The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1891-07-01

upon our newly assembled spirits. II IL
useless for ants and different sides OF
mole-hill to try to discuss the compar-
alive heights of Mount Blanc and Mount
Washington. Let me say to all young
men about to enter the ministry that
soon the greatest novelty in the world
will be the unadulterated religion Of
Jesus Christ. Preach that and you will
have q crowd: The world is sick to re-
gurgitation of the modern quacks in re-
ligion. The world has been swinging
off from the old Gospel, but it will
swing back, and by the time you young
men 60 into the pulpits the cry will be
coming up from all the millions of man
kind: "Give us the bread OF life; no
sweetened bread, no bread with sickly
raisins stuck here and there into 1t, but
good old.fashioned bread as God, our
Mother, mixed it and baked it!'
You see. God knew as much when He
made the Bible as He knows now. He
has not learned single thing in 5000
years. He knew at the start that the
human race would go wrong and what
would be the best means of its restora-
ton and redemption. And the law
which was Numbered on Mt Sinai,
from whose top had the tables Of stone
in yonder wall transported, is the per-
feet law. And the Gospel which Christ
announced while dying on that Mount
from which brought that stone in yon-
der wall and which Paul preached on
that hill from which l brought
yonder granite il tho Gospel that
is going to save the world
Young man, put on that Gospel armorl
No other sword will triumph like
that No other helmet will glance off
the battle-axes like that. Our theo.
logical seminaries are doing glorious
work, but If ever theological seminaries
shall cease to prepare young men for
this plain Gospel advocacy, and shall
become mere philosophical schools for
guessing about God, and guessing about
the Bible, end guessing about the soul,
they will cease their usefulness, and
young men, as in olden time, when
they would study for the Gospel minis
try, will put themselves under the care
of some intelligent and warm-hearted
pastor and kneel with him in family
prayer at the parsonage, and 60 with
him into the room Of the sick and the
dying, and see what victories the grace
of God can gain when the couch of the
dying saint is the Marathon.
That is the way the mighty ministers
of the Gospel were made in olden times.
Oh, for great wave of revival to roll
over our theological seminaries and our
pulpits and our churches, and our eccle-
siastical courts, and all over Christen-
dom! That would be the end of contro-
versy. While such deluge would float
the ark of God higher and higher, it
would put all the bears and tigers and
reptiles of raging criticism fifteen Gu
bits under.
Now, what is the simple fact that
you in the pew and Sabbath-school
class and reformatory association and
we in the pulpits have to deal with? 1t
is this: That God has somewhere-it
matters not where, but somewhere
provided great Heaven, great for
quietness for those who want quiet,
great for vast assemblages for
those who like multitudes, great for
architecture for those who like archi-
lecture, great for beautiful landscape
for those who like beautiful landscape,
great for music for those who like
music, great for professions for thore
who like armies on white horses, anG
great for anything that one especially
desires in such rapturous dominion;
and through the doings of One who was
born about five miles south Of Jerusa.
lem, and died about ten minutes walk
from its eastern gate, all may enter
that great Heaven for the
earnest and heartfelt asking. Is
that all? That is all. What then,
is your work and mine? Our work Is
to persuade people to face that way any
and start thitherward and finally go in.
But has not religion something to do
Oh, yes; but do you not see that If the
people start for Heaven on their way
there they will do all the good they
can? They will at the very start of the
journey get so much of the spirit of
Christ, Which is spirit of kindness and
self-sacrifice and generosity and burden
bearing and helpfulness, that every
step they take will resound with good
deeds. Oh, get your religion off of
stills! Get it down out of the high
towers! Get it on level with the
wants and woes of our poor human
race. Get it out of the dusty theologi.
cal books that few people read and put
it in their hearts and lives. Good thing
is it to profess religion when you join
the church, but every day somehow we
ought to profess religion.
Do you know that think that if all
ministers in all denominations would
stop this nonsense of ecclesiastical strife
and take hold the word of God, the
only question with each of us being
how many souls we can bring to Christ
and in how short a time, the LORD
would soon appear for the salvation o.
all nations?
Why can not the final glory roll ir
now? Why can not this dying century
feel the incoming tides of the oceanI
of heavenly mercy? Must our eyes
close in death and our ears take OF
the deafness of the tomb, ant
these hearts beat their last throb before
the day comes in? Oh, Christ! Why
Earliest Thou? Wilt Thou not, before
we go the way of all the earth. let u
see Thy SCARED feet under some noon
day cloud coming this way? Before W.