The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-10-04

III HI al {3sss IA tfSSjl winch ~ Is inc
~ y ~ True church," It
.ss.sz.l1aAE may not BIO strict
llR4sIQRs 2gSSEll))%ly true to say
that everyone In
tbs large audience went home fully
sssatisaed that he had located the one.
Z true Church to which the Bible con.
y tinnally refers. 1t is not too much to
Il assert, however, that the vast major
My Of those who heard were both
pleased and convinced. No really
4 great man .isswithout. his enemies, but
ii may surely be said that Pastor. Rus
sell IS gaining many friends through.
out the Christian; world every week
through tho widespread reports Of his
sermons. The text for the occasion
was, he; Church Of the First orns.
Whose pnmes IRE. written in heaven"
Hebrews 81. o..
Church Of Christ ono-Not Many
He adverted to the Scrlpturnl rec.
$ords which refer to the Church of
Christ US one, not us many. Pastor
Russell declared that in this matter
the Church of Rome and the Church.
OF England hold aloof from many
Protestant denominations. They Claim
that to recognize them us churches
would be unscriptural. since there is
but one Church Of the Living God.
The various Protestant denominations
started out with slmilur views. slmilnr
theories. though today they have uban.
! dohed them. The Church Of England.
! foFined an Organization separate from
TINT OF Rome. believing that the for;
Y mers Ind been tho one; true Church but
Ind departed from the faith. and that
! 5tswag the duty OF the faithful to rec.
ognlae her as Babylon, confusion.
The claim to be the true Church they
applied toithemselves. Similarly. Pres.
Il byterinns. Metliodists, Congregational
\ Isis Adventists. Disciples. ETC.. have
( withdrawn. and many of these orIsl
nnlly claimed to be the one true, loyal.
faithful Church Of Christ. Today.
i howeSe tjlot pendulum has swung to
: the other side. Moreovqr. the narrow
u ness of the past is rapidly giving way.
I; All are learning that to BIO Christian
means more than merely to- be i'm.
mersed: more than merely to be sprin.
kled; more thun merely to believe In
4 file doctrine Of Election; more than
merely to believe In the doctrine of
4 Free Grace; more than to believe in
D. the doctrine of characterization or
g nsubstantiatIon. With this enlarge.
ment of mind Christians are indeed lii
danger Of losing sight of the fact TINT
\. Thu; True Church is the custodian Of
ss.thea firth once delivered 10 the snints"
(which acknowledges zone Lord. one
Faith. one Baptism. one God and Fa.
tier OF all, and one Church Of the 1iv-
( Ing God. - s
One Church In Many, Churches
u The key to the situation is found In
4 our Lords words: mot NIL That say
unto Me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into
( the Kingdom of heaven:" not I'LL who
call themselves Christians. with one
dGnominat!onal tag or another. are
d members of the one Church, the Church
A Of the First.borns. mentioned in our
4 text. As good, rich milk Is sometimes
4 called cream so all the members Of
Y Christian denominations are sometimes
4 called Christlans-in complimentary
( sense because not unsympathetic with
true Christian principles. Neverthe.
less, only those in. all denOminnt tons
who have. conformcd to the conditions
required of Christian .dlscipleshlp, the
\ sanity ones. constitute, the True
II Chprch-"The Church Of. the First.
~ agn. whose names are written In
Z heaven, ~;
We Ind "a box of sawdust and scat.
tered thranshi It q paper Of tacks IN.
the latter were quito hidden from
Y view. surrounded md covered In the
n saWdust, we know TINT We could take
mngnet and. by passing It to and
fro amongst the sawdust, the magnet
would attract to itself every tack.
II The itncks of this Illustration repre-.
\ sent a. small class of humanity, Jealous
4 at heart for God md Righteousness.
Y The magnet represents the Gospel in.
33sNtation which is now passed up md
!, down, hither and thither throughout
the civilized world. md to some ex-
tent Into the heathen world.
NJ Then we convince our beavers TINT
the non-elect Of this Age are not doom.
cd to eternal torment. but will have a
blessing of inferior degree to that OF
'.the elect. the effect should be to
right our minds and "a chusc us to
y think carefully md critically Of tho
strinEent terms, ofsdlsribleshIn which
IA 5.--...J - = = NJ
1 ~ iss Jennie Sshinn leaves in the
IL i y ~