Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-08-04

! NSnClnlua OF NArlStlAQS must SET
! forth all the doctr mes OF the Bible,
! fee, ii is especially incumbent upon
each denomination 10 put particular
| emphasis on some one doctrine,
Another great damage done by the
sertarianism and bi-otry OF the church
! is that 1t djsrusts people with the
I Chr. stan religion, Now, my friends,
/ the church Of God was never intended
for Il war barrack. People are afraid
OF riot, You 20 down the street and
YOU see an eNc;tement and missiles
flying through the air, AMI You hear
the shock of firearms. Do you, the
peaceful and industrious citizen, so
through that street GA, no! You will
say, IN so around that block Now,
men come and look upon this narrow
! path TO Heaven, aud sometimes see the
ecclesiastical br,c,I.b bats fly ne every
whittier, aud they say: "NeU, guess
1 IL take the broad road; there is SD
much sharpshooung ON the narrow
road, guess III try the broad road!"
Francis l. SO hated the Lu,herans
, that he said that ii he thought that
there was one drop Of Lutheran nioodin
his veins he would puneture them and
let that drop ont. Just as long as
there is so much hostility between de-
nomination aud denomination, or be-
tween one profrSScd Christian and an.
other, or between oae church and an
/ other, SO long will men be Disguised
| with the Christian religion, and say;
~ that is religion, | want none OF it."
Again, bigotry and sectariauism do
| great damage in the fact that they
hinder the triumph OF the Gospel Oh,
' now mach 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 | speak, there were n common
enemy coming UP the bay, and all the
forts around the harhor began to fire
into each other You would cry out:
"National suicide! Why don't those
forts blaze away in one direction and
that against the common encmy?'
Ane vet 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 concentrating their
energy and giving one mighty and
everlasting volley against the navies
of darkness riding up through the bayi
But now, my friends, having shown
| s.~s, - L.
turianism, and having shown You the
damage it does, want briefly To show
you how we are to war against this
terrible evil, and think we ought to
bcgin our war by realizing our own
weakness and our imper(ections. II
we make SO many mistakes in the com.
mon affairs of life, is it not posi- Die
that we may make mistakes in regard
to our religious affairs? Shall we take
II man by the throat or by the collar
because he can not see religious
truths Just as we do? In the light
of eternity 1t will he found out,
think, there was something wrong in
all our creeds, and something right in
all our ereeds, but since We may make
mistakes in regard to things OF the
world do not let US he SO egolStic and
SO pulled up AS to have an idea that
we can not make any mistake in re-
gard to religious theories. And then
think we Will do great deal To over
throw the seclarauism from our heart,
and the sectariauien from the world,
by chiefly enIarg .ng in those things in
which we agree, rather those on which
we differ.
Now, here is a great Gospel platform.
A man comes up on this side Of the
platform and says: II don't believe in
baby sprin Killing" Shall shove him
off? Here is a man coming up ON this
side of the platform, a nd he says: ~
don't believe in the perseverance of the
saints Snall shove him oft ? No |
will say: "Do You believed in the Lord
Jesus as your Saviour2 DO you trust
Him for time AN! for ctcrnitv?' Yes -
"Do you take Cnrist for time aud Tor
eternity" yes" say: Come on,
brother; one in time and one in
eternity; brother now, brother for.
ever" Blessed be God for Gospel
platform 81 larT4 that all who receive
Christ may 81 IN on it!
think we NAV overthrow the severe
sectarianism and bigotry in our hearts,
and in the church also, by realizing
that all the denominations of Chris.
tians have yielded noble institutions
and noble men. There is nothing that
so stirs my soul as this thought. One
denomination yielded a Robert Hall
and an Adoniram Judson; another
yielded Lrtimer and Melville;
another yielded John Wesley and
the blessed Summerfed, while oar
own denomination yielded John
Knox and the A!eXanders men Of
whom the world was not worthy.
Now, say, II we are honest and fair.
minded men. when we come up n the
presence I'll such churches and such de.
nominations, although they may be
l different from our own. we ought TO
admire them, and we ought TO love and
honor them Churches which can pro.
duce such men. and slch large hearted
i charity, and such magnificent martyr