Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-02-11
CHURCH WORK.
TEREsrING DESCRIPTION BY REV. VIM.
f. RAKER-

THE WAYS OF MOODY AND sANKEY-N
TEREsTING DESCRIPTION BY REV. WIN
E. BAKER
&C., &C., sc.
Last Sabbath evening, Rev. VIM. E. Ba
ker, at the First Presbyterian church con
Guided his description of the method O
church work adopted and found so sue
cessful by Messrs. Moody and Sankey, a
he heard them explained at the recen
Christian Convention in Philadelphia. II
consequence of the inclemency of the
weather the audience was not large. an6
the speaker urged those of his congrega
ton present, to take the first step in exem
plifying the views they heard by commune
eating them to those who were not present
The views he should give were those ex.
pressed by Mr.. Moody and other speakers
at the convention.
HOW TO READ THE BIBLE.
He first spoke of how the bible should
be read. In religion we are not bound to
know any other book but the bible, but we
are bound to know that book. Profession
al men have to consult many authorities.
but this is the one that is the only author
ity with the Christian, and seeing that it
is the only authority it should be the more
carefully studied We should not study
one part of it to the neglect of others, and
we should pay more atten ton to the Old
| Testament than we do. One does not put
a boy in the second book of Euclid who
has not gone through the first. We must
study the Old Testament to understand
the principle of atonement and reconcile
alton. And the Bible must be studied
from different points of view- The Spirit
does not promise to bless the philosophy,
but the aoord which is the truth of Cod
We should study parts of the Bible which
are not familiar, especially the minor
prophets of which the general reader is so
ignorant. One who goes into them will do
as much services to the cause Of religion as
the explorations of Livingston in Africa
did to the cause of information. One OBJ
lection often made is shat the Bible is too
old but there is nothing that is fresher
than this book if you go to the marrow of
it. Paul commends us to God but he adds
'sand to the word of his grace" You are
not safe from error unless you study the
word of God. You must also have faith
in this version of it which we have. 1t is
the opinion of the wisest men that the sub
stance of the truth of the word of God is
contained in this English version. Com
mentators are very good but it is always
comfort when, in taking a number of pas
sages and studying them out we find after
wards that we have found out for ourselves
ten out of twenty that the commentators
give us the explanation OF it.
We must depend on the teachings of the
spirit in our study, and not try ourselves to
place the passage in another light. We
must not study it in the blue light of Pres
byterianism, nor the red light of Method
ism, nor the violet light of Episcopalianism,
but in the light given by the spirit Of God.
ALI can write a commentary on the Bible
by living it; living the written word of God.
Christ, in arguing with Satan on the noun
tain, only said, cit is aoritten." Satan can
play ON our feelings, but he cannot change
plainlyprinted Bible. lift is.too large you can
put it under your arm. A Christian who
walks five miles with Bible under his
arm breaches a sermon five miles long.
Men have been led to conversion by seeing
Christian with a Bible under his arm.
The careful reading Of the Bible is impor-
tant--not such reading that when you open
it again You will not know where you left
off, as Mr.. Moody said he dug the ground
for planting turnips, so carelessly, that he
had to put stick in the ground to show
where he left off. The reader should be
looking for something particular. Mr.
Moody said he always took some paraleu-
lar subject, such, for instance, as ASSURE
ance, Love, the Promises. Mr.. Moody said
he had fed for months on The promises of
God. When the Chicago fire took place
gentleman was condoling with him on his
loss He could not feel that he had lost
anything, and said, s'Why, have lost no
thing. Everything is mine. Do you not
remember, He that overcometh shall in
herit all things.'" He said of Grace that
he had studied it in the Bible until he could
not help talking to people about it. In
studying the truth, Mr.. Moody said he got
lighter and lighter until he almost felt as
| if he could fly away. It is the truth that
makes man free, and when we hear it one
should have two pairs of ears-one to hear
for ourselves, and the other to hear for
other people, that he may tell it,.
NON-CHURCH GOERs.
| How to get hold of non-church goers was
| the next point noticed. 1t was necessary
| for the sake of the church. The children
of church do not always remain with it.
| They grow up and separate, and to fill the
| vacancy, the church must get hold of out
J siders. If we want these outsiders we
must prepare our homes for them. They
must be made Of the proper spiritual tenn
| perature. Some prayer meetings are SO
| cold that the birth Of a sinner at them is as
rare an occurrence as the birth of the Sia-
mese twins. That must be remedied. Then
| there ought to be a Misunderstanding commit
tee, and Button-holing committee. Mr..
| Moody said the secret of his success in Chi
cago was working in that way. Some
members of his congregation agreed to band
themselves together as evoke fellows, .
and on Sunday evenings they met at
O'Clock and went out two and two into the
saloons and streets and gambling houses
with invitations to come to church. Says
Mr.. Moody, II never failed to get an au-
dience." Mr.. Moody says you must not
suppose that all non-church goers are PRO
digals, though that is popular idea. AT
his church in Chicago, out Of lob sermons