Evening journal., 1890-03-17
YOUNG MEN In CHURCHES
MISTAKES OF CHURCH MEMBERS
ABOUT THE CHURCH.

OF the Churches.
Rev. William p swartz preached in
the Central Presbyterian Church last
evening on young Men and the
Churches" A large congregation, in
cluding many young men, listened to the
sermon with deep attention. The text
was from John, ia. II have written
to you, young men, because ye are
strong"
He said that this was addressed to the
young men by st. John, and for the
same reason he addressed them to night.
The young men are in power, in business,
in politics, and very largely in the church.
The speaker illustrated the part Young
men had with making the history Of the
nations and of religion. Rome and
Carthage were made by the brain and
Drawn of their young men, and in the
moral decadence of the young men, those
cities fell 1t may be that individuals do
not rise above the mass now as they did
then, but their hands are still on the helm
Of state; they form the strength Of busi-
ness.
"The efficiency of the church depends
upon the young men but they arc largely
outside of the church. have gathered
some statistics from local churches con-
cerning the proposition of young men
under 30 years Of age, to the whole mem
bership. / have selected as representative
churches, Brandywine, Grace and st.
Paul's M. E., Bethany and Delaware
Avenue Baptist, Central and West Pres
byterian. These churches have 3,125
mem bers, of which 375 are young men.
Should this proposition Of -
per cent, hold good in the
1000 Protestant church members
of the city there are 1440 young men. They
should be a power for good, although It
is too much to say that they are all actual
workers. A multitude Of young men are
not in the church. OF the 65, 900 popu-
lation of this city there are II, 500 young
men. Taking 700 of these to be Roman
/ Catholics, we have one church member to
seven non-church members. An officer Of
political club in this city told me that
of 250 MEMBERS only 10 belong to church.
| Compared with the statistics Of other
/ cities this city has a larger proportion Of
church-going young men.
| "We find ourselves brought to a ques-
tion Of supreme Importance. The nation
needs young manhood that is pure and
honest 1t is an important question to
young men themselves; a question OF
where they will spend their eternity.
What are the reasons which keep the
| young men from joining churchG / have
received numerous communications from
young men concerning this matter and
| have divided the reasons into three parts
| First, Those reasons which do not
have their root in objection to churches
and Christians.
Second, Those reasons which come
from unbelief in the church system anC
ministers
Third, Those reasons Of unbelief il
God
Under the first reason the young mer
say that there is plenty of time yet the,
prefer the Sabbath for pleasure they d.
not want to give up pleasure. The frsi
of these contains two false positions, fo
there is no time like the present, and 1t i
not necessary to experience the evil o.
the world, in order to make a bette
| Christian. They who prefer the Sabbat
for pleasure should take care that the
do not encroach on the Lords time
. advocate q half holiday each week fc
men that they may have recreation
J Those who do not join any church, bu
! attend different church each Sunday
thing short of spiritual suicide to becom
: church tramp.
'The second reason is that churche
; are not attractive and ministers are NJ
! original or sincere. There are surel
} some able ministers, and these peop
should listen to them. Some excus
= themselves on account Of the mistakes {
1 church members, half Of whom, they sa,
are hypocrites. These same people q
not refuse to associate with pretendel
elsewhere. One refers to certai
I church member and says i am just I
Z good as he is; if he gets to heaven, /
d get there Suppose the man
, the world is just as good as the christie
Q The latter gives up all hope of reachin
r Heaven by his own righteousness, bl
d has faith through the death of Chris
:, Are as many church members as nor
g church members in the penitentiarie
d among the rum dealers, among the pro
s titutes2 OF course there are good peop
d outside of the church. Most non-churI
members may not be criminals, but mo
criminals are non-church members.
philanthropists are not church member
I but most church members are philanthr
d pists. The church service is short al
st contains variety, but let it be remen
8 bered that no true church ever went in
competition with the circus and q
u theatre.
n "The third reason is that they do n
believe They say The same pow
which created us will keep us, and 'Th
power which placed us here, will care I
ID us, hereafter. Yes that power will he
II you, but you must give it obedience a.
y, faith. There are no higher qualities o
w Of the church than in it.
3, We ask you to look to yourselves
3. simplicity and earnestness. You ask
or a higher ideal higher than what y
hold up Christ as the noblest ideal o.
perfect manhood. and ask you to join
in working out this sameideal II is
IS the exaltation of Christ and not ourselv'
b, that the church is formed. The oml
I'd presence and sovereign grace Of q
he helps us, that we may be presented
him without spot or blemish. Thus It
that we ask you to come and sit with
at the feet Of him who said: Take
it yoke upon you, and learn Of me; for
ey am meek and lowly in heart, and
shall find rest for your souls.
Mr. Swartz will preach on You
Men and Crime" next Sunday evening
IN MISTAKES OF CHURCH MEM5El