The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1898-05-07

right now. 1t has been DullulnS IL
great many years. But % years
ago there was a dishonest transaction
in that commercial house. That one
dishonest transaction Will keep on
working ruin IN the whole structure,
until down the estate will come in
wreck and ruin about the possessor's
ears-one dishonest dollar in the estate
demolishing all his possessions lhave
seen it again and again; and so have
you.
The religion of Jesus Christ Will
produce a revolution in our churches.
The o -committal. do nothing policy
of the church of God will give way to
u spirit of bravest conquest. Piety in
this day seems to me to be sailed down
Just so as to keep. 1t seems as il the
church were chiefly anxious to take
care of itself; and if we heal of want,
and squalor, and heathenism outside,
we say, what a pity!' and we put our
hands in our pockets. n we feel
around for a two cent piece, and with
a great flourish we put it upon the
plate, and are amazed that the world
is not converted in six weeks. Sup
pose there were n great war; and there
were 300, 900 soldiers, but all of
these 800, 900 soldiers, excepting ten
men, were in their tents, or securing
their muskets, or cooking rations. You
would say, "Of course, defeat must
come in that case" 1t is worse than
thai in the church. Millions of the
professed soldiers of Jesus Christ are
cooking r~ations, OF asleep in their
tents, while only one man here and
there goes out to do battle for the
Lord.
But" says some one, I'VE are estab-
fishing a great many missions, and l
think they will save the Masses" No;
they will not. Five hundred thousand
of them will not do it. They are do
ing a magnificent work; but every
mission chapel is a confession of the
disease and weakness of the church.
1t is making a dividing line between
the classes. 1t is saving to the rich
and to the well-conditioned, "If you
can pay your pew rents, come to the
main audience room 1t is saying to
the poor man, Your coat is too bad,
and your shoes are not good enough.
If you want to get to Heaven, you will
have to go by the wa of the mission
chapel" The mission chapel has be-
come the kitchen, where the church
does it's sloppy work. There are hun
! uTcuS anu IiiOuodlluS Vi ChuEChco III
this country-gorgeously built and sup
ported-that, even on bright and sum
shiny days, are not half full of wor-
shippers; and yet they are building
mission chapels, because, by some ex-
pressed or implied regulation, the
great masses of the people are kept
out of the main audience room.
Now l say hat any place of worship
l.
appropriate for all classes. Let the
rich and poor meet together, the Lor
the maker Of them all. Mind you that
/ say that mission chapels are a neces-
sity, the way churches are now con-
Quoted; but may God speed the time
when they shall cease to be a necessity.
God will rise up and break down the
gates of the church that have kept
back the masses; and woe be to those
who stand in the way! They will be
trampled under foot by the vast popu
~lations making stampede for Heaven.
Revolution! The pride of the church
must come down. The exclusiveness
of the church must come down! The
financial bOastiuRs of the church must
come down! If monetary success we're
the chief idea in the church, hen !
say hat the present mode of conduct
ing finances is the best. If it is to see
how many dollars you can gain, then
the present mode is the best. But if
it is the saving of souls from sin and
death. and bringing the mighty popu-
lations of u cities to the knowledge
of God, then / cry, RevolutionI 1t is
coming fast. ! feel 1t in the air. |
hear the rumbling of an earthquake
that shall shake down, in one terrific
crash, the of our modern
Christianity.
Revolution! 1t may be that before
the church learns its duty to the
masses, God will scourge it, and come
with the whip of omnipotent indigna-
tiou and drive out the money changers.
1t may be that there is to be a great
day of upsetting before that time shall
come. If it must come, o, lord God,
let it come now!
In that future day of the recon-
structed church of Christ. the church
buildings will be the most cheerful of
all buildings. Instead of the light of
the sun strained through painted
glass, until an intelligent auditory
looks green, and blue, and yellow, and
copper-colored, we will have no such
things. The pure atmosphere OF
Heaven will sweep out the fetid
atmosphere that has been kept In
many of our churches boxed up from
Sunday to Sunday. The day of which
l speak will be a day of great re-
Yiyals. There will be such a time as
there was in the parish of Shots,
where 500 souls were born to God in
one day; such times as were seen in
this country when Edwards gave the
alarm, when Tennent preached, and
Whitefield Numbered, and Edward
Payson prayeds such times as some OF
you remember in 1857, when the voice
OF prayer and praise was heard in the
RteF. and warehouse, and blacksmith
shop. and factory, and enginehouse;
and the a~uctionesr's cry of "a half,
and a half, aud a half" vas drowned
out by the adjoining prayer meeting.
in which the people cried out: Men
and brethren, what shall we do?"
In those days of which 1 am speak
ing, the services of the church Of God
will be more spirited. The ministers
of Christ. instead of being anxious
about whether they are going to lose
their place in their notes, will get on
fire with the theme, and pour the liv-
ing truth of God upon an aroused au-
- IL OuL " Lhc TlkhISOuS'
'ft shall be we'll with you" and to the
wicked, "Woel It shall be i'll with
you" In those days the singing will
be very different from what it is nov
The music will weep. and wall, and
chant, and triumph. People then will
not be afraid to open their mouths
when they sing. The man with a
cracked voice will risk 1t on wind
ham," and "Ortonville, and old Hun
bred" Grandfather viii find the place
for his grandchildren in the hymn
book; or the little child will be spec
tReles for the grandfather. Hosanna
will meet h6sanna, and together go
climbing to the thronei aud the angels
will hear; and God will listen; and the
gates of Heaven will hoist; and it will
be as when two seas meet-the wave
of earthly song mingling with the
surginR anthems of the free,
Oh, my God, let me live to see that
day! Let there be no power in disease,
or accident, or wave of the sea. TO dis.
appoint my expectations. Let all other
sight fail my eyes, rather than that 1
hould miss that vision. Let all other