, 1876-02-07


tho Government must change correspondlnRlY.
II not, tboro will be coiieion taaHtei, and fhit-
hfe. 4 Government "of tho people, for tho
t,orer 10 conducted successfully by tneana Of The
machinery and arp1stce6 which Hc1ye well Tor
government Of MI Arsb chief, Of IN A.latIc
dctpot. or oven 4 Enrojean limited constitution
ID to il. II tlo iifo cl,anees, tho body must
chspgo corre3pundinEly.
This, i think, IA tho thought lin It's application
% religion) whsct. JcHus mosnt TO convey rhen
nt,s vine lnto Old bottles. else tho bottles break
md The uo r,,nncsa ont and tho bottles ptr-
nil: bns they lut new w!no into now hostlcs
hrd t,oth are preserved" Ever tho religious
thought nnd l'fe Of tho world changes, gIovs,
that growth mud enlargement muat find adequate
ont%nrd c1rresaon, therefore, and external
appliances for ,dtoing t;a & work: !: M III
le @ e.se. @ religious 'I pplsnces, eeus otRasaizations
methods Of operation, j. ott0 ycars REo, or 1000
years ago, or any t'mo In tho past, auy more
than It will 70 think OF keeping to.day tho exact
aoeiai or political appliances and methods Of
5000 years ago, Loco ytats ago, CT any timo ,n
| Tho rast. Tho Kinds Of machinery, orghniza-
| tiona methoda, whlcll VIC want to-day ii, reiig-
| lon, ns ta everything clec, nre snch ~ adapt
themfciycs mont perfectly to our present coutli-
ticn and present Dctda. So Jesus taught: TO
oil best experience tcaches; 10 rcaaon teacl,es;
co. ~ time goes on, men muhs moro and moro
| clearly nee 1t 70 DC.
| This brings nc to the subject Of my tesmon,
| with tho vay vol opened for the thoughts which
wish to preeebt.
Tho ideal Church--nhnt isi II III the light Of
| what have already HAid, can a,nwur In q
word: II Is that Church. lit this or asy other
best meets the practical religious wants Of tho
timo and Tho people. Tho ideal Church for
Kon'o is d Roman Church ; Tho ideal Church for
! Greece 10 q Grcck Church tho ideal Church for
| EhrtNrG Ia n ErO1ieh Church tha ideal CHntrh
| for America is an American Church. do not
mean that thcec usmea arc anything. a Church IN
this country called an American church
vou1d to no better than ths zane thing rallied by
any other name. On the other land really ideal
Church hcra might be called bya foreign name
Crock! OF Noman. or Dutch Reform, or Abyssn-
| ian for that tnntter. Tho whole im1sortapce Ii,
thpt the thing be Americnn,-1 mean Just adapt
cd to OUT wants as Amcricans.-and, what is
moro still, Just adapted to the particular COM
munsty and peop!c among whom 1t ts.
But mnny toll ue with great conf'aeneo TINT
Ger: linlv that In tho ideal Christian Chnrel.
whih vas. founded BY Jesus. II only We
will 80 bnck md inquire precisely what
kind Of m Organization 1Ic perfected, We
shall bcycnd question havo tho ideal
have any Information, He did not organize apy
outward church At ait. Tho word tranelatet1
'chrn CHI" IN the New Testament IL tho Greek
word " "okklesla." which simply means an asseu.
togelher ns Iio could ia congregations larger u
smaller, and preached to them. THAT in all. II
was not urti long after JoHus' death that ans
Christian Church was orEanized. Neither dc
how churches should be ote1nized. There
Is nothing that think of in Al
His teachings thnt touches tho Question &c
squarely Oh doeB tho text before Us today and
this 20 Tar from prescribing any form Of church
} Organization Ct macllnoay, inys down the great
principle that no euch form Gun DO prescribed
which will be good for ANYTHING, beyond 3 certain
limited area aud time. Even the new Wine Of
htvc ncr.bss: :s5 % contain it, THO dlsc'rlce Of
J Jeeus unquesttonably organized churches Bnt
everywhere lher soem TO hare done thiB--Dot no
cort!ing 10 any prescribed rlan but simrly al
ways 10 such a form. mud way as would snteerve
the rolsgioua noeds Of the peor,e; Ia o.les
wo1dB. they always seem to hRvo acted upon tlit
t1oad principle Of Josus. For conaderabl,
In tho same channel. But at last it got. ont. ant
began to inquire, as Ws hear so many inquirin
, to-day: What was The Old plan? NhEt WITS th
! authorized. ordained pan? An inquiry vhicl
has awaya brought soligious staRuasion' fosAi'
i2attop, death.
