The Light of the World
Delivered in Charleston Court House, West Virginia, from July 26 to August 2, 1905.
First Lecture
INTRODUCTORY.
I commence tonight a series of lectures on the Word of God in its application to our times. At the request of our Brother O. D. Hill, who was instrumental in securing my gospel services, I am here not to teach my own opinions, but, according to the light and ability God has given me, to show what the Scriptures teach in their application to the church and world in these last days, the faith held in common by all evangelical Christians in past history, and concerning the apostasy and errors which now prevail.
I will read for our Scripture lesson 2 Timothy, 3d chapter.
"1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
"2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
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"3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
"4 Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
"5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof : from such turn away.
"10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
"11 Persecutions, afflictions, which, came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra ; what persecutions I endured ; but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
"12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
"13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
"14 But continue thou in the things which thou bast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
"15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation; through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
"16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
"17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
This and the following chapter were the last words of Paul before his death, the year A. D. 6G, showing the peril of the last days to consist not in temporal danger but a form of Godliness without the power. . The power spoken of is the power to live holy and righteously. From those who have not this power we are to turn away.
Paul tells us that the world will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, and that all who
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will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. His own experience proved. this to be true.
But notwithstanding these perils of deception we have in the Holy Scriptures an infallible guide and standard.,by which we can detect all error and distinguish the true church and true religion from all frauds and counterfeits.
I praise God that we have the Bible accepted by the whole Christian world as the only rule of faith and practice, and infallible guide to heaven. And as the Methodist discipline says: "Whatever is not found therein or proved thereby is not to be required of any man as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." Therefore any church or faith not found in the Bible is thereby proved not to be authorized of God.
We will now look to God for his special help and inspiration for the great and responsible work we undertake in this series of lectures.
PRAYER.
Our Father who art in heaven, realizing our own insufficiency for the messages of truth we deliver to this assembly and to the people of this generation, we make our appeal to thee for thy Spirit's direction that thy word may be spoken in plainness and simplicity as thou wouldst have it understood in these perilous times, when the prophecy is fulfilled of a form of godliness without the power. In the name
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of Jesus Christ thy Son our only priest and mediator between the sinner and his God, repudiating all other names, we come before this people to plead thy righteous cause of truth for these times, in his name. We ask thy Holy Spirit to impart a right understanding of the Scriptures in their application to us in these days of perilous deception, that we. may understand the difference between the narrow way which leads to heaven and the broad and thronged way to destruction. We pray for a right understanding of thy church, the called-out people, separated from the world by thy spiritual creation in distinction from the fraudulent churches men have organized, that the dividing line between thy church and the world, made visible by the fruits of the Spirit on one side and works of the flesh on the other, may be understood by the people; the same dividing line which will separate the righteous from the wicked in the Great Judgment Day. God grant that we may work to the dividing line which thou bast drawn and not sectarian lines men have drawn, and that we may be found on the Lord's side in the great and final separation. God save the people from the reigning confusion of Babylon, and bless the efforts put forth in these lectures for the restoration of the Bible order and simplicity of the original faith, having the truth in our hearts and not in empty forms and creeds of men. And thou alone shalt have the praise and glory of our salvation through Jesus Christ thy Son. Amen.
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THE CHURCH
The World's Only Hope.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the 5th chapter of Matthew, we have these words of our Savior
"13 Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.
"14 Ye are the light of the :vorld. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid." Matthew 5: 13, 14.
These words addressed by our Lord to his disciples describe the church of Christ down to the end of time. It is the salt of the earth, the only preservative and purifying power on earth, and God's lighthouse on the shores of time to guide the mariner toward the haven of rest. But there is nothing about which there is more deplorable ignorance than as to the nature of God's church and plan of salvation.
During the past two years I have had occasion to attend the Agnostic gatherings at Paine Hall, Boston, where the educated infidelity of the world holds its gatherings, and I find that their chief arguments against the Bible are the inconsistencies of the professed Christian churches. The sectarian divisions . and the controlling power of money, the bloody persecutions of the past and the general corruption now manifest are the most effective reasonings of infidelity.
It has been exceedingly painful to listen to their
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moral life is called a hypocrite because he is untrue to that Book. And I have said that the highest compliment they can pay to the Bible is to call a man a . hypocrite, who leads a disorderly life while professing its religion.
