The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-12-11
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. JOEL B. SLOCUM.
Subject: The Church and the Men.

Brooklyn, N. Y.-"The Church and
the Men" was the subject discussed
Sunday morning in the Greenwood
Baptist Church by the Rev. Joel B.
Slocum, whose text was Ezekiel 1913:
And there appeared in the cherubim
the form of a mans hand under
their Wings Mr.. Slocum said,
among other things:
1t is significant that in the midst
of the complicated celestial forces re-
vealed to Ezekial there was the APP
pearance of a mans hand under the
wings of the cherubim, as though
supporting their flight.
There has never been a time when
the multiplied machinery of Chris
tianity did not disclose, somewhere,
the hand of a man. Never was the
presence and power Of that hand,
and all that goes with it, more needed
than now. No reflection is intended
upon the great hest of faithful
women and earnest men who, in all
ages, have carried forward the bur-
dens of the church; but the need of
the hour is more men. I saw, the
other day, in the window of a grocery,
this brief but pressing request:
"Wanted-A strong boy" And the
thought flashed upon me that we need
in our churches strong boys who will
grow up to be- strong men. Not
strong boys to tarry awhile in the
Sunday-school and then graduate
ava from it and from everything
else connected with the church, but
boys who will stay and put their
manhood where it will continue to
count for the most.
We are facing a somewhat startling
fact-the fact that, as a rule, men
do not go to church. Vastly more
serious is the fact that the church no
longer enters into the serious con-
sideration of most men. Mine is not
the mission of the alarmist and the
pessimist. I do not seek to over
emphasize an unpleasant truth. 1t
is the purpose of the speaker this
morning merely to look this condition
suuarely in the face as he passes to
some other considerations. 1t is
enough for u present purpose to
recognize that the men are not with
us; and, without discussing the rea-
sons for their absence, hasten to con-
Germ ourselves with the a~ll-important
business of bringing them back.
The church that succeeds in this
great restoration will be the church
whose all-absorbing objective is the
kingdom of God. But" exclaims
some hearer, do you mean to imply
that any Christian church could have
any other goal than the kingdom?'
Most assuredly that is my implica-
ton. Have you not known a church
whose aim was centred, not IN the
kingdom, but in the church, the local
organization itself?
There is great danger lest we miss
the proper point of view. 1t is one
thing to be so absorbed in the pros
perity of the individual church Of
which we are members as to lose
sight of anything beyond its advance
ment. 1t is quite another thing to
see, with so clear a vision, the majes-
tic opportunities and obligations of
the kingdom of God, that we shall
never fall into the error of supposing
for on instant that even so sacred an
| institution as the church itself can be
other than a means to that sublime
end.
l would not leave the impression
that the Christian is to be a vision
| airy, and, fixing his eye on some far
off glory, succeed in neglecting a
| nearer duty to his church. But do
mean to suggest that the church
that accomplishes the return of the
men from their exile will be the
| church that is so moved by a spirit
of devotion to the great ultimate pur-
pose of carrying forward the kingdom
to it's earthly elimination, that non
! church men will catch the irresistible
contagion of such a motive and join
ranks with the advance guard of the
soldiers of the cross.
There is recorded in Chronicles a
touch of patriotism that has always
made my blood course a little quicker
when l have read it. I refer to the
gathering of a mighty host of war
riors, veterans all of them, who came
from near and far, animated by a
common purpose that made them one.
That purpose was to make Davf1
king. The brief and yet thrilling
narrative is thus concluded: All
| these men of war, that could keep
rank, came with a perfect heart to
1SUTOu, W lldhS baNlu hlhS oFSi oA
Is-ael; and all the rest, also, OF Is
rael we're of n heart to make David
king"
The members of the Christian
| church will n day come together
with a perfect heart to make Jesus
king. And when they do, the cita-
dels of sin will topple into dust and
the royal diadem of the worlds sur
render will be put upon the brow of
our Lord. There is yet much to be
done. The forces are only gathering
for the final advance. If all who
can keep rank will take the field, not
for self-glory and not even for the
| glory of the special church, but for
the glory and triumph of our king,
| then victory is assured. Then will we
comprehend the imperishable truth,
that men do not now attend our
churches are needed by these same
churches, not primarily to swell the
membership and meet the current ex-
penses, but to enlarge the army of
those who with singleness Of spirit
are moving on to make Christ king.
Let us take our inspiration and our
example from Him who made no at
| tempt to found a visible church, but
who gave His very life to %inaugurate
a spiritual kingdom. The church is
already organized; it now becomes
our duty to fling it into the great
cause of subduing the world to Him
who is the living head of the church.
This leads me to say that the
church that secures the return of the
men will be the church that develops
an intense enthusiasm for humanity.
1t is not merely because they are men
that we want them back, but because
they are among those for whom
Christ died. ] am not filled with