The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903-07-07
POWER OF
THE CHURCH
Is the Spirit of Love,
Not in Force
4 SERMON By REV. J. R. LAMB
The Church of Christ Spiritual
Body-Cannot Win by Tenn
poraI Power.
A SERMON BY REV. J. R. LAMB

church, Sunday evening, July 5, by
Rev. J. R. Lamb, of the First Cum
! berland Presbyterian church. >. ..
Not by might nor by power, but
by my spirit saith the Lord of Hosts.
Zed. 4: 6.
The times and circumstances when
the text was spoken were peculiarly
discouraging to the Israelites. Their
army was destroyed, their country
devastated by war, and military Oc-
cupatiOn, the government was al
Babylon, instead of Jerusalem, The
people were yet largely in captivity
and many OF them content to remain
SO; the Levites and the priesthood
were either slain IN war, carried into
captivity or diverted from their sa-
cred offices; the temple, which had
been the glory Of Israel, had been
sacked and burned and public WOr-
ship suspended for more than a gen
Grafton; Jerusalem had been captured,
pillaged and battered dOWn-truly a
sad picture.
But under Cyrus the Great. the peO-
pie were invited to return to the
father-land and build again the city
and temple. About fifty thousand, a
comparative handful, of them had
availed themselves Of the opportunity
and set herOically about the task.
For a time they made progress under
the favor of Cyrus, but when he was
succeeded by AtraXerXes their envi-
Gus neighbOrS made trouble and Sc
cured a decree suspending the work
on city and temple.
Hope and courage were alike low
in the hearts of Israel until the days
Of Darius when Haggai eXhorted the
people to put forth renewed efforts,
and Zecharioh, seeing the wonderful
visions recorded in his prophecy,
sounded the silvery notes of spiritual
hope and help and inspired the peo-
pie with renewed faith in God. Their
enemies came again and were told OF
the edict of Cyrus permitting them
to rebuild. The matter was referred
10 Darius who decreed that they
should not be hindered but Helped
from the public resources. Under
these favoring conditions the work
went rapidly forward to completion.
and the people learned that their sue
cess in the work OF the Lord did not
depend entirely on their own ablll-
ties, but that the spirit of God could
move upon the hearts and treasures
CT kings and empnrOrs and bring ia
ycrs even from their enemies.
| have chosen a text from this pOr-
ton of history because We feel our
selves at times almost submerged by
conditions and Influences adverse to
he progress Of vital godliness, and
.ometimes depending perhaps too
.argely on the favoring attitude OF
the world rather than the spirit OF
God as a token of success, We fail to
70 courageously forward in our work
Of building up the kingdom.
The Church a Spiritual Body.
The church is particularly and pc
auliarly a spiritual institution which
God has planted in a material world,
and her victories over material and
sinful things are not to be won by
doping the instruments and meth
DDS Of carnal warfare Not by might
not by power but by my spirit saith
ne Lord Of hosts.
The church does not win her sue
ISIS by military armies. The signal
,ictOries Of Gods people III all ages
have been won without them.
This was true in times OF Moses
and of Joshua. when lot of slaves
were to be liberated from the might
! iry. Doubtless as great scholars as
| establish a government, write a liter
| iture and promuIgate a religion
which should profoundly affect al
me succeeding ages. God fought fol
| these people by the force OF nature
! AID the power Of his spirit.
| It was true Of the apostles Of Oul
| Lord. handful Of common men with
| cut any of the resources Of warfare
| who set out to revolutiOnize The
world and met with momentous sue
cess in spite of the fact that the!
were hated and hunted in all nation:
where they went. Even the resource;
Of pagan and imperial Rome Were
| made to help Paul, the prisoner, 70
the sake of the gospel.
1t was true in the reformation O
the sixteenth century, for while tina
was a period of wars in which man.
who followed the refOrmers engage'
yet the real reformation was a spirit
ual work which was doubtless mucl
more hindered than helped by th
| wars.
| The Jews who rejected Christ an
his spiritual kingdom took up arm
to maintain the temporal kingdOr
which he said should be taken fror
them, and to preserve the tempt
which he said was left unto them des
Olate. but they failed utterly in bot
end in fulfillment of prophecy ar
scattered among the nations to thi
cay. Christianity or the other han
without recourse to any thing bu
spiritual warfare had almost conquer
cd the Roman empire when Constal
tine adopted it as a state religion
and to further his political interest