We realize that we are in a world where the curse of sin is manifest everywhere; not only in the fearful wars which are raging, and have prevailed in the history of our race, but in the wickedness which abounds in our cities and pervades all society. And where is the remedy that is proposed by the wisdom of this world for the evils which exist and for the suffering which comes in consequence of sin? I find in the religion of Jesus Christ, the only remedy.
The only hope which infidel philosophy and the wisdom of this world propose is to educate the people and adopt political reforms. But these utterly fail to affect the heart of man, the source of all evil.
What does education do but to increase the power for evil as well as good? Take the figure of the fruit tree which Jesus uses. The more the evil tree is cultivated the more evil fruit it will bear. The education of our times causes crime to be more skillful to effect its evil purposes than ever before in history.
All that knowledge, culture and education impart is power to those whose hearts are evil, so as to produce more evil fruit in the outward life. Jesus Christ presented the only philosophy that meets the necessities of our race. He proposes to make the tree good, that the fruit may be good. The Gospel of
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Jesus Christ lays the axe at the root of sin. He proposes to cleanse the inside of the cup and platter that the outside may be clean also. He says, "Ye must be born again"-must become clean inside in order to produce the fruits of holiness in the outward life. There is nothing in the teachings of Jesus Christ - needful to prove his divinity and deserve the attention of the world, more than this radical nature of his religion which lays the axe at the root of sin, which takes the sinner and changes his heart so that from bearing evil fruit he may bear the fruits of holiness in the outward life.
There is a tendency in our times to speak of education as the chief remedy for the evils of this world. But it is a mistaken idea that education can elevate humanity one iota. It can refine, it can impart power, but so long as men's hearts are corrupt it can only increase the power to cover up sin and to produce its evil effects in the life. We see the divine philosophy of Jesus Christ in the remedy which the Gospel proposes. His church is the light of the world in this respect. It is the embodiment in his followers of the saving power of God's grace in the heart. As our Savior says, the church is the light of the world, a city set on a hill which cannot be hid. It is true that the fruits of holiness are the product of the Christian religion.
We find no other remedy for sin but that which is contained in the church-the religion of Jesus Christ. And there is no other way of understanding
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the nature of the Christian church, the remedy which God has provided, than by giving heed to the teachings of the bible which contains all we need to know concerning God's plan of salvation. I am glad that this Book shows that the church of Jesus Christ is not a human institution. It is not a society organized by man. It is a religious body which is God's own creation. It is described by the reformers. Melancthon says in the history of the Reformation by DeAubigne:
`Let not the Pope, the Priests or the Bishops say, `We are the church. Whoever separates from us separates from the church.' There is no other church than the assembly of those who have the Word of God, and are purified by it."
D'Aubigne says, in the History of the Reformation
"All the reformers of the Sixteenth Century taught that the pure grace of God is the only condition of salvation, and the church consists of all who possess true faith and not those who adhere to a dominating hierarchy."
The church of a place as described in the New Testament, is simply the Christians of a place; the church in general all believers in Christ who have had the experience of his grace throughout the world. Take the letters addressed to the different churches. In the letter to the church at Rome, the Apostle says, "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:" All the saints of God residing at Rome
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are the church of Rome. We don't read anywhere in, the Scriptures of a society organized by men. We find only that character gives existence to the church.
"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth," "to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints." Together with "all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." The letter to the Ephesians: "To the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."
So, in every one of the Epistles to the churches, we find that the Christians of a place are the church of that place, and in the general epistles addressed to the church we find that it is the whole body of believers in Jesus in a country or throughout_ the world. And I don't know of any other authority for a description of the church than we have in the holy scriptures. If we substitute the name of your city for Corinth, we have: "Unto the church of God which is at Charleston. To them which are sanctified in Christ Jesus or all that be in Charleston called to be saints."- So, then, it is character that makes up the church. The Apostle Paul, in his address to the Hebrews, in the 12th chapter, commencing with the 23d verse, says:
"To the general assembly and church of the first born. which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect."
