The Washington times., 1901-09-02
THE WORSHIP OF MAMmoN.
Greed for Gain the Bane of the
Present Hour.


| Rev Charles Hamilton Coon. pastor OF
| Trinity Reformed Church. of Phila-
| delphia, flied the pulpit yesterday morn
| ing at the Grace Reformed Church, Fif-
teenth Street, between Rhode Island
| Avenue and P Street northwest, in the
absence of the pastor, DIR. ]. NJ. Schick.
| DR.. Coon took his text from Daniel xii 3
"They that be wise shall shine as the
brightness of the armament, and they
that turn many to righteousness, as the
| stars for ever and ever"
| DR.. Coon referred to the fact, well
known, he said, that man Is always ready
| to keep his fellow man down, but seldom
| ready or willing to lend a hand toward
raising him. His theme was THE divine
| commission, and what are We going to
do with it?'' In developing it he severe
! ly arraigned the many so-calied Chris
tians, who are, he declared. religious in
| name only.
Man win suffer tile greatest physical
| pain and discomfort week after week,
and month after MONTH said the speak
greatly desired end, some promised re-
ward. The most extraordinary greed of
the present day is the struggle for
wealth. the fight for the gold that gilt
ters. There has never been a time in
the history of the human race or of the
world when there has been so much
wealth. and the human family has never
at the present time. Men every day,
year after year. are willing to give their
lives for wealth. The great trend of the
human mind of this world is toward
gold and silver, and men Will suffer more
for money than for anything else.
Although / have great faith in the
lIberality of many people. L am here to-
day to make this declaration. that it is
a mi mo
today for Christian work than they ever
did before. In proportion to the popu-
lation of this country less wealth is
given to the Church of Christ than ever
before
In some churches. on any Sabbath the
children of the minister of the gospel can
be observed coming down the aisle of the
church in the morning clothed in the
cast OF garments of the wealthy church
members, and | say, that even Solomon
In all his glory. was not arrayed like
one of these. This is called giving
money to the Church by some Christians.
Examine the foreign missionary field.
and what do you see? The churches send
out men and women to spread the gospel
OF Christ. and pay them small pittances
The missionaries make sacrifices. and af-
ter they have done their duty and have
devoted their lives to the cause. the
churches will come to the conclusion that
they are spending too much money on
the missions
This is an age when money is king
1t recalls to my mind the story of the old
man, who told his son to be sure to make
money. to make it honestly If he could.
but to make ii anyhow. That is the
spirit of the present day.
There should be more true religion. and
less of the so-calied Christianity. There
is plenty of turning in the Church. but not
much turning toward Christ. | want to
state right here and now, that mems
lives are read far more than the Bible.
and that actions. and not words speak the
loudest II is not what we say in this
world. but what we do.
Il am sick of this so-called religious
life that starts man to church, PUTS
him in a pew, where he remains as cold
as an iceberg throughout the service. aud
takes him home again. without his saying
a kindly word to his felow-man. IL is
an awful name that the Church of Christ
has. when every sewing circle meeting is
productive of the question Who is go
ing to be talked about next week?
Dr. Coon criticised the present social
life. which has produced society. and he
declared that in heaven the mothers and
fathers who devoted hair lives on earth
to the religious education of their chill
dren would fern the only aristocracy.