The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1895-03-09
WIDER FIELD NEEDED.
The Church Too Exclusive to Prop
erly Fulfill It's Mission.
Too Much Time Devoted To Caring for Vel
vet-loatpd Sinners-ro Reach the
MultItad, Tee hricIiitirs Must
ir Dropped.

Too Much Time Devoted to Caring for Vel
~yet-Coated Sinners-ro Reach the
Multithic Tr'hricIiities Must
Er Dropped.
In n late sermon at the Academy of
Music in New York Rev. L. Dewitt
Talmagc preached upon the subject,
"Ncw Ground" his text being from
Romans Nv. 20: Lest | should build
upon another mans fOnndation.' The
famous preacher said:
After. with the help of others, l had
built three churches in the same city.
and not feeling called upon TO under
take the Supcrhuman toll of building a
fourth church. Providence seemed to
point 20 this place as the field in
which | eould enlarge my work, and
| feel Il sense of relief amounting to
cXultation. Whercuuto this work will
grow | cannot prophcsy. II is inviting
and promising beyond anything | have
even touched. The churches are the
grandcst institutions this world ever
saw, and their pastors have no superb
ors this side of Heaven; but there Is n
work which must be done outside of
the churches. and to that work l join
myself for awhile. lest | build on an
other mans foundation"
The church is Il fortress, divinely
built. Now a fortress is for defense
and for drill, and for storing ammuni-
ton, but an army must sometimes be
on the march far outside the fortress.
In the campaign of conquering this
world for Christ the time has come for
an advance movement. for a general
engagement" for massing the troops,
for an invasion of the enemies'country.
Confident that the forts are we'll
manned by the ablest ministry that
ever blest the church, ] propose, with
others for awhile. to join the cavalry,
and move out and on for service in the
open field.
In laying out the plans for his mis-
~sionary tour, Paul. with more brain
than any of his contemporaries, or pre-
decessors, or successors, sought out
towns and cities which had not yet
been preached to. He goes to Corinth,
a city mentioned for splendor and vice.
and Jerusalem, where the priesthood
and Sanhedrim were ready to leap
with both feet upon the Christian re-
ligion. He feels he has q
special work to do, and he
means to do it. What was the
result? The grandest life of useful
ness that nan ever lived. We modern
Christian workers are not apt to imi'
tate Paul. We build on other peoples
foundations. If we erect a church we
prefer to have it filed with families all
of whom have been pious. Do we
gather a Sunday school class, we want
good boys and girls, hair combed, faces
washed, attractive. So a
church in this day is apt to be built
out of other churches. Some ministers
spend all their time fishing in other
peoples ponds. and they throw the line
into hat church pond and jerk out q
Methodist, and throw the line into an
other church pond and bring out a
Presbyterian, or there is a religious
row in some neighboring church, and
the whole shoal of fish swim of from
that pond, and we take them all in
with one sweep of the net. What 10
gained? Absolutely nothing for the
general cause of Christ.
The fact is, this is n big world. When
lin our ~schoolboy days we learned the
diameter and circumference of this
planet, we did not learn half. 1t is the
latitude and longitude and diameter
and circumference of want and woe
and sin that no figures can calculate.
This one spiritual continent of wretch
edness reaches across all zones. and if
were called to give its geographical
lo,nla,- Nxn,lj CIV II ua hnnnAad
on the north and south and east and
west by the great heart of Gods SYM
pathy and love. Oh, it is "a great world.
Since 6 o'clock this morning at least
so, 300 have been born, and all these
multiplied populations are to be
reached by the Gospel. In England, or
in eastern American cities, we are be-
ing much crowded, and an acre OF
ground Is of great value, but out
west 800 acres is u small farm,
and 10000 acres is no unusual pos
session. There is a vast field here and
everywhere unoccupied, plenty of roo
more, not building on another mans
foundation. We need as churches to
stop bombarding the old iron-clad sin.
ners that have been proof against
thirty years of Christian assault, and
80 rn, haa one ana
noint-bian< ;nvitation
II &c as tho,gb after a great hattie
,bera ware laft IN mn yyounded and
5,,nro an th. feld ,nnd tbrae srrraons
oavo all tbe;r time 10 three n,tiepts
under their charge. The major-gener.
al comes in and avs to the doctors,
..romo ont here and look Mt tho p.arly
IN oon drirr for l,cl, Of snrgical attend.
once No" saw the three doctors
and there and famine their M.
tien,s ,?rve have three importnnt case.
ior. and uo ora ottcnding Thorn and