The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-03-30
zee rEsr OF cHR1s11AN1rY.
Conditions That Try the Sincerity of Church

week
ices, and notwithstanding there seemed to be
every discouraeemeus TO good attendance, the
meetings were large from the worry start Yes
terday the evangelist and the weather seemed
70 have come to terms, and the sun shone bright
IL all day. furnishing dry sidewalks and pleas
ant atmosphere. The result was marked in
crease in the number of his hearers.
In the Second Church, in the after
noon many auditors were compelled to
stand and the full CAPACITY of Tomlipson Hall
was tested for the first time in the evening. On
account of the increasing attendance IN the att
ernoons the services at o'clock VIII hereafter
be held in the First Baptist Church, which, by
reason Of its galleries. viii seat larger number
The iadies' prayer Getting. at 2l5 p NJ, will Do
result OF the first weeks services has been very
encouraging to both the evangelist
and the churches. From twenty, five
20 fifty have daily signihed their
Intention OF starting new life, the entire num-
Der during the week being about two hundred
and fifty. These professions have occurred gen
orally az the after meetings, which are held at
the close of the evening services.
The ladies' prayer meeting. yesterday, az the
Second Presbyterian Church was led Dy MISS
Daisy Burgess. The attendance was large
Miss Burgess addressed the meeting on the
power of and necessity for conservation Souls
could not be into the church as long as
number of ladies offered prayer. and others read
short quotations from the Scripture
Mr. Mlllss subject at the afternoon meeting
was, What do ye more than others4 mat
being . quotation from the 9Th chapter OF
Matthew "A few years ago, said the avange-
list. II overheard young man say. wish
people would stop asking me ii 1 was CHRIS
fian They ought to know i member of
church So they should. But how were they
going to find IL out without they happened to be
present on communion Sunday or unless they
looked over the church rolls2 Is there snre
way my friends, of telling ChristianE If there
is Tot, there is of any of rs being Chris
tiaus If Christianity don't make you different
person it is of no use to you Jesus Christ new
er uttered keener words than those In our text
They ought to go right home to our hearts.
What do ye more than othersY In what respect
do We differ from those who not Christians2
How about your personal purityF once heard
of an actor, who pronounced the words u heaV-
ens!' and ss ne aid so ne pointed down 10 me
earth. and That is the way with
some church members They are say
ing % heavensp with their lips and
pointing to the earth by their lives. But
purity even is not necessarily indication that
You are a Christian. There are some people not
church members who would not do an impure
would lose their RENT hand rather than do dis
honest thing, and they were not mem bers OF the
church. Now. what IS the difference between
them and the followers of Jesus Christi The
difference is that the good fruits which in their
character are not natural product, as are the
fruits from character like that OF Jesus
Christ They are beautiful cranes from bar
kren vine They gathered-perhaps, from
surroundings from parents or from education.
They are such not vitality connected with
character. Perhaps they arise from desire to
be polite But that purity which is produced
in Christian is a natural products II is vitality
connected with a principle within him. Take 1T
away from him and you take his life The man
who is a Christian does right because Jesus
Christ did right The spirit need
as Christians is that which was
displayed ny those who were cast into
fne fiery fnrnance When the King tried to
brighten them into worshipping idols they said,
20 King. God is able TO deliver us We will
net bow down to the images set before u.s. A
Christian can't afford to make any compromise
with sin. He can't sacrifice purity to expedl-
ency."
rious manners in which Christian should show
that .e was pure One of the hardest places to
exhibit perfect Christian spirit was in business
associations and vet it could be done. He
once knew a devout Christian who was the pro-
prietor of a large summer hotel, and If there was
i any place where mans purity was tested 1t
was in a place like that He had seen this mans
temper tested time and again in the sorest man
ner. almost as those were tested who had been
cast into the fiery furnace, and Yet he was never
overcome. de woula smNe; ana snlie WnlIs
provoking him to the very limits OF
human endurance When asked how he man.
Eged 10 keep his temper so, he said: "Oh, you
cant hurt dead man much"
Then there other business associations
which tested a mans Christianity. When the
evangelist was in Burlington. Vt, man came
mp to him and said, "How much moro do you
expect of a sinner than a Christian He then
went say that although he was not mem
Der of church. be bad complied with the evanRe-
lists request. and was closing his store every
evening at Z o'clock. Next door to him, and en-
gagged in the same line of business was
member of one of the prominent
churches, and he had not =, closed
gone some smaller places than this, said the
preacher. land some even of this size, and have
requested the merchants to close their stores in
the evening in order that their employees might
come out, and then people would say to me,
There's no need of asking and So for he's
jew, or he's Catholic" But have never had
Jew yet to refuse any such request. and no
one ever asked Catholic to do what others
were doing that he did not do it,
Another way show that you were Chris
tian by patience and self-control, and then
again by brotherly love and forgving spirit
The latter was the way In which you could al
most invariably tell Christian. When man
would forgive every enemy he ever had had,
you might depend upon IL that he had become
Christian The forRiving spirit displayed by
Christians had its effect upon Others. The VEN
cradle Dr. Hopkins. of Auburn, N. Y. had
brother in-law, physician. who was skeDtic,
and who took every opportunity TO seorn at re-
lgiou. One day he made a wager with another
man that he could provoke any Christian
living into act that was unchristian.
The man with whom this wager made Sc
lecied Dr. Hopkins as the upon whom the
atheist was 70 try his provoking power. The
physician waited until he was making his annual
settlementnwith his bro:her-in-law, and then ne
pcrpnsey lied about his part Of the business
and falsifed his accounts. DR.. Hopkins tried
70 show him his error, but at last he up and
said: MAN, you're liar l won't have you in
my house. Get right out of here.n The ply
stefan retired, feeling rather badly over the
fact that his brother-in-law had called him such
a hard name, but chuekiiug to think that he had
showed that Christian was no better than
any other man. But that night at midnight he
was aroused by rap at the door. On going TO
see who his visitor was he amazed to con-
front DR.. Hopkins. whom he had left so indig-
nant in the afternoon, but whose face wac now
wet with tears. oh brother. said he, Il didn't
act this afternoon as I should have acted.
didn't act as my Savior would have acted to-
ward you: didn't act as though loved you, and
/ want You to forgive me-" The atheist stood
speechlesa for moment, and then che drew the
old man into the house and asked him to pray
for him. that no might get little Of the grace
that would cause him to act like that
Another way TO show that man Chris
tian was by the trust which he'displayed in God.
Mases had said that he would rather suffer
affection along with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures OF sin for season. Some
times in getting on board railroad train