The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-04-18

He urged that the subject be ap-
preached prayerfully and honestly
that all who see that there was but
one Church in the beginning, establish
ed by the Redeemer. see also that
there will be but the one Church In
the end, the Church Triumphant in
glory, 1.-THE Bride. the Lambs Wife"
been doctrines many amongst the fol-
lowers of Jesus, there have been
churches many, as representing those
doctrines.
As last Sunday the question was.
what is the True Gospel?" and as we
found that true Gospel more or less
scattered In all the various creeds. and
none of them the pure and unadulter-
ated Gospel. 30 tonight we should be
prepared to find that the one true
Church of Christ for the past eighteen
centuries has been scattered here and
there amongst various denominations.
and that not one of these denomina-
tons is the true Church. Not one of
wheat" and none Of the ''tares." Not
one Of them can claim to contain all
Of the saints and no hypocrites. The
time was when the various divisions
Of the Christian Church severally laid
claim to being the one and only
Church. But that time has passed. so
far as the people are concerned, and
has passed so Ear as the majority Of
the clergy are concerned.
@That They All May Be One"
/ am not here to charge Intentional
wrong-doing on the part of any Of the
divisions Of the Christian Church, said
Pastor Russell. On the contrary, |
shall assume that the trainers of the
various creeds were sincere. honest
men; and that the original followers
of those creeds were sincere. and that
a few today may be equally sincere. l
shall assume. however. that the ma
jority of Christians. ministers and
laymen. realize that the sectarian
fences are largely composed of miscon-
ceptiOns of the Divine Word and Plan
and that the causes which originally
led to Church divisions have consid-
erably disappeared If we can now
recognize one true Gospel we may all
reunite. In harmony with our Masters
prayer. that "All may be one. as Thou
Father. and ! are one"
l remind you again of the simplicity
Of this Gospel which recognizes the
broad outlines of the Divine Plan and
Of the finer lines Of the same as his
spiritual development will permit On
that broad basis Of Christian union
the early Christians were one and rep
rotated any division. st. Paul rebuk-
ed those who said. Il am OF Paul:
am of Apollos: I am of Peter q CORN
thians I. 12l As only Christ died for
US all. He alone must be recognized as
our Savior As He is the Head of the
Church aud the only Head. He only
must be recognized AS all We are
brethren. SO the class distinction as
between clergy aud laity must be abro-
gated that we all may he one Church
with one Lord. one Faith and one Bap-
tism and one Cod and Father over all
Gphesians ". ~
Babylon ths Great. the Mother of Har-
lots"
How the divided Church. with clash
ing creeds. appears to the Almighty,
He tells us. calling 1t Babylon-which
signifies confusion. And who can deny
the appropriateness of the name? In
times past Catholics have applied this
name to the Protestant sects. and the
Protestants In turn have applied II to
the Church of Rome. But when we
come to examine the Scriptures on the
subject they seem to include all-the
Church Of Rome being represented as
the mother Church and the various
Protestant Churches as her daughters
The charge of harlotry which the Lord
makes against mother and daughters
must be acknowledged. although with
some this harlotry has been more open
and pronounced than with others.
Using the Jewish marriage ceremony
as the basis of the figure all Chris
tians, as members of the true Church.
are declared to be 'espoused to one
husband. which is Christ" I'll CORN
thians xi. p. Under the Jewish custom
the espousal brought the woman I'M
der the same obligation of chastity as
though the marriage had taken place
Thus the Church. by her VOW to her
Lord. Is obligated to the full. although
the marriage with the Heavenly Bride
groom will not take place until His
Second Advent and the change OF the
espoused from earthly to heavenly con
ditions. for flesh and blood cannot in
herit the Kingdom of God" (Revela
ton XIX. I: John xiv. 8; Cor. Nv. 5Ol.
Spiritual harlotry Is the condition in
which the espoused Of the Lord be-
comes affiliated with and Joined to the
world--thus the Church of Rome be-
came affiliated with or united to the
civil government Of Rome; and when
the Roman Empire went to pieces the
Papal Church entered into covenant re-
lationship with various divisions of
the civil government; and some of
these paramours she still has, while
others have left her. France is gone,
Portugal also. and Italy. Spain is
moody; Austro-Hungary Is her chief
reliance at the present time. She is
well treated in America, but not Joined
to the American Government. She is
well entertained and given every lib
erty in Germany and by pAny in
Great Britain, but these countries are
not her paramours.
Like Mother, Like Daughters"
The Greek Church Is Joined to the
Russian Government; the Church of
England to the British Government.
The Lutheran Church is married to
several European governments. 9th
ers of our Protestant Churches, having
no opportunity for aff1liation with
earthly governments. have become unit
ed to worldly systems. worldly organ
izations of their own. in which, as
rule, wealth. mammon. sits at the head
Of the table. Like mother. like daugh-
ters'' is an old saying. Instead of
charging this whole matter upon 9TH
ers. let us each recognize and take to
heart our own share. for which we
are responsible.
As the doctrnal errors which caused
our divisions gradually developed dur
ing long period of darkness. so our
development along the lines Of spirit
ual harlotry were gradual. II is not
for US to quarrel with the facts. which
are undeniable. but TO sincerely re-
pent of the wrong condition and re-
nounce It, Coming back to the one