The Progress., 1893-07-01


t. ado,;. The young people in the conSro-
cation bad habit 81 getting mp and 90
ing out during the service. At last the
preacher resolved to act. y youth gr"w
sleepy ono Sunday evening, picked Up
his coat and hat and stepped into the
aisle. The Young woman who was his
sweetheart had grown tired and gone ont
a little before. To his dismay, the min
lister stopped short in his discourse and
said: Young man, the young lady who
went out last is not the one You wish 10
see home. When she goes, | will let yOa
know. Sit down. In the future whcna
woman goes out will call on the proper
man To take care of her" lie resumed
his sermon. There WAS great deal OF
giggling and considerable wrath, but the
sermons were not interrupted again dur
ing the winter.
PROPHET VERSUS PRIEST.
1t is better even to create a sensation
occasionally that may give rise 10 adj
verse comment than To die or to yc%"-
tate The temptation OF the ministry of
today is to talk smooth things II lS 10
please the machines. Men object 10 BE-
ing hit They object to a personal meth
od of applying truth. We have societies
for supprcssing vice, but none for sup
pressing advice to the preacher. The
preacher is overwhelmed with advice,
and he is afraid not to take it. a minis
try of power is Il ministry of freedom, a
ministry that thinks for itself and acts,
as led by the spirit of God. The minis
ter who survives and Is of the church
triumphant will therefore he prophet,
not priest: leader, not an echo. He
will be led by the spirit of God, not by
the traditions of men. The keynote 10
his creed will be freedom of thought and
progress in knowledge. by their fruits
We shall know them" 4 ministry that
has no fruit is a dead ministry. 1t may
be rs orthodox rs the recent general as
sembly of the Presbyterian church, but
if it bear no fruit it might be as hctcr-
odox as the devil for I'LL that it amounts
to in the history of humanity. The or
thodox church IL the church that saves
men. The orthodox ministry is the min
istry of power unto salvation, and this Is
tho ministry of faith which is the true
successor of St. Peter Of old.
Second-It is certainty that this
church triumphant will be a saving pow
er. 1t will be known as church simply
because it saves the world. There are
two conceptions of church current to-
day. One is the election idea; the other
ia the commission idea. The one is an
aggregation of saints met together for
self edification and self enjoyment, gath
cred apart and ont of the world, not
even in it. The other is a community
army. sent forth in the world, TO live Ill
il. to die in il and for 1t. The one means
isolation, the other conduct. The one
means tradition. the other life. The one
that will survive is the one that saves.
The church that has no saving qualityis
good for nothing but to he cast out and
trodden under foot of men. ''Ye are the
salt of the earth The work of tho
church is the salvation of this world,
here and now-this whole world, man III
his entire relations And the church
which lives in this crowded center OF
modern life must be "A church that
touches with saving power every ramiti-
cation of life. Man is spiritual being.
He is a moral being. He Is physical
being. The church must save him
spirit. soul and body. If the church of
Jesus Christ does not thus touch man. 1T
must die and otherpowers take its place.
TRADITIONAL ToMBS.
Its first work must of necessity be a
Il -. for arrfl
emphasize the eternal, spiritual veritieS
and their triumph over matter. 1t must
bear witness to the truth thus-it must
present to thoughtless world the great
problem ever fresh. What shall II
profit man if he gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?" 1t must teach with
renewed emphasis from day to day that
a mans life does not consist in the
abundance of the things that he may
poss sess. There are plenty of dead
churches in our great cities, that art
dead because they have preached no sucl
thing. and they died because they die
not preach it. and wealth and pride anC
vanity have taken possession and eater
, them up, and the spirit of God has d
parted. The church that lives and su-'
wives will be one that leads back to tn
; Father the wandering child, the orphan
world. Ii must be full of zeal for man
II must be full of faith in man as 1T ha
faith in God. The life of Jesus show
|, boundless faith in man. The inhdelit
that refuses to believe in the possibilit
Of saving men is as mean and as bias
phemous as the infidelity that refuses a!
sent to the postulate of the Godhea6
: The worship of God is the service
!. man. if Jesus is to be believed.
J, The Protestant church if it must tr
? umph must go back to Catholicism an
. learn again the lesson which 1t has 10
= gotten, and it is that mans spiritual nj
= ture is bound up whether he will or NJ
= with his body. We must relearn Il
:, fact that there is a gospel of the bod
= that the body is an organ of'the sou
)" H.. +l,aro - "A ,,bvsical basis even of 81