The record-union., 1897-06-28
He PLEADS FOR MORE SALT.
REV. MR.. BUCKS DISCOURSE
DELIVERED LAST EVENING.
Peoples Gospel and Praise Service
at the Sixth-street Metho-
dist Church.

AT the gospel and praise service at
the Sixth street NJ. z. Church last ev-
ening the pastor, Rev. NJ. D. Buck,
preached a sermon on the necessity for
more Salt in the nature Of the aver
age Christian.
rejoice, he said. in the privilege of
addressing you tonight on a very I'M
portant subject. First Of ALL [ call
Your attention to a statement of our
Lord. 1t is found in Matthew BIB,
Y e are the salt Of the earth" 1t IS
said that salt and sunlight are the two
great essentials which keep the world
alive and pure. Jesus said to his fol-
lowers. Il am the light of the world. :"
Ye are the salt of the earth" Evil
IDENTIFY then we are saved not to be
passive, but active. We are to eXer-
else an Influence for good on the world.
In harmony with this we read in Gal
atians 5:22, that one characteristic of
the fruit of the Spirit, that fruit which
Is to abound in the life of every Chris
tian, one characteristic is goodness"
That word means benefcence. Bene-
ficence is active goodness. 1t is
strong word for active and abundant
helpfulness.
When our Lord said. eye are the salt
of the earth" he implied three things:
First, q corrupted condition; second,
moral antidote; third, the efficiency of
the means used. Evidently there is
not enough effective salt in this city,
not enough to prevent corruption
spreading. There is not enough to pre-
vent a nest of corruption being estab-
hshed next to the Jewish Synagogue
Not enough to prevent the opening Of
another popular place of indecency on
X street, within the last few weeks. Ev-
identity from the reports of the meet
ings of our honorable Board of City
Trustees corruption is rapidly spread
ing in this city. o, for more salt!
History tells us that the disciples of
Christ We're the salt of the Roman EN-
pire during the evil days of its decline;
that they preserved Christianity as
moral force in society. The heroes of
the reformation were the salt of Eng
land and Europe in the fourteenth and
htteenth centuries They saved the
churches from a moral shipwreck. Eng
land, Wales and Scotland are to-day
the homes of the free champions of the
civilization and evangelization because
of the noble, faithful and heroic saints
in the past. It is the business of Chris
tian people to exercise a counteracting
influence against the moral corruption
of society, the worlds selfish pleasure,
its degraded lust, its trickeries and its
mad revelries, to save humanity from
careless recklessness, curse and ruin
haT fe7ic 10Y
awaken and reform the world it be-
comes contemplate. This apathetfc
indifference to the evils that are around
US, the lukewar1n relation to the cor
ruption that is eating into society, into
the church. into the home, is unworthy
of bearing the name of Christ. He
says that he will spew out of his mouth
lukewarm professors of religion. Salt
that has lost its SAVIOR is good for moth
ing but to be cast out for people to
walk on.
The preserving power of salt depends
upon its being put into the right place
A barrel of salt set in the corner of a
meat market is of no more use than a
barrel of sawdust. It must be brought
into contact with every inch of meat
in order to prevent decomposition. SO
a community so long as it is barreled
up in the heart, or in a church, al
though the brand upon it be perfectly
orthodox. The salt must be scattered
so as to touch and season those who
are tending to moral corruption. How
tenderly did Jesus Christ place himself
in contact with the diseased and the
depraved! How forcefully did he drive
out those who, by their dishonesty,
We're corrupting the temple of God.
The book of the Acts of the Apostles
is the narrative of unbarreling and
scattering the salt in communities in
fected with heathenism. The salt is to
be placed where the stencil is the worst
There is its power to be felt. There is
salt enough in the Christians of Sac
ramento to prevent the corruption of
the drink traffic spreading one foot
farther. Concentration of power and
of work will bring the desired result.
In one of OhiOs most beautiful cities
the Mayor had fitted up building for
a variety theater with saloon attach
ment, such as had never been known
in that city before. A chosen commit
tee from the pastors conference, ac-
companied by leading Christian lay
men, waited upon the Mayor with a
protest They We're dismissed in a
way that was virtually showing them
the door. The place was opened. The