The new South-news., 1908-02-08

Brooklyn. New York.-Preachinr
At the Irving Square Presbyterian
Church, Hamburg avenue and Weir
held street, the Rev. Ira Wemmeil
Henderson. pastor. took as his theme
Tho Cali of God to the Church of
Christ" The text was Phil. 1:c.:
Stand fast in one spirit, with one
mind striving together for the faith
OF the Gospel; and In nothing terri
He'd by your adversaries. He said:
Let us unfold the text and trans
late 1t with care for the richness and
exactness of meaning that It en-
closes. that the authorized version
which We have read hardly sets forth.
stand fast persistently in one spirit.
with one mind striving together for
the faith of the Gospel; and In moth
ing scared by your adversaries." The
apostle admonishes the people Of
God to stand fast steadily not sro-
radically. to be OF singleness OF mind
and heart and soul In their devotion
to the work of the living Christ. to
strive together with the best OF team
play for the truth. to he unafraid OF
their opponents. The figure is that
OF frightened horse. BE not scared
like a runaway.
This is the word OF Paul to the
saints in Christ Jesus which were at
Philippi. 1t is the call of Him who
stitch between the cherubim to His
church to-day. This is the summons
OF God to those who are His people
In the bonds OF Christ. He promul-
gates the plan for Christian action.
He elevates ar ideal for service He
asserts the positive and negative du-
To-, II la.
tianity. He stipulates what is to be
the aim and what Is the measure of
the efficiency OF the church OF the
living Lord. The text affords as
good a program for the guidance of
those who are banded in the In
terests OF the proclamation and ad-
vancement of the Kingdom OF God as
could we'll be devised.
And we may safely assert that It
Is because the church has too largely
relinQuished her grasp upon this pro-
gram; lost. too largely, her con-
sciousness Of the mandatory respon-
sibilities that God has laid upon her,
her vision OF her divInely endowed
Ideals, her unanimous fidelity to the
plans and the purposes and inspired
activities OF Emanuel. that she has
to lamentable degree ceased to
command either the influence, the
respect or the love that within the
memory OF many man alive was
hers. And ] believe that the moral
and spiritual unhealthiness that is
manifest in America is a direct re-
suit of the desultory and faccid allie
glance that the church has granted
10 her God.
We have been too much afraid OF
our enemies and too uncertain OF
ourselves. We lhavc over-empha-
sized the power bf the forces of en-
trenched evil. and by Implication dis
counted the capacity Of the Deity
successfully to energize His people
and to realize His will in them. We
have been silent when we should
have spoken fearlessly, and voluble
when &uGilence better would have
served~O(Ve time and the Kings busi-
ness. We have. especially in the
Protestant Church. let Christian lib
erty degenerate till in many quarters
1t has become synonymous with
irreligiOus license. We have ex-
changed prophecy for time-serving
and truthfulness for popularity, to
an extent that is as disastrous as it
is disreputable. We have lost the
note Of authority And in our
scramble to find the bait that will
lure the world toward God and that
will draw men so far under the in
huence of the church that we shall
be able to demonstrate the good
heartedness of the Gospel and OF the
Christian life we have become such
good fellows that we have lost our
aim. missed the heart of Christian
service and of Christian faith.
The call OF God to His church
means little to muItitudes Of people
who are ON the rolls of the church
visible because they haven't listened
long or intently enough to Him to
: know what He thinks or says or
wants. 1t is not strange that they
do not stand fast in one spirit. with
one mind striving together for the
faith Of the Gospel" How could It
catchword with them: the meat Of
have taken little effort to master: q
hard hght IL the last thing that they
want; salvation means about as much
to them ~ changing their clothes
DR.. Newman Smyth il not far
wrong when he asserts that . new
order Of things will, in Gods prcvi-
dence. supersede our present Chris
ttan religious systsms. II We are to
Judge them by the hdelily OF the
majority of their members to the
exact Gospel of God in Christ, the
n02o7er the churches of Christ. as at
mt constituted. are superseded
uobler order the better for the
Primarily the church must de-
clare and elucidate the deepest spiri-
tuaf truths OF the Kingdom OF God
without which there can be no found
ed or balanced ethics. She must
stand ~ the evangel OF God speak
ing With authority that truth in
Christ. under the guidance OF the
Holy Spirit, which u supremely sum-
c3eat for the salvation Of the souls
Of nen. She must deal nrst with the
oouls Of men In their Relationship
with The Father. Spirituality u her
keynoto- The revelation and expli-
cat1oa Of eternal spiritual mysteries
= M ehlef business.
~ caIl u God to the Church Of
Chr31t to-day - no different In -
oooeo than e vas to the men and
wo0eo ~ ~ church It Philippi to
VbO0 3nul vrota. II II vaa eanen~