Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1891-08-01

The Brooklyn Divine
Sunday Sermon

saw before anIne,rr all sec again in thl:
world, | choo9r q very practical theme, IL
the days ri GeorLe 81 5~Arn-sn tic perTector
II the locomotive engine tie scientist
proved corclu-.&eis that a railroad train
could ne. cr IT, driven - steam power stIc-
~ces.full{ Without peril, lat the rushing tx
piess trains from Liverpool u Edinburgh
and from Edinburgh u London. have made
all the nation Witness oi thu splendid
achievement
Machinist, and navl.ato-s proved conclu-
sively that a steamer could never cross the
Atlantic, bit 10 >3Dn-r hal tney success
fully proved the lnpos,lblllty u sucn an I'M
dertaking than the "sIk was done, and the
passengers on the Ci.1.ri, and the Inlnan.
and the National, and III. White Star lines
are witnesses. There vent up a guffaW Of
wise laughter Al Professor Morses propos.
ton to make tn llghtslug OF heaven his er-
rand boy, aId it was proved concluslve!y
that the thing could never b. done, bat nO~e
all the news Of the wide world put in yoGi
hands every morning and night has made all
nations witnesses
so i'll the time OF tllT.s II was proved con
clusively that it va impossible for Him 10
rise from the dead Il was shown logically
that when a man Wds dead he was dead, and
the heart, and the liver, ana the lungs hav-
ing ceased TO perform their offices, the limbs
would he rigid beyond all power OF friction
or arousal. They showed 1t To be an abso-
Lutte absurdity that the dead Christ should
ever get up alive; bat no sooner had they
proved this than the dead Christ arose, anil
the disciples beheld Him, heard His voice,
and talked with Him. aud they took the wit
ness stand to prove that 10 be true which the
wiseacres of the day had proved to be impos-
sihle; the record Of the experiment and Of
the testimony is III the text: Him hath
God raised from the dead, whereof we are
Witnesses
Now let me play the skeptic for a moment.
There is no God, says the skeptic. 'for
have never seen Him with my physical eye
sight. Your Bible is a pack Of contradic-
lions. There never was a miracle. Lazarus
was not raised from the dead, and the water
was never turned into wine. Your religion
is an imposition on the credullty Of the cages
There Is an aged man moving IN that pew
as though he would like to respond. Here are
hundreds of people with faces a little flushed
at these announcements, and all through
this throng there is d suppressed feeling
which would like to speak out in behalf Of
the truth of our glorious Christianity. as in
the days of the text, crying out, "We are
Witnesses
The fact is that if this world is ever
brought to God it will not be through argu-
Inent. but through testimony. You might
cover the whole earth with apologies for
Christianity and learned t~reatises in defense
OF religion-you would not convert a soul.
Lectures on the harmony between science
and religion are beautiful mental discipline,
but have never saved a soul and never will
save 2 soul, Put IA MAJ of the world and a
man of the church against each other, and
the man of the world will, in all probability,
get the triumph There are q thousand
things in our religion that seem illogical to
the world, and always will seem illogical.
Our weapon in this conflict is faith, not
logic; faith, not metaphysics; faith, not
~profundity faith. not scholastic exploration.
But then, III order to have faith we must
have testimony, and if five hundred men, or
g. A. L
men, or five million men get up and tell me
that they have felt the religion of Jesus
Christ a joy, a comfort, a help. an inspira-
ton, | am bound, as ii fair-minded man, to
accept their testimony. | want to put be
fore YOU three propositions the truth OF
which | think this audience will attest with
overwhelming unanlmity. The first propo-
sition is. We are witnesses that the religion
of Christ l. able to convert q soul. The Cos
pei may have had a herd time to conquer US,
we may have fought it back, but we were
vanuuisheti. Iou say conversion Is only al
imaginary thing. We know better. wv
are witnesses There never was SO great a
change IL our l3a1rt and life on any Other
subject as on t!i>
People laughed at the missionaries i'll Mad
agascar because they preached ten year.
without one convert. but there are many
thousands OF converts in Madagascar to
day. People laughed at Dr.. Judson. tlf
Baptist missionary. because be kept OF
preaching in Burmah five years without d
single convert but there are many thou
sands of Baptists Ill Burmah to-day. PEG pie
laughed at DR. Morrisoni in nina for preach
ing there seven yeats WITHOUT a single con
version; but there are many thousands 0
Christians in China to-iay. People iau2he-
at the missionaries for preaching at Tahiti
for fifteen years without a single conversion
AMI att missionaries for preaching Ill Ben
gal seventeen years without a single CONVEX
sion, vet IN all those lands there are multi
tudts If Christians to-day.
But Hhy 90 50 far to find evidences of tn
Gospels pocer to save a soul? Nv Z are wit
nesse>. We we're 50 proud that no ma
could have huilItrt Us. We were 50 hart
that no earthl, power could have melted Us
Angels Of God We're Il! around about Us. The
could not OVERCOME Us. but one day. perhal
Mt n Methodist anxious seat or at a Presby
terrain catecheticll lecture or at u burial o
on hoEsesach. a power seized Us and made II
GET down and made us tremble ana made Il
Aneel ami made IT'S cry for mercy. and "
tried u wrench ourselves away from III
grasp. but we could not. 1t flung us Fat
anu when W. arose ue were as much change
as 6onrels, the heathen. who went into
prayer meeting with a dagger and q gun. I
diSturb the meeting and destroy it. but tn
next day was foun3 crying; "Oh. my grea
slu>' Oh, my great saviour and f.
eleven years preached tn. Gospel Of Chris
TOMS fellow nountaineer~. the last word
on his dying lips being Free grace Ot
1t waS free grace
; ihc.e is a man who Was for ten wear,
l hari drIiker The. dreadful appetite ha
sent down its roots around thu palate an
: rue tongue, ana On ,iosn until they wer
MttriiaHod with the vttalSot the boiy5 min
/ ana >onl. but he has no. taNea any slim
e iants tor two year. What dill that \,
temperance societies. Not prohibition law
Not moral sua>loD. Conversion dill !
+, ny, sad one upon WHOM thu re