Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-03-08

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churches whose buildings might be
worth 5000, 900, who are not averaging
five new converts year and doing less
good than many log cabin meeting
house with tallow candle stuck III
wooden socket and a minister who has
never seen a college or known the diff
ference between Greek and Choctaw
We need churches to get into sympathy
withthegrea outsideworld, and letthem
know that none are so broken hearted or
hardly bestead that they will not be
welcomed. MOP says some fastidious
Christian; ~ don't like to be crowded
in church. Don't put any one in my
pew. My brother, what will you do III
heaven? When a great multitude that
no man can number assemblies, they will
put 90 in your pew. What are the Sc
lect few today assembled in the Chris
tian churches compared with the
mightier millions outside Of themI
AT least 1000, 900 people in this clus-
ter Of seaboard cities, and not more than
200, 900 in the churches Many Of the
churches are like hospital that should
advertise that its patients must have
nothing worse than toothache or run
arounds," but no broken heads, no
crushed ankles, no fractured thighs.
Give us for treatment moderate sinners,
velvet coated sinners and sinners with
a gloss on. 1t is as though a man had a
farm Of 5000 acres and put all his
work OH one acre. He may raise never
so large ears of corn, never so big heads
of wheat, he would remain poor. The
church of God has bestowed its chief
care on one acre and has raised splendid
men and women in that small ihclo-
sure, but the field is the world. That
means North and South America, Eu-
rope, Asia and Africa and all the is
lands of the sea.
Something to Know.
1t is as though after a great battle
there were left 80, 900 wounded and dy-
ing on the field and three surgeons gave
all their time to three patients under
their charge. The major general comes
in and says to the doctors, Come ont
here and look at the nearly so, 600 dy-
ing for lack Of surgical attendance. "
NO." say the three doctors, standing
there and tanning their patients; I'VE
have three important cases here, and
we are attending them, and when we
are not positively busy with their
wounds it takes all our time to keep the
flies off" In this awful battle Of sin
and sorrow, where millions have fallen
on millions, do not let US spend all our
time in taking care Of a few people, and
when the command comes, go into the
world" say practically: "No; | cannot
90. I have here q few choice cases, and
/ am busy keeping of the flies. " There
are multitudes today who have never
had any Christian worker look them IL
the eye and with earnestness In the ac'
ceutuation say, "Come!" or they would
long ago have been in the kingdom. My
friends, religion is either a sham or
tremendous reality. If it be a sham, LEI
US cease to have anything to do with
Christian association. II it be a reality,
then great populations are on their way
TO the bar Of God untitled for the or
deal. and what are we doing?
In order to teach the multitude Of out
siders we must drop all technicalitie'
out of our religion. When we talk t(
people about the hypostatio union ant
French encyclopedianism and erasti
anism and complutensianism, we are al
impolitic and little understood as II
physician should talk to an ordinary
patient about the pericardium and in
tercostal muscle and scorbutic symp
toms Many of US come out OF the theo
logical seminaries so loaded up that W.
take the first ten years to show our peo
ple how much we know, and the mex
ten years get our people to know a
much as we know, and at the end fint
that neither of US knows anything as WI
ought to know. Here are hundreds o
thousands of SHINING. struggling and dy
ing people who need to realize just on
tbing-that Jesus Christ came to saw
them and will save them now. But W
90 into a profound and elaborate defni
tion of what justification is, and afte
! all the work there are not outside OF tn
learned professions 5000 people in tn
United States who can tell what justin
cation is Twill read you the definition
justification is purely forensic act
the act of judge sitting in the forum
in which the Supreme Ruler and Judge
who is accountable to none, and VIII
alone knows the manner in which tn
ends of his universal government ca
best be attained, reckons that whlc
was done by the substitute, and not o.
account of anything done by them, bu
purely upon account of this graciou
method Of reckoning, grants them tn
full remission of their sins. "
The Multitude OF skeptics.
Now. what is justification? Twill tel
you what justification is When SIN
ner believes. God lets him of. One sun
mer in Connecticut l went to a larg
( factory, and l saw over the door writ
ten the words, "No admittance. "
entered and saw over the next door
mo admittance. " OF course l er
tered. / got inside and found it
pin factory, and they were maxim
pins, very seryiceable, fine and usefr
pins So the spirit Of exclusiveness ha
practically written over the outside doc
of many a church, "No admittance.
And if the stranger enter he finds pra'
tically written over the second dool
mo admittance, and If he goes !
over all the pew doors seems writer
"No admittance. while the minist'
stands in the pulpit, hammering out h
little niceties Of belief, pounding out II
technicalities Of religion, making PIN
In the most practical, common sens
way, and laying aside the nonessentia
and the hard definitions Of religion, 8
ont on the God given mission, tellin
the people what they need and whe
and how they can get it
Comparatively little effort as yet hi
been made to save that large class
persons in our midst called skeptics, an
he who goes to work here will not
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