The Red Cloud chief., 1891-08-07

e14 ~
hedges and compel the people to come
I'M? What would have become of you
and me if Christ had not come down of
the hills OF Heaven and il he had no,
come through the door of the Bethle.
hem ~caravansary, and II he had not,
with the crushed hand of the cruciix.
knocked at the iron gate of the sepul.
cher Of our spiritual death, crying:
LAZARUS, come forthr' O, nv
Christian friends, this is no time for
inertia, when all the forces of darkness
seem to be in full blast: when steam
printing presses are publishing infidel
tracts; when express railroad trains
are carrying messengers of sin; when
last clippers are laden with opium and
rum; when the night air of our cities IL
polluted with the laughter that breaks
up from the ten thousand saloons of
dissipation and abandonment: when the
fires OF the second death already are
klndled in the cheeks Of some who, only
a little while ago. were incorrupt
Never since the curse fell upon the
earth has there been a time when ii
was such an unwise, such a cruel. such
an awful thing for the church to sleep.
The great audiences are not gathered
In the Christian churches, the great
audiences are gathered in temples of
sin-tears of unutterable woe their
baptism, the blood of crushed hearts
the awful wine of their sacrament
~blasphemies their litany. and the
groans OF the lost world the organ
dirge of their worship.
Again, IL you want to be qualified TO
meet the duties which this age demands
OF you, you must on the one hand avoid
reckless iconoclasm, and on the other
hand no stick too much to things be-
cause they are old. The air is full of
new plans, new projects, new theories
OF government new theologies, and !
am amazed TO See how so many Chris
tians want only novelty in order TO
recommend a thing to their confidence,
and SO they vacillate and swing to and
fro, and they are useless, and they are
unhappy. New plans-secular. ethical,
philosophical, religious, cisatlantic,
transatlantic. All, my brother, do not
adopt a thing merely because IL is new.
Try il by the realities of a judgment
day.
But, on the other hand, do not adhere
to anything merely because il is old.
is not a single enterprise Of the
church or the world but has sometimes
beer scoffed at There was q time
when men derided even Bible societies;
and when a few young men met near
a hay stack in Massachusett, and or
ganiZcd the first missionary society
ever organized in this country there
ven laughing and ridicule all around
the Christian church. They said the
undertaking was preposterous- And SO
also the work of Jesus Christ Was as
sailed. People cried out: who ever
heard of such theories of ethics and
government? Who ever noticed such a
lyle of preaching as Jesus has?"
Ezekiel had talked of mysterious
wings and wheels. Here came a man
from Capernaum and Gennesaret, and
he drew his illustrations from the sand,
from the ~ravine, from the cornstalks
How the Pbarisees scoffed, How Herod
derided! How Caiaphas Missed! And
this Jesus they plucked 10y the beard,
and they spat In his face. and they
called Him this fellow" All the great
enterprises in and out of the church
ave at times been scoff-d mt, aud there
have been a great multitude who have
thought that the chariot of Gods truth
would fall To pieces if il once got out of
the old rut
And SO there are those who have no
patience with anything like improve
ment i'll church architecture, or with
anything like good, hearty, earnest
church singing, and they deride any
form of religious discussion which goes
down walking among every day men
rather than that which makes an excur-
sion on rhetorical stills. o that the
of God would wake up to an
adaptability of work! We must admit
the simple fact that the churches of
Jesus Christ in this dag do not reach
the great masses. There are 30, 900
people in Edinburgh who never hear
the Gospel. There are 1000, 900 people
in London who never hear the Gospel.
u mere dTt Ut ttd>l stb.bbt SouiS III TIE
city of Br1 oklyn who come not under
the immediate ministrations OF Christ's
and the church of God in this
day, instead Of being a place full OF
living cpisties, read and known of all
men. is more like a dead letter" post
office.
But" say the people, "the world is
going to Toe converted; You must be
patient: the kingdoms of this world are
Ia become the Kingdoms of Christ
Never, unless the church of Jesus
Christ puts on more speed and energy.
Instead IF the church converting the
world. the world is converting the
Here is a great fortress How shall
il be taken? An army comes and sits
about it and cuts off the sup
plies. and says: Now we will Just
wait until from exhaustion and starva- |
ton they will have TO give il up"
Weeks and months, and perhaps a year. |
pass along and finally the fortress sur
through hat starvation and
exhaustion. But my friends, the for
tfUNStS w ~ u iSNSi w NC tanSh III /
way. IL they are taken for God it
will be by storm; you will have to bring
up the great siege guns of the Gospel to
very wall and wheel the flying ar
into line. and when the armed
of Heaven shall confront the
you will have TO give the
quick command, Forward, Charge"
All. my friends. there is work for you
IN do and for me to do in order TO this
grand accomplishment, Here is a pull
pit, and a clergyman breaches in it
Your pulpit il the bank. Your pulpit
IS the Sore. Your pulpit is the edito-
rial chair. Your pulpit is the anvil.
pulpit is the house ~scaffolding.
pulpit is the mechanics shop
nay stand in this place and, through
,owardice or through self seeking. may
Keep back the word l ought to utter,
you. with sleeve rolled up and
brow besweated with toll. NAV utter
word that will jar the foundation
# Heaven with the shout of a great
O. that to-day this whole audi
.pea micht fael tina. tine Ispri Almiyhfv /