The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-09-20

| and the fact that there Is q time
| when redemption ceaseth forever. The first
| proposition was enforced from various stand
| points and by various tests while In the second
| the Doctor made a most earnest and imprisoned
| appeal to the unconverted, enforcing it by the
relation of several incidents coming under his
| owe personal observation. wherein the oppor-
| tunity for redemption had been lost some time
| before death This feature Of the sermon was
| very thrilling and made profound impression
| upon the audience-so much so that when Dr.
| Spencer asked for altar exercise several per-
| sons came forward for prayers. and many more
united in seeking deeper work OF grace. The
| altar exercises were continued for some time,
| and were reluctantly closed only because of the
lateness of the hour. Three persons united with
| the church on probation. It was al old fash
Toned Methodist meeting, participated 10 by Rev
| Lamport the pastor Of the church, and BY sew
| eral visiting members Of the Southeast Confer
ence
DIR. THoBURN AT ROBERTS PARK CHURCH
DR.. j. NJ. Thoburn, missionary to India since
| 1859. preached yesterday afternoon at Roberts
Park, taking as his text part of the thirty ninth
verse of thefourteenth chapter First Corinthians:
Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy." The
sermon was in great part to the preachers Of
whom his audience was largely composed. He
gave the old English Interpretation Of the word
| prophesy as it was used in the time Of James 1.
man who prophes;es is one who speaks as he
is moved by the Holy Ghost and then to sift
that which comes into his mind and heart He
| may be man in an official capacity to speak, or
may be it is one Of your servant girls. God Sc
lects persons of all ages and classes SO that His
work may be carried on fully. In india when
| first went there l undertook to show to some
Mohammedans that Mahomet was not prophet
and had never left prediction that was fulfilled
| But they held him to be teacher and they un-
derstood better than he did, for prophet Is one
! who forth tells" and not one who "fore tells. /"
| There is discovering power in the word of God
| not found in any other book. It is power to
wonder at. It is mirror TO show faults, trans
gressons. yearnings 1 was preaching once in
Calcutta and it was put in my heart to say that
there was one there with a broken heart, and
opened the Book as a mirror There was poor
woman in the gallery, with furnished
NAME broken heart. She is a member of our
church, trusted one, in Calcutta to day. The
spirit of God had found that woman and given a
message that just fit her case Now, that is
prophesying. speaking forth the truth of God in
such way that it strikes the hearts of men and
women This is the peculiar gift of the preacher
and is not confined to men who stand behind the
| sacred desk. / repudiate the name of priest.
We preach in the New Testament sense, and so
do our sons and daughters and our servants.
There are Methodist churches who are giving up
exhorters. Why, some of them have not had an
| exhorter for twenty five years. Barnabas, the
son of consolation, was the first exhOrter. We
| should not let the exhorter 70 out of date The
word minister is becoming almost as repulsive
as that of priest to me. l cannot describe it,
but it grows on me somehow. 1t is getting to be
the designation Of an exclusive class. The idea
in Gods work is to have prophet, and any man
who can prophesy let him do SO. If God lays
His amounting hand upon man, that man
should be willing to preach any place. in Jail.
IN a markethouse anywhere. If he is not will
ing to do so. he is not fit to preach in a pulpit.
He must have Gods presence with him in the
pulpit and have His presence so that the people
will know that God is with him. You must
| have the truth on your lips and In your heart"
The Doctor reprobated the money making
preacher. What" he asked, "would have been
thought of Jonah by the people OF Nneysh, if,
after crying out the destruction of the city. they
had found him next morning buying corner lots
| in ennacherib street! And yet you will find
Methodist preachers all over this land speculat-
| ing and in money making pursuits" He con-
| cluded with description OF Elijah representing
| him as typical old Methodist preacher from the
time he went on ''the Cherith circuit then to
the Zarephath circuit then to the Metropolitan
Church at the capital, and from that time until
he was borne to the city of his God.
| At the close of the sermon William A. Mat
| thew, Daniel Rne, Francis A. Guthrie and Louis
King were ordained elders. the ceremony being
performed by Bishop Andrews.
AT FLETcHER-pLAcE CHURCH.
DR.. Cranston, Of the Methodist Book Concern
at Cincinnati, preached at Fletcher place Church
theme was, Power or Force" He showed that
in all forces of matter or mind man knew moth
ing, only by the results. The mystery Of the
one was as great as the other as to Its manner or
processes. It does not initiate against this
power of the Holy Spirit that it works in and
upon man in such processes as one above his
comprehension, for the force in gravitation or in
electricity is as incomprehensible. But the fact
of the force and the results of them are things
that can easily be known. The mightier force
now working in human society for Its elevation,
| education and salvation is the Holy Spirit,
through the name. word and work of Jesus
Christ 1t Is this power that lifts the human
soul up out of darkness, superstition and sin to
| life, and light, and salvation.
Rev. John g. Chafee occupied the pulpit of
| Fletcher-place Church in the evening, taking as
| his text Colossians j. 81, %. The text presented
| two points; first mans alienation and it's causes
| and. second. the possibility and way of return
The address to the Colossians plainly represents
the general scriptural estimate of the fallen cond
ton of mankind. Infidel scientists say that they
| fail to find God. Unconscously they confirm
| the teachings of the book-"The world, by wis
| DOM knew not God" Every page of the world g
history proves this, and the words apply to the
| learned few, as certainly as to the masses The
| wisest Of heather philosophers were not slow to
confess that they CROPPED in the thickest dark
| ness. let them long never so earnestly for the
| light How gross must be the ignorance of the
| masses when the wisest have not a ray to guido
| them. Danish the Bible and its influences from
| the most highly enlightened and civilized nation
and one hundred years would not pass before
| it would lapse into idolatry. if not barbarism.
| The most worthy among the irreligious may sit
in the sanctuary, and in some sense formally
| take part but there is no real worship, no deep
feeling of gratitude, hum bling tbs soul In pen
itential, trusting, reverential devotion watch
| ing and waiting for the gracious baptism of the
spirit. Never till the thrill of the divine life and
| throbbings Of divine love are felt, can prayer
| gospel comes as system of counteraction and
| restoration. By repentance toward God and
| faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the divine mercy
| is reached, and by divine love impaired by the
| Holy Ghost shedding it abroad in our hearts,
we are brought into harmony with the nature of
| God.