r The Alliance Herald IlKAD I1T EVERY MKMnKR NKHHASKA STOCK GROWERS ASSOCIATION. ALL T1IK NKW8 OF ALLIANCE AND WESTERN NEBRASKA OFFICIAL OHO AN NEBRASKA VOLUNTEER F1REMEN8 ASSOCIATION. IT RKACIIK8 IIEADgt AUTKI13 FOK 15,000 F1HKMKN volume xxn ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1915 NO. 49 Go-to-Cfanrcfa Sunday in Alliance riUWI JYTKRLA N CHURCH The MnJn Issue Text: Rt. 6:, "For thou waBt slain and hast redeemed us to God T thy blood." For decades after Luther's reform ation, in England after the Wesley mvival, and in this land and Great Britain Just after the Moody cam nnlgns, It would not have been dif inult to answer the question, "What la it to be saved?" For the answer would have been uniformly: "To be redeemed from Bin through the blood f the Lord Jesus Christ." The goal f salvation with very many and in deed, with almost all, is getting to heaven if a man gets to heaven he is saved. Presuming the answer is correct, and barring the advent of Jesus Christ, which will preclude the necessity of the Christian dying and a la bouI going to heaven as they now o we may endorse that position. Let a note here some of the conceptions of salvation that men now hold, and of Which we hear them speak, but areWander afar from heaven, and heav- a part of personal conviction, in some cases, however, nothing more than feeling. In speaking of this we would not doubt the sincerity of tnesc who hold them, but we are ;" .. . : " . f .;.j-1-.,Y , I.' V (- "f , K Car. f ., v I'1 ,J i First lrvblcriiii (iiurcli convinced Unit many of them are fa tally mistaken. We cannot enter in to all the theory of the atonement. That would take more time than, is permitibabie, and would result in con fusion. Lei us hole three oi Uiese exceptions: ; 1. One man says: "Man is s;iv.-ij through the inevitable operation or ' evolution. Man ha been pint-eu up on the earth for the purpose of u. -velopment, and if he exists beyond thie life that development will (.ou tline until he reaches perfection." This is a widely received view and the recent revival of the evolutionary theory as developed in scientitic in vestigations has largely strengthened it. Such writers as Alfred Tenuy- soi, wno speass oi mat period rar of, at last, to all," etc., have largely Btreugttn ned the idea, aud it id known that evolutionary preachers. If they do not generally dpy the sol ution tonight by Paul as some do, so emphasize evolution in the principle, and consequently nothing else is needed. 2. Many indulge the conception that man is saved by right living, but just at this point of right living there is diOereuce of opinion as to wnat we mean. Many promptly say it means doing what in right, but do not de nse the word "right'". We muni have some criterion oi judgment, unu we inquire for that. Many, if press ed, will say it is acting in accordance with the teachings of the Bible, but here again there is diliiculty for many 'only consider the teachings of the. Bible with reference to their reia-' tionship to their fellowuieu, and tbty claim that if they act honestly in their dealings with their fellow men, or as has betn recently said, give ev ery man a square deal, they are act ing in accordance with the teachings f the Scripture. But if a man is houest, must he not consider more than bis fellow men? Does he not have God, who is the author of the Blnle, to deal with? Is there noth ing moving to him, aside from hon esty in our dealings with our fellow men? What about high morula that are really personal, and what about the demands that are made upon sen as to the worship of God, the discrimination of religious truth, the Individual religious life, involving the study of God's word, etc.? 3. In these days there is a wide- spread conception, that a church con- i docttine and religious froetill. nection, a church life, is the essence Among them all. however, the Luth of salvation, consequently multitudes ,.-. rh'ir' h is the only true visible are easily persuaded to connect withChrt.h ot 'bri6t on earth, because tne church, and adopt a more faith- tn i-ll h'-r "'octn'tien nn-l m m her re fill church life. We cannot take , ji;iL,us practice she continues in the tine to call attention to the Master's word of Christ and thus comes up to well-known denunciations of the jibe standard which Christ himself churches in his day, of the tithing of j bas Bet up in the text before us This mint, and announcing Paul's teach-' is what we claim and now let us tngs touching mere churchism in his prove our claim. day. The religion of Christ and the, iD the Brst place, the Lutheran apostles was the religion that must have not only the shell of profession, but it must have the kernel of reality before Ood, life in Jesus, redeemed by his blood. He is the main issue, and a recent writer has in truth and beautiful lines presented the thought in connection with holy communion: Savior divine, O evermore abide In my cold heart! Kedeemer, bless ed Lord! By all the powers in heaven and earth adored; When Mowed the dear blood from thy wounded side By God forsaken and man denied Why was the crimson stream thus freely poured. If man by love was not restored? O! mighty theme! that doth debase my pride; And curt contempt in all the things of earth; If angels are not faultless in his sight Of what account are we, who, from our birth, en'B dear light ? Yet it was not for them, but us He died, And with Him all our sins are cruel tied. ip'"rt":.'n " B l.l i llKHAN 111 IM II (..'I Jchii . .ti-.ii, uenver- ed by Itev. Ttus Lang, pastor of Im- i manuel's Lu'heran church, Noveiu 1m'. i. Subject: "The Lutheran Chrh. the True Visible Church of Christ on Karth." .