Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-19
CHURCH NEEDS NO
LEGAL ACCESSORY
COMPULSORY POWER Is USE
LESS, SAYS DR.. LOCKE
REAL PURPOSE OF CHRISTIANITY
YET TO BE DISCOVERED
Maonificent Edifices, Gorgeous Fur-
nishings, ceremoniaIs and Doenas
Fail in High Mission, De-
cIares Clergyman


man, the soldier and the inquisitor
are not Christian accessories said
Rev. Charles Edward Locke of the
First Methodist church yesterday
morning. DR.. Locke scored high finance,
money grabbing and greed.
"Whatover is bad Christianity is not
shrewd financiering," he said, speaking
from the text. Compel them to come
in" His sermon was in part as fol-
lows:
"If good people persist increasingly
in their quest there is every hope that
the real purpose of Christianity may
! some day be discovered. Rubrlcs ana
rituals. creeds and ceremonials, dog
mas and denominations, magnincent
! churches and gorgeous furnishings,
denominational differences and secta-
rian animosities, how often have been
mistaken for Christianity and have
often lifted massive distractions in the
way of the progress of the Nazarene
Carpenter.
"The prism of true Christianity IS
bounded by faith, hope and charity;
faith in God, hope in ourselves and love
for all mankind. When beams OF dlV1ne
truth pass through this prism, darkest
skies are radiant with bows of prom
Use and sad hearts are trimmed with
joy and peace.
There is a come, a seek, a receive.
a knock, a learn, a do, a believe IN
the gospel There is also goa go
quickly into the highways and hedges
after the poor, the blind, the halt--to
the classes who will not know that
they are included in Christ's invita-
/ tions unless they are personally as
! sured.
Power of Persuasion
! "'Compel them to come in!' was a
! command of Christ. Not the compu'-
! sorry power of the policeman. the SOL
| dier or the inquisitor; mace and hand5
| cuffs, sword and bayonet, rack and
! thumbscrews are not Christian acces-
sores; but the compulsory power OF
persuasion. Gods messengers pano-
piled with truth and sympathy-the
| compulsory power of the best.
Men are to be compelled into the
kingdom of Christ by the compulsory
power of law. Law is the basis of life,
of order. of peace, of power, of con-
| quest, of character. Though we are
! not under law but under grace, even
grace is product of law, though high
er than law. Only the lawless fear the
law. The law is a true friend of the
! Just Just laws are no restraint upon
the freedom of the good Law is a
good word with which to conjure. The
| law is the enemy only of the evil-it is
! a gallant defender of the noble. AS
| the seed is compelled out of its dark
| chamber in the ground by the footballs
of the .sunbeams; as the butterfly
emerges from it's chrysalis; so the gos-
| pei of Christ compe1s the lower to as
cend to the higher, Christ compels the
| soul into freedom.
"There is compulsory power in logic.
| The normal man is sensitive to reason.
| BY their fruits ye shall know them
! is a test which Christ places in the
hands of his enemies with which to try
the truth of Christianity. Unbelief
blows it's blatant blasphemies into an
Ingersoll or Paine. but Christianity
builds its imperishable precepts into a
Washington, a Whittier or a Wesley.
Power of Light
There is compulsory power in light.
Jesus said. L am the light of the
world. Noiselessly the sunlight loos-
ems the avalanche from its frozen
ledge and slips the icy bolts of winter.
Light flies at the rate of $4,000 miles
a second, but the velocity of truth
is greater. Light and Christ translate
| themselves into life, beauty color,
strength, flower, fruit, security. Light
draws the lost man to the fire; the bird
of passage to the window Light
transfigures So does Christ.
THE mighty, compelling power of
Christianity is love. The love of Christ
constraineth us'-it constrains the
world. Love is the highest elimination
of soul aspiration. 1t CONTROLS it aWak-
ems the best. the hoiest The love of
a gallant Wooer COmpels the surrender
of the maidens heart; love for flag and
country Compels the patriots sacrifice
the parents love cOmpels integrity in
son and daughter. Love in all of it's
radiance is character: it is courage,
/ truth, sacrifice, holiness-divinty Yes.
love is God. The soul which most truly
! loves has most of God
True love for Christ annihilates self.
! When Christ comes in, greed goes out.
1t is reported that Nathan Rothschild
made $6O,OOO,000 out Of the battle of
/ Waterloo He followed wellington in
/ his campaign against Napoleon AT
Waterloo when he saw the arrival of
! BluCher and the defeat of the French
army. he hurried to the Belgian coast
| Paid 100000 to get across the channel,
and the next morning he reached Lon
don before all the couriers. He ap-
peared at the stock exchange, gave a
gloomy account of Welington's pros
poets, caused panic in the stock mar
/ ket and when values had reached the
lowest point, bought up everything in
his reach. When few hours later
the news of NapoleOns defeat reached
London. all the securities went up with
/ a bound and the willy Jew profited into
the millions. l suppose that has been
called good financiering, but it is poor
Christianity. Whatever is bad Chris
tianity is not shreWd financicrng
Money has moral quality, and when
the talent to get money is prostituted
into lying and deceit, man may get
money, but he loses his soul, and
what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul?'
Brotherhood of Civilization
Anything which disregards love and
service to our fellows is not only not
Christianity, but it is not good morals
/ Civilization is a recognition of the
/ brotherhood of man.
During the Crusades some Scotch
! clansmen, who carried the heart of
Bruce in silver urn, were being de-
| feated by the Saracens, when suddenly
the brave chief Douglas seized the
urn and hurled it into the enemies
! advancing lines, crying out as he did
So For the heart of Brace, and Doug
las will follow thee Instantly the
their treasure; they swept the enemy
before them and turned defeat into
victory.
"The heart of Christ is our precious
symbol BY his life, his love and death,
he threw himself into the midst of lost
humanity. The frontier line of the
kingdom of Christ is far into the do
main Of evil Let us follow with the
victorious shout For the heart of
Christ, and we will follow Thee""
Dr Wells OsteOpath IlO1M g. SDrInR