River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-03-25

| IIPASIc)K KUSSElElI And l VIII give
unto thee the keys
Of the Kingdom of Heaven" The Pas
tor said in part:
For some unaccountable reason nu-
merous Catholics have gotten the
| thought that | am their foe, just as
Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopali-
ans. Baptists, etc., have gotten the i'm
preston that | am their foe. | am a
foe to no human being. and especially
to no Christian. | believe more fully
than do MethOdists in Free Grace
that ultimately Gods grace will reach
every human being. | believe more
emphatically than do most Presby-
terians that the Church is an especial
" elect class, and is now being gath
cred out Of the world to be Gods
agents In the ultimate blessing Of all
the non-elect. | believe with Baptists
that only the Elect, the immersed, will
constitute the Kingdom of God, al
though | deny their claim that bap-
tisln in water is the real immersion
/ hold. with the Apostle, that it is bap-
tism 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
Explains How They Deny Their Catho-
Iicity.
am aware that several churches
claim to be Catholic-the Anglican
Catholic, the Syrian Catholic, the
Greek Catholic, and the Roman CathO-
lie. Each claims to be the true Church
and reprobates the others as heretical
But / take the still broader, catholic
ground I hold that the word catholic
means general; and that any limitation.
such as Roman Catholic, Greek CathO-
lie, ETC.. to that extent denies their
catholicity. Perhaps, therefore, l am
really saying that am more catholic
than any of these brethren.
l must prove my point or be misun-
derstood. / hold. and few, If any, will
dispute it, that the one catholic or uni
versal or general Church Of Christ is
the one mentioned in the Bible-"the
Church of the First-bOrns, written in
Heaven" If this be admitted. my next
proposition is that the Lord in Heaven
records as members Of His true Church
all the saintly-whether Roman Catho-
lies, Anglican Catholics. Greek Catho-
lies, Baptists. Methodists, Presbyte-
rians, etc.-and none others.
Have we not here the one Church.
the Catholic Church, the universal, the
only Church which the Bible recog-
nizes? In the past we have been too
narrow and have supposed that God
was as narrow as ourselves. 1t was
on this account that in the past Pres
byterians, Roman Catholics, Anglicans,
Baptists and Methodists prosecuted
and were prosecuted, because each
thought itself the true Church. Are
we not all getting broader conceptions
Of our God and of His Church? Do
we not see that part Of our mistake
was in calling the outward Organiza-
ton 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
| has the right to blot out the names OF
those who, become reprobates?
Rectifying Past Errors.
st. Paul wrote against the spirit OF
sectarianism, already manifest In his
day-some saying. II am Of Paul.;
others, 81 am Of Peter; etc. The
Apostle asks, 'Is Christ divided?" q
Corinthians 1:1O-13.) So today, If with
us. he would ask, Why Romanfsts, An
glicans, Baptists, Methodists, ETC.? Is
not the name of Christ enough? He
explains that these different names of
old signifed sectarian spirit. the spir-
it Of division, that failed to recognize
the true Head of the Church, His true
representatives and His true mem
bers. The trouble is the same today.
| The entire foundation of divided Chris
tianity would disappear and all the
true Church of Christ-all real saints
would be- speedily manifest. If true
catholicity were acknowledged.
The one great obstacle to unity is the
erroneous doctrine respecting the eter-
nal torture of all not members of the
Church. We must open our eyes wild
err and see that many of our theories
were not taught by Jesus and the
Apostles. We must see that the
Church is a comparatively small com
pany Of sanity footstep followers of
Jesus, irrespective of sectarian lines;
that the Bible teaches not that these
are to look over the battlements of
Heaven to all eternity and see all 9TH
ers in torment, but that they are to
demonstrate their loyalty unto death