The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-14
SERVICES OF THE SABBATH.
Rev. L FL. Mcconnell Presents the Needs
OF a General Religious Awakening.
Father Cook, at St. Joseph's Catholic Mis-
sion, Takes Radical Grounds Against
the System of Public Schools.
PUT ON THY STRENGTH.
Rev. I. H McConnelps Sermon on the Urgent
Need of Universal Revival.


Rev. T. II. Mcconnell occupied his pulpit at
Roberts Park Church yesterday, morning and
evening. At the latter service he preached as
follows, to a large congregation, considering the
inclemency of the weather:
Awake, awake: put on strength arm of the Lord;
old.-Isaiah H. 8.
Awake, awake, put on the strength o Zion.-Isaiah
lii W. !: h.,. ,.,.s -, 49, 49,, 49, e..,...
have told US what work thou ddst in their days, in
the times Of old.-Ps Xiv, /.
When the prophet Isaiah uttered the mpas-
stoned words first quoted Gods ancient people
their enemies, and held in bondage seventy
years. God seemed to have forgotten
. them, and is addressed as if asleep.
The sleep of Providence was only apparent; the
sleep OF of Zion real God is :mmutable. He
does not lapse into Indifference, either as to His
people or His kingdom. The reason for the
PERIODS of spiritual declension which mark the
history of the church. is to be found in the
church. not in God On this December day the
earth, robed in her mantle of snow. shows no
signs of life. Only few weeks ago manifold
life was everywhere. The sun pours out as
much heat to-day as in midsummer. The differ
ence between 1.-The glowing brightness and flow
ering life" of mid summer and the darkness and
lifelessness and frost of to-day is owing to the
place of the earth in it's orbit and the angle at
which the rays of the sun strike it. and not to
any change in the sun. So the spiritual declen-
slons which mark the history of the church are
to be traced to the church itself, and not to God.
This imprisoned cry to God for deiverauce was
inspired by His mighty miracle of deliverance
wrought in the ancient times. The prophet re-
counts the mighty deeds of the ancient days.
Because God had wrought SO wondrously in be-
half OF His people in the generations Of old they
believed that He would come again to their res
cue. They would turn the fact of His help in
the past into an argument for present help.
Brothers, like the retrospect which sees Gods
hand. l like the faith which is anchored
in remembered help in the vanished
years. and in the immutable promise of God.
The church of God ought to awake Cor the sake
of the country. Nothing would do this country
so much good as an old time revival. 1t would
help to adjust the difficulty between capital and
labor. 1t would help the temperance cause by
creating sentiment in its favor, and by saving
the inebriate. 1t would rebuke unbelief. When
the spiritual life of the church is at low ebb,
unbelief spreads rapidly among all classes of So
ciety. When Zion hourishes unbeief wanes.
The Anglican revival in the eighteenth century
saved Christianity to Europe-rolling back
| the cloud of unbelief. Two years
of revival in country burned
out the coarse infdeiity of Thomas Paine.
The church Of God ought to awake for the sake
Of the unsaved. They are rushing on to death,
II they are arrested and saved the church must
be awakened. The ordinary life of the church
Will not arrest the mighty procession marching
on to death The power to arrest it and capture
it for Christ will Do given when the church shall
have been aroused from her slumbers.
The church in this country has a mighty work
to do The 60" S BOOKS &C. the various evangelical
churches in this country showed 10 CO. 963 COM
municants in 1880 The population was then
so, 0000 00 nearly five times the membership or
thechurch Millions of people in this country
are without Christ This is not all: foreign emf
grafton has brought to our shores large numbers
of papists. infdels and criminals. With these
the church must wrestle. At the interdenomi
national congress held in Cincinnati, last week,
one of the speakers said: 1.-THE point Of danger
is not in the serried hosts against u.s. it is with
There is too little strength in our faith. too
little fire in love, too little enthusiasm in
church enterprises We need, and all we need
is new baptism of the Holy Ghost to be match
and an overmatch for the worst to which
the times and God continually call US.
Put on thy strength. What is the strength to
be put onl 1t is spiritual strength-the power
of the Omnipotent Spirit; Jesus said to His dis
cipes: "Tarry at Jerusalem until endowed with
power from high. Ye shall receive power
after that the Holy Ghost has come upon YOU
The church puts on her strength when she re-
ceives the Holy Ghost in the fulness of His
power.
The apostolic church had strength, because
each member was baptized with the Holy Ghost.
The church to-day would have strength if each
member had the Pentecostal baptism Baptized
with the Holy Ghost the church to day would
the place of work. They came at Pen
tecost. Let the Pentecostal baptism come
on the churches in this city and every edifice
would be crowded. No advertisement of sen
satonal topics would be necessary. Having
the baptism of the Holy Ghost the church
would have strength enough to save the masses.
Thousands were saved on the day of Pentecost.
With almost every congregation unconverted
persons are permanently connected. The church
ought to have strength to save them She
ought also to have strength to save those who
have no permanent connection with her, but
come occasionally
Put on thy strength. Make it personal mat
ter. Have personal Pentecost Keep yourself
in such an attitude toward God that He can fill
you with the spirit Remember that YOU can no
more have power, if severed from Him. than the
ray of light can exist separate from the sun.
Put on thy strength But you say that you
can do dothing, if you have a thousand bap-
tisms. You say that you timid. and un.
trained, and without the gift of speech. Let me
tell you little story. An old colored woman
had young master who. though in.
his preaching the old colored woman said
1.-The Lord knows how to hit straight lick with
crooked stick" Brother, if you feel that you are
only crooked stick, give yourself TO the Lord,
remembering the words of the coored woman.
the Lord knows how to hit a straight lick with
a crooked stick. If you were the weakest man
in the world, with Jesus to back you, you are
more than sufficient for the work required at
your nandS. linen, orother, put on thy strength
The imprisoned appeal was that God should
exert himself for His people as He had done in
the generations of old. The Psamst said
eve have heard with o God, our
fathers have told us what work Thou didst in
their days, in the times of old" Our fathers
have told us of the overwhelming conviction of
sinners by the Spirit of God. Some would fall
to the ground crying for mercy; some would
struggle if in the agonies Of death; others lay
as if dead Such overwhelming convictions
were followed by wonderful conversions We
need the Spirit to powerfully convict sinners to-
day. There is but little difficulty in inducing
powerfully convicted sinner to seek Christ.
Our fathers have told us of the clear and pow
erful conversions in their days. Conversions
that wrought complete transformation of char
acter outward and inward conversions that
made homes blossom again like the Eoen of God;