1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



515 



liir f o/ft#. 



Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will 

 be still praising thee.— Psalm 8i: 4. 



PRESTME a great many read these 

 Home Papers month after month, who 

 liave a hope in God, and who are yet not 

 members of any Christian church. Perhaps 

 I might say, in the outset, that I believe it is 

 generally held that one may live a good 

 Christian life without ever un'iting with any 

 church at all ; and whatever I may say in 

 this paper in the way of urging the import- 

 ance of uniting with the churches of our 

 land, please bear in mind that I by no means 

 intend to intimate you can not be saved un- 

 less you are a member of some church. The 

 age is too enlightened now to teach that the 

 act of uniting with a church, of itself , saves 

 a person. The ceremony of marriage be- 

 tween a man and woman does not make 

 them a loving couple always, joined heart 

 and hand ; but what loving couple, joined 

 heart and hand, would wish to live as such 

 without the marriage ceremony V Some- 

 times when I urge ujion a friend the import- 

 ance of standing up before men and confess- 

 ing his acceptance of Jesus as his Savior, he 

 objects, on the ground that he does not wish 

 to make a parade of his religion before men. 

 I may have chosen a pretty strong compari- 

 son, but it seems to me, my friends, a man 

 might with almost equal reason object to the 

 marriage ceremony, because he does not 

 wish to have it paraded before men that 

 they two are man and wife. I presume you 

 all know, without my telling of it, that the 

 greatest reason why people object to uniting 

 Avith the church nearest to them is because 

 of the imperfections of those who are church- 

 members. One who loves God with all his 

 heart, soul, and might, and his fellow-man 

 as himself, surely ought to live a life almost 

 free from reproach ; but take church-mem- 

 bers collectively, or pick out any one, even 

 the best of the lot, and hold him up and scru- 

 tinize him closely, and, oh dear ! what in- 

 consistency and crookedness ! With sad- 

 ness I acknowledge, my friends, that there 

 is, in one sense, crookedness and inconsis- 

 tency, for we are bitt human, the best of us. 

 AVe are creatures subject to be swayed by 

 anger, jealousy, selfishness, and sins of like 

 nature, and we do not always have the grace 

 to be able to keep the manifestations of 

 these feelings from being seen of men, even 

 though we strive ever so hard. At the same 

 time, those who judge us are not always wise 

 and impartial judges, and they many times 

 greatly exaggerate these faults, or perhaps 

 often term things faults from their stand- 

 point of view, when they are, in fact, just 

 the reverse. .Just one illustration right here: 

 I once insisted that a young man who 

 worked for me should settle up what he was 

 owing me. by taking a part of his wages each 

 week. I did this for his own good as well 

 as mine, for I deemed it well for him to be 

 taught to keep his business matters straight- 

 ened up, instead of having them dragging 

 along into weeks and months. He thought 

 I was crowding him needlessly, and retorted 



something like this : "A pretty Christian 

 you are, to be crowding a poor boy so he 

 can not live comfortably." Now, I may 

 have erred in judgment, and may have been 

 partially right in the matter; but as I did 

 what was best, according to my judgment, I 

 committed no deliberate sin. I was far 

 more anxious all the time that the boy 

 should become a Christian, than that I should 

 get my pay; but for all that, this act may 

 have looked very bad to those who viewed 

 it from a different standpoint, or who rea- 

 soned that, as I had considerable property, 

 while the boy had nothing, I was greedily 

 crowding him. Well, if you are going to 

 listen to all that is said against church-mem- 

 bers, and form conclusions hastily, without 

 inquiring into the matter, you will, without 

 doubt, tind them, as it seems to you, full 

 of faults. 



Now besides this, you will find church- 

 members, now and then, who will some- 

 times be convicted of crime, and ministers 

 of the gospel have been reported who seem- 

 ed rather servants of Satan than of the most 

 high God. Although such cases do occur, 

 they are very rare, comparatively; but as 

 they are heralded far and wide, one might 

 get an impression that the really true and 

 faithful ones are not so much the rule as 

 they really are. Very often, I presume, 

 members, deacons, and pastors are not what 

 they ought to be. How do you know, friend, 

 what a Christian should do and what he 

 ought noty I do not mean to question your 

 knowledge in this matter, for I know you 

 know, and I thank God for it. Yes, breth- 

 ren, I thank God that it is so plain to us all 

 that "he who runs," as it were, could tell by 

 one hasty glance what a godly life should be. 

 We all of us know very well the great gen- 

 eral principles of Christianity, and the spirit 

 that runs through every page of the Bible. 

 It is plain without argument. Do justly, 

 love mercy, and walk humbly before God. 

 \ou know what the duties of a Christian 

 should be; but the Christians belonging to 

 the churches near you, you claim, do not 

 live Christian lives. Where does your duty 

 lie? You think the churches are corrupt, 

 and you know they ought not to be corrupt, 

 and at the same time you know, too, how to 

 make them better. You know, too, the 

 great need of good pure churches, and that 

 the world is far, oh very far better! for hav- 

 ing such as they are, rather than none at all. 

 Why, oh why, my friend, do you refuse to 

 go and help? And while you refuse, why do 

 you find fault with the poor souls who are 

 doing the best they know how, may be, to 

 sustain and hold upland to keep the Church 

 of our Lord Jesus Christ? 



Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what 

 judgment ye judge, yc shall be judged; and with 

 what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you 

 again.— Matt. T: 1, 3. 



Some object to uniting with a church, be- 

 cause they are not good enotigh. It depends 

 something on who the one is who makes 

 this plea. If it is one who appreciates the 

 beauties of holiness, and hungers and thirsts 

 after righteousness, he, above all others, 

 should put himself within the pale of the 

 church, for its protecting care he can in no 



