The record-union., 1898-05-02

] y
not to unite with others in public wor-
| ship then consider. not what you lose,
! but what others lose by your absence.
Then Peter stood up with the eleven"
/ And he was eleven times stronger be-
cause the others We're with him Your
presence in the house of prayer adds TO
the spiritual helofulness of the service.
Your words of sympathy give heed to
some struggling brother Your greet
/ ing of love imparts cheer to some care
worn sister On the wings OF your
stronger faith other souls are lifted
heavenward. Therefore for the sake
OF others forsake not the assembling Of
yourselves together.
1t will benefit any man to go regu-
larly to the house of prayer and unite
with his felloWmen in the public worship
of God. For the rank and file of us, as
Henry DrummOnd says, made of such
stuff as we are made of, we need the
steady pressure of fixed institutions, the
regular diets of a common worship"
There is a refining humanizing inhu-
ence in a congregation convened for
worship All that is kindliest in our
nature is weakened and nurtured in
the sanctuary Because of the house
Of the Lord l will seek thy good The
worship of God fosters the love of man.
The recognition of the divine father
hood leads to the recognition of the hu-
man brotherhood. Reverence toward
God works in the direction of respect
and love Cor man.
Did you ever sit down one hour ana
consider the worth of the Christian
Church to the community and the ma
ton? Did you ever consider what these
places of worship mean and are? To-
day all over the world tens of thou
sands of our fellow beings convene for
worship Christian hymns are sung.
Christian doctrines are expounded.
Christian duties are enforced. Christian
hopes are nourished. Men and women
and little children pray for themselves
and for one another. What effect have
these services on the character of the
people?
What would be the condition of the
community, the city, the nation, if they
We're churchless? Imagine a society
with religion eliminated, the name of
God prescribed and all the hopes and
humanities nurtured by religion
erased from the soul The de-
struction of religion would bring our
civilization into anarchic ruin. Without
a Sabbath, without a church, without
a Bible without a prayer to what
depths of depravity society would sink.
What greater calamity, asks Emerson,
can fall upon a nation than the loss
of worship? Then all things go to de-
cay. Genius leaves the temple to
haunt the Senate and the market. Lit
erature becomes frivolous. Science is
cold. The eye of youth is not lifted by
the hope of other worlds. Age is with
out honor. Society leans to trifle and
when men die we do not mention them.
In the dark days of the civil war Lin
coin relied much on the prayers, the
faith, the manhood and womanhood of
the meeting houses OF the land. Piety
and patriotism are twin daughters of
God
The best things in our national char
acter were born in the manger of Beth
lehem. The cross of Jesus glor-
ihes everything it touches. The men
and women who build and support
IChristian churches are the best benefac-
tors of the community, the truest patri-
OTIS of the nation. The church costs, but
it is worth all it costs. 1t is the best in
stitution in our midst. 1t is the mother
and nurse of all our humane organiza
tiOns. Patriotism as well as piety, the
love of man as we'll as the love of God
should move men to take a personal
interest in the welfare of the church of
God
l heard a man say he was on a steam
er one day when a would witty
young man came up to the Captain and
said Captain, I'm sorry 1 took passage
preachers on board. There is too much
religion to suit me-" The level-headed
old Captain replied in this way: Young
man, if you will find me a place of ten
thousand inhabitants without a preach
er without a church, without Bible
without religion, [ will show you a
ipIace as near like hell as it is possible
to find on earth" Do you know an
intelligent infidel-if there is such a
Ithing-would not choose to bring up his
family in a community where there
were no churches and no religion
Real estate is worth more in a we'll
Ichurched city. Men who have families
to rear are not anxious to buy corner
lots in Sodom.
The church is the most democratic
institution on the face of the earth. 1t
very humane. The public worship of
God unifies humanity 1t obliterates
all distinctions that separate man from
man. We are all equal here, master
and servant. capitalist and laborer
President and peasant. The rich and
poor meet together and the Lord is the
maker of them all The fountain that
icIeanses the one, washes the other
There is no difference The same Lord
is rich unto all that call upon Him. At
the cross of Jesus all distinctions of
rank and race, class and color. fade
and fall for there we are reminded that
God hath made of one blood, and re-
deemed by one sacrifice all nations and
peoples and tongues. In the house of
worship, there is neither bond nor free,
one is our master and all are brethren.
| Everywhere else we meet classes of
men. In the store we meet traders, in
the shop we meet mechanics, in the
university we meet scholars in the
Legislature we meet politicians-and
sometimes statesmen-at the club we
meet our set. Everywhere the men and
women are divided and classified into
sects. societies, clubs, according to their
wealth or culture or nationality 1t is
lOnly in the church that man meets man
on the broad common ground of hu-
manity. AS one has we'll said, "If 1
didn't go to church for anything else
I should go for this. The sermon
might be stupid, then 1 shouldn't listen
to it. The prayers might not suit me,
then I should not join in them The
music might CRATE on my ears, 1 would
try not to hear it. But 1 should at