West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1889-04-25
THE FINAL DECADE.
ROUNDING UP THE CENTURY,
Iaimsgc Secs Golden Opportunities
In She Noar Future.

TEXT: Amen; AUeiuid." - Revelation,
xix, T.
The Nineteenth century is departing. Az
ter it has taken a few more steps, n each
year be step, IL will be gone into the eterni.
1es. In short time we shall be in the iasf
decade or this century, which fact makes the
solemnest book outside the Bible the al.
.nanac, ana the most suggestive and the
most tremendous piece of machinery in all
the earth the clock. The last decade OF this
century upon which we shall soon enter will
% the grandest mightiest and most
oecisive decade in all the cnronologles. am
Siaa ~ Is not TO come Immediately for we
need by new baptism OF the HOLY Ghost 10
prepare for it. That last ten wars OF the
Vineteenth century, may we all live 10 see
tnenl Does any one say that this division
OF vI uine Is arbitrary oh, no; I'm other ages
the DIVISIONS OF time NAV have been arhi.
uary, but our years date from Christ. Does
any one say that the grouping of ten together
IS an arrangement arbitrary oh. no: next
70 .ne inquire seven, ten is with God favorite
number. Abraham dwelt ten wears IN
Canaan. Ten righteous men woi,Id bays
saved Sodom- In the ancient tabernacle were
ten curtains, their pillars ten and their socl
cts ten: In the ancient temple were ten Law.
efs and ten candlesticks and ten tables and a
moiten sea OF ten cubits And the command
ments written sn the granite of Mount
SINAI were ten, and the kingdom of God was
nkened 20 ten virgins and ten men should Law
mold OF him that was jew. and the reward
=. tne greatly faithful is that they shall reign
over ten cities and in the effort To take t6e
census of the New Jerusalem the humber ten
swings around the thousands, CRYING " fen
thousands times ten thousands" So / come
70 look toward the closing ten years of the
Nineteenth century with an intensity of in.
terest can hardly describe.
1 nave also noticed that the favorite time
IA many OF the centuries for great events was
the closing fragment of the century Il
ias1 e da 70 De discovered, it must be in the
sast decade OF the Fifteenth century. namely
1872. Was free constitutional oovernn1ent -
DC Wen established In America the last vears
OF the Eighteenth century must achieve n
We,e three cities 20 be submerged by one
PlDSn on scori@, Herculaneum and Strabia,
and Pompeii In the latter part of the First
century must go under The Fourth cen
Jury closed with the most agitatinp ecclesi.
hsucal war of history, Urban the Sixth
against Clement the Seventh. Alfred the
yTreag closes the Ninth century and Edward
nonsldes the Eleventh century with their re-
sounding deeds The Sixteenth century closed
WITH the establishment of religious in
dependence in the United Netherlands Ave-
h,most every century has had its perorat{on
" oVoOo"erlng achievements. As the clos
ING years OF the centuries seem a favorita
ume Tor great scenes of eunancipation or dis
hsoer, and as the number ten seems n favor-
tie number in the Scriptures, written bv a.
vine, vine erection and as we are soon to enter
upon the last ten years OF the Nineteenth con
bury, what does the world proposeY What
does the church Of Christ propose, What do
reIormers propoSef / know not. Init now In
me presence OF this consecrated assembly /
REr4Pose that we make ready, get all our bat
what remains Of this decade and then in the
lass decade OF the Nineteenth century march
up ana take this round world for God.
men say we, / mean the five hundred
u os nc, CHRISTIANS now alive. But as many
OF them viii not have enough heart for tbs
Work let US copy Gideon and as he had thirty
Two Thousand men in his army to FIGHT tho
mioanltes but many of them were not made
on tine right stuff and he promulgated a mill
oruer saying; "Whosoever is fearful
and AFRAID let him return and depart early
uom Gilead," and twenty-five Thousand
we're AFRAID or getting hurt and went
nome and only ten thousand were left and
TOD told them that even this reduced number
s. as 20 large numb Der, for they might think
tney mad tr1umphed independent Of divine
neip, and so the number must be still further
reonceo and only those should be kept in the
ranks VINO In passing the river should be so
"a naste Tor victory over their enemies. that
staougn very thirsty, they would without
sooPPlnB second just scoop up the water
IN the palm of their right hand and
coop up the water in the palm OF their
iett hand, and only three hundred men did
mat and those three hundred men with the
oa.ue snout: The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon" scattered the Midianites like Iaaves
10 an equinox, so out of the five hundred mil
non nominal Christians Of to-day LET ali nm
believers and towards go home and get ont
% tne way And suppose we have only four
hundred million left suppose only two HIM
ared million left, suppose only one hundred
miinon left yea, suppose we only have fiftv
million left, with them we will undertake. the
nvme crusade, and each one lust scoopincr nm
sP Pam run OF the river of Gods mercy in one
nand and a palm fun of the river OF Gods
strength in the other let us with the crv
Inc sword OF the Lord and Gideon. y t6s
sword OF the Lord and of John Knox the
sword OF the Lord and of Matthew SiInpsop
the sword of the Lord and of BishoD Men
yaine, the sword of the Lord and of Adoniram
Judson, the sword of the Lord and of Martin
Luther, go into the last decade OF the Nine
tenth century.
is IL audecious for me TO propose itf Oh
no. captive servant in the kftcbar ~
Naaman told the mmapder.i,,-cbias ,Tho VI
ne could get rid of the blotches of his avvful
'eproSy and ms complexion became AS fair as
a babes. And didn't Christ in order 70 take
the ophthaiInia out of the eyes of the blind
man use mixture OF spittle and dust And
VINO showed Butcher short cut for his army.
70 mat instead OF the regular road by which
ne would have come up too late he came nm
IN time 10 save Waterloo and Ff1ror,st
was IL not an unknown lad, who perhaDs
could not write his own namef And so I
who am less than the least OF all saints
propose snort cut 70 victory and am willing
and tel some Of the brigadier generals of the
Lord OF host how this leprosied world NAV In
the final decade OF the Nineteenth ceatnrv
have fts flesh come again as the flesh Of a
little child
Is there anything in prophecy 70 hinder
tfzte speedy consumfnatiOnf No Some one
begins 20 quote from Daniel about slime
times and a half time, and takes from Re.
NelatiOn the seven trumpets blowing them an
AZ once In my ear. But with utmost rever-
ence take up all the prophecies and hold
them toward heaven and say God meyer
mas and never wiz stop coueecrated
effort and holy determination and
magnificent resolve, and that IN
the church Of God win rise up 10 ia
fun work It can make Daniels time
twenty years and his half time ten wears
Neither Isaiah nor Ezekiel, nor Micah.
nor Malachi, nor Jeremiah, nor any
Of the major or minor prophets win hinder
Us second Suppose the Bible had an
n0unced the millennium 70 begin the wear
S5oyi that would be no bindrauce In
one sense God never changes His mind
being the came yesterday today and for
ever. But In another sense He doc chang
His mind and times without nuuIeT
every Gay, sud mat fs when His r,e~,r1e rrraV
Didn't he change His mind about Nineveh,
by Gods command Jonah, az the ton Of biz
voice while standingO on the steps Of The rner-
chants exchange and the palafiaI residence
~ tlat city, cried out: Yet forty days and
uneven shan be overthrOwn.n Was Il over
Thrown in forty days. No. The people oave
ap theii Sins and cried FOR mercy te,d tl,S,,.,{
Jonah got mad because his whole oourre III
sermons had been spoiled and went into die
grecefui pOutlnR, We have the record 50
guntluo i cannot read IL without FEELING