Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-04-16

| OCEltc, uTSo CdSU OuU GH0 D0dm OuU Oh
thine own eye" AS is the pulpit so
is the pew. A secular ministry makes
secular membership. The amuse-
ments which we are supposed to un-
quali6edly condemn are now the COM
mon practice of many who claim fell
lowship with the people of God, and
some say "Times have changed" But
God says "My people perish for lack
of knowledge" Pastors should in
struct the people concerning those
things which pertain to Christian life;
they should be grounded in the word
of God. His preaching should be in
telligent. People need instruction
rather than denunciation. If the
minister is indefinite in his teaching
and secular in his manner Of life, his
congregation will become heretical
and worldly. He should be firm in
his stand for the right. The example
Of Aaron while Moses was up In the
mount is instructive. And Aaron
said, "Let not the anger of my Lord
wax hot; thou knowest the people
that they are set on mischief. For
they said unto me, make us gods
which shall go before us. And I said
unto them, whosoever hath any gold,
let them break it off. So they gave it
me; then cast it into the fire and
there came OUT this calf" If the
church of God shall thus turn to mis-
chief, the product of their labor will
be nothing better than 'sthis calf"
You recall how that after the ark Of
God was sent back by the Philistines
the people started with it, loaded on
a new cart, to bring it to Jerusalem.
David, the king, shouted and the peo
pie rejoiced. Suddenly God struck
one of the attendants dead. Then in
terror they hurried the ark into the
house of Oded- edom. When will
Gods people learn that Gods work
must be done in His own way? Anime
lech thought to mitigate his wicked
ness by being crowned in house Of
worship. "But holy places do not
sanctify wrong, nor the endorsement
OF preacher neutralize evil" When
pastors unite against common evils
the churches will have no alternative
but to do according to the word of
God, or to have their candlestick re-
moved out Of it's place. Is it possible
that many of the evils which now
exist in our churches and which have
much to do in destroying their spirit
ual life, could exist were the preach
ers true TO their mission? A ministry
endued with power, unmindful Of
temporal concerns, and burning with
holy zeal to evangelize the world, is
the real want of the times. Such
ministry would recall the church to
her high mission, disentangling her
from the meshes of worldliness and
lead her TO the swift subjugation of
mankind. Because the amusements
we are considering are the chief pro-
motions of worldliness in the church,
it is the duty of the ministry to preach
against them. We should carefully
point out their real character and
tendency, and candidly give the rea-
sons for our rules prohibiting mem
bers from indulging in them. Some
seem to think if they preach Christ in
all His fuIness there will be no need
TO trouble over these minor matters.
This is a mistake, neither Christ nor
His apostles adhered to this princi-
pie. 1t will always be necessary to de-
nounce sin and expose the snares laid
for unthinking men. Much wisdom,
however, is needed in presenting this
veXed question. Some preachers are
SO unfortunate as to arouse in their
hearers a dislike Of whatever they
advocate and sympathy for what
ever they condemn. 1t is possible to
present this question in such an I'M
reasonable way as to disgust the peo-
pie with both the preacher and dis
cipline, and make them feel just like
going and doing to relieve their feel
ings. DR.. Buckley says, ''Indiscrimi-
nate denunciation is very common
and works no good. The use Of per-
sonalties and epithets on this as on |
on all other subjects, should be avoid
ed. Another grave error is the wait
ing for the crisis to denounce the |
evil.' The question of amusements
should be candidly discussed before
the crisis comes. We should preach !
against the harmful clearly firmly and |
persistently, yet calmly and in love.
The preacher should at the same time |
clearly indicate the more excellent |
way. A religion of don't is not helpful,
but rather ''This is the way, walk ye
in it. Come with us and we will do thee |
goOd.N The preacher should en-