The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-02-16

though the home where holiness is
made attractive is the best cooporat-
ing agent that the Lord Almighty has
on earth.
The Preachers And The Acid Test.
Quietly and soberly, as they talk
by hresldes and over luncheon tables, i
thoughtful Christian men are saying
today to n another hat the prob
lem OF the church is the problem of
the preacher. This is no unman1y
effort to shift responsibility from
their own shoulders. But the prov
erb Like priest like people" was
never more true han now. The
world wants spiritual leadership. 1t
is eager for tiding Of truth and for
a clear note of gertrude fro.l the
man who speaks for God. Me OPP
pOrtunitieS before the Christian !
ministry were never greater than in
this year Of III Lord nineteen hun
dred and fifteen.
While the vast majority of the
preachers Of the gospel are men of
clean life and Of goodness and Of
self-sacriice, there is nevertheless a
lack Of leadership, Of vision and OF
power. The church is confessedly
not meeting the needs Of our time.
Reluctantly, we are forced to say, as
was the verdict Of old Israel at the
time of our lesson, that the weak
ness of the church is the weakness
Of the priest.
The sons Of Eli lac corrupted the
people. Their self-indulgence had
made a scandal of religion. They
stopped at nothing in the w #
shameless, open sin. They were not
minister's, but were miniStered unto.
The old epigram is recalled, "Once
the church had golden bishops with
wooden croziers and then the shep-
herds fed the sheep. Now we have
x:Ay 800
and the sheep feed the Shepherds"
Worship at Shiloh had been pro-
foundly impaired by these sinful o n
of Eli. Their evil had eaten like a
. gangrene into the life Of the peo-
pie.
e When The church Cannot Win.
, The background Of this lesson is
- the battle between the Phillstines
= and Israelites. When the armies
were joined in array Israel was snit-
= ten and four thousand Israelites fell
1t Mas a dark day for the Chosen
People. In panic, runners were SEN
y quickly to Shiloh to bring to The
battle the Ark of the Covenant, tina
emblem of victory at which the Jor
dan had parted, the symbol Of tn
presence of Jehovah.
The fame of the God of the He
= brews was in all the land, and tn
Philistines were scared when the.
- heard Of the approach of the Ark
~ They expected to be routed by thi
!; supernatural ally. Nevertheless
- when the shouts of the expectan
Is; Israelites rolled over to their cam
~ as the Ark drew near, he Philistine
80 were afraid and cried: "GOd i
rs come into the camp. Wo
unto us, who shall deliver us out O
"a the hand of these mighty gods
~ These are the gods that snlote tn
l 1Noynfi0nc with all T3annor &
1n plaques in the Wilderness" Never
theless, they were not craven, wer
these Philistines, II they eXkOrt
one another, BE strong, and gu
IA yourselves like men. O We Philistine
that ye be not servants unto tn
- quit yourselves like men and fight
Tragically. the Ark proved iinp(
tent. To the Amusement of ever,
Eli body, the victory remained with tt
lid Philistines. Thirty thousand OF tf
nd Children of Abraha fell before tt
cir valiant swords of their foes. VI
nd Ark came upon the battlefield m
It'll shouting of Joy and hope; it !etS
by the hands of the foe, amid the wal
ZEN ings of the and the prison
as ers. The symbol of the Presence he
or been ineffective. The calamity
calamitieS had fallen upon Israe
,th It's religion could not make good
the supreme test.
ace Of course the significance Of 4
ave story is plain to our day. The on
,nc ward forms of religion are IL
enough. Songs and symbols are i
the sufficient. The chuIch ana pow
ust are not necessarily synonymous
to we know to our sorrow. Ehe mo
Is corrupt city politically on the con
nent Is the most FAMOUS 1of
lit churches. Unless the symbol is SUI
nee ported by a pure, priesthood and
teS- cOnSecrated church, inc FreSen
to when II is Suppo"Su ~ e9eH'
we invoked III NalL nc cIulC'i Id
ons when it relies OH its churchlinos:
Ecclesiasticism is mighty tod
let It has money and brains a1iG soc
had prestige. But it has rot power. 7