When next to the last census was taken I was written to and requested to send in my church statistics. I sent in this passage of Hebrews: (12: 23) "To the
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general assembly," etc., "written in heaven." They wrote back that they could not get at the books. We have a safe church book if we have our names written in Heaven; and Jesus said to those who were rejoicing in the miracles: "Rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven."
So then, we have the description of the Christian church, as a religious body, the names of which are Written in the Book on high, and that it includes only those who possess Christian experience. It is character that makes the church and not outward forms and organizations by men.
THE WORD BUILDS THE CHURCH.
The instrument God uses for man's salvation is the word, or gospel truth. By believing a lie man fell, and all sin is the lie cherished in the heart and practiced in the life. Salvation is by substituting the word of truth for lies. "Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth." "Born of incorruptible seed by the word of God." The word effects Christ's baptism. "Ye are clean through the word I have spoken unto you." Six times his ' baptism which washes, away our sin is contrasted with the water baptism of John. Man preaches the word which effects the only baptism which saves. So the great commission is fulfilled. Thus the church is born into existence and thus it is purified after birth.
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"He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors for the perfecting of the saints." But Paul said the time would come when they would not endure sound doctrine but would heap to themselves teachers (hire them) after their own lusts." So now the money power by man's organisms has control of the church so that the word of God is bound. Luther found the Bible bound literally with an iron chain in the convent of Erfurth.
He liberated that Book and scattered its leaves all over Europe, and it wrought the greatest reformation since the days of the Apostles. Today that Book is bound by the money power of the world. Where the church is controlled by the money power, the Word of God cannot be preached in its faithful application to the hearts and lives of men. The great hindrance to the Word of God is commercialism, the merchandise of sectarian corporations. 2 Peter 2: 1-3: "damnable sects through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you." The Word of God which is adapted to save humanity antagonizes all that is wrong in the human heart. It is the study of those who seek selfish interests to avoid the truth and make the gospel attractive to. the carnal mind. So where money has control the gospel is diverted from its power to save. But, under the preaching of Christ, the Apostles and faithful reformers, persecution was provoked by the application of the Word which saves. What the sinner needs to
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save him is the truth that antagonizes the corruption of his heart, and hence the pure gospel in all ages has provoked opposition. The money power obstructs the liberty of the Word, so that it is not preached today as I heard it preached in my youthful days when there was life and power in the religious denominations which does not now exist. The money power has grown in every sect and now binds the Word of God.
PREACHING AGAINST CHURCHES.
I hear everywhere the cry of hypocrisy : "Let the church alone, preach to sinners. We are seeking to save poor sinners." The zeal of all modern revivals is to gather sinners into the church, and not to purify the church itself. But I find that the Word of God teaches that his ministry are sent primarily to the church. The Apostle says in Ephesians, the 4th chapter, 11th verse :
"And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
According to this and all Scripture, the special business of God's ministry is by the preaching off the word to perfect the church in righteousness and true holiness and the unity for which Jesus prayed. ''
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When sinners are converted they become disciples or learners. As members of Christ's body-the work has only begun of God's saving truth. All the preaching of the old prophets, and the preaching of Jesus and the apostles-every epistle in the New Testament, whether of reproof or instruction was ad
dressed to the church. Jesus Christ in his prayer for the church, says, "I pray not for the world, but for these thou bast given me." We read (Ephesians 5: 25, 26) that Jesus Christ gave himself for the church that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that it might be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing." Jesus Christ, as the great bridegroom, is jealous for the chastity and fidelity of his church; every lover of Christ is jealous for the purity and fidelity of his church, just as a husband is jealous for the chastity and fidelity of his wife, so Jesus Christ, the great Bridegroom, is jealous for the fidelity and chastity of his bride, the church. This is the lesson of the marriage relation in Ephesians 5th. These things are to show us that the great need of the gospel today, as in the ages past, is its faithful application to the church. The reason why persecution has raged against God's faithful ministry under both dispensation is because of the faithful application of the Word of God to the church. If they had let the church alone and gone after sinners of the world, not one of the prophets or martyrs would have been persecuted. If Jesus Christ had let the church alone, if he had withheld his re
