The State of the Churches
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| WHAT IS BABYLON? | 2 |
| BABYLON’S FALL | 4 |
| WHAT HAS COME? | 5 |
| THE STATE OF THE WORLD | 8 |
| THEIR COVETOUSNESS | 11 |
| PRIDE IN MODERN CHURCH BUILDINGS | 12 |
| PERATIC SINGING IN THE CHURCHES | 13 |
| RELIGIOUS GAMBLING | 15 |
| PRIDE AND FASHION | 18 |
| WORSHIP IN NEW YORK | 21 |
It is not with any desire to find fault, or like the worldling to dwell upon the imperfections of others, and make their backslidings an excuse for laxity, that we speak of the fallen condition of the churches, for we do it with sadness, and would God it were otherwise. The facts are so well known to keen-eyed skeptics, infidels, and the world at large, that if we refuse to acknowledge them it would indicate a want of honesty on our part. But while infidels rejoice over the matter, and make it an occasion of doubting and rejecting the Bible and the Christian religion, we note the facts with candor, and see in it a fulfillment of prophecy. Instead of an occasion of stumbling, we find it an occasion of stronger faith in the Bible, as of heavenly origin. SOC 1.1
But while we speak freely on the subject, we need not appear before the world as confessing for the churches, as though they were unwilling to acknowledge the facts: for this they have fully done for themselves, as will appear from the copious extracts in the following pages. SOC 1.2
Let not the unbeliever rejoice over the fallen state of the church, for it is an omen of no good to the world. If the truth has lost its power upon its professed friends, what can its enemies hope for? Let God’s people return from their captivity and be saved; for, while we admit the fact that the churches, as bodies, have become sadly degenerate, yet we firmly believe there are many true-hearted Christians in the different denominations, who mourn over the desolations of Zion. Such, we doubt not, will heed the call, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” SOC 1.3
In endeavoring to show that the present condition of the churches is a most striking fulfillment of prophecy, we propose, first, to spring the following question: SOC 2.1