The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-05-22

paper we may reaQ neart burning &C
counts Of the u~nutterable misery Of
m%ultitudes of our poor, and the story
of how one man is attempting to con-
troll the supply of the diamonds, or
the gold, or the steel, or the rubber,
or the railroads of the earth.
Thus, in b%riefest, are described
some of the conditions that make the
social problem so d]isconcerting. Let
US consider To- u duty as men and
women who love our Lord to carry
His gospel of light and of life to a
world that is so sorely in need Of it.
The prime duty Of the church, here
as elsewhere, is to instil into the
hearts and minds of men the neces-
sity and the JOY of the presence OF
the saving power of the Holy Spirit
in the individual life. That's the
spiritual function of the church. The
ethical duty of the church is to i'm
press upon mankind the true relation
of man to mar and to God.
Inorder to imparth Observation-Disclosures
it is necessary thatthe church be filled,
individually and collectively. with the
deepest grace and the noblest love
for man. BY the exercise of the true
principles of the Christ ideals in the
commonplace of life, the charge OF
inconsistency must be nullifed. AS
a body and as individuals the church
must be a brotherhood which. meas
ured by it's own ideals, is worthy.
To the church do the people loo for
the purest, the most unselfsh leader
ship. That the depth of the spiritual
life within the church is a sure lndl-
cation of the height of the morality
of the people is demonstrated by the
ages past. Upon US as Christian
men devolves the privilege so to mold
the national mind that the law of
the universal brotherhood Of man
may become the law of u national
and international life. We must con-
vince the poor of their duty to the
rich; we must convince the wealthy
of the dignity of labor. Ours is the
to hasten the millennium
of peace through the universal appll-
cation of the law Of love. To accom-
plish this purpose we must obey, IN
our daily lives, that command OF the
Master, "Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God and thy neighbor as thy
self" :
The church must exercise her pre-
rogative as the natural leader in all
moral reform. That reform which
has not the support Of the church
must sooner or later fail. She must
insist on a clean public conscience as
the logical sequence of her demands
for purity in the private life. 1t is
not the province of the church as an
ecclesiastical body to claim tempora!
over the government or
the city or the nation, but 1t is her
duty as composed of voting individ-
uals to demand, and to enforce the
demand, that municipal and national
government be undefled. The poll
tics of u large cities will be only
so bad as the church cares to allow.
In a country where the. citizen is
king and the ballot alone is supreme
strenuously to maintain the honor OF
the sovereign people should be the
high aim of the church.
The church must, however, keep
strictly in mind the prime object OF
her existence. Her mission 1t is to
preach the good news throughout
the world. In the cities is her mis-
sion most difficult to fulfil. Here, by
of the multitudinous obsta-
cles that beset her path, she must
use extraordinary measures to a
the people: 1t is not enough that the
spiritual needs of the immediate con-
of any church be minis
tered unto. That the pastor preach
regularly twice upon the Sabbath,
that the exercises Of the Sabbath
progress without interruption,
that the prayer meetings occur as Is
their wont, that the church be prompt
in her financial affairs, is not enough.
A yearly contribution to missions in
the foreign fields and the support of
a. city missionary do not constitute
the whole responsibility OF any
church.
The grace of the gospel is for all
men. Unto all men must the tidings
be told. To the Ihnhearing and the
uncaring must the inspiration of the
infinite Son be carried. Christianity
must be proven a practical force in
the common life. For the Christ lie
is practical life written large. AS the
only correct system Of right living,
the ultimate scheme OF salvation
must the gospel be presented to the
people. To them We must show that
the promises Of Christ are real, that
Christianity is a synonym for broth
erly love, for the deepest consecra-
ton, for the highest purity of life
and motive, that Christianity is
ChriStlikeness.
The church must carry to the null
titudes of the unsaved a gospel unsul-
lied by her own i~nsincerity and in
consistency. Her creed must be SIM
pie, her differences dismissed. Her
forces must move in unison toward
the common end. Sect and party
strife must be eliminated. 1t may
be that the great divisions always
will exist. Always the Catholics and
the various Protestant denominations.
But like a mighty army in which the
different regiments have each their
duty and their position. under a COM
mon generalship, so must the church
in waging the peaceful battles of the
moral war march, side by side, sect
by sect, creed by creed, in full piano.
ply and with solid front, forward to
the victory under the common Lead
ership of the King of Kings, who is
Christ the Lord.
And now a word upon the manner
of the preaching of the good news.
The gospel should be preached at
tractively. Water street missions
and Salvation Army rooms may suit
the preferences of that class to whose
spiritual natures the workers may
wish to appeal. Wonderful is their
influence and to them be all honor.
The average self-supporting poor
man, however, does not care to feel
under any obligation to the richer
portion of the community for his
spiritual sustenance. He feels, and