehives, and these two hives
are in Il quarrel. I come near enough
not to be stung, but L come just near
enough to hear the controversy, and one
beehive says, ''That field of clover is
the sweetest" and another beehive
says, "That field of clover is the sweet
est" I come in between them and say:
''Stop this quarrel. If you like that
field of clover best, go there; if you like
this field of clover best, go there, but
let me tell you that that hive which
gets the most honey is the best hiven'
So [ come out between the churches of
the Lord Jesus Christ. One denomina-
ton of Christians says, "That field of
Christian doctrine is BEST, and another
says, ''This field of Christian doctrine
is the BEST Well, say, ego where
you get the most honey That is the
best church which gets the most honey
of Christian grace for the heart and the
most honey of Christian usefulness for
the life.
Besides that if you want to build up
any denomination, you will never build
it up by trying to pull some other down.
Intolerance never put anything down.
How much has intolerance accom-
plished, for instance, against the Meth
odist church? For long years her minis
try were forbidden the pulpits of Great
Britain. Why was it that SO many of
them preached in the fields? Simply be-
cause they could not get in the churches.
And the name of the church was given
in derisiOn and as sarcasm. The critics
of the church said, ''They have no or
DER they have no method in the wor-
Ship" and the critics, therefore, in
irony, called them ''Methodists. -
Futility of Intolerance.
am told that in Aston library, New
York, kept as curiosities there are 7O7
books and pamphlets against Metho-
dism. Did intolerance stop that church:
No, it is either first or second amid the
denominations of Christendcm, her mis-
sionary stations in all parts of the
world, her men not only important in
religious trusts, but important also in
secular trusts Church marching on and
the more intolerance against it the faster
it marched.
What did intolerance accomplish
against the Baptist church? If laughing
scorn and TRADE could have destroyed |
the church, it you'd not have today a
disciple left. The Baptists were hurled |
out Of Boston i'll olden times Those
who sympathized with them were i'm
prisoned, and when petition was offer
ed asking leniency in their behalf all |
the men who signed it were indicted.
Has intolerance stopped the Baptist
church? The last statistics in regard to |
it showed "A, 900 churches and 4,OOO,-
BOO communicates. Intolerance never
put down anything.
In England law was made against