SO. then, while admit that the idral Churc
for certain Earts Of England century ago ma
, have hccn. or ot least may have ,!arrrosimatet
tho Methodist Church which the Wcslcya found
ed, and the t!cnl Church for Ecolland sou ycar
neo, tho Presbyterian Church, which Jo1n kno
J founded, and tho ideal Church for our lnsith
fosefAtherB, the CalvapIstic Churches ~hlc
they founded In New England, h1ni the idc,
Church for Germany In the sixteenth oentur.
The church which Luther founded, and til
i .iaenl Churehcs for Antioch and Jcrnrsle1n az
: Epbesns fifty yfsts after Christ tlse Chuschd
; which tho Diecirlcs of Jesus founded there, IT
cannot admit lint any tne of theso was Sur
AZ would bc M ideal ChuIch for this America
1lerublio Of the nineteenth century. 1uitct
tho very adaptation Of thcFe churches to ii
: erecial nceda OF other times aud peoples tbs
: ours. makes them in somo measure at lese
Np8GR eN IN EYRn tho vim 0f NrW rt1if
ioua thought and life necda aud mrBt have ne
= = bottlca Of now organlzattnnA,. appointment
' methods Of expression, and w0sk to coHeepon
say it forever must be 70.
80 thcn The gfest question for Chr'st!d
people to ask In fhis aEe, AZ iu ovcry cthsr.
regards the Church, Ia. Uov can We most perfect
adapt it 10 the practical wants OF our tiue n
h usf How can We make 1t hett Fubsetye tt
+ highest interest Of this community III which.
Gods providence, 1t and we arc These,
: say, tIo the right questions to be aake
, BY every body Of Christian Church NON @
questions Wero foremost questions in the mine
"a Of a'l Christian people. as they labor I
10 build up clinl choa, whht vastly different result
>, no should 300 from tho results Which too ofte
VIC see nowl iiow vastly more efficient an
# living and truly Christian thug tho Chs'stfa
N Church would becomr than It only too tleguentl
= js to.dhyl With what swift and powerful! ste
II would march forward to tho high place il ougl
to occupy eyosy1hete AZ an fundamentally
N hiellest good to men! .......,.
1t With this thought tn all minds, how rapidly =
it should at lsas. Approximate an ideal Church!
81 And now permit me 10 outline, very briefly
~ least, como OF tho features which. 1t seemA
H. mo, The real ideal Church of to-day and Of
10 American civilization must wear. hese fc
4, turcs. ~ haye already intnAted, u1ust to son
T. extent. Change fur every different locality y
it. d,t1c,ont set Of circumstances under which Il
IN poope comprising tia Church fnd thcmaelv
ID placed. hit, after all, ! think there are aon
general fcptslrca which would 10 fnund 10 = real
9. Ideal Chuscll anynhoro and everywhere III III
III tnie and country.
~ And. FIRST, let me speak Of the ain. OF such
III Churtb
th Negatively, sho aim Of the ideal Church "
H not 10 lf-aggra'ldixcment. Helf.nEgsantilx
IN mcns, e!lhee ior lnau or institution. IL not 4
nj cosdlug to tho spl1it OF q true Chtlattahtt
Again, the nm Of the ideal Church. will not
ch growth in Weath.--oDly as Q secondary aud e
10 tirelY subordinate matsot. OF course do u
ye moan thaI II VIII not 'eca uaunes' sotoRll