-.utiilay, (Jet. 31, we celebrat ed rL'' :;!Sth anniversary of the re formation or th" birthday of the Lutheran church. It was on the 31st . ! icioher in the e:.r 1 T) 1 7 that Or. .'(tin Luther nailer' ills ninety-five thesis or sentences against papal ln duisencis to the door of the Castle church at Wittenberg, Germany, and thereby started a movement by which the church of Chrisi. the old anos- tol!cal 'church, was uealn placed on her original foundation, the word of th apostles and tiie prophets of Liitherim Im rcli which Jesus Chritfl is the corner it ie, and was built up on the same. This movement is commonly called "the reformation". A product of this movement is the Lutheran chnrch. the true visible church of Christ on earth as we shall prove with the aid of the Holy Spirit to d:i. All truly believing Christians on earth form the one Holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the true union of nil true believers in Christ Jesus, the one spiritual body of Christians, of which Jesus Christ is the one and only spiritual head. This body or church Is however In visible, since only true believers In Christ belong to the same, and no. one can look into another's heart and see if he believes. All visible churches, congregations, church bod ies, and denominations are but out ward organizations of Christians and these we find differ from each other 7?"-. 'llI 1 ; r - Sunday, November 7th, was known as "(lo to Sunday School and Stay for Church" Sunday. In order .o let the poojdo of Alliance know about the different Bcrnions preached and the programs follow ed at the different churchcN in the city a HynopsiH is Riven of a num ber of the sermons. The Herald wishes to thank the pastors of dif ferent churches for their assistance in furnishing these news articles. Members of The Herald force attended different churches and noted the interest taken by the people who were in sympathy with the move ment. On this page will be found cither extracts from the sermons or an article telling of the sermon. church continues In the word of Christ because Bhe adheres strictly to the Bible, which she accepts as the truly inspired word of God. and as the rule and only true council In matters of faith. Luther led the way In this. He broke away from tradition, the church fathers, the pope, the church councils, from all doctrines of men and reestablished the authority of the Hible. Thus in the diet at Worms in 1521 he declar ed when ordered to retract his doc trines: "Unless I am convinced by authority of the Scriptures or by clear arguments, I am conquered by the Scriptures I have quoted and cannot and will not, retract anything, for it is unsafe and dangerous to do anything against conscience. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. So help me God, Amen." And follow ing Luther the Lutheran church Is to this day the chief guardian of the di vine authority of the Scriptures over and against human reason and com mandments of men. . She accepts the Bible as a book which is verbally in all its parts given by inspiration of God free from all error and deception and she proves ail her doctrines, sus tains all her practice with the one ar gument: It ht written. Again in the second place, the Lutheran church continues in the word of Christ because she accepts and teaches all of the Scripture as God's word, without detracting from or adding thereunto. Here Luther again led the way. When he at Marburg discussed with Zwinxle, the great Swiss reformer, the doctrine of I the Lord's Supper, Zwlngli wanted to prove by arguments from human rea son thnt bread and wine in the Lord's Supper only represents Christ's body and blood, and that the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper was incomprehensible and therefore unreasonable. Theu Luther took a piece of chalk and wrote on the table before him the words of Christ: "This is my body, this is my blood." And he defended these words against all reasonings of his opponent. Zwlngli wanted to nn- derstand before he could believe Luther believed the written word ev en when he did not understand it. And that has always been the great dividing point between the Lutheran church and all other churches. While other churches try to prove their doc trines by the argument: "In our opin ion, this is the teaching of the Bible," the Lutheran church simply points to the word which she accepts with out reserve and proves all her teach ings with the one powerful argu ment: "It is written, that settles it." And finally the Lutheran church continues in the word of Christ be cause she preaches and teaches the word of God only. Here once more Luther led the way. At hiB time preaching of God's word had become so to say a side issue in a church service. The main things were the many ceremonies and the reading of the mass. And all this was conduct ed in the Latin language, which but few people understood. Luther did away with this. He began to preach. He made preaching of. God's word, law and gospel, the main thing in the church service. He preached in the language of the people, so that everyone could understand and, greatest gift of all, he translated the Bible into the language of the peo ple so that everyone could read it for. himself, and learn the true way to.and that we were requested to show; salvation. And as it was thus our followinu of the Master, by obey- brought to light by Luther, the pure word of God prevails to this day in the Lutheran church. Here church services are not a make-up of cere monies which fail to feed man's soul. Her houses of worship are not lecture halls where you :.iay hear ni- tallts on political or social questions or on ."