The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-11
90 DOWN iMFo THB sLUMps.
DR.. Parkhurst Justif1es His Tour In
the Bgways OF Sin.
(CoIyriqht.l

NEW YORK, April 9.--DlSerIminatiOn OF
evangelizatIon into home ami foreign work,
into work in New York and work upon res
mote islands and continents is only for oon-
venience OF thought and designation, is not
grounded in any distinction that is inherent
and essential Lines Of latitude and longi-
tude are the shearest accident Ia the case
Fifth avenue, Third avenue, Cherry Hill
Baltimore ST. Louis, Milwaukee, Philadel-
phia and the highlands of mid-Africa, your
next-door neighbor or an autipodal China
man is q geographical distribution which
has really no relevancy to the imminent
parts of the mabter or the structure
process of it any more than meth DDS
gravitation or principles of mathe-
matics require CO be graduated to distances
north or south of the equator, or east and
west of Green wichi | do not say that we
are responsible fUr the salvation OF all lost
people, but do say that we are responsible
for trying TO save them, and the expedi-
encies God would have US employ to that
end are distinctly set forth, as distinctly as
the expediencies necessary for the rescue of
a man that is drowning. II a man is
drowned before my eyes and l raise
no finger TO save him, however oulpable he
may have been for falling into the water, |
also am guilty Of bis death. And If
man before my eyes goes down to
death in the more dreadful sense OF
the word and | have raised no finger
to save him l will be doomed to sorer ret
ribution than he, and to hell that is more
tormenting. deserve II. With a live con-
science in me, an open word before me and
the divine spirit agow in my heart, | de-
clare before God that Iwould take the
doom of the damned impenitent before |
would take tue award Of the professsl con-
vert who CLUTCHES the hand of Christ in
blood-curdling Indifference to the gasping,
struggling souls that are everywhere about
u.s. 1t is solemn thing to die, but ii seems
to me, in view of the great work laid out
tor myself and others, a more solemn thing
to live. in view of what We can make our
life to be in the way Of resGuing and in
view Of what We can fail in making our life
to be. 80
II, for instance.awe are very anxious t.
save the Hottentots it never occurs to us to
set up on oar Atlantic coast some colossal
steam gong and sound Outup0n 1t prodigious
thumps Of invitation to item 90 cross to our
own evangelical continent. We bring the
missionaries to the hestheu, and not the
heathen to the missionaries. As distances
became less and the candidates for redemp-
tion grew closer home an inexplicable
change came over our idas aud methods.
The gong expedient grows, in the estima-
tion Of the American chlrch-going public,
less and less impractia0le. IL we do
not literally resort To gong or 20
a church bell we, at leas. project a church
spire high enough int tie air to answer
| the purpose of an evangelical placard, and
supplement- this standing invitation by in
expensive resorts to prinbr's ink and news
| paper advertisement. Ivill not say, nor
do deny that there is prspriety in all this,
and advantage, too. Myrehection is only
upon the idea thai thaias any Kind of
point for a Christian peope o atop at. 1t
is the place to begin, tpC to loase off,
| Going no further than thai is equivalent to
saying to lost world: "Hare is COM
Portable church occupying N eligible site,
ushers at the door, everybody welcome,
now come in and be saved, c stay out and
| be damned"
| have put 1t In that harsh bald way in
order that it may stick in the minds OF
readers. 1t is truth. That d this adyer-
tising and hospitality inceases the &C
countability of the unconyeted and nom
church going is doubtless rue, but the
salient point wish to maxi is that this
does not cover the entire gound Of &C
countability. We must gociear to the
man, live he In Timbuctoo, o. in the same
block with the church which you attend.
The idea is TO bring the prln-
ciple of evangeliz4tionia all tbs
way to the man, to his town, to his
street, to his house, 10 his family, to him
self, to his heart. Briug theman to the
church if 1t is possible, | saytut bring the
| church to the mauaanyhow. ."
Times are changing, IJ is een1ing to be
recognized with q claarness thtiis bewilder-
! ing and with aniacisivene5s thtis startling
that the difference between a clergyman aHd
| a leyman is not a difference Of ilation to God
! or mea, nor difference of spitieGl empower-
ment, but a casual difference o'official func-
tion. The case is clear. Mbbliga.ion to
| help people does not rest uponne because |
am a Clergyman, but because am a Chris
tian The bare fact OF ha vinGbce reached
and taken hold ottby Christ tls wrapped up
in it a commission that / tould be tine
means through which othas should be
| reached and taken hold of i'll yte same way.
If any reader happens to be i the habit of
looki e at the matter in anotAr light per
nit me TO say TO him in alikindness, but
in all fraakness, that it really
makes no difference neither you
have been accustomed Il look at
it in my way or not. | am tsreIy stating
to an American public the wy in which
the policy OF evangelization las been an-
nouuced and exemplitiod. Tbs whole idea,
in ali the snuRaess of obhgetf with which
il binds itself upon our heFts, our con-
sciences and orr lives is go wrlght into the
tissue OF gospel doctrine, purse and action
that no ChristiaIf can pluck isouk without
tearing away the threads of at gospel.
| elieve tnat men should and together
on the simple platform of pyalty. This
will not undo any minor dferences, for
points of difference anon men are
as important as poitsSg of re-
semblance AS aPresbytdan l will
work with an disqualification instance,
without remembering that is one. He
will not make me less of aPresbvterian
and shall no5 nlakslhim least an Episco-
paIiau; but To the extent thai, underneath
my Presbyterianism5 am a hristian, and
that he, under his Episcopadf is o Chris
tian, it makes usoons greaidouble, rein-
forced man. That an my itnlon, is the
whole doctrine OF ChristIanro@operatio
1t is the only chance we havef redesning
the world or Yof savir our own
town. If this cityis going be captured
it has got to be captured III Il name of the
Lord and not in thename dthe Presby-
teriau church nor in the naHiof any other
church.
There is no way of indudg q man to
open the door of his heart enpt by work.
ing at the bell pull OF kind fees. People
will love us if we love tbemtprovided we
go to sacrifice enough to she them that
we are not shamming. The ihilauthro ist
proceeds in that way7in ordG to open the
door of his neighbours heart. The evangel-
ist has to proceed in that WI in order to
get the door of his sneighbor'seert open.
G. II. ARKHURsT.
Massachus ats soallsts.
Boston, April 10.--The ste convention
of the socialistic labor part was held to-
| dav in the German Wurkmds association
hall, Roxbury, fifteen sectis being repre-