, 1876-07-09

n-,n ~! t''S 4ntercnan5e OF Christian cxDerf~
suees: several addresses were made, and thc
meeting was Of interest throughout. ~1'
In the evening Elder Jutkins prearhea and ~
II O'Clock tue campers were safe in bed. N' ~
of.a lnele VIII be three services to-day, mornfnr.
GG.c.noon G'sn anu evening. The Kcys. Aaron
nonnced to hold forth. ''""'
CHURCHISM.
DISSATISFACTION WITH THE MODERN wAY or
DOING THINGS.
To the Editor er The Trsoune
CHICAGO, July 6.-In these days, when It is 50
1asmonable to belong to some church, and when
alr. Moody and his admirers are met with In
many circles, it sets serious people thinking,
tWhich, oy the way, is n good thing) about the
foundation Of all this, and myself among the
number, nnd find it Is traced to certain doc
trincs contained in that old, good book, the
Bible. Being as desirous rs many others to get
through this life as we'll as can, to help others
to do the same, and when shut MP eyes on this
world to find myself In better, ! take up the
Bible, begin to study it, and endeayor
to discover whether I am on the
right track or not. As there are
many other persons like myaelf, who would like
to come at truth, but who have not time to
search for it, will write down few items
have found, aud they can read them II they
choose.
begin with Church-ism. Ihave not been able
to discover any directions nbout ch,lrcll-building
anywhere, except In the Old Testament, and
those are given to the Jews for tho erection OF u
tabernacle und necessary appcndagcs. We arc
not Jews, but Christians. In Acts i:13, we find
the disciples Of the Lord Jesus Christ Worship
ing IN an upper room; also, I. Cor. xvl:1D, We
find mention OF church IN the house OF Aquila,
that is. the Christian worshipers assembling IN
their house, ALSO. Colossans iy:l5, "salute
Ny1nphas and the church which is In lis houst;'
also, "to Philemon second verse, "and
to the church III thy house, From
followers q The u Lord JESUS chpist nat wore te
shipped In rooms Of houses. Buildings called
Christian churches were not at that time
erected, and the earliest record VIC have of such
buildings set apart for such purpose show that
they were OF plain, undccoruted architecture;
and until about A. D. Bus, after which time
Christianity having become prevalent In Rome
and other pfaces, the Roman BasiIicas were USED
for the Christian gatherings, aud churches Of
plain aud unpretentious architecture were
erected. ! do not hesitate to say that If the
money spent In decorating churches SO mere
triciously were applied instead to home-mission
purposes, or helping needy, struggling familics,
the sacrifice would be much more acceptable to
offerings and sacrifices as In obeying the roice OF
the Lorlf Behold, to obey Is better than sac
ritcc" l. Sam, Nv: e. sHe that giycth unto the
poor shall not lack, but he that hleth his eyes
"He that hath pity on the poor 1cndcth Unto
the Lord; and that which he hath given will He
pay him again, Xix, II. Poor persons do not
1cet comfortable in such grand buildings, with a
company OF oVcrarcsscd people, consequently
they do not go, and therefore lose the benefit Of
hearing the gospel preached to them.
A few dollars month given to some earnest
but poor Christian men, just to cover necessary
expenses would enable those men to go out into
the highways and alleys, and preach the gospel
drinking population, and thereby much good
might Sc douc among them. Also, If somc of
these fine cllurch-people would devote a few
more dollars to the paltry salaries ofso.nc OF
their female workers, who, to quote the words
of one Of them, "only get enough to starye
on," the number Of them might be increased,
or they might be sent out two together, Us thu
Lord Jesus Christ sent His; und presume He
was the great Exemplar. Luke T., l: When !
the poor ind that the Christians {profcssors, |
necessities. either they conclude tic religion IS
3 sham, Or else worth nothing intrinsically. It |
is just that sort described by the second chan !
ter of the general Epistle OF James, especially |
the fifteenth and sixteenth verses, "You say !
unto them, Depart III peace, bc &c warmed und /
flied; notwithstanding " give them not those |
things which ore nccd1ul to the body" Indeed |
the whole Of the chapter is one Of the best tests
whereby to know j real Christian. I know |
true Christians are few and fur between
but still firmly believe there is u such thing
Us Christianity, and that It is good thing, or |
there would not lie SO many counterfeits There
are many struggling parents with families, |
whom sickness or other adycrsity has thrown |
back In the world, who would be thankful for
1 little loaned assistance, and who would repay |
it, who arc told to apply to the Chicago Relief /
society, but they prefer to struggle on rather
.han do It, aud some who do Inu the relief can
Iot@+ %fx>+1 -
ladies would take the counsel OF I.
Peter, iii: 8, 1, S, adorning themselves with
rood works, instead Of adoruing themselves with
quantity OF superauous trinkets, gold brace
cts, and diamond crosses, and lewcled rings,
hey would find they hid little to spare
to help the poor these hard times,
nd in this world they would find the bless
ngs contained in the first three verses,
II Psalm iii. descending on them, and in the
sorld to come, when they stand before their
hose worldly ornaments were loss to them
or the sake Of Christ.
Mr. Moody, in one Of his recent addresses,
ave 9 test whereby people, might know they
serc Christians. he said, nWhen the world
asts you out, when they will have nothing to
% with you, and say that you do not belong to
hem, then you may know that you are counted
IS Christ's disciples" The Lord Jesus Christ
ays (Mark viii: ssh "Whosocyer therefore
s d. and sinful inf o Of linn
lso shall the Son Of Man, ashamed when
le cometh in the glory Of his Father with the
oily angels" Verify, If the Redeemsr ap;;
cared here at the present time, Us He did
vast proportion Of His professed
blowers who would be ashamed OF Him, aud
'ould rather pass by on the other side Of the
venue than be seen by the world speaking to
ccausc he formerly traded in the shoe business,
nd because he is not highly educated. At any !