The Savannah morning news., 1902-05-19
II AM The DOOR"
DIR. VAN DYKES SERMON AT FIFTH
AVENUE CHURCH.
BROADER PRESBYTERlANISM.
AN ABLE APPEAR FOR EVANGEL.
ICAL RELIGION.

al Barriers and Do Battle for God.
Christ the Door of Our Faith.
There Is No Revision of Crccds
Save That to Which He Leads-Ac-
knowledge brotherhood with All
Who Arc Seeking to Do Good.
The Sort of Presbyterianism in
Which He Believes.
New York, May 1S.-The pulpits of
the Presbyterian churches in Greater
New York were filled for the most part
to-day with preachers from other
places, all of the speakers being in at
tendance on the sessions of the GEN
eral Assembly.
Rev. Henry Van Dyke, D. D., the
newly elected moderator of the as
sembly, preached the assembly sermon
at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
Church. This is the largest Presbyte-
rian Church in the country and it's ca
pacity was taxed. DR.. Van Dyke was
introduced by the Rev. ]. Ross Steven
son, D. D., the new pastor Of the
church.
The moderator's sermon was an appeal
to Presbyterians to come from behind
their UNCONVENTIONAL barriers and do
battle for God.
There is good fighting" he said,
"all along the line, on Fifth avenue as
we'll as on the lower East Side"
DIR. VanDyke's sermon was from the
text beginning Il am the door,"
In one part of it he said:
Christ is the door of our faith
There is no advance in religious know
ledge except through Him. There is no
revision of creeds save that to which
He leads. Without Him there may be
change, but the only possible
improvement is to tune the
music of our faith more
closely to the keynote of His name.
Every forward movement must be
through Christ. His word is our chart
His spirit is our guide. His person is
our star. Our motto is Not a new
Gospel, but more Gospel"
Again DR.. NanDyke said:
Real brotherhood.
Faith in Christ re-writes the old
motto of the French Revolution. Not
Liberty, equality, fraternity but first
fraternity. which lifts men into equali-
~ and fits them for liberty. Faith in
Christ makes us acknowledge brother
hood with all who are trying to cast
out devils and heal the sick whether
they follow us or not. Faith in Christ
says; He that is not against US is for
us
81 have no confidence in that sort of
Christianity which will not join hands
with an honest Hebrew to relieve suf-
fering and enlighten ignorance. 1 have
no confidence in that kind of Protes-
tantism which refuses to take hold of
one end of the litter in which a wound
ed man is lying, because a Roman
Catholic has hold of the other end.
have no confidence in that kind of
Presbyterianism which lives in hostil-
ity and hatred towards Christians hav-
ing other creeds and forms of worship.
1 have no confidence in that kind of
a church which resembles a private
religious club, caring only for the
comfort and responsibility of
its members, unreasonably sure
of it's own salvation and unreason-
ably Indifferent to the salvation of
the world.
The Right Sort of Church.
II believe IN that Presbyterianism
which is evangelical and evangelistic,
which loves the old gospel so much
that it cannot Keep it to itself. and
which has no rivalry with any other
church except to try who can do the
most good in the world. 1 believe in
a church which goes out through
Christ and with Christ to seek and
save the lost. l believe in Christian
ity which is giving, forgiving, SYM
pathizing, self-forgetting and there
fore happy life of ministry to the souls
Of nfh And ~
lection and everlasting continuation
of that life is the joy of heaven"
Sabbath Observance.
Three large gatherings were held
during the day. At one of these the
report on Sabbath observance present
ed to the assembly was discussed The
report had come out fat-footed against
Sunday golf, Sunday excursions, Sun
day travelling and nearly every other
form of activity on Sunday not abso-
lutely necessary. The committee criti-
cised the entertainments given Prince
Henry of Prussia on the several Sun
days during his recent visit to this
country.
Rev. DR.. D. w. Moffat. president of
the Washington-Jeffer College, said
he did not come to find fault with mo-
tormen and conductor for working on
Sunday, nor with their employers, but
with public sentiment, which allows
and even demands this kind of Sunday
labor. Sometimes / think" said the
doctor, that, after all, we shall have
to look to the labor unions for the
remedy. They could demand no Sun
day work: They won on shorter
hour day"
Rev. DR.. Richard S. Holmes of Pitts
burg said
81 am not in favor of an ecclesias-
what people need is a day of relief
seven to get acquainted with their
families"
Rev. DR. Hathaway, secretary of the
Sabbath Union, accuse the commission
to the general assembly of not being
selves He said he had noticed there
were some ministers who filled pulpits
in this city this morning and in COM
munities fifty miles away at night
He added land there are at least
10000 professed Christians playing golf
this very minute in the vicinity OF
this city. Pray for them"
What the West Wants.
At a meeting held in the Fifth Ave-
nue. Presbyterian Church for the pur-
pose of stimulating interest in evange-
listic work, and at which the great
church was crowded to the doors. the
Rev. DR.. F. Coyle of Denver, Col, drew
sombre picture of religious condi-
tons in the West. He said the people
there were irreligious when they be-
gan life and by education were preju-