The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-27

=
ing, Lazarus. come forth" O, my Chris
tan friends, this is no time for inertia
when all the forces of darkness seem to b.
in full blast when steam printing presses
are publishing infidel tracts; when expires,
railroad trains are carrying messengers OF
sin: when fast clippers are laden with
opium and rum when the night air of oul
cities Is polluted with the laughter thai
breaks up from the 10, coo saloons Of dissipa
ton and abandonment; when the fires of the
second death already are kindled in the
cheeks of some who, only little while ago
were incorrupt. Never since the curse Eel
upon the earth has there been a time when
il was such an unwise, such cruel, such 81
awful thing for the church to sleep! The
great audiences are not gathered in The
Christian churches, the great audiences art
gathered in temples of sin-tears of unut-
terable woe their baptism, the blood OF
crushed hearts the AWFUL wine of their
sacrament, blaspbemies their litany, and
the groanS of the lost world the organ dlTge
of tier 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-
lees iconoclasm, and on the other hand ho1
stick too much TO things because they are
old. The air is full Of new plans, ne"
projects, new theories of government, ne"
theologies. and | am amused to see no" 80
many Christians want only novelty 10
recommend a thing 60 their confidence anu
go they vacllate and swing to and no. anu
they are useless and they are unhappy.
New pIans-secular, ethical, phhosophlcal'
religious. csatantic, TRANSATLANTIC. AN,
my brother, do not adopt thln8 merely
because ii Is new. Try IL ny tne ieoh'Ao' VI
a judgment day.
But on the other hand, do not adhere TO
ANYTHING merely because it is old. There is
not single enterprise of the church or the
world but has sometimes been scotfed at.
There was time When men
derided even Bible societies; and
when a few young men met near
a hay stack in Massachusetts and organized
the first missionary society ever organized
in this country, there went laughter and
ridicule all around the Christian church.
They said the undertaking was preposter-
GUS. And so also the work Of Jesus Christ
was assailed. People cried out whoever
heard of such theories of ethics and govern
ments Who ever noticed such a style OF
preaching as Jesus hasP Ezekiel had talked
of mysterious wings and wheels. Here
came a man from Capernaum and Cen
nesaret. and he drew his illustrations from
the lakes from the sand, from the ravine,
from the lilies. from the cornstalks. How
the Pharisees scoffed How Herod derided!
How Caiaphas Kissed And this Jesus they
plucked by the beard, and they spat in his
face, and they called him this fellow"
All the great enterprises In and out OF the
church have at times been scotfed at, and
there have been a great multitude who hav 9
thought that the chariot of Gods truth
would fall TO pieces If it once got out of the
old rut.
And so there are those who have no
patience with anything like improvement
IN church architecture, or with anything
like good hearty, earnest church singing,
and they deride any form of religious dis
cussion which goes down walking among |
everyday men rather than that which |
makes an excursion on rhetorical stills. Oh, |
that the church of God would wake up TO |
an adaptability OF work! We |
must admit the simple 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
bear the gospel There are one million
people in London who never hear the Cos
pei There are at least three hundred
thousand souls i'll the city Of Brooklyn who
come not under the immediate niinistrations
of Christ's truth; and the church of God in
this day, instead of being place full Of hv-
ing epistles, read and known of all men, is
more like "dead-letter" postoffice.
But, say the people, 1.-THE world is go
ing to be converted you must be patient;
the Kingdoms of this world are to become
the kingdoms of Christ" Never, unless the
chnrch of Jesus Christ puts on more speed
and energy. Instead of tue church convert
ing the world, the world is converting the
church. Here is great fortress. How
shall it be taken! An army comes and sits
around about it, cuts off the supplies, aud
says: Now we will just wait until from |
exhaustion and starvation they will |
ha 70 ri he md
moAths, and perhaps year,
pass along, and finally the fortress surren- |
ders through that starvation and exhaus-
ton. But, my friends, the fOrtresses of sin
are never to be taken in that way. If they
are taken for God 1t will be by storm; you
will have TO bring up the great siege guns
of the gospel to the very wall and wheel the
flying artillery into line, and when the
armed infantry of heaven shall confront the
battlements you will have to give the quick
command, Forward! Charger
All, my friends, there is work for You to
do and for me to do in order to this grand
accomp lishmentl Here is a pulpit, and a
clergyman breaches in it. Your pulpit is
the bank. Your pulpit is the store. Your
pulpit is the editorial chair. Your pulpit
Is the anvil. Your pulpit is the house scat
folding. Your pulpit is the mechanics
shop. | may stand in this place, and,
through cowardice or through self-seeking,
may keep back the word ought to utter;
while you, with sleeve rolled up and
brow besweated with toll, may
utter the word that will jar the
foundation of heaven with the shout of
great victory. o, that to-day this whole
audience might feel that the Lord Almighty
is putting upon them the hands OF ordina-
ton. Every one, go forth and preach the
gospel. You have as much right to preach
as l have, or as any man has. Only find
out the pulpit where God will have YOU
preach. and there preach. Hedley Wears
was wicked man IN the English army.
The grace of God came to him. He
became an earnest eminent Chris
tain. They scoffed at him, and
said: "You are a hypocrite; you are
as bad as ever you were" Still he kept his
faith in Christ, and after awhile, finding
that they could not turn him aside by cali
ing him hypocrite. they said TO him: "Oh,
you are nothing but q fanatic" That did
not disturb him. He went on performing
his Christian duty until he had formed all
his troop into Bible class. and the whole
encempment was shaken with the presence
of God. So Havelock went into the heather
temple in India while the English army was
there, and put candle into the hand of
each Of the heather gods that stood around
in the heathan temple. and by the light Of
those candles, held up by tie idols, Gen.
Havelock preached Righteousness, temper
eDce and judgment to come. And who will
say, on earth or in heaven, that Havelock
had not the right to preach9
In the minister's house where prepared
for college there was a man who worked by
the name of Peter Croy. He conld neither
J cad nor write, but he was a man of God.
Often theologians would stop in the house
grave theologians-snd at family prayers