The Washington herald., 1915-03-22

| A9 prevail against It.
| X, And | will give unto
| y thee the keys OF
| ~ Heaven" The Pas
O6oS5cc5N tor said:
| tlHASlSS kUSSGllll For some undc-
| countable rea son
numerous Catholics have gotten the
| thought that / am their foe. just as
| Presbyterians Methodists. Episcopalians.
Baptists etc. have the Impression that
| am their Zoe. l am a foe to no human
| being. especially TO no Christian. be-
| Iicve more fully in Free Grace than do
Methodists-that ultimately Gods grace
will reach every human being. | believe
| moro emphatically than do most Presby-
| tcrians that the Church is an especially
| elect class. and Is now being gathered
out OF the world to be Gods agents in
the ultimate blessing OF all the nOn-e!ect.
believe with Baptists that only the
Eject. the immersed Will constitute the
Kingdom of God. although ] deny their
| claim that baptism in water is tie real
| immersion. | hold. with the Apostle.
| that II Is baptism into Christ's death.
Similarly | hold to the great Catholic
doctrine that there is only one true
| church. founded by the Lord Jesus
| Christ through His Apostles. nearly
! nineteen centuries ago.
am aware that several churches
| claim to be Catholic, each declaring it
self the true Church and reprobating the
| others as heretical / take the still
| broader catholic ground-that the word
catholic means general: and that any
| limitation such as Roman Catholic.
Greek Catholic. etc. to that extent de-
MES their catholicity. Perhaps, there
fore. ! am really saying that I am more
| catholic than any of these brethren.
must prove my point or be misun-
dcrstood l hold. and few. II any. Will
| dispute It. that the one catholic or gen.
eraI Church Of Christ Is that mentioned
in the Bible-"the Church Of the First
| borns. written In Heaven" II this be
admitted. my next proposition is that
the Lord in Heaven records as members
OF His true Church all the sanity
whether Roman Catholics. Anglican
Catholics. Greek Catholics. Baptists,
Methodsts, Presbyterians, etc.-and none
others.
Have We not here the one Church. cath
Ollie, universal. the only Church which
the Bible recognizes? In the past We
have been too narrow and have supposed
that God WAS as narrow as ourselves.
1t was on this account that Presbyteri-
l.ans. Roman Catholics. Anglicans. Bap-
lists and Methodists prosecuted and were
prosecuted, each thinking itself the true
Church. Are We not all getting broader
conceptions OF our God and OF His
Church? Do We not see that We were
mistaken in calling the outward organ
ization the Church of Christ. instead of
remembering that the Lord alone writes
the names of the Church. that He alone
reads the hearts, that He alone Is the
Judge and that He alone claims the
right TO blot out the names OF repro
bates?
ST. Paul wrote against sectarianism.
already manifest in his day-some say
ing: II am OF Paul. others. II am OF
Peter etc. The Apostle asws. as
Christ divided" Il Corinthians l: 10-l3-)
lie explains that these sectarian names
signified a spirit of division that failed
to recognize the true Head OF the
Church. His true representatives and
His true members. The entire founda
ton OF divided Christianity would disap-
pear and the true Church Of Christ be
speedily manifest. II true catholicity
were acknowledged.
The great obstacle to unity Is the er-
roneous doctrine of eternal torment. We
must open our eyes wider and see that
many OF our theories were not taught by
Jesus and the Apostles. We must see
that the Church is comparatively small
company of Jesus footstep followers,
the Bible teaches not that these ara TO
look over the battlemcnts Of Heaven to
all eternity and see all others in torment,
but that they are 10 demonstrate their
loyalty upto death and in due time be
associated with Messiah in His Millcn-
NAL Kingdom. which will bless. all the
families Of the carth-the Irving and the
dead. who will then be resurrected.
The twelve Fouud, tIor Sfoue.
81. Paul declared that the saints OF
God. the trus catholic Church. ARE
built upon tho foundation OF the Apos-
ties and Prophets. Jesus Christ Himself
being the Chief Corner Stone" (Ephs-
slams 2a)D The Twelve Apostles are
here referred TO In their double office
Apostles especially commissioned by tho
Lord as His representatives. and
Prophets, mouthpicces. for the procla-
nation OF His Message. Jesus pictures
the Church OF Glory as the New Jeru-
salem. and its twelve foundations as
twelve precious stones. in which are tho
names of the twelve Apostles OF the
Lamb-no more. no less-St Paul being
Gods choice to take Judas place.
To think OF ST. Peter as the only foun
dalton for the Church would be to deny
Christ's teaching and ST. Peters own
statement-that the entire Church Is
symbolicaIly represented as living stones
built together by the Lord through the
Holy Spirit a Peter 24-10) II was a
costly mistake when our forefathers.
overlooking this well-established point
OF Scripture. thought of their bishops as
Apostolic Bishops. and took their
decisions in the councils assembled as
the voice OF God. The voice OF God to
and through the Church came only
through the twelve Apostles of the
Lamb All others claiming this au-
thority are denounced by Jesus Himself
as OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Apostles
Revelation q:
Power In Heaven and In Earth.
As st. Peter was only one of the
twelve foundation stones Of the Church
so, likewise. he was only one Of The
Twelve to whom the Lord declared.
whatsoever We shall bind on earth shall
be bound In Heaven: and whatsoever ye
shall loose on earth shall be loosed In
Heaven" CMatthew lS:is)-the same state
ment exactly that on another occasion
He made to ct. Peter only. But He
gave the keys to st. Peter alone.
Would Ii seem reasonable that Jesus
should tell His Apostles that God would
do whatever they babe Him do-taking |
10 Heaven whom they pleased and ex-
GLIDING whom they chose? Would 1t be
wise or safe to entrust to poor human |
ity such dictatorial powers respecting /
the eternal interest OF even one individ- /