The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-01-10
Week of PRAYER.

The services this week at the Congrega.
tional chapel have been well attended.
Last evening the subject was 1.-THE church,
Its purity and efficiency" Mr.. johnson
read a portion OF the 10Th chapter of Mat
thew, contains Christie injunction to the
disciples. DR.. f. V. N. Harwood spoke
briefly saying in substance The church
of Christ is the body through which God
expresses Himself to the world. The
purity of its members gives that voice pow
er. We are Christ's representatives our
commission is to represent Gods will as
expressed by Christ. We are responsible
as members of q church through which
Christ's kingdom is represented. This re-
sponsibility and the duties arising from 1t
were enforced at some length.
He was followed by Rev. Norman Sea
yer, d. ID.
Mr.. Seaver took up the theoretical
branch of the subject, saying in substance:
No one can look az the church as described
by the writers of the New Testament and
then enter one of our prayer meetings and
hear the confessions of sin, of GOODNESS and
backsliding without seeing that there is a
vast difference between the two. The car
ly church was glorious, powerful. How is
the church of the present day to be brought
back to that ideal. 1t will be brought
back, not through mans might but because
the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The
church will only attain that ideal when 1t
returns to the early christian word and
work. The preaching OF the apostles was
full of hope and jubilallon. 1t was the
hope of the coming of the Lord. The Epis-
ties are full of this hope, When the church
returns to that hope when We look for
ward to his coming in glory which all his
servants shall have, then the world will lis.
ten gladly.
Again. We shall regain that ideal when
we go back to the primitive work Of the
church. That work was not to gather the
cultured and refined into a close corpora
ton SO that they might enjoy all the bles-
sings of this life and of the world to come.
1t wa to go to the poor, the slaves, the
destitute, and there lay the foundation Of
the church. In that lay its power. When
the present church shall Increase its eff.
cheney it will be by going to the poor and
saving them. One Of the hopeful signs
of the times is that within the last fifty
years churches of all denominations have
come to see this moro clearly.
Last, the church will increase in purity
and efficiency when it returns to the primi-
tive worship. The most striking thing
about the early Christians was their CON
slant communion with Christ. When
Moses came down from c0mmun-
ion with God his face shown
with such exceeding glory that Done
could look on him. Now if among Us
there were not one Moses but many, if
thus we assembled here, from our faces
would shine a glory that woull be the
very shekinah of the Lord. When the
church returns to the word, work and wor-
ship of the primitive church, then shall be
heard a voice saying: Now the Kingdoms
Of the earth are becomr the kingdoms of
our Lord, and He shall reign for ever and
ever
Remarks and prayers followed from vari-
Gus members of the congregation. To-day
meetings will be held afternoon and eyon-
ing, both being children'r services.