Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-05-05

course indicated whether he was n fol-
lower Of Confucius or Mohammcd or
of Christ. The Established church of
that time believed in carrying the ply
lncteries upon the forehead, but not
in practicing Christ's spiritual lessons
in the life. 1t was SO given over TO
Journalism and rites ard ceremonies
that it had no warning to give even to |
men in it's pulpits who, like the Phari
secs of old, were whitcd sepnlchers. |
fnir to the eye but within hlrboring |
decaytng corpses and whose private |
lives were n repulsve stencil. at is |
the inward witness. son. the inward |
witness" spake the dying father, Sam |
uel Wesley. 10 his son John-"this is |
the strongest proof OF Christianity" |
So John Wesley and his followers res
olutely set their faces against the prev |
nlent sins of that day. They vehe- !
mcntly declared that the Christian |
church should not only have a pure
creed. but that its members should be
mon Of pure private lives. In the high
spiritual standard set before the indi-
vidual church members we find tho
mcnt of the Methodist church.
No Compromise with Sin.
My brother. it is of vital Importance
that all Protestant churches realize
that they are making n fatal error
when they in any way compromise
their high spiritual standards by al
lance with sin. Tho higher the stand
81 ,I &C 10 4 h,ie int h.,
er will he It's success We do not need
today churches that honor winebib-
bling ministers. We do not need
churches which. when they have
church sociable. tell their young peo-
pie they may dance ana play cards We
do not desire churches whose members
in their everyday actions are nowisc
different from the people of tho world
one Of the reasons why the Christian
Endeavor society. of which Francis T.
Clark is the president is numbering
its members by the hundreds Of thou
sands aud the millions is because OF
! its ironclad pledge. John Willis Bacr,
who for SO many years was secretary
! of that young peoples Christian or
| Gnni2ation was right when IN my
| presence some years ago he declared.
/ The high standard of the character
of the EndcavorerS is due to the high
standard OF the society's pledge You
can never raise sin struck world if
you are NaloWing in the sinful mud
of the world yourself. Like John Yves.
ley and the Methodist church, lift the
world out OF sin 10y making your
Christian standard as high as heaven
and as pure as christ himself. 1t IA
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 II protest against prevalent sin.
This fact alone does not tell all the
story of its marvellous multiply ng
power There are many other reasons
Tor the growth of McthOdism. One Of
the chief of these is the fact that John
Wesley was tie emancipation of the
laymcn. as Martin Luther was the
cnancipator of the Bible. The English
the pew. The German rcGormer broke
the iron clasps holding together the
lids OF the word of God. which barred
10 all but ordained priests access TO
the life giving message that God sent
for the dcliverance Of all his sinful
children. John Wesley said to the
black smith ut his forge and the cob
bier on his bench and the wife IN her
kitchen "Go forth and be my cvangel-
lists. You may not be graduates OF
Theological seninHricS. but you can
testify of Cbr-t's low" Martin Lu-
Their said: There, laymen. is the open
Bible Read it. Ponder it, Study It,
Read it with your own eyes and kiss i,
with your own lips" DO you wonder
that when John Wesley built the Meth
odiSt church upon an open Bible and
then in public meeting set all his PEG
pie tcetfying of Gods word and love
. be became one of the greatest gospel
? reformers of the ages?
sneers For wesley.
John Wesley because he sent forth
the common people preaching and
. praying everywhere was in derlslor
called n "Mcthodist." lie was snecred
{ ut because fl his day custom dictated
. that no man should pray in public un
4 less he read his prayer out of "A printed
: prayer book or speak for Christ unless
, lc was entitled to wear n caSsock anC
Y bands Of an ordained priest But join
b Wesley removed these restrictions FOL
3 the Mcthodists and sent the laymeI
= forth preaching and praying, as in thu
r latter years Archibald TAFT, archbishop
: OF Canterbury, enlisted the services
Of unordained workers in various
Y branches Of church activity and earned
t for himself the title given him in scorl
J. By Jealous clergy of the arch
g bishop of the laity" There, upon hi
y monument In old Canterbury. is CHS
i eled in the most beautiful of opitapha
@ The one desire of his life was Il
@ make the Church of England tn
J. church OF the people" oh, my friends
l. lot us hold fast this liberty Of service
It The work of propagating the gospel i
/ not committed exclusively to any on
3 class or profession. The laborers sen
r forth 10y Wesley in the eighteenth cen
+ fury. like The laymen enlisted by Arch
e bishop TAFT in the nineteenth, had
i tv,rI, I, Io and i.'srt.t cnrpgetlxr n