The herald., 1898-08-15
THE CHURCHES
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Rev, w. u. r. bll0e, at lHo Ou1Ou ktclOTIH
league, preached yesterday on the gospel
of the kingdom, from
Indivfduslistic Matthew iv:17. He
Evanrelical Re- said in brief: Evan
lixion a Failure gelical individualist-
ic religion has failed.
1t Is always talking about the Individual
and saying that 1t is necessary f1rst to con-
vince the Individual and then reform soci-
ETY.. This is not what Christ preached and
has failed. Gen. Booth worked for twenty
five years in London on indfvidualistic
lines and failed. Then he tried his Chris
tian social plan. DR.. Lyman Abbott, the
successor of Henry Ward Beecher, says:
"Individualism has not fulfilled Its prom
ises. The days of pure individualism are
over. In London, the churches spend $685.
100000 annually for individualistic work,
yet, says Arnold White, 1.-The present sys-
tenn Of the churches after a course of evan
gelical teaching extending over $50 years
has failed beyond hope of redemption"
Canon Farrar tells US that not 3 per cent
of the working classes of England are COM
municants OF America the evangelist
Moody says:
1.-THE gulf between the church and the
masses is growing deeper. wider and dark
er every hour" Evangelicalism has thus
failed by the admission OF its chief work.
ers. The reason 10 that individualism does
not understand the individual. It talks
about individuals but forgets that individ-
uals are results Of social forces. This is
the teaching today Of all science.
To raise beautiful flower you must have
right soil, nurture and care as well as good
seed. To produce good citizens and good
men you must have good homes, work for
all. good social system. This is what
Christ preached. the gospel Of the king
dom. Drummond says that Christ did not
save many individuals. He established a
church, society. He preached social du-
ties. The early church practiced commun-
ism. 1t freed the slave. 1t taught and
practiced brotherhood. When the evan
gelical churches and societies of Chris
tian Endeavor preach and practice social
Christianity such as Christ preached they
will succeed. TIL then they will fail.
David Walk, in the Church Of Christ on
Eighth street near Central avenue, read
the Ninth Psalm,
Laus Doc directing special at
tention to the last
four verses, and announced as the subject
Of his sermon '-The Divine Government In
Its Relation to the Nations" This Is in
deed time to praise God. The edict has
gone forth. The battle has been fought,
the victory won, the laurel wreath decks
the brow of liberty, her domain Is greatly
extended and let all the people praise the
name of the Lord.
One great lesson which fmpresses itself
upon all thoughtful minds today Is that
in the solution Of national, as in individual
problems, God must be taken into the
account. This our nation did through its
chief magistrate. All the way through,
from the beginning to the end, he acknowl-
edged God as the supreme and rightful SOW
ereign, to whom the allegiance Of earthly
rulers Is due. Let 1t be distinctly borne in
mind, especially by the young men Of our
country, that the president Of the United
States Is a man Of faith and prayer. He
not only prays himself, but asks the ma
tion to pray. He not only acknowledges
God himself, but asks the nation to ac-
knowledge him. Only few Sundays since
he asked the nation to unite with him In
Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the
signal victories wrought by our arms, and
to pray that the horrors Of war might as
far as possible be mitigated. And the
wholesomeness of his example In his con-
stant attendance upon the services of the
sanctuary every Lords day cannot be
overestimated.
1t is well to note some Of the elements of
our national strength which have SO won-
derfully wrought In securing such great
moral and physical triumph for our arms
And. first Of all, the gospel Of Jesus Christ.
Next to this stands the enlightened press,
the great schoolmaster of the masses.
Never before have we so>highly appreci-
ated the salutary influence Of this essen
tial auxiliary Of a free government. Add
ed to the foregoing we may mention our
system of education through the medium
of the free schools OF the nation. An open
Bible, an enlightened press, a free school
these are the sources Of our national
strength.