Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-10-24

faculty OF unsuccessful merchants to
train young merchants, or Q faculty
OF unsuccessful lawyers to train
young lawyers. The fact 10 that many
oil the theological seminaries cut Q man
ana clip him and square him and moud.
him and twist him till all his individlu
atty is gone, and he 10 but poor copy
OF Q minister who was made Q professor
because he was q dead failure in the
pulpit. We want lees dead wood in all
our theological seminaries and more
blazing evangels. Ii q men cannot
preach himself declare he cannot teach
Others how to preach. At Q meeting Of
the general assembly OF the Presbyterian
church minister who regularly preach.
es to two or three hundred people in .
church that will hold FIVE hundred was
appointed to speak on "How to Reach
the Mssses?" ] am told it was too much
for the risibilities OF some OF the Clergy
present. How can a young man who
has been under the bedwar6ng infiu.
ences / speak OF enter into the wants
and sympathies OF the people
who on Sabbath days want
practical gospel that will last them all
the week, and will last them forever.
Our young men, a. they enter the pul.
pit, are told they must preach Christ
and Him crucifed. Yes; but not as an
abstraction. There aro many who
preach Christ and Him crucitied till the
audience comes down from five hund.
red to two hundred and from two hund.
red to fifty and from fifty TO twenty and
from twenty down to little more than
the sexton who is paid to be present and
lock up at the close. There is a great
deal OF talk about Christ and Him cruci-
fed which is cant, meaning nothing and
less than nothing. 1t is Christ and Him
cruci6ed as al omniipotent sympathy
applied to the wants and woes Of
our nature, a doctrine that will
help in all domestic, all
social, all political, all national strug-
giles, q Christ for the parlor, q Christ for
the kitchen, Christ for the nursery, a
bank, Christ for the farm, Christ for
every emergency, for every duty, for
every grief, for every perturbation.
People will largely or sparsely attend
the church in proportion As they get
spiritual help. Small attendance means
Q nall help; medium attendance medium
help; large attendance large help. IL
there be famine in a city and three
depots OF bread, one depot with hun.
dred loaves for..distributon,a another with
five hundred leaves, another with ten
thousand loaves, the depot with
one hundred loaves will have
some applicants, the depot Of
five hundred loaves many more. the
depot OF one thousand throDgs, throngs
My brethren OF the ministry, We must
somehow get our shoulders under the
peoples burden every Sunday and give
them a good stout lift. And we can do
it. We have it all our own way. II is
a great pity il with the floor clear and
no Interruptions we cannot in the course
OF an hour get our hymn or our prayer
or our sermon under enough momen.
tum to swing somebody clear out OF
His Troubles and His sins.
Ministerial Incidence also clears out
the hearers from many a church. Hear.
ers, intelligent from the multitude 4
newspapers and active IN the busin, 81
world, will not sit on the Sabbath and
gather to hear sermons that have in
them no facts, no information, no stir.
ring power, no adaptation, no fire. The
pew will not listen to the pulpit unless
at least on the subject that
p~~f-- "..as- 1i-~..--;~- 49,
pew. Many clergymen lose their
audiences through sheer lsEiness. They
saunter about during the week, loung
ing in parlors under the name Of pas
soral visitation and gadding about the
village or the city on errands OF complete
nothingness or wrap their brains around
cigars and smoke them up and then on
Friday or Saturday put together few
crude thoughts, and then on Sunday
wonder that Christ, and Him crucifed,
does not bring large audiences, and on
Monday sit down and write Jereipiads
for the religious periodicals on the deca
dence OF church attendance. Depend
upon it people will not 20 to church as
q mere matter oil duty. There are not a
thousand people IN Brooklyn who will
rise on Sabbath morning and say: ut
is commanded that we 20 TO church, IT
is our duty that we 90, therefore, / am
going to church." The vast multitude
OF people who 20 to church go because
they like it, while another multi.
tude do not 20 because they do not like
it. am not speaking about what the
world ought TO be, but about what the
world is.
Let US all freshen up. That will make
full prayer. meetings and full Sunday
school and full churches. II Christ
were again on earth do you suppose he
would dwell on dry didactics? No; he
would tell you how England ought 10
treat Ireland, and how American poll
tics ought to be purified, and who ought
to be Mayor OF Brooklyn and would
draw His illustrations from the year
1881 from the State OF New York. Peo.
pie interesting on other subjects are
dull on religion. Just one thing remains
to be done and that is for the living
churches OF America TO be up and take
the cities, apologizing for nothing. scold.
ing about nothing, fearless OF the
cheap and easy charge oil ssnsf'
tionalism (for the church that does
not get on always charges the church
that does with sensationalism. Go right
on and gather in the people by hun.
dreds and Thousands, and have them
soundly, grandly, sloriously, trium'
phantly converted 10 God in the old.
iashioned style OF conversion which has
| a half dc zen hallallujahs in 1t. Let tie
| churches stop the apolosetic air. IL any
people do not believe in churches they
need not have them; II any people do
not believe in the Bible they need not
have it. Go ahead and gather in the
100000 people Of Brookly and the
SO, ,0O0, 600 people Of the United States
VINO would like 10 have the gospel. We
have bad diminishing long enough. II
is time that we bring On general en-.
yayement. We are too easily diverted.
When Moses started to conquer the
Ethiopians be was expected TO take the
round about way and march along the
rivers back as other armies had done,
because the most direct route was iniest.
ed by snakes and no army and no man
had ever dared TO cross that serpent in
tested region. Bot Moses had his men
catch a great multitude OF Ibises 1.-THE
Ibis was a bird celebrated for destroying
1