The State of the Churches.
Can any one read the following declarations from persons qualified to judge, and occupying positions which would lead them to pronounce a contrary opinion if they could, and then deny that such a change has come over the religious world as is indicated in the second message of Rev. 14. Speaking of the unlasting effects of Modern Revivals, the Examiner and Chronicle says:— “Communities are burnt over with wild excitements; thousands received into the church to be turned out again, or retained as dead weights; society filled with very wicked men, ex-church members; and the very soil worn out, as by the old Southern mode of cultivation, so that rational and scriptural labor for souls is rendered almost a hopeless task.” The Rev. George F. Pentecost, of Boston, speaks as follows about the spiritual condition of many of the churches of to-day, according to the Christian Statesman of Jan. 8, 1876:— “A confession can be had from the lips of the pastors of most of our churches that in our midst there are wicked, unholy, corrupt men who maintain their positions, and are saved from a righteous discipline either by their wealth or social position. It is true of this church, and it is true of many of the churches around us. If a ship should go to sea with as many rotten timbers as we have spiritually rotten members, it would go to the bottom in twenty-four hours.” And again: “This departure from Christ has been brought about largely by the terrible and shameless worldliness of the churches. The drift of the churches in their social life, in their religious work, in their management, is to worldliness. One thoughtful, intelligent layman, a member of a church which is a leader in its denominations, said the other day: “Our church has degenerated into a great, strong, social, fashionable organization.””