National Republican., 1888-04-14

BGooKiNN, Apr. 49, In his Friday night Tux
of this date at the Tabernacle the Ray. T.
Dewitt Tamagc. u. d., pastor, said:
All over Chriscndom on Friday nights or
Thursday nights or Wednesday nights people
assemble in churches for religious SER.
Why invade Inc w week nsht with 'h "HTiah
mcCtingy Many Christians do not appreciate
u; indeed, II is great waste of time uulrss
iihnG be some positive advantngc. To- be gained.
The, French nation at one time tried hgyinsn
sabbath only once IN ten days. The in'rlll-
gent Christian finds he needs sabbath every
three orfour days, and So builds Il brief one
ON the shore of weekday, In the shape " I'M
extra religious service. He gets grace on sab
bath to bridge the chasm OF worldlnc,S he.
tween that and the next sabbath, but finds
the arch of the bridge very great, aud so runs
mpn pier midway TO help sustain the rc!sure.
There are one hundred and siNtyoGht hours
10 week, aud hui two hours Of public rrllg.
two hours In II battle with one hunlrcl and
s'Nty.eiehty
weok.nght meeting allows church MON
hCrship uttcrancC. \ minister cannot know
how Ia preach unless In conference moot.
ing lie finds the religious state Of the people.
He must feel the pulse before giving the
medicine otherwise he will not know whether
u ought TO be- an .anudync or a stimuant.
Every thiistan ought to have something to
say. Every man Is walking eternity. The
plaincst man has Omnipotencc to defend him,
TO provide for him. The tamest religious
experience has IN II poems, tragedies. histories,
lliads. Paradise, Lost, and Paradise i,cglinc1,
Ought not such an one have somcthns TO
sayy II you were ever in the army you know
what tits TO see an officer on horseback lash
swiftly past carryingn dispatch. You won.
the amy Ia advance, or was thc enemy
coming' 50, every Christian carr;ci Il dis.
ratch from God 70 the world. Let him ride
and the enemy Is coming. Go out AMI fulfill
your mission. You may have letter com
mitted TO your care, and after some days you
find II in one of your pockets; You forgot TO
deliver t.. Great was your chaGrin when you
found that II prrtumcd TO some sickness or
trouble. God gives every man II letter of
warning or invitation TO carry, aud what will
you have forgotten IL. A wcCk-night meeting
emit.
such service tests ones ,piety, No credit
for going to church on. Sabbath. Places of
amusement are all closed and there Is
no money, TO be made. Bnt woeS-nights
every kind of temptation and opportunity
spreads before II man. and II he goes to the
praying circle he must give up these things.
The man who goes to the weekly service regu-
larly, through moonlight and pitch darkness,
through good walking and slush ankle deep,
will, in the book of judgment, find II set down
TO his credit. He will have a better scat in
heaven than the man who went only when the
walking was good, and the weather comfort
able, and the service attractive, and his health
perfect. That service which costs nothing
A weekniglt service thrusts religion in the
scCularitoS Of the week. IL Is as much as to
say This Is Gods Wednesday, or Gods
Thursday, or Gods Friday, or Gods week.
You would not give much for a, property the
possession Of which you could have only one
seventh of the time, and God does not want
that man whose services He can have only ON
sabbath. II you paid full wages to a man and
found out that siX.scvcnths OF the time he was
serving rival house. you would he indignant;
and the man who takes Gods goodness and
gives six.seyenths OF his time to the world, the
flesh, and the devil, Is an abominaton to the
Lord. The whole week ought to be II temple
Of seven rooms dedicated TO God, You may,
II You will, make one room the holy of holrs,
but let all the temple be consecrate
The weekday service gives additional op.
portunity of religious. culture, and we lind 1t
so difficult to, do right, and be right, that we
cannot afford to miss any opportunity. Such
u service Is lunch between the Sabbath
meals, and II we do not take II we get weak
and faint. A truth coming to us then ought
to be especially effective. If you are on a
railroad train and stop at Il depot, and Il boy
| comes in with telegram, all the passengers
lean forward and wonder u 1t is for them, II
| or II would not be brought there Now, II
| while we are rpshing on in the whirl of every
| day excitement, message of God meets us,
II must be an urgent and important message.
| II God speaks to us in meeting midweek, II
| Is because there is something that needs to be
| said before next Sunday.
| L
| the Importance of II week night meeting and
| urge all good men and women to take part In
| II, we recognize the fact that such meetings
| are often ruined by itnerant bores who take
| advantage In an offensive way of lettings
| thrown open for eXhortation or prayer. There
| Is q class of barbarians who roam the land,
making fearful havoc. They swing no ton:-
| hawk. They sound no war nhoop. But their
| track is marked by devastation. mean that
| class of persons who 90 from church to
church charged with tho mission of talking
1 Toll.
| less tribe, generally disafected with their
| own church for the reason that the church can
| no longer endure them, and then they go
about. like the roaring lion' seeking whom
| Though never having seen them before,
| can tell them as soon as they enter meeting.
They have, a brasSy face, sanctim9nions
way of rolling up their eyes. solemn shuttle,
and pompous way of sitting down, as much
as to say, Here goes into the seat an awful
amount Of religlon!" They take of their over
coats, pull out the cuffs of their shirt sleeves,
| give an impressive clearing of the throat, and
wait for the time to seize their prey.
The meeting Is all aglow. some old Chris,
young man has asked for prayers, or II captive
of evil habits has recounted his struggles, and
cried from the depth of an agonizel heart,
has Just started heayenward, taking all, the
meeting along with IL. The exercises have
come to climax, and the minister Is about to
pronounce the benediction, or invite the
conversation, when the itinerant bore begins
slowly to rise, his boots croakng, the seat in
hand, and everything else seeming to give
way. He coniesses himself q stranger, but he
loves PRAYER meetings. lie Is astonshed
doet there M see are how nDs a9re
consistent. He has heard an incident that he
feels called upon to relate. He related it that
noon at the Fulton street prayer meeting. lie
related 1t that afternoon at an old peoples
meeting. lie will relate II now in rchearsa! for
u meeting tomorrow, at which he expects to
relate u. His voice Is wooden. His eyes are
| dry as the bottom of a kettle that has been Oh
a, stove two hours without any water in it,
The young people laugh and 90 out one by
one, The aged wipe the sweat from their
| himself to rccite an eXtemporlZed litany
From fire, and plague and tempest, and
itinerant b9res, deliver us: us:u, .,,
the night II he conld not have. given vent to
this utterance. 1t was impossible for him to
sit still, There was somewhere spring which
lifted him up inevitably. At the close Of the
happy remarks, and went home feeling that
he had given the world mighty push toward
ii such one is notorously inconsistent he
will talk chiefly on personal holiness. Per
haps he failed rich, so that, unencumberel he
| might give all his time TO prayer meetings We
| knew horse jockey whose perpetual theme
at such meetings was sanctifcation, and he
said he was speeding toward heaven, but on
| which of his old nags wehad no time 10 ask him
one of the chiefs of this barbarian tribe is
| the eXpositOry man. He Is very apt to rise
with New Testament in hand, or there has
been some passage that during the day has
pressed heavily on his mind. 1t is probably
The first chapter of Romans, or some ligura,
| tive passage from the Old Testament lie
says, for instance. My brethren,
| call your attention to Hosea, vii and
| viii-'Ephraim Is cake not turned You all
know the history of Ephraim. Ephraim was
| ah, wcll--he was man mentioned In the
| Bible You all know who he was Surely, no
| intelligent audience like this need to be told
| who Enhrnim was Now the ssa vs. n,