The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-02
THE PULPIT'S DUTY,
profess.

The thought recurs, how far may the Chris
tan pulpit go in temporal affairsg how far fol-
low sin outside the pews9 Is the duty of the
church done when the minister whispers
sweet words of comfort to the elect, and does
nothing to save the lost, either by counsel or
warning2 Is the feast of Belshazzar to go on
to its disastrous climax, without the finger OF
God appearing against the palace WALTZ In
lei, a servant of Coda preacher, If you
please-was not afraid to stand up in the
midst Of the jewellers and interpret the direful
sentence. 1t was Belshazzar a man who
despised the church, had nothing to do with
it, and was in no wise amenable to it by any
pledge or obligation he had taken upon him
self, who was cast out of Babylon and suffered
the destruction of his city The great
head of the church seems to have interfered
with temporal affairs then, and to have over
thrown kingdom whose 'politics" he did
not sanction.
heavens and struck down one high in Office, a
man of influence in the government, but
whose life was not what it should be. The
man, Saul, of Tarsus deputed to go down to
Damascus to bind the heretical Christians,
was stricken blind, and great light shone
round about him The greatest politician of
his day was cut down in the zenith of his
power.
The Savior of men has been compared to
shepherd, that is gentle with his flock,
tenderly caring for the lambs, and leading
them beside the still waters and making them
to lie down In green pastures. Yet it was
Jesus, the gentle, the redeemer Of men, who,
turning aside from His followers, said: 'Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for
ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte,
and when he is made we make him two-fold
more the child of hell than yourselves" These
are strong words, and, doubtless, the scribes
and Pharisees did not take kindly to this ''un-
warranted" interference with them. They
must have complained that He did
not confne himself to ministering
to the saved, feeding them the bread o. life,
and making things pleasant to such people
who from any cause had allied themselves
with the church.
Throughout the Bible we may find instances
wherein the prophets of God left the churches
and went down among the people to warn and
expostulate with them, condemning their sins
unsparingly, and pronouncing the wrath of
God against them unless they abandoned
their iniquities. The destruction of Tyre and
Sidon, of Nineveh and of Jerusalem, was pre-
dcted because of the sins of those in high
places. The political and social sins of princes
and kings were proclaimed against in number
less instances. Babylon was given over to the
sword of Cyrus not because Cyrus was a
church member, or because it would please, or
edify, or comfort any who held membership
in the church. or who, as interested outsiders,
were solicitous lest something unwarranted be
done.
1t would seem, therefore, that the preachers
of to-day have precedent for 'meddling with
politics. if speaking against advertised sin
can be so termed. 1t has not yet come to be
generally understood that the church dare
not rebuke sin except in general terms. If
so, then may any body, fresh from liaisons
and RIGHTEOUSNESS enter even the sanctuary and
kneel at the altar TO partake of ''the body and
the blood" for no man could say him nay.
We take it that it is the man of Gods duty
to cry down sin wherever found; to speak
against not only murder, but the murderer.
Certainly there is ample warrant for such
action, and the safety of not only the church
but of society, as distinguished from barbar
ism, is dependent upon the pulpits work
against sin in all the world.