The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-12-18
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. C. B. ETSLER
Theme: Future of the Church.

ence Bartlett EtSler began MS pas
torate Sunday morning in the Church
of the Good Tidings (Fourth Univer-
salist) He preached on The Future
of the Church of the Good Tidings.
He is a strong, vigorous young man
and a fine speaker. He was listened
to by a large audience. He said:
I would ask you to consider with
me this morning something OF the
future which we are to work out for
our church. In the first place; | be-
lieve that in order to achieve the best
results we must be essentially one
big family, that we must realize that
relationship, and that as members of
the family we are responsible for the
welfare of our church home.
We know that the home is the cor
nerstone of the nation. that the home
is the foundation whereon are reared
the superstructures Of society and of
the State And we would repeat, that
for this our church organization we
should have as our example and pat
tern-the old-fashioned home. We
want this our church home TO be the
dwelling place of our church family.
We want every man, woman and child
of us to lock upon themselves as
members of this family and inmates
of this home. Then, and only then,
can we have the spirit of good fellow.
ship and brotherly kindness, without
which Christian growth and progress
is impossible But before we con-
slider the future of our family here,
let us first make it known to all men
that as our creed we have inscribed
above our altar the Saviour's con-
densed statement OF the substance of
both law and gospel: Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and thy neighbor as
myself" If man can subscribe to
this statement then he is man to-
gether with whom we can plan and
work, and he is a fit member for this
our family.
In considering the future for our
church, it may perhaps be well if we
but glance back upon the work of /
past and present. The religion Of |
yesterday was a religion based on a !
conception of God as being fearful |
and terrible. He was regarded as a !
great Judge or ruler who admins
tered law in justice, but who must be
feared, and whose anger must be APP
peased. Universalism has given US an
idea of God as the universal Father,
the Father of us all, the Father who
so loves us and who so desires Our
best welfare that He chastens and dis
ciplines US, not for His own satisfac-
tion,~but rather that the Christening
may yield for us the peaceable fruit
of righteousness.
The old idea, too, of physical hell
as the eternal abode of unrepentant
sinners has given place to the teach
ing of Universalism that all life, both
l. l. hot ic
a great school-that opportunity for
repentance and salvation never ends,
but that God will discipline each soul
with His tireless love, until all souls
know and obey Him. All these
changes have been toward that broad
er religion known as Universalism-
that Uniyersalism which means har-
mony-man at harmony with himself,
at harmony with his neigbbor, at har-
mony with his God" That Univer-.
salism which teaches also that Jesus
is the great HarmoniZer, that He
came to reconcile man to his duty, to
dealing unselfishly with his brother,
to h onor and obey his God"
What other religious conception
can point to so many changes in the
old-established ideas Of God and re-
ligion, and can say these are the
changes; these evolutionary C anges
toward the light and truths that have
been brought by our maintenance OF
the principles of our church? But
people tell us: "Oh, you Uniyer-
salists cannot progress, because the
other denominations have ceased to
preach hell fire and endless torment:
they have stolen your thunder. AL
though their creeds recognize the old
ideas var tbaV now nrna aTAp
which is practically Universalism, but
under another name" What does the
argument amount to? Universalism
has brought about the change from
the old theology of hell to the new
theology of Gods love, and other
churches have seen the light and
have modified their preaching. But
we maintain that this is no reason
why Universalists should cease to
preach Gods endless love. If others
preach it, how much more should we,
the original supporters of the faith,
seek by our works to maintain and +
spread abroad the good tidings of JOY
and love.
But for a fully successful develop
ment we must have within US, within
each individual member of our fam
lily, strong spiritual life. We must
mSdllctS upOu anu SOuStuSI We'll lLdb
conception of God as our Father, our
universal Father, who watches over /
US to lead and guide, even as did our
earthly parents in our weak and help
less infancy. Then shall we be able
TO think of God as He truly is-reach-
ing down His hand of love, for us
in turn to reach and grasp and thus !
be drawn from out life of sin INFO !
the path of right. The gospel of Uni |
versalism shows God as wholly upon |
the side of mankind. His interest /
and love for every soul is endless.
He not only strives and searches .
for the prodigal child here and now,
but also in the hereafter. "Univer-
salism holds that God the Father of
all souls will not limit His efforts to
save His children by the boundary
line OF death; once our Father, He is f.
always our Father, bound by every .
attribute of His paternal love to still ,
labor for our good
Moreover, our faith teaches that .
there is nothing in death itself that |
can irrevocably fix the character for
ever for good or for i'll.
There is no reason apparent to hui
man judgment why it should be i'm
possible for d soul to repent and be
saved before death and not imme- ,
diately after" As has been nobly
written, God is forever moving the
Whsle moral power Of the universe /
toward the redemption and salvation .
of the entire human race But Just
here let me consider for a moment /
one OF the common misrepresenta-
tons in regard to our belief.
Many times we hear the remark:
sob, you are a Universalist, are you?
Well, that doesn't seem to me like
mach of a religion where people can
10 just as they please and still get /
to Heaven without any punishment"
We should be always alert to con-
troVert and correct this mistaken
idea that is often held by those I'M
familiar with our church. We DO be-
lieye in the absolute certainty of pun
ishment, punishment having for its .
object the final recovery of all men.
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