-::!! 'A V St. Matthew 'm all kinds of sensational topics. No, from her pulpits resounds the word of God. She preaches Christ and him crucified, as the saviour of man kind, and she requires everyone who speaks as a minister of the church to proclaim the oracles of God. Thus we see that the Lutheran church continues steadfastly In the word of Christ and that therefore she is in fact the true visible church of Christ on earth. And continuing In the word of Christ she knows the truth, for his word is the truth, even as he 8nyB: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one eoineth to the father but by me." Thus wo In the Lutheran church enjoy this great privilege that we know the truth, the whole truth in spiritual things, and have the di vine assurance of our salvation by God's grace, for Jesus Bake, through faith, without the deeds of the law, an assurance which we receive not from human reason or doctrines of men, but from the gospel of Christ and his sacraments. And the knowledge of this truth makes us free, free from the bonds of sin, free from the fear of death and hell, free from the power and authority of the pope, the bishop, the consistory, the Bynod, the presbytery, the conference or any man or human Institution. We owe obedience to no man and no Institution In spiritual things, for "One is your master, Christ, and all ye are brethren," says the Scripture. Oh, behold what blessings we enjoy. In that we know the truth and the truth makes us free. May God by grace always pre serve us these blessings and keep us steadfast In true faith to enjoy them. ST. MATTHKWS 111 IM II The Sunday school of St. Matthew s church was well attended byhe j young folks of the parish last Sunday i and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone ! at the session. Tho attendance was about til'ty and the collection $1.21. This is a good showing when one realizes that the number In this school are nearly all the very young er children of the parish. The teach ers were present on Sunday and were well prepared to instruct and inter est the pupils iu their care. The school is superintended by the Dean. Sunday being the twenty-third Sunday after Trinity, the special communion service aproprlate to the day was used. There was a large attendance present to listen to the many helpful things which Dean Shaw had to say and the Scripture thought for the service was taken from Phil. 3-17, and St. Matthew 22 15. The Dean gave instruction per taining to the communion service and his talk was along the lines of "Why, and Who Should Partake of the Bread and Wine". He drew illus trations from people who gave their reason for not partaking because they said they were not "good enough", going on to say that "we all fall short and are not goci enough", but because we are not is every reason why we should respect and enter In to this important service of the church. Dean Shaw pointed out iu a very impressive manner that all should have a profound belief in the taking of the bread and wine, the blessed symbols of the life and death of the Saviour, the pervioe being in stigated by Christ before he left earth to go to his Heavenly ho: e ing the Injunction, 'Do this In re - membrance of M The pleasliig manner in which the Dean presented his helpful talk assuredly was very beneficial to his listeners. Miri HODIST III IM II The special sermon by Rev. J. B i. -'..'".! 1 dMopul (liun li Cams at the Methodist church last Sunday was given In the evening and a good attendance was present. Rev. Cams had for his subject "Railroad ing", and his Interested listeners ap preciated the many helpful and practical 'suggestions along this line, lie selected his text from Isa. 4 3-19: "Behold, I will do a new thing I will even make a way In the wilder ness." The following is the thought brought out by Rev. Cams: "The text has a double meaning. Firstly, The Lord prepared a way for His raptlve children from Babylon to Jer usalem. Secondly. Preparing a way for all men from the wilderness of Sin to the city of Salvation. Points of similarity between earthly and heavenly railroading are In the first place both great enterprises, devel oped from small beginnings. Earthly railroading begun with the wooden tramway with a horse for an engine. Nok one-eighth of our nation's wealth is Invested In this gigantic Colossus. The United States has ov er forty per cent of the world'B rail way mileage, but only five per cent of its population and six and one-half per cent of its area. So the Gospel system began with the narrow gauge of Judaism, but now sings Its doxol ogy In every country. Secondly, there Is great effort put into the con- Christian struct Ion work. The surveying und route is roiifrdered In buildinK a railroad, the building expmsc i ulso a big Item. ften at 1100.000 per mile. The elevated and under ground railroads are construct 1 for .... ... . i . -r - 1 ' ' ft -; 't'-- f- tT". 