The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-01-23
Hacred and Secular Gospel.

Whatsoever yesdo In word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Col, Ill, IL.
The apostle isseekfng to teach the
Colossian Christians that, all the re-
lations and affairs of life should hes
permeated by the Christian spirit.
TheFdistinction made nowadays be-S
tween the sacred and the secular ID g
false, mischievous distinction. 1t lis
working i~ncalculable harm. We have
the pathetics harmful spectacle of
men standing high in church circles,
and yet who on the street or inithe
market rdo not hesitate to employ
questionable business methods.
When they gosto church on Sun,
day they say Let US have no ,secu.
1arg things in the pulpit; We have
enough Of these things down town.
Here In churchswe want repose, e
datives and healing balm; all Is
prose. down street, let us have poetry
up here. We want to sing hymns4
hear about heaven. In short We
want the pure Gospel without any
worldly Sadmkture.
Now, the religious man who talks
that WayAhas mo- religion. Religion
Is to him mere sentiment. IL it is OF
no use to, him In the store, in the Of
fee, in politics, it's Of no use to HIM
in the house Of God.
What do we mean by the sacred
and the secular?eaBy the ssacredfWe
mean usually.a all that which is assoc
ciated with worship and the exercise
Of the religious feelings; while the
secular sis supposed to include all
that falls o~utsides.of this Category
Granting the distinction for q mos
ment, we note that in the history on
civilization It lis Invariably theSsacred
that comes first The secular fsaal-
ways a later evolution. All legts-s
lation originally had q diyinesprigins
So of the Sdrama.S The Greek drama
was originally a religious Junction..
IT'S arts Of painting and scuipture&S
were Immediately associated with
worship. The modern drama has Its
roots III the mystery plays. Archf,
lecture was first mainly concerned
in the building Of churches. Litefa-
.tureFin the early ages was confined
TO- theology and the lives OF the
saints. All that Is best in ciyfliza-
ton, our-liherty, political and reg
ligious, our benefits of materfaiI
kind, had its rise in the domain Of
the ~distfnctively sacred.
But here comes the question, What
led to- the distinction? Wha
broughtSabout; the divorce which We
now behold? It wa the mistakes r.
the Church. The Church refused to-
have anything to do with such things
as would not directly minister unto
spiritual devotion and feeling. There
has been this going astray Of the sec
ular from the sacred. Wesneed to
reversesthe process and find the way
from the secular to the sacred. There
must be the profounder recognition
Of the fact that at the heart Of every
thing is God. ~
The Christian religion must ref
sumo the original relation which It
had with science, art, commerce, I
the drama and amusement. No re-
ligions is complete without a relation
to every departpentgof life. No de-
partment sofAlife sfs scomplete without
asrelation to religion. There Is no
science, no amusement Of a legiti-S
mate kind, NO true pleasure, no hon-g
orable vocation. In which a properly
adjusted nature may not immediate
~ find and enjoy God.
The hour has arrived for each man
IN his place to- regard himself as a.
herald Of the gospel: Of righteousness
and his work in life as afording OPP
portunity for the more complete es-
tablishment OF the kingdom OF God
upon the earth.-Rev. William o..
Stinson, D. D., Bloomingdale Re.
formed Church, New York City, In
the Sunday Herald.
~ Hand Picking.
Hand-picked fruit is the best and
Manipulating Is" the best way to get
the fruit. It is personal work that
tells. 1t is so in religion; it is so in
everything. Five minutes private
personal entreaty, will often accom-
plish more in winning q soul o
Christ than FIVE months public
preaching. Close work is elective.
When you talk to me you mean nee
and L. know it.. BE a committee OF
one. Andrew was a committee OF
one when he found his brother and
brought him to Jesus. John followed
his example. When God wanted His
people delivered from Egypt, He did
not send a committee; He sent a man.
The Church is to be- multiplied by
addition; and this Is not by whole
sale but by the addition Of ones, led
to Christ through the personal work