The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-08
FUTURE OF HIS CHURCH
Is Considered BY REV. w. c. TAY-
LOR, OF COLLEGE-AvE. BAPTIST.
The Two Things That Should BE
Sought I'm the Present 1ear-The
Results to BE Enjoyed.


College-avenue Baptist Church in 1900" AT
the close of the sermon three new MEM
bers were received and one was baptized
last night. Rev. Taylor took for his text:
Mark xiii, 81, ''And what 1 say unto you.
l say unto all, watch In part he said:
Eve all find a fine fascination in con-
templating the future, that vague. unde-
fined realm, ever approaching, but which
never arrives. 1t contains our hopes and
fears; it is vocal with prophecies unful-
filled and bright with promises yet to be
realized. We live In the future. Hope is
a greater power in life than memory; an
ticipation is more than realization; quest
Is more than possession. BY as much as
We live in the future, by much are we
advanced from the condition Of the savage.
When man learns to work for wages
that shall come at the end of the day he
has separated himself from the conditions
OF the animal; when he can wait for re-
suits that accrue with ripening harvests
or with the maturity Of great commercial
undertakings, he has taken his stand by
the side of his brother in civilization. A
man is great according as the future is
great into which he projects his aspira-
tions. The heroes of liberty and of re-
lgion have all been men of faith. The
prophets have been the worlds greatest
benefactors. Despise not prophesying' is
more than an injunction; it is a call to
the highest possibilities of life 1t is not
strange that Jesus made so much of this
future. He signalized 1t by showing what
it holds for faith and hope, and the
noblest purposes of the soul. At the thresh-
old of the new year we have our new
plans. AS steward of Christ and as trus-
tee Of Gods kingdom, we should have
those plans that look forward to higher
results in the realm of faith.
SEEK TWO THINGS.
I'm view of this and in view of the bright
opportunities placed in the reach of this
church we should seek two things:
Il. A deeper work of grace in our
hearts the mercfes of the past enjoin IL
upon us. God is no spendthrift. His good
nesses are not given to be wasted They
prepare for yet better things to come. All
through the history Of His chosen people
IL is plain that one great blessing was
preparatory to another. The mercies of the
year that Is gone call for loftier conse-
Grafton for the year upon which we are
entering.
THE logic of life demands 1t. Life is a
growth. First the blade. then the stalk.
then the full corn in the ear. The grace
that has sustained us thus far discloses
to us a Fathers confidence in his children,
His love for their highest well-being, and
is also harbinger announcing that a
better and brighter possession is at hand.
The voice In the wilderness announcing
the presence of the kingdom Of heaven is
never silent to faith.
The conditions of modern society de-
mand 1t. The emphasis of the world is
stronger now than ever before. That sharp
line between the church and the world is
overgrown with tangle, till many an honest
mind can see no difference between wordli-
ness and goodness, between reformation
and regeneration. between a lover of God
and lover of pleasure. These lines must
be cut clean and clear. Who is to do it
II not such as are called to be the elect of
God? Intellectual culture and bright
aestheticism have their places. We cannot
do without them and will not. They are
not religion. They convince no heart OF sin;
they infuse no soul with love for right
eousness before God: they bring no man
face to face with eternal judgment. A
grace-filled soul is the end of all contro-
versy with an honest inquirer and silences
all criticism. Skeptics doubt the Bible, but
no man ever doubted Charles Spurgeon;
there are so-called scholars that criticise
the prophets, but no man has yet criti-
cised the evangelism of Moody. Christ is
the need of the soul and Christ satisfies
the soul. Men want Christ. Indianapolis
wants Christ. This church should place
a crown upon the last year of the century
by making itself known in this beautiful
capital as a church thrilled and filed with
the grace of God.
'2. A loftier righteousness before the
world. Every reason that can appeal to a
child Of God demands il. Loyalty to the
Master. Fidelity to duty, that each is a
brothers keeper. and the power of inf1u-
ence and example demand 1t. I propose
this as our ambition for 1900: to live so
that the social world about us shall know
that to be a member of this church is to
be separated once for all from those dan
gers and designations of modern life that
cause the love of so many to wax cold,
that darken faith and bring blight to
Christian Fellowship. That the business
world about shall know that to be a mem
Der of this church Is to have certificate of
character, a voucher for honesty and hon.
orable dealing that needs no investigation
and is above reproach: that the labor world
about us shall know that to be a member
of this church is TO be among that number
that will not ask that labor be rendered
or any one except during the six days d.
vinely appointed for honest toll, and that.
too. during hours when 1t will not
overtax physical strength nor invade
against the higher interests of mans NOR
al nature. Social life has its designations
world is ground for mammonism. Let IL be
known that In this fellowship there is relief
from such Affections and hope for every
soul that would escape them.
ENJOYMENT OF RESULTS.
''Then we shall enjoy two results: One
will be that of clearer testimony for the
Lord Jesus. Witnesses are silent to-day be-
cause of a conscious inconsistency or cold
ness of love. But, conscious of the in
dwelling grace of God and conscious of
being right before all men, there is no
power of angels or of devils that blights the
influence of such life for the eternal SAL
walton of faith In Jesus.
we shall enjoy the approval of the heav-
emily Father. That is heaven. Whether
there or here. theie is no higher glory
than that OF being filed with the con-
seriousness of His approval. Pythagoras
taught his pupils the first year from be-
hind a curtain. After that. had they been
approved for promotion. the curtain was
put away and master and pupils met face
to face. No curtain can intervene between
a believer and the approval OF his Master
except that Of human sin. No higher cli-
max of the triumphs of redemption have
been announced than that when all sin
shall be done away we shall see His face.
Every opportunity of the new year there
fore. is but measure for new fullness of
Righteousness and grace put into our hands
by Fathers love. That grace Is free as
the waters that leap from their messy
mountain home, but our fullness of that
grace depends on ourselves. Let the meas
ures be full. Then when the year shall come
to its close, standing upon its summit. lofty
with Gods goodness and sunlit with the
divine presence. we shall look out upon the
grand new century lying at our feet and.
knowing that somewhere amid its vast
stretch our pathway shall come TO an end
and all our testimonies grow silent forever.