The Penn's Grove record., 1908-08-28
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. S. H.. COX.
Subject: Church of the Future.

Herbert Cox, in an address to the
people of the Congregational Church
of the Evangel, of which he is pastor,
I spoke of "The Church of the Future, y
such a church as he would like to see
built and sustained. Among other
things he said:
The Church of the Evangel-Con-
gregational-is free in it's offer of
church membership to any persons
who, without accepting it's creed as a
test, will make a single and simple
confession, that they believe Jesus to
be the supreme expression to men, in
human form, of what God is like, and
what He would have us become. This
is what we mean by modernism. That
the life of a church depends not
upon its creed, but upon its spirit.
Therefore We do not insist that any
one else shall accept our creed in the
exact terms in which we interpret
1t. 1t is impossible for a thinking
man not to have a creed of some
sort. But as Congregationalists we
agree to differ upon all matters that
we deem unessential. We believe
that the example of the life of Jesus
as we have it in the four gospels is
sufflc1ent to make any man who will
try 1t such a man as God would ac-
cept as His eternal friend, and help
toward perfection of character.
Therefore we ask of a man who
wishes to join our church, not what
does he think concerning the lead
Ing religious doctrines of his day, but
does he believe in following Jesus as
the Master of men and is he honest
ly trying to do so? His creed only
interests us as the intellectual ey-
press1ons of his moral and religious
character. He depends for his au-
thority in religion exactly as we do,
upon direct communication with
Gods spirit. So, in this intellectual
attitude toward religion, we do not
decry or unkindly criticise those
other religious bodies whose adher-
ents differ very widely from our
view. We believe firmly and CRATE
fully that Greek and Roman Catholi-
clsm, all forms of Professionalism,
Unitarian and Trinitarian, as we'll
as Judaism, have each contrib
uted much to the worlds religious
life, and that even the faiths of the
Orient, both ancient and modern.
have been a part of Gods growing
revelation to the world.
The social message of Christianity
has long been misunderstood or ne
elected. Now it is being proclaimed
everywhere, and no live church can
escape its appeal. In the church we
are to build, and the work we seek
to do, we must recognize it's place.
| have spent ten years amid social
problems, six years in the Hell's
kltchQn cpnti0n Of lHonhot+o- T.1z-1
l believe that my experience has
equipped me in some humble a to
preach the gospel of Jesus, and build
up a church that shall represent the
life OF God in the souls of men.
| do not need to proclaim myselr
a Socialist of any brand, nor to Join
some new ism, in order to love my
Fellow men and serve them. To me
the biggest opportunity in life is
to be a Christian-a Christ's man, to
serve men. What kind of a church,
then. do l hope to see built and for
what work?
Christianity and Socialism alike
seek the development of an efficient
society, a social order of stable
equilibrium. But Christianity in
sists that there can be no perfected
society, except by the regeneration
OF each individual. 1t is not enough
to provide a perfect environment of
Justice and live by the most beauti-
full socialistic legislation; there must
be a moral power in each person,
causing him to fit in to such a per-
feet society! Such a moral power
can never be produced by perfect
economic and social legislation, but
by the making of a new moral man
in each individual by some Divine
power outside himself. Such a
power has not been found outside
Jesus Christ, however He is to be
interpreted.
II the Christian religion is to
make each individual an efficient
member of society, it can only do so
as 1t perfects each function of that
individual man. The Christian re-
ligion must improve his body as we'll
as his mind and soul. 1t cannot
achieve one and neglect either or
both of the others.
Our supreme work, however, i
the culture of the soul. Few of u
can define what we mean by the soul.
But all of us understand what is
meant by the culture of the soul.
The phrase appeals to me more and
more powerfully as 1 grow older.
The development and enrichment of
the highest powers within us so that
we feel our personality ennobled by
the kindling of sacred fires and the
consciousness of divine passions over
which We know this transitory world
has no ultimate dominion. The Gull
ture of the soul involves for me three
elements: worship, education and
work.
What is worship? 1t is devotion,
instruction, evangelism. In devo-
ton mans soul expresses his graft
tude to God for life and it's hopes.
his contrition for conscious sin, and
his prayer for strength to endure the
discipline of his spiritual education,
and to achieve his final spiritual vic
tory over the lower and sinful self.
By instruction man seeks to acquire
In orderly possession by sure knowl-
edge those doctrines of faith which
describe in his W language the ex-
periences through which he has
passed, or those which he hopes to
possess and believes to be a part of
bis eternal inheritance from his
Father, God.
Next to the Importance of the
auditorium for worship, which is our
most important room, we must build
a church equipped for religious edu-
cation. The preachers
should do this in part, and do it
Systematically, else he is a poorly
trained preacher, though sometimes
ne may be a great preacher in spite
OF his poor training and not because
Oh 1t. But the church is more than
a pulpit for preaching. 1t is and
always ought to be a great school
for religious education. And this
means chiefly a great school for
bible study. Men who do not con-
ess Jesus as Christ, or seek to fol-
ow Him as Lord, admit that the
world has no other literature COM
parable to the Hebrew Scriptures
Of the Old Testament and the Chris
tian writings of the New Testament.
These writings, a library OF sixty
sir books, commonly called by us
the Bible, constitute a marvellous
hO0k Of life with ouarx, x,o-f4