Milford chronicle., 1904-05-06
No compromise Wlth sln.

No Compromise With sin.
My brother, it is of vital Importance
that all Protestant churches realize
that they are making a fatal error
when they in any way compromise
their high spiritual standards by al
lance with sin. The higher the stand
ard of the Christian church the great
er will be its success. We do not need
today churches that honor winebib-
bling minister's. We do not need
4 churches which, vixen tiey have a
church sociabie, tell their young peo-
pie they may dance and play cards. We
do not desire churches whose members
in their everyday actions are nowise
different from the people of the world
One Of the reasons why the Christian
Endeavor society. of which Francis E.
Clark is the president. is numbering
its members by the hundreds Of thou
sands ana the millions is because Of
its ironclad pledge. John Willis Baer.
who for so many years was secretary
of that young peoples Christian or.
ganization, was right when in NV
presence some years ago he declared.
The high standard Of the character
Of the EudeavorerS is due to the high
standard Of the society's pledge" You
can never raise a sin struck world if
you are wallOwing in the sinful mud
Of the world yourself. Like John Wes-
ley and the Methodist church. lift the
world out of sin by making your
Christian standard as high as heaven
and as pure as Christ himself. IT is
the inward witness, son. the inward
witness-this is the strongest proof Of
Christianity 1t is the inward wit
ness of the purity of its members
which accounts for the multiplying
powers Of the Methodist church of to-
day. Methodism came into the world
as a protest against prevalent sin.
This fact alone does not tell all the
story of its marvellous multiDlving
power. There are many other reasons
for the growth of Methodism. One of
the chief of these is the fact that John
Wesley was the emancipator of the
laymen, as Martin Luther was the
of the Bible The English
opened the dumb Iips Of
the pew. The German reformer broke
the iron clasps holding together the
ids Of the word of God, which barred
to all but ordained priests access TO /,
he life giving message that God sent 4;
'or the deliverance of all his sinful !
children. John Wesley said to the =,
blacksmith at his forge and the cob e.
)ler on his bench and the wife in her i
,itchen: Go forth and be my evanCel- \
SITS. You may not be graduates of 4,
theological seminaries, but you can .
estify of Christ's love- Martin Lu- :,
her said: There, laymen, is the open
Bible. Read it. Ponder it, Study it. :
read it with your own eyes and kiss it :,
With your own lips" Do you wonder ;,
hat when John Wesley built the Meth :,
dist church upon an open Bible and "
hen in public meeting set all his peo- =.
le testifying of Gods word and love :,
e became one Of the greatest gospel =
aformers of the ages? :
Sneers For Wesley. h
John Wesley because he sent forth o
le common people preaching and 9,
raying everywhere was in derision In
llled a Methodist" He was sneered NJ
because in his day custom dictated W
int no man should pray in public un- 6,
IS he read his prayer out of printed Q,
aver book or speak for Christ unless fr
= was entitled to wear Il cassock and o,
lnds of an ordained priest. But John m
'esley removed these restrictions for fo
e MethOdists and sent the laymen II,
rth preaching and praying, as in the sy
tier years Archibald TAFT archbishop ar
Canterbury, enlisted the services
unordained workers in various nj
anches of church activity and earned ar
r himself the title given him in scorn Of
Jealous clergy Of the arch mi
shop of the laity" There, upon his oh
in old Canterbury, is CHS Ial
ID in the most beautiful of epitaphs, in,
he one desire of his life was to oh
Ike the Church of England the nm
urch of the people" Oh my friends. %
us hold fast this liberty Of service. Of,
e work Of prOpagating the gospel is We
/ committed exclusively to any one tb,
IS or profession. The laborers sent off
tn by Wesley in the eighteenth cen clo
v, like the laymen enlisted by Arch oh
hop TAFT I'm the nineteenth. had q ~