Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-10-24

HE MORNlNO-OfO hE LIN N11T
ERENCE TO THE EARLY PION-
EER.S OF THE CHURCH-INTER-
ESTING SERVICE IN THE EVr4N-
ING BY THE CHRISTIAN EN-
DEAvOR SOCIETY-THE PRO
GkAMME RENDERED..
Yesterday was Forefathers' Day in
the Christian church, and special SER
evening IN the r1rst Christian cnurcn
to honor the memory of the
pioneers of the church OF fifty years
Lgo. The services were particularly IN
reresting and Impressive. In the
morning the pastor, Rev. G. M. Oh
plant, preached discourse on the APP
propriate subject, THE Plea Cur
rathers Made" The sermon was high
ly appreciated. The following is
synopsis of it:
tine history of rebuilding the walls
around the city of Jerusalem is very
remarkable one.
THE one city built by David and
Solomon continued for over 300 years.
On account Of the sinfulness OF the
people it came to ruin and its people
went into the captivity of Babylon.
Nehemiah, one Of the captives, learn
ing of the desolation Of Jerusalem, went
to the city and rebuilt the walls. He
rebuilt ON the same old foundation;
proposed to restore the old walls and
unite the Jewish people at Jerusalem,
the centre. He met with opposition.
Enemies made light of the work, made
fun of the enterprise, resorted to a
combination of forces to compel him to
stop, and then, after falling in these
things, they proposed a compromise.
Neh. 4-2:12.
This history has its application.
The lessons here learned apply to the
history of our forefathers, Campbell,
Scott, Stone and others, who attempted
to restore primitive Christianity.
There was but one church of Christ
for the first 300 years of the Christian
era The pioneers, our forefathers, so
or rs years ago, saw the desolation of
the church, walls of protection broken
down, and undertook the work of re-
building these walls. They rebuilt
upon the same old foundation-Christ
and the apostles. This aim was not
to reform, but rather to restore the
primitive order. Their thought was
to go back to Wesley, Calvin and even
Luther, even to the foundation head,
and drink of the stream that welled up
in Jerusalem over 1900 year ago. They
met with much opposition. People
made light OF the work. They said, sis
it possible that now there are men
bold enough to claim to go further
back than Luther? Many made fun of
the enterprise; despis~d these few peo-
pie who have grown to over 100000
members, and whose growth is greater
and more rapid in the United States to-
day than any other religious people.
Enemies conspired against the move
ment. Even fifteen years ago. in In
diana, the orthodoxy of the Christian
church had to be tested to satisfy a
few bigots. But without charging the
jury the judge dismissed the case, say
ing: We are satisfied that these peo-
pie are orthodox
after we have come to be respected
many compromises are offered. We
are asked to be liberal with that which
belongs to God and to sacrifice things
essential to true fellowship with
Christ
Our mission, as people, is to restore
primitive Christianity, and to accom-
pllsh this, we take only the Scriptures
as the Man of our counsel. When the
Bible speaks, We speak, and when the
Bible is silent, We are silent. If your
human creeds have more than the Bible
they have too much; if they have less,
they have too little, and if they have
no more and no less, they are unneces-
sary, because the Bible will do.
The objection is often urged that we,
as people, are too young to make such
a claim. If age has anything to do with
it, the Roman Catholic Church has the
advantage over all Protestant churches
She is older. Age has nothing to do
with 1t. If the Masonic order is blot
ted out, and for 1900 years not a men,
Der Of the order is living, and some one
finds ritual and organizes a lodge ac-
cording to this ritual, would the fact of
its being a new lodge initiate against
its identity in teaching and principal
with Masonry 1,500 years ago? Ger
tainly not. So with these people, or
ganized as they are into what is known
as the Christian Church. The chief
question is, do they teach and practice
the Christianity of the New Testament,
and do they represent the principles of
the Church of Christ and His apostles?
AuOlHeT QUESTION uISeuS is tHdt THESE
are too much disposed to contend? We
have never contended, excepting when
called upon to defend ourselves. We
have the honor "to contend earnestly for
the faith delivered once for all to the
saints" We make no more of baptism
than the word of God requires, and in
doing so we make less Of it than nearly
all other churches do, If We are to
judge them by their statements Of doc
trine.
Another objection is that we, as
people, monopolize the name Christian.
If we take the name that Christ desires
us to take, and others do not take the
name Christ wants all His people to
take, We are not at fault. All people
who claim to be followers of Christ
should give up human names, and take
upon themselves the name Christian,
which means something. If a dozen
ministers of different denominations
were asked. Can man be Christian
without belonging to- your denomnia-
tom" Each one would say, yes. So
denominationalism, so-called, is not
needed, but to be Christian is the one
thing needful. This is all we urge.
If man be true Christian, and be
a member of the Church Christ es-
IL. H. 80 Ia