The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-08-12
not adopt thing merely because it is new.

organized the first missionary society ever
organized in this country, there went laugh
Ter and ridicule all around the Christian
church. They said the undertaking was pre-
posterous- ..
sssailed People crie1 out, whoever heara
of such theories Of ethics and government'
Whoever noticed such style OF Prescnlng
az Jesus hasg' Ezekiel had talked OF mys-
terious wings and wheels. Here came man
from Caperraum and Gennesaret, and DE
drew His illustrations from the lakes, from
the sand from the ravine, from the lilies,
from the eorpstalks. How the Phar!sees
scofPedI How Heroi derided. How Calphas
hissed! And this Jesus they plucked oy tne
beard. and they spat in His face, ana tney
called Him this fellow!' All the great en-
ternrises in and out of the church have at
times been scoffed at, and there nave Deen ~
great multitude who have thought tnat tns
Chariot of Gods truth would fall 10 pieces Il
it once got out Of the old rut.
And 80 there are those who have no pa
t;ence with ANYTHING like improvoment 10
church architecture or with anything hSe
eood hearty earnest church singing, ana
fhey deride any form of religious discussion
which goes down walking among eToryoay
mon rather than that which makes an eA'
c,raion on rhetorical stills. Oh, that tne
Church of God would wake up to an auapl-
ability Of work! We must admit the SIM
ple fact that the churches OF Jesus Christ IN
this day do not reach the great masses.
There are fifty thousand people in Edinburgh
who never hear the Gospel. There are one
million people in London who never hear the
Gospel. There are at least three hundred
thousand souls In the city OF Brooklyn who
come not under the immediate ministratIons
Of Christ's truth, and the Church OF Goa ID
this day, instead Of Icing place full OF
living epistles, read and known of all men,
is moro like a dead letter" postoffice:
"But." say the people, ''ths world is going
to be converted. You must be patient Inc
kingdoms Of this world are to become the
kingdoms of Christ" Never, unless the
church of Jesus Christ puts on more speed
and energy. Instead of the church convert
ing the world, the world is converting the
church. Here is a great fortress. How shall
it be taken? An army comes and sits around
about it, cuts off tine supplies and says, Now
we will lust wait until from exhaustion ami
starvation they will have to give up" Weeks
and months. AMI perhaps year, pass along,
and finally the fortress surrenders through
that starvation and exhaustion. But, my
friends, the fortresses of sin are never to
be taken in that way. Ii they are taken for
God it will be by storm. You will have to
to the very wall, and wheel the flying artil-
lery into line, and when the armed infantry
OF heaven shall confront the battlenents you
will have to give the quick command: For
ward! Charger
All, my friends, there is work for you to
do and for me to dc in order to achieve this
grand accomplishment Hers is pulpit,
and clergyman breaches in it. Your pull
pit is the bank. Your pulpit is the store.
Your pulpit is the editorial chair: Your
pulpit is the anvil. Your pulpit is the
house scaffoldinS. Your pulpit IS the me-
chanic's shop. may stan in this plaza and
through cowardc. or through self sseSiag,
may keep back the word 1 ought to utter;
while you, with sleeve rolle1 up and brow
besweated with toll, may utter the word
that will jar the foundation of heaven VITA
the shout Of a great victory. Oh, that to-
day this whole audience might fesl that the
Lord Almighty is putting upon them the
hands of ordination. Every one, so forth
ami preach this Gospel. You bave as much
right to preach as have, or as any man has;
have you preach, and there preach.
Heiley Wears was a wicked man in tho
English army. The grace Of God came to
him. He became an earnest and eminent
Christian. They scoffed at him and said,
"You are hypocrite; you are as bad as
Christ, and after awhile, finding that they
could not turn him aside by calling him
hypocrite, they said to him, "Oh, you are
nothing but a fanatic" That did not dis
turb him. He went on performing his Chris
tian duty until he had formed all his troop
into Bible class, aud the whole encamp-
ment was shaken with the presence OF Cod
50 Havelock went into the heather temple
= t. II, h. fhQra
and put a candle into the hand Of each OF
the heathen gods that stood around in the
heather temple, and by the light Of those
candles, held up by the idols, General Have
lock preached Righteousness, temperance and
Judgment to come. And who will say, on
earth or 10 heaved, that HavelocA had not
the right to preach?
In the minister's house where prepared
for college there was rnau who worked, by
the name OF Peter Croy. He could neither
read nor write. but he was a man OF God.
Often theologians would stop in the HOUSE.
grave theolcgians--and at family prayers
Peter Croy would be called upon to lead, and
all those wise men sat around, wonderstruck
at his religious efficiency. When he prayed
he reached up and seemed to take hold OF
the very throne of the Almighty, and he
talked with God till the very heavens were
bowed down into the sitting room. On, If l
were dying I would rather have pain Peter
Grow stand by my bedside and commend
my immortal spirit to God than some heart
lesss ecclesiastic arrayed in costly canon
icals. Go preach this Gospel. You say you
are not licensed. In the name OF the Lord
Almighty, this morning license YOU. Go
preach this Gospsl-preach it in the Sabbath
schools, in ths sprayer-mestinsS, in the high
ways, in the hedges. Wos bs unto you II
you preach it not.
remark, again. that in order to be quail
fed to meet your duty in this particular age
you want unoounded faith in the triumph Of
the truth and the overthrow Of wickedness.
How dare the Christian church ever get dis
couragej? Have you not the Lord Almighty
on our side? How long did it take God to
slay the hosts of Sennacherib or burn So
dom or shake down Jericho. How long will
it take God, when He once arises in His
strength to overthrow all the forces Of iniq-
uity? Between this time and that thera
may be long seasons Of darkness-the cha-.
lot wheels Of Gods Gospel may seem to DIRE.
heavily, but here is the PROMISE and yondl
is the throne; and when Ominisciencs hr
lost its eyesight and Omnipotence falls bac
impotent and Jehovah is driven from Hi:
throne, then the church of Jesus Christ CAL
afford to be despundeut, but never until
then. Despots may plan and armies may
marcn, ana Gne congresses OF Cne naClOn may
seem to think they are adjusting all the af-
fairs OF the world, but the mighty men OF
the earth are only the dust OF the chariot
whees OF Gods providence.
think that before the SUN OF this century
shall set, the last tyranny may fall, auu
with a splen or of demonstration that shall
be the astonishnent Of the universe God will
set forth the brightness and pomp and glory
and perpetuty OF His eternal government.
Out of the starry flags and emblazoned in
sigma of this world God will mtks path for
His own triumph, and returning from unr
yersal CONQUEST He will sit down the grand