The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-23

a system of doctrine that the Master
 left His disciples, for He did not trust
 overmuch to verbal statements of faith
 He left them the guiding Spirit o1
 truth. And now as Peter stands un-
 folding the message of the gospel, that
 Spirit is leading him out with large
 ness of truth, undreamed of until then
 Thus it has ever been in the real
 church of Christ, I mean the church ot
 the Spirit. In the continued leadership
 of the Holy Ghost is to be found the l true apostolic succession Would that
 our Congregationalism had ever been
 faithful to the Lords pledge to His dis
 ciples in assuring them of the Spirits | guidance,-"he shall take Of Mine and
 shall show it unto you" The very genius of our fellowship presupposcs a full and loyal dependence on the Holy Spirit. We have no other sublimes of
 spiritual authority among us. We have been content with a loose orgari-
 zation because of our supreme conf-
 dence in the unifying powers of the
 Spirit. And yet, the tendencies that
 from time to time manifest themselves
 in our church, show too plainly that
 lllNl ' i.dNe DGeli liOSe ctIllOIlS uS Wllo
 feared to trust the leading of the Spirit,
 startled by the large implications of
 truth that such guidance seemed to in
 volve, They would have the disciples
 of the Lord pause in their victorious
 march, and rest content upon their
 arms, They would nave the sword of
 the Spirit sheathed They would si- lence that noble company of patient and reverent scholars, who have discovered for us the Bible anew. Such men have forgotten that great word of John Rob- inson, which should be as familiar to every Congregational teacher and lay
 man as the Golden Rule, "If God shall reveal anything to you, by any other instrument of His, be as ready to re- ceive it as ever you were to receive anything by my ministry,-for I am confident that God has more truth yet to break out of His holy word
 Oh friends, shall we not take this great utterance home to our hearts to- day? It Is not that we are to discover new truths in the future that shall ren- der false the views we hold at present The Spirit of the Lord fulfils; 1t never destroys. One truth does not pass away and another take it's place. The Spirit breathes into the old truth and it expands into new beauty, presenting It. self to the wind in some fresh form of There is one brief ut terance in an address "On the Recep- ton of New Truth by him who has been so many years the beloved pastor 1 through whom the Holy Spirit has led you with the larger faith. May I not 1 Insert it in my appeal to you? Tt is. doubt not, a matter of conscious ex- perienec with many, this fresh insight | nto truth, the germ or heart remain | ng the same, but taking on new forms and displaying new powers. It is such 1 l relative to truth that keeps the mind | delighted with it, exciting it by sweet | surprises and inspiring 1t by new pros poets. Thus it becomes living water, l springing up into eternal life"
 Shall not this word be the prophecy if your reception of my ministry? nm here to tell you the things that lave been commanded me of God am lere to preach the revelation of His ove in Christ; I am here to lead you nto the ministry of the Spirit-know- HS luH well lldt only tHS CplTlu can make known to you the living, Christ his is not your church, it Is not the hurch of your ministers it Is Christ's hurch, for He loves it, land gave Him. elf for it, that He might sanctify and leanse it wit h the washing of water by he word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having pot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but hat it should be holy and without flemish" Shall it not be our prayer o-day that the Holy Spirit shall quick n us, as the household of Cornelius 5as quickened under the preaching of 'eter? Shall it not be our prayer that he ministry beginning to- day may be ne of the Spirits power and presence? is said of a famous painter that he ore gloves constantly to preserve the efficacy of his touch. May our lives l e so hidden with Christ in God, that 'e shall be sweetly sensitive to every { of the Divine thought and ( we. The purpose of the Christian ( linistry is to lead the people into a ( Of God as He Is revealed in ( hrist: The power by which that pur- I ose is accomplished is the power of | le Holy Spirit. Truly 1t has been said, Y lat God created us for Himself, and T IT hearts are full of strange disquiet, I 1til they find their rest in Him. |