The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1900-04-28

presbyterian church is now agitated
about its creed. Some good men in
II are for keeping it because it was
framed from the belief OF John Cal
VIM other good men in it want re-
VISION l am with neither party. In.
stead of revision / want substitution
l was sorry to have the question dis.
.uroed at all. The creed did not him
ger us from offering the pardon and
the comfort of the Gospel to all men,
and the Westminster Confession has
not interfered with me one minute.
but now that the electric lights have
been turned on the imperfections of
that creed-and everything that man
fashions is imperfect-let us put the
old creed respectfully aside and get
a brand new one.
What time we have had with the
dogmatics, the apologetics and the
hermeneutics. The defect in some of
the creeds is that they try to tell us all
about the DEGREES of God. Now the
only human being that was ever com
petent to handle that subject was
Paul, and he would not have been COM
petent had he not been inspired. be-
lleve in the sovereignty of God and be-
lleve in mans free agency, but no one
can harmonic the two. 1t is not neces-
sary that we harmonic them. Every
sermon that | have ever heard that at
tempted such harmonization was to me
as clear as London fog, as clear as
mud. My brother of the nineteenth
century, my brother of the sixteenth
century, give us Paul's statement and
leave out your own. Better one chap
ter OF Paul on that subject than all of
CalVin's institutes, able and honest and
mighty as they are. Do not try to meas
ure either the throne of God or the
thunderbolts of God with your little
steel pen. What do you know about the
DEGREES? You cannot pry open the
door OF Gods eternal counsels. You
cannot explain the mysteries of Gods
government now; much less the mys-
teries OF His government five hundred
quintillion years ago.
move for creed for all our de-
nominations made out of Scripture
quotations pure and simple. That
would take the earth for God. That
would be impregnable against infidel-
ity and Apollyonic assault. That
would be beyond human criticism.
The denomination, whatever its name
be, that can rise up to that will be
the church of the millennium, will
swallow up all other denominations
and be the one that will be the bride
when the Bridegroom cometh. Let
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 es-
sential of faith in Christ any of the
nonessentials. A man
who heartily accepts Christ is a
Christian, and the man who does not |
accept Him is not a Christian, and |
that is all there is of it. He need not |
believe in election or reprobat ton. He |
need not believe in the eternal gen
GRAFTON of the Son. He need not be- |
lieve in everlasting punishment. He
need not believe in infant baptism.
He need not believe in plenary in
spiration. Faith in Christ is the cri-
lerion, is the test, is the pivot, is the
Indispensable. ~ ~
But there are those who would add
into the tests rather than subtract
rom them. There are thousands who
would not accept persons into church
membership if they drink wine of if
hey smoke cigars or if they attend
he theater or if they play cards or
f they drive a fast horse. But do not
substitute tests which the Bible does
lot establish. There is one passage Of
Scripture wide enough to let all in
Who ought to enter and to keep out
III who ought to be kept out: "Be-
ieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and
hou shalt be saved" Get a mans
leart right, and his life will be right.
'ut now that the old creeds have been
tut under public scrutiny, something
adical must be done. Some would
pitt them, some would carve them,
ONE would elongate them, some
7ould abbreviate them. At the pres
mt moment and in the present shape
hey are hindrance. Lazarus is alive,
ut hampered with the old grave
lothes. If you want one glorious
hurch, free and unincumbered, take
# the cerements of old ecclesiastical
ocabulary. Loose her, and let her go!
Again, there are Christians who are
nder sepulchral shadows and fears
nd hoppled ny doubts and fears and
ms long ago repented Of What they
eed is to understand the liberty of
lie sons of God. They spend more
me under the shadow of Sinai than
t the base of Calvary. They have
zen singing the only poor hymn that
ewton ever wrote:
IT'S point long to know;
Oft it causes anxious thought;
Do love the Lord or no? g
Am His or am / not? )
Long to know, do you? Why do you I
IT find out? Go to work for God,
Id you will very soon find out. The C
an who is all the time feeling his a
Use and looking at his tongue to see f
neither it is coated is morbid and f
mot be physically well. The doctor c
ii say: go out into the fresh air a
d into active life and stop thinking t
yourself, and you will get well and n
rong" So there are people who are a
itching their spiritual symptoms, n
d they call it determination. and u
ey get weaklier and sicklier in their q
it'll all the time. Go out and Do s,
nobly Christian. Take holy C
ercise and then examine yourself, il
n instead of Newton's saturnine and I;