Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-07-06

caust.c application at all times TO men
and to soaiety. If the salt have saving
power, it must be rubbed in. 4 disserta-
ton about sstt viii never accomplish the
work. An exposition of the theory of
mustard plaster will not cure any man
it must lie put or him. So the church
that triumphs must be the church that
preaches-that applies practical gospel
Of salvation TO men as men are today, to
society as it is today. to the city as it lies
in all its darkness, in all its squalor and
wretchedness and sin and crime.
sEysAToNALIsM.
Third-Such church triumphant viii
be a church that returns to apostolic
sympathy in method. BY this do not
mean that we are TO wear sandals, as the
apostles did. do not moan that we are
TO copy all their ceremonies or all their
forms. But do mean that we are 10
put in practice in the nineteenth CEN
fury the apostolic spirit with the apos-
/ tolic ideal before we can hope for a
church triumphant. The idea Of Paul,
/ the greateet Of all the apostles, was
simplicity itself He took the cue from
his Masters lips. "Ye shall know them
/ by their fruits" The method of Paul
was the method Of success, and it is in
/ startling contrast with some modern
/ ideals. The secret of his success is found
in this simple statement of his methods.
Il am become all things to all men that
may by all means save some" That is
10 say, the apostolic method of church
+ Feet csfqv.ffsx.a gf the f,.a
ditions Of the ages and the intensest per-
sonal convictions on the altar Of the sue
cess Of the mission. Paul was IA tradi-
tionalist He was a pharisee Of the
pharisees. Yet he laid aside his precon-
ceived ideas Of church life and church
methods upon the altar of this consum-
ing passion for the salvation Of men. He
sunk his personal preferences in his burn
ing desire TO save men at all hazards.
His education and his training were ira
ditional and conventional 10 the last de-
gree
The cheapest way Of going is the easy
going way. the way Of laziness and Of
sacred and Of solemn traditions. The
church needs TO pray today as 1t never
prayed before. Lord, help rs TO bury
our past, to slay our own ideas of sue
cess and lay them on the altar Of today's |
consuming needs The way to con-
duct church affairs is the way that I
saves men. The apostolic method Of I
church work implied in the highest de- /
gree sensationalism, and in my humble |
opinion the church that Will triumph in /
the city in the future will be a church |
that in the best sense is sensational. ] /
do not mean church that descends 10 1
buffoonery and dog shows and the like,
but do mean church that does not |
know what the word dignity means. +
Dignity is Of the devil. 1t begins with I
the same letter. Dignity is the one (
devil that is in the way Of the success Of 4
hundreds of our great city churches To-
day. The apostle made a sensation
wherever he went He could not help /
it. The gospel he preached was sem
sation. He turned the world upside
down. He stirred men up They ar
rested him, they prosecuted him, they
drove him ont. He preached the truth
as it was in Christ, and the truth in
Christ cuts the world like a two edged
sword.
Jesus Christ himself was a sensation
alist. His methods were sensational,
his life most intense in its dramatic as
poets. Never man spake as this man.
They We're struck with his word, with
his manner. They We're thrilled. He
spoke not as scribe or pharisee. He
spoke with an awful emphasis as one
with authority. He spoke as the few
prophets Of the Hebrew race had spoken,
with centuries intervening between their
voices His life was series Of sensa-
tons between Cana and Calvary; his
series of sensations-the heal
ing of the lame, the halt, the blind, the
raising of the dead He broke the ira
ditions of the elders. He broke the Sab
bath. He consorted with publicans and
sinners. He reached and stirred the
masses Of the people. He was of them.
He lived with them. Even when they
deserted him he loved them, lived for
them and died for them still.
TEN SUICIDES A WEEK.
The apostolic method implies also con
secrated common sense or the adapta
ton of methods to the needs of men and
times. The Apostle Paul saw an awful
need He stood in Greece and saw her
in her wretchedness and sin and help
lessness. He saw a world that lay in
darkness. He heard the sad cry Of the
lost on the mountains bleak and bare.
sick and helpless and ready to die-lost
in wild speculations about the soul and
human life and human destiny. As he
gazed thus into the face of a race drift
ing without a compass there was inspi-
ration enough to kindle the great resolve
in his great soul, II will be all things to
all men if by all means | may save
some" In Greece will be a Grecian;
in Rome. a Roman; among slaves, a
slave. | will preach in the market place.
| will stand ON the Acropolis. | will
preach in the synagogue-anvwhere