National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-10-09
ENTHUSIASM IN RELIGIOUS CIRCLES
MASS MEETING OF CHRISTMAS Tl-HlaR1H
Elder Hastings sermons-Arrange.
ments for His Meeting at the Capitol
Laying OF q Cornerstone
at NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. In
COIored Church.

Mr.. H. L. Hastings continued his meetings yes
terday at the Foundry church. In the evening,
after the opening services Of prayer and song, he
preached from the text-John iy:l7: "Herein is
our love made perfect, that We may have boldness
in the day ofjudgment." He cited two previous
verse;; "Hhosoever shall confess that Jesus Is
the Son DICED, God dwelleth in him and he in
God" "And we have known and believed the
love that God hath to US. God is love; and he
that dwelleth in love dWelleth in God, and God
in him."
That was not mere utterance with the lips, he
said, without the heart and affection and faith,
for no man could say that Jesus Christ was the
Lord but by the Holy Ghost. According to the
passage recIted, there was a day Of Judgment
According TO the words Of John, en- Mars hill, the
teachings Of Paul to the words Of Christ,
there was judgment day.
There was probably no subject on which o man
could preach to-day, more unpopular than the
as nj tss 10 Of tbs dswSs ba S
been IN the days Of Noah, for he had preached
one hundred and twenty years, warned the world
and prepared an ark, and had only gotten
EIGHT SOULS
to believe he was not as unpopular as when de-
struction had been preached to Sodom and the
cities Of the plain, for only part OF one family had
been convinced, and Of them one had looked BACK
and had persisted. So If they wished 10 be men,
instead Of poor, cringing cowards If they had any
faith in God and his word, they must be willing
all alone like Noah and Lot in Sodom. It was an
unpopular doctrine; men did not like judgment
to come, because worldly, hypecritical, sinful
men hated to think, hated to hear, believe or
read about judgment day, or anything con-
nected with 1t.
On the other hand, Gods Word was very full
OF warnings, and, in his opinion, surrounded by
snares drifting with the current Of the world that
rolled hellwsrd and deathward. They needed
world S ike this Il was the great mover to re-
pentence. There were some ministers who did not
believe judgment, who did not preach Judgment;
IN their churches. If they would preach Gods
Word faithfully they must preach the wrath to
could persuade themselves that the judgment
day was far dstant If they could believe that the
judgment day would not come for twenty thou:
sand years they would still feel great relief; If
they could put il ahead four or fYe million years
they felt easy, and If they could believe 1t would
never come they would be satisfied. One Of the
IDLEsT DREAMS
that ever deluded the heart Of man was that that
awful day would never come. The appointed hour
made haste, and no matter how far they put 1t
away 1t would come; and there were men who
SS 70 5Ua ~ or S Sn Ss
would avail them nothing when the earth should
reel beneath the tread Of the Almighty, and burn
would break, brszen brows would bend In the
dust, every knee would bow. There were no
partings like the separation below the Throne OF
God, when the vast tide of humanity should burst
upon the central rock and roll to the right and to
the le TO the sunny places and the light, or down
to death and destruction and despair
A man could not be bold in view OF such day
as that. Some had not boIdness to do anythin g.
They had not boldness enough to stand up for
Christ in q blasphemous world, and yet they
would do things that Gods angels would not
dare to do. There were some who hardly had
courage to come to the throne Of grace. How
should they dare to come TO the throne OF judg-
ment? If there was that dwelling Of God In
them, and they in God, then the Judgment Day
would be no more fearful to them than every
other day. There was multitude of men, then,
who did not know that they were saved. One
reason was because they had never known that
they had been lost. If they wished to know that
they were Christians, the frst thing necessary
was TO be Christian. They should believe in
He would not make a fool Of any man by telling
him to believe he was saved. They should first
know that they were lost then that If they be-
lieved in Christ they would be saved. : Perhaps
they did not believe in