Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1891-07-30

II tney want 10 De saved let Cnem come tC
be saved; have discharged all my respon
sibility.' Ali is that the Masters spiriti
Is there not an old Book somewhere that
commands us to go out into the highways
and the hedges and compel the people &c
come int What would have become of you
and me If Christ had not come down OF
the hills of heaven, and If he had not come
through the door OF the Bethlehem cara.
vansary, and if he had not with the crushed
hand of the crucifixion knocked al the iron
gate Of the sepulcher Of our spiritual
death, crying LAZARUS come forths"
Oh. my Christian friends, this is no time
for inertia, when all the forces Of darkness
seem TO be in full blast; when steam print
ing presses are publishing infdeI tracts;
when express railroad trains are carrying
messengers o. sin: when fast clippers are
laden with opium and rum. when the night
air OF our cites is polluted with the laugh
ter that breaks up from the ten thousand
saloons OF dissipation and abandonment,
when the fires of the second death already
are kindled in the cheeks of some who
only little while ago were incorrnpt
Never since the curse fell upon the earth
has there been time when 1t was such an
unwise. such "A cruel, such an awful thing
for the church TO sleep! The great audi
ences 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, bias
phemies their litany, and the groans of the
lost world the organ dirge of their worship.
Again, If you want to be qualified to
meet the duties which this age demands OF
you, you must on the one hand avoid reck-
less iconoclasm, and on the other hand not
stick too much TO things because 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 Christians want only novelty in
order to recommend thing to their conf
dence, and so they vacillate and swing to
and fro, and they are useless and they are
unhappy. New plans-secular ethical.
philosophical religious, cisatlantic trans |
atlantic. All, my brother, do not adopt |
thing merely because it is new Try it by |
the realities Of judgment day
But, on the other hand, do not adhere to |
anything merely because It is old There
is not a single enterprise Of the church or
the world but has sometimes been scoffed
at, There was time when men derided /
even Bible societies; and when a few young
men met near haystack in Massachusetts
aud organized the first missionary society
ever organized in this country, there went
laughter aud rideule all around the Chris
tian church They said the undertaking
was preposterous
And so also the work OF Jesus Christ
was assailed People cried out, Whoever
heard Of such theories Of ethics and gov
Whoever noticed such style
of preaching as Jesus hasg" Ezekiel had
talked Of mysterious wings and wheels
Here came a man from Capernaum and
ieunesaret, and he drew his illustrations {,
rom the lakes, from the sand. from the !
-avine. from the lilies, from the constalks
How the Pharisees scoffedl How Herod
leridedl How Caiphas Kissed! And this /
Iesus they plucked by the beard, and they i
pat in his face, and they called him This
ellow! All the great enterprises in aud /
tut Of the church have at times been 5
cotfed at. and there have been a great 7
multitude who have thought that the I
hariot Of Gods truth would fall to pieces
it once got ont Of the old rut.
MILLIONS NEVER HEAR THE GOSPEL. !
And so there are those who have no pa
fence with anything like Improvement in
hurch architecture or with anything like
ood, hearty, earnest church singing. and
hey deride any form OF religious discussion
Thieh goes down walking among everyday b
leu rather than that which makes an ex 4
ursion on rhetorical stills Oh. that the u
'hurch Of God would wake up TO an adapt u
bility OF work. We must admit the sim =
le fact that the churches of Jesus Christ II
] this day do not reach the great masses Il
here are fifty thousand people in Edin q
s4Ftff bat, o. I
re one million people In London who n
ever hear the Gospel There are az least m
Tree hundred thousand souls Ia the city
Brooklyn who come not under the i'm.
ediate ministrtions OF Christ's truth. bl
ID the Church Of God in this day. instead g.
being place full of living epistles. read n
I'd known OF all men. is more like a dead W
tier posioflice "
" But, say the people, 1.-THE world is 90 ii.
z to be converted You must be patient. de
be Kingdoms OF this world are to become a
e kingdoms Of Christ" Never. unless 81
Z church OF Jesus Christ puts on more
eed aud energy Instead Of the church oil
nyerting the world, the. world is convert le
Z the church Here is "a great fortress
DIV shall il be takent An army comes =
d sits around about it, cuts off the sup r
les aud says Now we will just wait un p
from exhaustion and starvation they !
II have TO give up" Weeks and months.
d perhaps year. pass along, and finally
= fortress snrrenders through that star
tion and exhaustion. But my friends,
E fortresses of sin are never to be taken ,
that way II they are taken for God it *
II be by storm. You will have to bring Co,
the great siege guns of the Gospel TO the Per
~ wall. and wheel the flying artillery Dug
% line, and when the armed infantry of bel
aven shall confront the battlements you lisf
i have TO give the quick command,
orwardl Charger on
Ah, my friends, there is work for you to en-
and for me TO do in order to achieve this =
md accomplishment Here is a pulpit. Ia.
a clergyman breaches in il. Your pulpit he
he bank. Your pulpit is the store Your bre
lpit is the editorial chair Your pulpit adv
the anvil Your pulpit is the house emit
folding. Your pulpit is the mechanics owl
'p. may stand in this place and, "
ough eowardice orthrough self seeking. n;
" keen back the word I o1.rht - ~ +a,..I =,