4.  Only one more cause of the enfeeblement of the church can be mentioned here; that is her too close reliance upon the principles and forces of the material realm.  She too often forgets whence her help must come; she is too willing to go down to Egypt for her allies instead of trusting in the Lord of Hosts.  She cannot always understand that she is safer and stronger when she puts her entire reliance on moral and spiritual forces; when she refuses to sacrifice truth for the revenues of the rich or the friendship of the strong.

The church is probably suffering more from this cause at this day than she has ever suffered in any former period.  She lives in the midst of the abounding marvels of the materialistic civilization; she sees how much is accomplished through the use of material forces; and the spirit of the time gets into her brain and blood, and she begins to think that money and the things that money can buy are the most essential conditions of her growth and usefulness.  Therefore she makes such friendships and adopts such policies as will bring to her the revenues she thinks she must have for the prosecution of her work.  And thus her vision is dimmed for the truth she needs to see, and her arm is weakened for the work she has to do.

No influence so insidious as this, and none so fatal, has ever assailed the Christian church.  She is passing through her greatest temptation.  It is Mammon who has taken her up into an exceeding high mountain and shown her the kingdoms she wants to conquer and the glory she hopes to win, and is saying to her:  “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me!” May God grant her the grace to answer “Get thee behind me, Satan; I hear the voice of one who said:  Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

That the church has suffered serious injury and enfeeblement from the causes we have considered,—­from her lack of faith, from her subjection to orthodoxism, from the ravages of sectarianism, from her entanglements with Mammon, no one can deny.  But that these evils are tending to increase is not evident.  There is reason rather to hope that they are all on the wane, unless it be the last.

That the church is far from being in perfect spiritual condition we will all admit.  But that she is growing worse rather than better we need not believe.  Most of these maladies are of long standing, but they are less acute now than once they were, and there is better hope of recovery.  Above all, we may say that the church knows to-day what ails her better than she ever knew before, and that she may therefore more intelligently proceed to apply the needful remedies.

What kind of treatment is called for will be the subject of the next discussion.

VI

The Coming Reformation