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bake of church sin and hypocrisy, he would not have been crucified. Who was it. that stirred up persecution against Christ? It was those who made long prayers; it was the hypocrites who compassed land and sea to make a convert. They bad plenty of religious zeal, but Jesus Christ uncovered the corruption of their hearts, and they cried, "Away with him, crucify him." Who was it stoned Stephen and persecuted the Apostles? It was devotees of a carnal religion. All the reformers in the history of the past have been persecuted for the fidelity with which they dealt the word to the church. I wish the people were acquainted with the history of the reformation and the work of all the reformers of past centuries. If they had let the church alone and preached simply to the sinners of the world ; if they had failed to expose the corruption of the church, not one of the fifty million Protestant martyrs would have suffered death. But because of the fidelity of these men in exposing church corruption they were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and slaughtered at the bands of religious zealots and not common sinners of the world. In all times of persecution it was malice of hypocrites against the word by faithful reformers which shed the blood of martyrs. It was the same which caused the death of Jesus Christ. It was from false professors, and false religion that all the persecutions came. Thus died the first martyr of the Christian church, Stephen, who had a knowledge of the spiritual nature of the Christian church beyond
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that of his time. He was accused of speaking against the earthly temple and its ordinances. You will find in the 6th chapter' of the Acts of the Apostles the charge that was brought against him. He set aside the holy place and the ordinances, .the ritualism of the law. When he made his defense, after reviewing the history of Israel's rebellion, he said:
"Solomon built him a house. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet. Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool; What house will ye build me saith the Lord or what shall be t e place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did so do ye."
He had spoken but a few words more, seeing Jesus in the opening heavens, when they rushed upon him and dragged him out of the city and stoned him. What was the offense? It was carnal religion against spiritual religion. All the religion these Jews had was in the outward forms. The preaching of Stephen took away all the religion they had. And this was the difficulty in every age with the reformers, because they preached a spiritual religion against a carnal religion. An earthly church hates and persecutes the spiritual church and pure word of God.
So it is today, the numerous so-called Christian denominations are all zealous for their forms and ceremonies and man-made organizations. They do not know the fact that they are heathen idolators under the Christian name. They claim to be believ-
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ers in Christ and have much religious zeal, but take away their priesthood and ceremonials and the organizations made by man, and they have no religion left. But the church of Jesus Christ in the New Testament is a spiritual house and stands by faith.
A BODY OF PILGRIMS.
In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews the church is represented by Abraham, Isaac and. Jacob who lived in tabernacles, temporary habitations, seeking a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God. Such is the Christian church, composed of believers who live as pilgrims and strangers on earth. I don't know of any better description of the church than to say of it as in Hebrews 11: 13, they "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth, seeking a -heavenly city." Paul says, in the epistle to the Hebrews, 13: 13, 14, "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, as Christ suffered without the gate for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." We find in the New Testament that such is the church of the New Covenant.
One came to Jesus and said that he would follow him wherever he went. Jesus Christ replied, "the birds of the air have nests and the foxes have holes, but the son of man has not where to lay his head." He was a pilgrim and stranger on earth. There are multitudes today who are seeking a religious home
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on earth and would be offended by the words of Jesus Christ, whose church is not of this world, a body of pilgrims and strangers.
THE KEEPING POWER IS WITHIN.
"The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. It is within you." Neither in this mountain nor at Jerusalem-God is a Spirit and true worship is spiritual, regardless of place or outward conditions. "Kept by the power of God through faith." Such is the Christian church. It is the body of those who have the power within and need no outward organism as the governments of this world.
I will call your attention tomorrow night to the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament organization as described in Jeremiah and Galatians. In the epistle to the Hebrews and elsewhere in the New Testament, it is shown that the difference between the church of the new covenant and the Jewish church consists simply of this The church of the new covenant has only an inward law and the church of the old covenant has only an outward law. There was no salvation in the outward law. Saints and sinners were both together in the Jewish church. The rich young man who came to Jesus and was told to keep the commandments, said, "all these have I kept from my youth up." But Christ said "go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, then come and follow me," and he went
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away disappointed. Christ's law is a searcher of the hearts of men. The word of God is as a two-edge sword, quick and powerful, and those who are born of the Word are born into the family of God. The instrumentality which belongs to the church and gives it existence is the faithful preaching of the Word which is applied to the hearts and consciences, of men by the Holy Spirit, and when they are convicted by the Word and yield their hearts they have Christ's baptism which saves from sin. So it is by spiritual means that we become members of the church of Jesus Christ. We are born thus into the family of God. I notice now the great commission so-called, "Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name," etc: But there is a passage in Acts, first chapter, 5th verse, which was spoken at the same time and should be connected with it. So reading the passages together we have
"Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, etc.
