Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-05-28

BLESSED be the Lord who daily loads
us with benefits, even tie God of our
salvation. Selah." 1.-The Lord shall
count, when he writeth MP tho people,
that this man was born there. Selah.'
Let the world have its honors. and its
riches, and its pump. Let Inc have the
Lord for my light. my peace. my
fortress. my pardon, my hope, NY
heaven.
What sinners value ] resign;
Lord! 'tis enough tli.u thou art mine.
siinll behuld thy bissfu face
And stand complete In righteousness.
This world Is all I'M empty show,
But tho bright world to which go
Hath Joys substantial ind sincere;
When shall wake md fpd me- thcre7
glorious liourl . hlest ahodel
Shall he near aud like my God,
And sin md sense no more control
The endless pleasures nf my soul.
But when speak of the Selah of ein-
pll;lsis ml1st notice it is Startling u
dramatic emphasis. 1t has in it the
Hark, the Hist Of the drama. That
wakesniring and arolising emphasis We
who preach or instruct need to use more
frequently. The slcepiost audiences in
the world are religious audiences.
NECESSITY oF-DRAMATiC FORCE.
You Sabbath school teachers ought to
have more of the dramatic element in
your instructions. By graphic Scripture
sceno, by anecdote, b. descriptive ges-
ture. by ilnpersonation urge your classes
to right action. We want in all our.
schools and colleges and prayer meet
ings; and in all our attempts at reform.
and in all our churches to have less of
the style didactic and more Of the style
dramatic.
Fifty essays about the sorrows Of the
poor could not affect ME as Il little drama
of accident and suffering saw one slip
perry morning in the streets of PhAadel-
phia. Just ahead OF me was lad,
wretched in apparel, his limb Mnpntated
Mt the knee; from the pallor of the boys
cheek the amputation not long before.
He had package of broken food under
his ar1n-food he had begged, suppose,
III pllO QOOIo. xAH tiO lfeooS,i VII wv WIG
slippery pavement cautiously and care
fully, steadied him until his crutch-
slipped and he fell helped him up ms
well as could, gathered up tho frag-
ments Of tho package as well .as could.
put them under one arm and the crutch
under the other ann: but when saw
the blood run down his pale check was
completely overcome. Fifty essays about
the suffering of the poor could not touch
ono like that little drama of accident
and suffering.
Oh. we want in all our different de-
partments of northumberland | address
hundreds of people who are trying to do
good-we want more of the dramatic
element and less of the didactic. The
tendency in this day is to drone religion.
to whine religion, to cant religion, t.
moan religion, to croal religion, to Sc
palchrize religion. when we ought 10
present it in animated and spectacular
manner.
Sabbath morning by Sabbath morning
address many theological students who
are preparing for the ministry. They
come in here from tho different institu-
lions. say to them this morning: If
You will GO home and look over tho his
tory of the church you will find that
those men have brought most souls to
Christ who have been dralnatic-Row-
land Hill, dramatic. Thomas Chalmers,
dramatic: Thomas Guthrie. dramatic;
John Knox, dramatic; Robert McGheyne,
dramatic;. Christmas Evans, dramatic:
George Whitefield. dramatic; Robert
Hall, dramatic: Robert South, dramatic:
Fenelon, dramatic: john Mason, dr;a-
tnntic DR.. Mott. dramatic. When you
get into the ministry if you attempt to
culture that element and try to WELD it
for God you will meet with mighty re-
buff and caricatu7e, and ecclesiastical
council will take your case in charge.
and they will try to put you down. bnt
the God who starts you will help you
through, and great will be the eternal
rewards for the nssiduous und the
plucky
GET OUT OF TIE RUT.
What we want. ministers and laylnen,
is to get our sermons. and our exhorta-
lions, and our prayers out of the old rut.
see IL great deal of discussion i'll the re-
ligious papers about why people do moi
rome to church. They do not come be
cause they are not interested. The old
hackneyed religions phrases that come
moving down through the centuries will
never arrest the masses. What wo want
today, you in your sphere and / in my
sphere, is to frcshen up. People do not
want in their sermons the sham flowers
bought at the millinery shop, but the
iaponicas wet with the morning dew:
nor the heavy homes of extinct niegithe
rum of pnst ages. but the living rein
deer caught last August at the edge Of
Schroon lake.
We want to drive out the drowsy, and
the prosaic. and the tedious, and the hum
drum, and introduce the brightness and
viyacity, and the holy sarcasm, and the
sanctiied wit. and the epigTamnlatic
power, and the tlood red earnestness. and
the fire of religious zeal, and l do not
know of any way of doing it as we'll as
through the dramatic. Attention! Be-
hold Hark! Selah!
Next speak of the Selah of perpetu-
ity. Tho Targum, which is the Bible>in
Chaldee, renders this word of my text
"forever." Many writer's agree in be-
lieving and stating that one meaning of
this word is. forever" In this very
verse from which l take my text Selah
means not only poetic significance and
inter1nission and emphasis, but it means
eternal Northumberland Gods
government forever, Gods goodness for
ever. the gladness of the righteous for
ever. OF course YOU and | have not