THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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ness of its members, (¡ihurch strength is not found in these worldly attac h ments. or endowments, bu t in th e en- duem ent of th e Holy Ghost on its members. No more fatal or deadly symptom can be seen in a church th an th is transference of its streng th from sp iritual to m aterial forces, from the Holy Ghost to the world. The power of God in the Church is th e measure of its streng th and is the estim ate which God puts on it, and no t th e estimate th e world puts on it. Here is the meas ure of its ability to meet the ends of its being. On th e contrary, show us a chufch, poor, illiterate,, obscure and unknown, b u t composed of praying people. They may be men of n either power nor wealth nor influence. They may be fam ilies th a t do not know one week where they are to get th e ir bread for the next. But w ith them is “th e hiding of God’s power,” and th e ir influence will be felt fo r eternity, and th e ir light shines, and they are watched, and wherever they go th ere is a fountain of light, and Christ in th em is glorified and His kingdom advanced. They are His chosen vessels of salvation and His lum inaries to reflect His light. There are signs everywhere unm is takably and of dire import th a t P ro tes tantism has been blinded and 'caught by S atan’s dazzling glare. We are being seriously affected by the m aterial progress of the age. We have heard so much of it, and gazed on it so long, th a t sp iritu al estimates are tame to us. ■Spiritual views have no form nor comeliness to us. Every thing must ta k e on the rich colorings, luxuriant grow th and magnificent ap pearance of the m aterial, or else it is beggarly. This is the most perilous condition the Church has to meet, when th e meek and lowly fru its of piety are to be discounted by th e showy and worldly graces w ith which m aterial suc
cess crowds the Church. We must' not yield to the flood. We must not for a moment, not th e hund red th p art of an inch, give place to th e world. Piety must be stressed in every way and at every point. The Church must be made to see and feel this delusion and snare, th is transference of h er streng th from God to the world, th is rejection of the Holy Ghost by th e endowment of “m ight and power,” and th is yielding to Satan. The Church more and more is inclined not only to disregard, but to despise, the elements of spiritual stren g th and set them aside, for the more impressive worldly ones, '
We have been and are schooling our- > selves into regarding as elements of church prosperity only those items which make showings in a statistical column, and which impress an age given up to the m aterialization of sec u la r facts and figures; and as the most vital sp iritual conditions and gains can not be reduced to figures, they are left out of the column and its aggregates, . and afte r a while they will neither be noted nor estimated. If we do not call a h alt and change our methods, th e whole estim ate of th e streng th of a church will be supremely worldly. However imposing our m aterial resiilts may be, however magnificent and pros perous th e secular arm of th e Church appears, we must go deeper th a n these for its strength. We must proclaim it, and ite rate and reiterate it w ith in creased emphasis, th a t the streng th of th e Church does not lie in these things. These may be but the gilded delusions which we m istake for the tru e riches, and while we are vainly saying, “We are rich and increased in goods,” God has w ritten of us th a t we are “w retch ed, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” They will be-—if we are not sleeplessly vigilant — bu t the costly spices and splendid decoration which embalm and entomb our spiritu- ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND COPIES NEW
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