For John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."
So we see that the baptism which makes men disciples is the Holy Ghost. Christ's baptism is that which saves, and that baptism is by the Word and the Spirit. By the. preaching of the Word sinners are convicted of sin and when they yield their hearts -to that Word they experience the inward cleansing which is the baptism of Jesus Christ. No one ever had salvation without it. That which effects
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the cleansing is necessary to salvation. It is the spirit of God and the Word. In the parable of the sower we read that the seed is the Word which brings forth fruit, some. a hundred fold, some sixty fold and some thirty. And Christ's baptism is cleansing through the Word. Peter says "born of incorruptible seed, the word of God." Paul says, "washing of water by the word." The instrumentality is the preaching of the Word. The Holy Spirit attends the word, changes and purifies the heart of a believer. It is by believing a lie that man fell ; it is by continuing to believe a lie that he is kept in sin. I don't know of a better definition of sin than that it is a lie cherished in the heart and practiced in the life. In the case of the Pharisee and the publican we have illustrations of our subject. The Pharisee told of the good things he had done and the bad things he had left undone. He boasted of his virtue, but had no virtue. His profession was false. He was not in line with the truth himself and could not be saved. But the publican said, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." He took the only honest position which any sinner can take. If we confess our sins God is faithful to save. That sinner got in line with truth and honesty, and I am glad that God's salvation hangs upon our honesty. If the publican had not been in line of the truth and the spirit of truth, that spirit could not have produced its saving effect upon his heart. The plan of salvation, which includes the atonement as the ground upon which God
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forgives our sins-makes faith in the atoning blood impossible so long as a man is dependent in any degree upon his own righteousness. It is not until a man like Paul repudiates his own righteousness as filthy rags that he can accept with true faith the blood of Christ for pardon. There is a divine philosophy in this gospel. And the condition of our acceptance depends on whether we, like the hypocrite, plead our own righteousness or confess we have no righteousness of our own and plead only the atoning blood. We have to come with our filthy rags acknowledging our dependence upon Jesus Christ. Paul says to the Gentile believers of Ephesus, "They who by sin were far off are made nigh by the blood." Eph. 2: 13. It is the atoning blood which removes the sins that separate man from the church. The very moment your sins are forgiven and taken out of your heart, you are where God is, and if at that moment you are outside of the church God is outside of his own church, which cannot be true. The moment sin is washed away by Christ's baptism, we are in his church. I am glad that all sinners who are willing to exercise faith regardless of outward conditions, can be saved from sin. But there are those, who teach in such a way as to make a conflict between Paul and James in their epistles. Paul teaches that a man cannot be justified by the works of the law, simply because he has no works of righteousness. But James teaches that faith is inseparable from works. No man can stand before God in his
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inseparable from faith. We are taught truly by the evangelical Christian church that all the sinner has to do is to be a believer, come to Christ just as he is. But we are told that he must believe with the heart. Abraham, who is an example of faith, believed with his heart when he was told to take his son Isaac a three days' journey for a sacrifice; his heart was tested, but he believed to the extent of laying him on the altar. And I want to say that the faith which is necessary to save the sinner today is no less a faith than that. Christ says, "If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and his own life also he cannot be my disciple." If you believe with the heart you believe with all that you hold dear. If it is true belief you lay your kindred upon God's altar. The love which unites us to Christ is a stronger love than that which unites to the earthly family. Jesus taught that unless we are willing to forsake kindred we could not be his disciples. We know that natural love will make sacrifice. During the war if a father heard of his sick son he sold the last horse to go and visit that son. No sacrifice is too great where love constrains. And the love which joins us to Christ will lay kindred and all earthly objects upon the altar. May God help us to understand what it means to believe with the heart. That rich young man could not, because he loved his riches. If you believe with your heart you believe with your feet, with your hands, with your
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pocket-book, with all you have, or you do not believe with saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Such is the faith which God has made the condition of salvation. We look back in the history of the past and wonder at the marvelous faith of the Christian martyrs who were ready to go to prison and suffer all that human malice could inflict, for the truth's sake. It is not a less faith than that which the martyrs had that God will now accept. It is my purpose to bring before you the standard of truth which will test us at the judgment. We see many in our times who cannot afford the inconveniences of this life for a hope in Christ; which cannot afford any sacrifice for the faith which we are taught to exercise in the Bible as the condition of salvation.