7i tVi ' ..ill ' --. "v man's conven ence. Christ construct- ,a few of the staunch members who ed and trestled the great chaai of have given their time and money in sin at Infinite expense between arth j support of it. The battle we now and heaven. Many things In ourlhly ; have on is with the picture shows railroading not understood by t he i that's what the people want. Mov people Buch as flags and lanterns us- Ing pictures have of late been Intro ed for signals, the motions and whis- duced Into the city church in an ef tles, all of these only being known by fort to hold the membership togeth the railroader. Six to fifty-five rules !er, but this expense is too great for govern all concerned, and ho God has I the small towns. given us a "book of rules" the Bl- j -it Beems that If we make the bio. The Buc-ess of the eompn y de- ,-hurcb attractive, people will come. ' pends upon obedlenceto these rules. "But If the people would derive and thus In the church, promotion srjirltual benefit from the labor of comes to the efficient and successful. In conclusion, the following points of dissimilarity are important: In Gos- pel railroading this company never suspenos operations, train is never Methodist Church i late, and the workers receive full re- j numeration; there nre no strikes. and no privileged persons. All are on the same train. 'The rich an I noor meet toeether, and the Lord Is i the maker of them all.' " , The attendance at the Methodist Sunday school was comparatively ! large, there being 208 present, per haps not as many as might be expect ed owing to the Inclement weather. The previous Sunday the attendance was 210. This Sunday school among the other active ones of the town Is prospering, and the number of class es enrolled Is sixteen, four of them being the smaller grades, who me t in the ba.-rement of the church. There lis great ir'erest being shown in the j whole round of work and especially j so in the young people's classes, j which include a class of young iuen I w ho have for their teacher Mr. Arch lie Gregory, and the young ladies' class, whose efforts and endeavors i are directed by their esteemed teach- er, Mrs. W. S. Acheson. The nun -' ber present in the former class Sun ' day was twenty-one, this class wir. 1 nlng over the ladies In attendance by 'only one person. All the classes cf j this school have the' graded work, and great enthusiasm is being rnan; . rested in all the various activities, i The total collection for Sunday was about 18.50, and interest is growing. i,..liw;..,7-iJ!'?'try CIIKISTIAN ( HUM II The attendance at Sunday school was 102, compared with 103 a year ago Sunday. The offering amounted lo $7.05. The folder weather In th. morning retarded the attendance somewhat, bnt everyone was Interest ed In the lesson and some good marks were recorded. For the subject of his mornlntc sermon Rct. Young took the story of the young Jap who sat before a mir ror making grlmances and contorting; his body into Inhuman shapes, to Imitate, and as he thought, fo please, the bronxe Image of his god whlcb squatted near him. Previous to the announcement of his subject, Rev. Young offered up a strong prayer in which he pleaded with God to cause people to be more liberal with the milk of human kind ness to be more compassionate on unfortunates and to assist the poor and destitute people whenever possi ble. The scripture lesson was taken from 2d Peter. Before ho proceeded with his ser mon, the pastor asked for some def inite expression from the congrega tion as to whether or not the revival meetings should be continued over this week. The vote In favor wan unanimous. "The church," said Rev. Youn. i,V (luircli "is only as strong as the faithful few of its members. The picture show and other popular amusements .have made such an Inroad into the church lately that the keeping up of houses I of worship has literally devolved .on tj,e churches, they must have a desire to attend in their own hearts, else 'they wil dlerive no lasting benefit jfroir, lhat which ia good and upllft- ing. "Like the Jap Worshiper,' they should gct4efor a mirror and take a true inventory of themselves not that they should follow bis plan lit erally, but they should try to see themselves in the true light. And they should use a Bible for the mir ror, and use it for their image to pat tern after follow its teachings and make themselves as near like their Macter as possible." Rev. Young spoke of the appalling ignorance, both in and out Of the churches, regarding the Bible.' "Why, some people don't know where the new testament begins and the old testament ends." He said that people should not on ly be religious morally, but physical ly as well. Men should pray for strength to do their dally labors and to be ambitious. Tlie man that per forms his labor diligently and who gives bis best services to his employ er Is in a way religious. The same. Is true of the woman with her house work if she takes an interest In her home and works all that is necessary to keep it tidy, she has a good start toward reul religion. If she per forms her da ties in a slovenly man ner, the opoeite is the case." "You will find." said Rev. Youur, "that the church has been behind every movement for ' good In this world. And this Is the case all through history. The church has helped solve every difficult problem that bad for Its aim the betterment of mankind. But the great trouble with the churches nowadays is that there is not enough unity there is not enough loyal spirit among the men and women. The men make no apparent effort to stick together, and some of tbe women spend most of their lime gossiping about their neighbors. This brand of co-operation and spirit is not what builds communities on a solid rock. We should reach out the glad hand to the Blrangers when they come to town, and we should folow the same procedure when tbey leave town let tbem know we regard them as friends and that we wish them well. These are common chores that roust be worked out before tbe church aud