The times., 1898-10-26


hoods and as deaconesses are bearing their
faithful witness turning many TO
! Christ. II is good for us to know that
the number of persons confirmed during
the last three years is thirty-five hun
dred more than in the like preceding per-
| iod that our list of communicates has
grown by 63.li5. an increase of 10 per
cent, and that the contributions of the
last triennium exceed those of the like
preceding period by 81, ,l00. l04.7O.
Yet. the record of statistics, spiritual
e and material, while il encourages us on
the one hand, leaves US impressed, al
most We may say. oppressed, with
sense of duties left undone. of open doors
into which we have not entered, which
/ must mingle the penitentiai utterances
/ of confession with the words of thanks
| giving and praise.
The cry of the colored people. who are
our wards as Christian citizens of Ameri-
| ca. for adequate expenditure of labor and
money 10 train them to citizenship of
! the nation. and the church: the call for
means to seize the openings and oppor-
tunities in the missionary districts, and
the huge unoccupied areas In dioceses
of - West and South; the claims from
our stinted missions In foreign lands:
/ all these are painful evidences of wide
, indifference, and of inadequate support.
Meanwhile. we stand confronted with
large problems. and with larger possi-
bilities for the preaching of a pure gospel,
/ and the extension of Christ's kingdom
among people whom the providence of
| God. in strange and wonderful ways, has
! brought with ~" range of respon-
| sibilty, national and ecclesiastical.
Needs of the FIXTURE.
We dare not face the future without
a recognition of the fact that this church
ha of III lie Of ba
! faithful to the plenteous bringing forth
/ of the fruit of good works, of the giving
! of their substance and themselves TO
further the Masters work Assured of
( our apostolic lineage. We need to be fill
ed with apostolic love and zeal. And Us
| the new century opens up before us, we
. plead with the clergy and the lay peo-
pie to rise to the splendid possibilities of
Z richer and more real discharge of their
/ stewardship for God. who has put us in
I trust with the treasures of His love and
llls means of grace, for the salvation
/ of men.
For the salvation of men! This is the
I very essential characteristic of the Chris
tian gospel. 1t is a new regenerating
/ force, applied first to the Individual man
and thence to the mass of men. produc-
] ing in the first instance Christian char
J acter, and in the second. Christian Civili-
zation. And that immense energy of S Dir
ltual propagation is of the nature of the
church, because it is so nominated in the
commission Go ye into all worlds and
preach the gospel to every creature"
He who uttered the words called him
self THE light of the world" and it
would be laundering disloyalty to put
any limit upon the mission of the church,
or TO fail to recognize that. by His COM
/ mand, the question of missions has re-
ceived the eternal closure.
And the fact the potent and tremend-
Gus fact, for US TO realize is. that the
same infinite force of leadership. which
was in command then. is in command
now. In that respect the first and TWEEN
tieth centuries stand together. This sov-
| ereign headship of omnipotence is the ore
| imperial truth which puts meaning into
the commission and that e!evates the
duty of propagation to the front rank of
/ Christian obligation. 1t is an over
whelming thought that missions get
their authority from, and the church
owes her missionary responsibility 10
one Whose power Is infinite and whose
supremacy reaches the soul OF the hum
blest citizen of His kingdom; and that
/ the only honorable response TO that one
| is obedience.
Christ the Captain.
/ /
Christian heart TO consider that this ma
jestic power, who sits in the seat of au-
thority and in Whose hands are the scep-
ter and the sword, has subjected His di-
| vine intention to win the world to the
fluctuations of Christian zeal; so that
halting zeal though it may not defeat
His purpose, may postpone the era of
His final triumph, and so that a zeal like
that of the first centuries would repeat
their victories.
If the fact that Christ is the captain OF
the missionary hosts were infused into
the beliefs of Christendom Christendom
would .evolutionize its Christian
ity. For our own church, ii would mean
less luxury, less extravaganza of expend-
iture on self, less social ambition, less
pride of wealth. less self-indulgence of
every kind. 1t would mean more prayer
more unselfishness and self-denial, more
sympathy with the poor, the ignorant,
the vicious, the outcast, the heather;
more catholicity OF evangelism, and less
ecclesiastical self-sufficiency; more Of the
} power of the Holy Ghost, and, there
fore, the transformation Of apathy into
the spirit of conquest
For first of all. and chiefest of all the
man who believes In Christ must believe
in missions must believe in propagating
X y
thing but missions. he may repeat the
creeds, receive the sacraments, luxuriate
in the poetry of worship, addict him.
self to theological, canonical, or script
ural knowledge, and still be recreant in
his duty to his Lord.
Wherefore, brethren, We pray that
Your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and in all judgments;
that ye may approve things that are ex-
7 hat ha civ nd l,
out offense till the day of Christ; being
filled with the fruits of Righteousness.
which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory
and praise of Cod
Heritage of the Past.
That branch of the Church Of God. to
which we belong hath the heritage of a
sacred and noble past, in the history of
the English-speaking race, which must he
at once her responsibility and her glory.
One year ago, your bishops met at Lam
beth by invitation of the great archbishop
who occupies the See of Canterbury 10
recall in reverence the ancient traditions
of the church, and to take counsel for the
future of her great and growing power
throughout the world.
Yet it is of the very nature of the
catholic church that her spirit is re-
stricted to no particular language, to nc
one people, to no special age, and to no
separate race. She bears upon her no
stamp of Italy, or England; no label OF
the fourth century or of the sixteenth