CHURCH UNITY.
Christ prayed for the unity of his church. Paganism . . . was distinguished by the multiplicity of its sects. . . The religion of Jesus Christ is distinguished by its power to make its disciples one. It is the glory of this religion that it makes its members love one another. Paganism had not the power to lift men out of their natural selfishness and carnality. Men were divided in their religion according to their habits. There was the goddess of learning for those who were its devotees; there was Mars for the military; there was Venus and Bacchus for
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those ruled by their appetites. and baser passions ; and so the different deities corresponded to men's natural inclinations and habits. There was no power in paganism to lift men out of their natural affinities and habits. The religion of Jesus Christ is distinguished by its power to make us one. But the unity of the Christian church is not a man-made unity ; it is a God-made unity. Christians are born by the spirit into one family and thus joined to each other and to Jesus Christ. Death does not change the unity of the Christian church. There is the same unity this side as the other side of death. And thus unity is proof to the world of the glory and power of the Christian religion. But the first argument of infidelity today is the existing sectarian divisions. I heard Ingersoll say that the Bible was like an old fiddle ; every sect could play a different tune upon it. But he was fatally mistaken, for no sectarian church has any Bible foundation. True Christianity is seen in its power to make believers one. I am glad that this proves to the world the glory and the truth of the Christian religion. Divisions began at Corinth, but were rebuked by Paul. He said, "Is Christ divided?" Some might think, from the division which began at Corinth, that Christ must be divided. Is it not true ? Are there not just as many Christs as sects? Christ is represented as the only foundation of the Christian church and the only door, and hence the unity of the Christian church, if he is the foundation.
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I desire to call your attention to the teaching of God's word along these lines, in future discourses. I realize that this is against the popular current. But I ask you to bear with me. I haven't anything to preach here but what every Christian of every denomination is obliged to acknowledge. I am glad that what divides the Christian church doesn't belong to it. God forbid that I should step in between a man's conscience and his God. Those things which divide Christians don't belong to the Word of God; they belong to Judaism and not to the church of Jesus Christ. By joining Jesus Christ through saving faith we are joined together. The only true union on earth is that which is effected by the Holy Spirit. When I am through these discourses any one who dissents will have liberty to show from Scripture any error I advocate. The Word of God meets no opposition except from those who are guilty and who close their ears to the truth. . The only reason why the Word of God is not free in every pulpit today is because of the-selfish interests which are jeopardized by that Book. That Bible in the hands of .honest advocates would be a. terror in any assembly the aim of which is to build up selfish and partisan. interests. But where the object is salvation from. sin and to gather souls to Christ there is no fear. They. are not afraid of truth. It was Thomas Jefferson who said, . "Let error be free and let the truth be free to fight it." All that is wanted today to produce the most glorious reformation of modern history is the liberation of that Word from the money power.
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THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
I am thankful to God for the opportunity he gives me in this city of access to your ears with the truth needful for our times, covering the ground we have gone over tonight as the outline of lectures to follow. Tomorrow night we will cite the Scriptures which show the difference between the Old Testament church and the New Testament church organizations. I would be glad if the people would bring their Bibles and note down the passages. All we want is to get in line with that book, not with men's opinions. We will examine the teaching of that book concerning what we must do to be saved. There isn't but one question that concerns us. I hear men say that there are so many differences of opinion we cannot tell who is right. I answer that when we are brought face to face with death we will have but one opinion, and it will be that salvation from sin is the only thing needful.
My prayer to God is that he may open the door to many hearts in this community for his living Ford. It is one thing to preach a dead theology ; it is another thing to preach that Word which is quick and powerful and awakens the consciences of sinners and sanctifies souls of believers. The Lord add his blessing for Christ's sake.
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