The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-10-22
HOLY APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
Rev. ii. NJ. Mill Argues for the Reunion
OF Observation-Disclosures of His Re-
marks.

Rev. II. NJ. Mill Argues for the Reunion
Of Christians-Substan of His Re.
marks.
Rev. H. NJ. Mill preached an excellent
sermon yesterday morning at st.
Davids church, Hyde Park, from the
words, "That thy way may be known
upon the earth, thy saving health
among all the nations" and said:
zone of the very last commands which
Christ gave on earth to his disciples
was, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth; go we therefore
and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the trinity, teaching
them to observe all things, whatsoever
l have commanded you This is the
grand charter under which a visible
church was at first constituted. It's
high functions were original here, but
to be transferred to all worthy sue
cessors. From this 1t must follow that
the main and primary object of the
church is not so much for the sake of
deriving personal benefits from 1t, as
for the evangelization of the whole
world, and, therefore, just as soon as
the church ceases to be a missionary
church, so soon will it fail to accom-
plish its true mission.
Missionary Zeal of Apostles.
There never was greater mission
ary zeal manifested in the Christian
church than during the time of the
Apn A1 20 = n1a,,
the responsible duty of bling divinely
appointed to evangelize a perishing
world. None of the Apostles thought
that their only duty was to work and
preach for Christ in the city or in the
province or the kingdom in which he
lived. Every man seemed impelled by
a holy zeal to discharge the functions
of missionary, and those days were
the most flourishing that can be found
throughout the entire history Of the
church.
"We are today living in an age Of
high culture and enlightenment; most
people are doing their own thinking.
The superstitions of the past are year
after year becoming less, and intelli-
gent thought is filling their places with
truth and earnestness. This steady
change is the lever of progress mani
Testing itself in civil society, the arts
and sciences, and in religion. This
spirit of unrest and change isa wonderful
pressure upon all Christian believers,
The fallacious teachings of hot-headed
reformers, who have long since gone to
their reward, are put to the test as they
never were before, and, consequently,
inch by inch yielding to the truth, and
the result is a general return to the
first principles.
Moving Back Toward Church.
"Perhaps nowhere else is this more
prominently manifested than in the
different denominations, which are
slowly but steadily moving back again
toward the church, and in my mind
right here, it Is where our stronger mis-
sionary efforts should be more largely
centered. In spite of the untenable po-
sition in regard to the church held by
these men, we can not ignore their in
fluence and moulding power upon the
hearts and minds Of men. They are a
force second to none outside of the
church, therefore our efforts directed
in this line of work, If successful, as
eventually must be, must be the grand
est and most glorious missionary
triumph in the church's history.
"That this work is a delicate and cri-
tical one is known but too well, but
this alone makes it deserve the more
serious and prayerful attention. AS to
the course to be pursued, will leave to
ADLER minds, men who have grown grey
in the service of the church to decide,
and having mapped out some definite
and practical line Of work in this direc-
ton, its optimistic and visionary Ideas
would be transformed into IA noble
reality-the grand realization of unit
ing the various phases of Christian be-
liefs into one grand family-the Holy
Anostolic church."