The Church's Strength

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Sep 18, 1855

The Church's Strength.

The converts of the day of Pentecost, if doubled once in ten years, would, at the end of two centuries, have equalled the whole population of the globe. Yes, if Christians had continued to labor so faithfully, so humble and so prayerfully, and God had so blessed their labors as to make each convert the instrument of the conversion of two persons every ten years, the morning which ushered in the third century from that memorable day, would have shone upon a world containing not one soul unreconciled to God. Why then did not Christianity go on "conquering and to conquer," until its triumphs were co-extensive with the abodes of man? Alas, the fault was in her professed friends. Even before the grave had closed on the last of the Apostles, pride and emulation, and worldliness, had begun to mar the beauty and paralyze the energies of the Christian church. And as years rolled on, the scene became darker and darker still, until at length a night of gloom settled down upon the world, which continued unbroken for ten centuries.

How impressive the lesson thus taught us by history. How clearly does it show that the strength of the church is in proportion to her purity and spirituality. Let her once more cherish the pentecostal spirit, and would she not experience pentecostal success, and receive a pentecostal blessing?