The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-03-25

ale guIulng them Unless they heeu
speedily. the blind leading the blind
will fall into the ditch of Darwinism
and the mire OF Higher Criticism
There are not many ways To escape
this threatening calamity! There is
only one way-the Bible way. Many
Baptist and Disciple ministers are tie
coming awake to the Inconsistencies of
their positions and drifting without
foreknowledge of where their course
will end. For Instance, ! have before
me the words OF the Rev Dr. Mac Don.
aid of my own city, Brooklyn, OF Feb.
ruary 2Tth. This gentleman speaks OF
the Baptist Confession OF Faith as
these slc0ddlnD clothes OF an ancient
dogmdtiSm." And respecting the Bap-
fist doctrine which recognizes only i'm
mersed persons as members of the
Church OF Christ and heirs Of saliva
ton. he says. "HenCeforth IL can be re-
0drded TO be as dead as the cities Of
Sodom and Gomorrah. and as ioorthily
buried" The gentleman rejoiced that
recently n Baptist minister had been
Church of Brooklyn who affirmed in
advance that he would invite all to
communion and Church membership
who loved the Lord Jesus. He urged
that associate members" should be
received into Baptist communions
without imposing baptism upon
them"
This courageous brother fails to see
wherein the course he advocates is
illogical. What he needs to see is the
real teaching Of the Bible on the sub
ject Of Baptism-that 1t is baptism into
Christ's death. and thus into the real
Church Of Christ-not the Baptist
Church. nor any other human organiza-
ton, but the Church of God-"The
Church Of the firstborns, whose names
are written In heaven" That roll con-
tains the names of all the sanity,
faithful, consecrated believers in the
Redeemer-of all denominations and
outside Of all denominations.
"Sanctify Them Through Thy Truth"
1t is not sufficient that we get rid Of
the errors and superstitions of the
past. We must supplant those with
the Truth. that I'VE may be able to
withstand in this evil day" Ephesians
vi, 49,. 1t alone will constitute the
armor of God. Christian people hold
much precious Truth, but hold 1t in
so illogical and confused a manner
| that 1t fails to give them the needed
| to this very hour and has permitted
| the present tests for the purpose Of
| developing the characters Of the "ls.
| raeites indeed. in whom is no guile"
and for the purpose of gathering out
| from them all the tares, all the chaff,
| and all not at heart copies of his dear
| Son. Let me now briefly summarize
the errors of our creeds and briefly in
dictate the Bible remedy.
| None of our Creeds were too strict
In defining the saintliness Of the
| Church class, invited to become the
Bride Of Christ and his Joint-heirs In
his Kingdom. On the contrary. in
many respects they were too loose
they were not nearly up to the stand
ard Of the Masters word. IF any man
will be my disciple, let him take up
his cross and follow me-" strait is
the gate and narrow the way which
leadeth unto life: and few there be
that find it, Matthew vii, 14). Jesus
taught that his followers must drink
of his cup of suffering and be baptized
into his death-and not merely into wa
ter. Our too-low standards have ad-
mitted to membership in all denomina-
tons millions who are far below the
Masters standards.
Our error and deception was the sup
position that all who are not sanity,
all who would not become the Bride of
Christ, all who are not baptized into his
death, all who do not drink of his cup
of ignominy will be eternally tortured.
| This great mistake common to all
Protestants land In the much modi-
fed form Of Purgatory shared also by
Catholics) must be displaced by the
Bible teaching that as soon as the
elect Church shall be completed and
gloritied the antitypical Year of Jubi-
lee will begin; that then for the thou
sand years Of the reign Of Christ and
the Church as the spiritual Seed of
Abraham, the nOn-etect, of all the fam
lilies Of the earth will be blest by the
elect Galatians iii. 16, 20; Acts i'll.
1929. Let us. dear brethren. choose
this day to stand by the Word Of God.
to reject all human traditions contrary
to 1t and to hold fast the things that
are true. just, loving, good.
If occasionally thoughtless friend
asks, Why do you believe in Millen-
mum? apswer that it Is one of the
oldest doctrines of Christendom and.
above all, the Bible doctrine. Answer
that he who does not believe in the
millennium and the resurrection then
of the world Of mankind-"All that
are in their graves'-must account for
the dead in some other way-must
claim that they have been experience
ing pain or pleasure for thousands of
years, or must claim that they are ex-
tinct as the brute beast and will have
no resurrection or must believe In uni
versai salvation regardless of knowl-
edge Of Christ or obedience to him
|