The St. Louis Republic., 1900-07-30
"OlD PATHS OF THE
CHURCH ARE BEST"

| The Reverend Josephus Stephan, pastor
| of Mount Auburn Nj. r. Church. South.
| preached last evening at First Methodist
| church: in the absence OF the pastor, Doc
| Asking for the Old Paths was the subject
| of his sermon. taking as his text; "StaEi y;
I, in the ways. and see, and ask tor the Old
| therein, and ye shall lind rest for your
souls" Jer. vi. 16- In part. he said:
| The revealed message OF Il supernatural
| religion. through Jesus Christ, is fully
adapted to human wants aad can never be
, a panacea for the human heart III It's eX-
| treme spiritual needs. Truth. to be such.
must be nnchansehnle ana and WITHOUT in,rins arinN
| truth Is this-truth designed, adapted ana
| verified in the saving of any and every in
dividual who responds TO Its demands.
| NO progress or culture can touch mans
| debased and sinful nature with ali its sad
| results. 1t needs the regenerating and sane
! tifyiny power OF divine grace. If the rrin-
| ciples of the religion Of Christ will save one
Individual, AS it has saved its millions In the
and every succeeding one, just as In the hrSt
generation or mankind. Unless the human
new powers and faculties. then there can
never be the need of one item OF change IN
| the diyinely provided remedy. Sin Is just as
much fact now as II ever was; sorrow IS
Just sad and universal a heritage, need
ing the divine comforter: and death Is Just
as truly the king OF terrors' now as in the
his power and bring to light life and imnor-
tally. Take away Gods revelation and its
darkness. with al our boasted wisdom and
| progress, as the most abject heather in the
@Jeremiah is calling the church of his
day back to the old paths the good way.
from which they had departed. He has in
is lost and bewildered, and is in doubt
which way to turn. He exhorts him to
! make thorough investigation before pro-
I ne
| church needs to-day the same call. amid
the multiplied new-fangied suDtitutes and
| misleading yagdries of unauthorized teach
| ers. The world is full Of the jangling or
confused voices. each claiming TO show
the way to life and liberty. This is no
modern device of the enemy Of souls. God
| has ever needed his faithful jeremiah to
call the church back to her great prin-
hEach age has Its peculiar form OF an
tasonism to the truth; What Is subtle ard
ir another. Besides a general tendency
to Journalism, as in the past. there Is ~
subtle and refined skepticism. character
angel of light deceiving the very elect,
marking. out his multiplied paths under the
substitutes OF the old-fashioned religion Of
| Christ The effectiveness of this deception
Is in the adrniHture OF error WITH truth. pro-
accept much that has been taught, but
to have better Interpretation and theory.
Take, for instance, Spiritualism. which al,-
| propriatss some of the Bible. Christian Sci
| ence. more Of IL. both by false interpreta-
ton. and higher criticism still more. by
| which men are applying irreyerent and ra-
| tionalistic standards In the Interpretation
| OF truth Then there is that larger class
| who in and through the church, are teach
ing and following such theories for repent
! ance, reformation for regeneration. imputed
phase of the same misleading, signboards
: / on the way CT life They repudiate God's
word as authoritative teaching. divinely in
| spired. and hence try to take from US the
only thing We have upon which to base our
! faith. and leave US to the mere subjective
ideas Of human beings like ourselves. They
, make void the necessity of a vicarious
, I atonement. the sacrifice o: calvary. making
4 everythng OF human merit. and looking on
; | God too good TO condemn any man. and
, man too good for condemnation. In short.
, | the sin-question the question of the age.
| foundation is by them destroyed and no
| superstruCture. which can pass muster at
; | the bar of reason, can ever be erected.
, What the soul needs and must have IS
, | a revelation and religion which have In
) | them the marks OF certainty. Nagaries and
| fances and suessAs will never do. They
, | never satisfy in life, and certainly not In
, | death There is an infinite distance be
! tween theory and a fact Theories easily
! 4 of time. But the fact of ChriSt'S religion.
: which has transformed individuals and ma
/, | tens is as Interchangeable. In its principles
/, | as the God who provided ii.
This way is the only way. because it Is
Ss Ta od IS op 6T' n6 se All iTi od WIH fEns SIMPLY
: right things. 1t IL the right way because II
: has been so proven by long experience II
: H. not experiment. II has been tried by
| the ages and proven true and efficacious.
. | We are living In an age of experimental ton
: and a thirst for someJhing new and start
9 springlng up there must he proof presented
4 OF their superiority to the old way OF the
4 Cross. BY their fruit they are known. None
! Of them show the fruit of Christian
. religion in the social and the moral world
!, | lion of individuals. What the world de-
| mands IL proof. and this. from Abel 10 the
/ | present moment is given with overwheiin-
: I'll is the right way because it is the
: | good way. Isaiah calls il the way hoii-
|, ness The unclean shall not pass over it
n In all the methods Of salvation. this is the
| only one which clearly and positively de-
r Inands purity OF hea,t. ana az the IN p
T | soul can find cleansing. Gods remedy-the
, | blood of Christ-alone is found adequate IN
! | all the history OF the world. This was the
? | great object in instituting this way. and IL
! must be the characteristic OF all who are
| in IT,. The demand is. BE ye holy for am
i | hniv.' II Is the narrow way, but II leads Il
= | eternal life.
3 1T is ,he right way because 1t gives rest
I ! in ii are found multiplied blessings but
n this is the great boon for which the mil
y liens are seeking everywhere. To the world
5 with its perplexing spiritual problems un,
r | solved with its disquieted conscience, VIII
. | the burden of guilt: in its troubles. amid
8 the changing. disappointing and uncertain
: ailotments of life; in the ANTICIPATION 81 .
| and the dread unknown future. to all these
e | sources Of agitation and unrest, Jesus Chiis'
= . promises rest, and none other has evei
. ! dared IL.
j Amid the multiplied and confusing the.
: | ories of men. which promise us an cas-!
D salvation. let beware, and carefully eN
Y ! anime The principles of our faith and oul
e practice Never was there n time in the
| history of the church when SO many iniu
| ences are brought to bear to loosef
;. | our grasp of the enternal truth of God and
r make a compromise with sin. We are MOI
Il only to ask for the old paths but above
s | all to walk in them. and let the Testimony
X of our lives as well as that of our lips de