The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1900-04-28


leave out your w Better one chap
ter Of Paul on that subject than all Of
Calvin's Institutes, able and honest and
mighty as they arc, Do not try to meas
ure either the throne OF God or the
t~hunderbolts OF God with your little
steel pen. What do you know about the
decrees2 Yon cannot pry open the
door of Gods eternal counsels. You
cannot explain the mysteries OF Gods
government now; much less the mya-
tories Of His government five hundred
quintillion years ago.
I moye for a creed for all our do
nominations made out OF Scripture
quotations pure and simple. That
would take the earth for God. That
would be impregnable against inhdel
ity and Apollyonie assault. That
would be beyond human criticism.
The denomination, whatever its name
be, that can rise up 70 that will be
the church Of the millennium, will
swallow up all other denominationa
and be the one that will be the bride
when the bridegroom oometh. Lea
us make It simpler and palmer for
people TO get into the Kingdom Of
God. Do not hinder people by the
idea that they may not have been
elected. Do not tag on TO the one o.
sential Of faith in Christ any Of the
~innumersble nonessentiala. A maa
who heartily accepts Christ "a q
Christian. and the man who does not
accept Him is not q CHRISTIAN, and
that is all there 10 Of il. He need not
believe in election or reprobaton. he
need not believe In the eternal gen
GRAFTON OF the Son. He need not bo-
heve in everlasting punishment He
need not believe In infant baptism.
He need not believe in plenary in
SEPARATION. Faith in Christ is the cri-
t%erion, Ia the test, 10 the pivot. h the
indispensable.
But there are those who would adA
unto the tests rather than subtract
from them. There are thousands who
would not accept persons into church
membership II they drink wine Of II
they smoke cigars or If thsy attend
the thoater or II they play cards o.
II they drive q fast horse. But do noe
substitute tests which tho Bible does
not establish. There Is one passage of
Scripture wide enough TO let all In
who ought to enter and TO keep out
all who ought 10 be kept outs Be
lleye In the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved" Get q man's
heart right, and hia Afe will be right
But nov that the old creeds have been
put under public scrutiny. somsthing
radical must be done. Some would
split them. some would carve them.
soma would elongate them. some
would sbbreyiate them. At the pres
ent moment and In the present shape
they are a hindrance. Lazarus Il alive,
but hAmpered with the old grave
clothes. II you want one glorious
church, free and unincumbered, take
of the cerements of old ecclesiastical
vocabulary. Loose her, and let her 90!
Again, there are Christians vino are
under sepulchral shadows and fears
and hoppled oy doubts and fears and
sins long ago repented OF. What they
need is to understand the liberty OF
the sons Of God. They spend more
time under the shadow Of Sinai than
at the base Of Calvary. They have
been singing the only poor hymn that
Newton ever wrote:
lis a point I long to know;
Oft II causes anxious thought;
Do l love the Lord or NOT
Am I His or am l notf
Long to know, do your Why do you
not find out? Go 70 work for God,
and you will very oon find out The
nan who is all the time feeling his
pulse and looking at his tongue TO Dee
whether II Is coated is morbid and
cannot be physically well. The doctor
will say: go out into the fresh air
and into active life and stop thinking
OF yourself. and you will get well and
strong" So there are people who are
watching their spiritual symptoms,
and they call IL self. examination, and
they get weaklier and sicklier In their
faith all the time. Go out and Do
something nobly Christian Take holy
exercise and then examine yourself,
and instead Of Newton's ~saturnins and
bilious hymn that I first quoted you
will sing Newton's other hymn:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved 4 wretch like mel
I once was lost. but now am found;
Wa blind. but now l SEQ.
What many of you Christians most
need is TO get your ~graVeclothes OF. I
rejoice that you have been brought
from the death Of ain TO the life Of
the Gospel, but you need to get your
hand loose, and your feet loose, and
your tongue loose. and your soul
loose. There IL no sin that the Bible
80 arraigns and pupctures and hsgsl-
lates as the sin Of unbelisf. and that
Is what il the matter with you. "oh,"
you say, "if you knew what l once was
and how many times l have grievous-
ly strayed you would understand why
do not come out brighten" Then
think you would call yourself the
chief of sinners. l am glad you hit
upon that term, for ! have a promise
that hts into your case u the cogs Of
one wheel between the cogs Of anoth-
er wheel or a. the key fts into the
labyrinths Of q lock.
A man who was onco called Saul,
but afterward Paul, declared: This
ia a faithful saying and worthy Of all
acceptation THAI Christ Jesus came
into the world 20 save sinners, Of
whom | am chief" Marx that-"of
whom ! am chief" "Pus down your
overcoats and hats, and | will take
care Of them while you kill Stephen"
So Saul said 70 the stoners Of the
first martyr. II do not care 10 e.
ert myself much, but I will guard
your surplus apparel while you do
tho murder" Ths New Testament &C.
count Eays: The witnesses laid down
their clothes AT a young mans feet,
whose name waS Saul" No wonder
he said: Sinners, Of whom l am the
chief"
Christ is used TO climbing. he
climbed to the top Of the temple. He
climbed TO the top Of Mount olivet,