The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1910-03-17
Sermon bv
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL.
Pastor BROOKLYN
abernacie.

Tor Russpi, of the Brooklyn Taberna
rle. New York. preached here twice
today to splendid audiences, One Of
his discOurSes was entitled, The over
throw Ot Satuus Empire" We report
rile other Que from the text above
quoted Pastor Russell said:-
AS Christians III the light of this
wOnderful Twentieth century we stand
lt the parting of the ways and must
decide fOr right or for wrong. for
truth or for falsehood. In respect to
uur religious convictions. Without
questioning the sincerity Of our fore
fathers. we all object to their theology
1t is In vain that ministers aud
Jible class teachers longer deny the
facts of the case Nor will intelligent
iud honest people agree that It Is
right that through their creeds the!
should profess one thing, and In their
lives and general conversation they
should ignore or absolutely deny the
eachings of those creeds. Yet this is
,he position Ut practically all the THINK
ing people of ChristendOm Their con
scienres will not stand for this much
longer. II they refrain from telling
he Truth and taking their stand for
IT,, they will not only scar their cor
y icascs q Tl:lothy ~. p ard corrc
-pUndingly separate themselves frOm
GCd's favor. but additionally thpii
course will sooner or later bring upC
hem the dlsapproval aud contempt of
all honest people For although tl,
masses are not yet aroused on the sui
Ject, they are rapidly getting awake
Do you wish me to Illustrate what
mean! DO you wish me to show II
what respect all denominations are
ASHAMED OF their creeds aud anXiuu.
To hide the fact that they ever pro
feSsod them or were anxious To give
them some new Interpretation muir
consistent with the broader though
and more generous SCI %,nent common
to civilized man IN inls Twentieth
Century, | will do 1t.
Our Methodist friends are ashamed
Of that feature of their creed which d,
clares that the Almighty Is now dUing
everything that Divine Wisdom anu
Power eau accomplish on behalf OF
our poor race 10 bring all to full
knowledge of Christ aud to oppOrtu
nifty of faith and obedience. They real
iZe that there Is weakness In this
argument. And when they protest
that God must work through means
ana hence that the responsibility lie.
at the door of Christian believers L.
carry the Gospel to the heather. they
realize that tins il an Illogical argu
ment too. For why should our Great
Creator send to eternal torment mil
lions of his creatures because of an
insufficiency of zeal on the part of
some of their more enlightened fel
low-creatures? Acknowledging tie
inconsistency of such theory our
good Methodist brethren tell us that
they hope that God has some other
way of saving the ignorant OF heathen
lands and. perhaps. of civilized lands
We appreciate the loving heart
which prompts this answer and we
agree thai IT Is true-that God has
another way for these. But when we
attempt to point out what that othCI
way is, some of these dear friends In
quire, Is ii Methodism? Did John
Wesley preach II? Our answer is, No.
Brother Wesley did not preach 1t and
did not know of IL. Not because 1t is
new, but because II is so very old and
was lost sight OF during the dark
ages" for fifteen centuries before
Brother Wesley was born. He was
feeling after II. yearning for II. hun.
gering and thirsting for il. but the
due time" for II to be made known
to Gods people had not yet come IN
BrotlSr Wesley's day. He preached |
the eternal torture of all mankind. ex-
cept the sanctlfed believers IN Jesus
the Savior But In his preaching OF
the love OF God he was used of the
Almighty to wondrously prepare the
hearts of Christendom for the broader J
message of the Bible now due to be
seen and understood. Wesley's Cos
pei Of the love of God has mellowed
the heart of Christendom. which once
was frigid under the cold teachings
Of Foreordination, Predestination. etc.
of the Westminster Confession OF
Falth-once the basis of nearly all
Protestant Communions.
II we and our Methodist brethren
could maintain the same degree OF
spiritual warmth that Wesley and their
forefathers enjoyed we might do with
out further instruction. But we can
not do this! None can stand still
Christians today are losing their holi-
ness, their anctification-thelr zeal for
God is giving place to zeal for a sect
The light OF the Millennial morning
which for century has been gradual
ly breaking upon the world, stimulat
ing thought In every direction. makes
1t necessary for our Methodist breth
ren, as well as for us all. to awaken
to the wonderful privileges OF our day
for Bible study: to ascertain the real
teachings OF Gods Word. which. In the
dark past we all seemingly misunder-
stood and misrepresented Already the
most intelligent one-fourth OF Meth
odism not only rejects Brother Wes-