Morning journal and courier., 1883-01-29
North hOhurch.

hSeV. LIT. daWeS preached discourse yes terday forenoon at North church from the words, Matt. v 13, 14, 15 and 16: 'eYs are the salt of the earth ye are the light of the | world" etc.
 The speaker, in opening. alluded to the | manifest dividing line between the Christian l and the worldling. There was no new divis- l ion line It is the old path of duty Christ taught. The question arises, What makes the difference between the two? 7? Dr. Hawes spoke of the trials and self-sacriice of the early Christians the promise of the eom- forter and the duties pertaining to the Chris tian life. Those who do his will are Chris tians. By nature men are in spiritual dark ness. The eye of faith is needed. There is something radiant in the world. It is the1 church of Christ. The injunction of ths1 Master is 'Let your light shine.'' The ac tivities of the church should be of such na- ture as to compel attention and make Gods presence felt. The church is to follow Christ. Its mission is a spiritual one. The church must stand as representative of Christ. and keep his commands echoing in the ears of men, to comfort, sustain and purify mems souls. The function of the church is to keep the world acquainted with ] Christ. In it's saltness is it's value, in it's 1 shining is it's beauty, in it's separateness from | sinners is it's power. Christ's example must ! be the guide. Christ was in the world, ming l ling in it's activities and duties, yet he was | not of the world. The church is in the world. It must not be of the world. It must not be indifferent to anything. It must reach the high and the low. It's aim should be pure and lofty-in the world but not of it. This thought was enforced by Dr. Rawes in masterIy words. The ground of actual membership is simply and always a radical change of heart. The regenerating act of the divine spirit makes church mem- Der in the sight of God and nothing else can. Men in various ways can secure addi- tions to the names printed in the church manual. The church is strongest when rest ing solely on an earnest following of Christ. The essential attitude of the spiritual work of the church cannot be affected by lapse of | time; no change of personal relation towards God follows. The signs of enlargement in the l intellectual sphere must not be confounded with evidences of an increasing disposition to love and obey God.
 
 follows:
 Let me speak now of certain praetises by reason of which this work is hindered, and then of one way by which it may be greatly promoted desire very much to secure for what l have to say not merely patient but 8 Christian hearing; to have in your case and in mine every thing subordinated to the desire to be taught from above. We are go- | ing through this life once only, and the l highest aim that we can have is not to be merely avoiding mistakes of conduct but to have our conduct always tell as powerfully as may be on the side of things pure and lovely, and of good report.
 Coming at once to particular thing, re- fer briefly to the subject of dancing. Per haps it is impossible for some minds now to take with respect to this matter 8 judicial attitude They have reached 8 certain con- clusion, and rest in it. Sometimes when the home training has been such that doubts ex- | 1st with respect to the practice, and some- times when there is an apparently immovable conviction that only one answer ought to be given, the question is asked, Do you think it is wrong to dance? as if it were possible to answer it by yes or no. There are harmless dances and, there are unchaste dances. If the word covered only certain graceful move ments which furnish pleasant exhilaration, if it were not suggestive of late hours aud unhealthy physical excite ment, and sometimes of an atmosphere with a moral taint in it, there would be no more occasion for calling attention to it than to game of croquet, or of lawn tennis. But this amusement is likely to be abused, and to work mischief, more likely than many other things. Masquerade balls.'' says Dr. Bushnell, ''are contrived possibilities of li- ceuse and belong to high society only when it runs low" The evils which sometimes result from some kinds of dancing real and terrible. They are indicated by the phrase already repeated, possibilities of license" There would be no danger of this kind if the sexes danced apart, but attempts in that direction are rarely made and never 1 succeed. With all my heart I endorse the statement of him who says: "We would defend the purity of many who are known to participate even in the round dance of mod ern society, regarding it as white as the driven snow ;" at the same time accepting these other words which quote from differ ent representative men. Fashionable dances, ss now carried on, are revolting to every feeling of delicacy and propriety, and are fraught with the greatest danger to morals" An eminent man, who is not big oted certainly in his views of Christian liber- ty respecting the matter of wine drinking, says: ''In regard to these, waltzes, polkas and such like, Christian ought not to hesi- tate an instant" Surely every woman, young or old, should cultivate a sense of the sacredness of her person and never invite nor allow rude shock of those instincts which God has implanted in her as divine gift and safeguard. An impropriety while one is conversing in an evening company does not instantly become preprie!y when someone says let us dance. It is to Chris tian mothers and to Christian daughters that I we must look for effective teaching of the truth that @ sense of propriety and the in stinct of modesty shall not be oVerborne by the dictate of fashion which has been the ruin of many. Is there nothing in the fact that the abolishment of such dances as have been referred to would make revolution in social customs, to indicate at least the possi- bllity of having gone too far in this direc- tion? Can it be right for any portion of the church. the Lambs bride, to give it's sanction to a practice that adds immensely to the diff ficulty of winning souls to Christi Leaving this point, let it be observed as general truth, that great harm comes from the prac- tical ignoring of the fact and meaning of temptation. Many seem to think that they are not susceptible to evil influences, that it is not possible for them to run into danger To do this or that, to go here or there, one says will not hurt me. And still there is a suggestion of an apprehension of another sort in the familiar saying, heard for ex- ample when two friends part, s'Take care of | yourself" How many fail to do that in the l truest sense? What kind of care does a | man take of himself when he goes needlesslv | with lighted candle among barrels of gun 1 powder? What kind does he take who l chooses to look upon scenes that are fitted to infame the imagination and kindle evil de- l sires It is 8 mere truism to say that con- stituted as we are it is more perilous to be in some places than in others And there is no merit but sin in running needless | risks. ''Watch'' is the word of I fha and mt hat opIx,