Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-06-18

change, and what in the world caused it+' |
and no one could maze satisfactory s~1plana-
ton.
In the course OF two years, though there
was no general awakening in that church,
many such isolated cases OF such unexpected
and unaccountable conversions took place.
The very people whom no one thought
would be affected by such considerations
were converted. The pastor and the officers
Of the church were on the lookout for the
solution of this religious phenomenon.
W here is it., they sail, land who IS it and
what is It" At last the discovery was made
and all was explained. A poor old Christian
woman standing III the vestibule OF the
church one SUNDAY morning. trying to get
her breath again before she went 1T stairs
70 .ne gallery, heard the inquiry and told
the secret.
For years she hal been in the habit Of
concentrating al her prayers for particular
persons in that church. She would see soma
man or some woman present, and, though
she might not know the persons name, she
would pray for that person until he or she
was converted to God. All her prayers were
for that one person-iust that one. she
waited ana waited FOR communion days to
see when the candidates for membership
stood up whether her prayers had been effect
ual. 1t turnet out that these marvellous in
stances Of conversion We're the result of that
old womans prayers as she sat in the gallery
Sabbath by Sabbath, bent and wizened and
poor and unnotice1.
A little cloud of consacrated humanity
lowering in the galleries. That was the
secret place or the Thunder. There IS some
hidden. unknown, mysterious source Of
almost alb the moral and religious power
demonstrated. Not one oIt OF a million
not one out Of ten m~iliion-prayers ever
strikes a human ear. On public occasions a
minister of religion voices the supplicatious
Of an assemblege. but the prayers Of all the
congregation are in silence. Their is not a
second in a century when prayers are not
ascending, but rnyrials Of The IA ar n. even
as loud as whisper. fer Go1nears a thought
as plainly as a vocalization. That silence of
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES and perpetual
is the secret p!aoe OF thunder.
In the winter Of 1870 W. were worShip;ng
in the Brooklin Academy ot Music in the in
terreenum Of churches. We hal the usual
great au licences, tut | was oppressed beyond
measure by the fact that conversions were
not more numerous. One Tuesday in vitei
TO my house r1va OH, con-crata1 Christian
men-al of them gone now. except Father
Pearson, AMI he, IN blindness and old age,
waiting for the Masters call TO come up
higher.
These oil men came, not knowing why /
had invited them. / took them to\ the top
room OF my house. | said to tne1l:t VI have.
called you here for special prayer. am IN
an agony for a great turning u God of the
people. We have vast muitltuies in atten-
dance end they are attentive and respectful.
hut ! cannot see that thy are saved. Let
US kneei down and each one prav and not
leave this room until we are all assured
that the blessing will come and has come
1t was a most intense crying unto GOD. l
said, "Brethren, let this meetin : bea secret
and they said it would be. That Tuesday
night special service ended.
On the following Friday night occurred
the usual prayer meeting. NJ one knew Of
what had occurred on Tuesday night. but
the meeting was unusually tfrongea. Men
accustomed to pray in public i'll great COM
posture broke down under emotion. The
people were in tears. There were sobs
and silences and solemnities Of such unusual
power that the worshipers looked into each
others faces, as much as TO say. what
does all this meen2' And when the follow.
ing Sabbath came. although we were in a
secular place, over four hundred arose for
prayers, and a religious awakening took
place that made that winter memorable for
time and for eternity. There may be- in
this building many who were brought to
God during that great ingathering, but few
OF them know that the upper room in my
house on Quincy street. where those five old
Christian men poured out their souls before
God, was the secret place Of thunder
The day will come-God hasten; it-wher
people will find out the velocity, the ma
jesty, the multipotence of prayer. WebraG
about our limited express trains which pu'
us down a thousand miles away in twenty
tour hours, but here is something by which
i'll a moment we may confront people fiv'
thousand miles away. We brag about oul
telephones, but here IS something that beat
the telephone in utterance and reply, 70
God says, before they call, l will near
| We brag about the phonograph, in whichN
man EAR speak, and his words and the tone
of his voice can be kept for ages, and by til
turning OF q crank the words may com
j, forth upon the ears Of another century, bu
+ prayer allows US to speak words into the ear
Of everlasting remembrance, and on tn
;, other side OF all eternlties they will be heard
4 oh, ye who are wasting your breath, an
=. wasting your brains, and wasting you
. nerves, and wasting your lungs Wishing TO
: this good and that goo for the church, an
the world, why do you not 20 into tho secre
| : place OF thunder.
r But" says some one, that is q beautifr
: theory, vet it does not work in my case, 70
., | am in u cloud of trouble, or a cloud {
: sickness, or q clou1 OF persecution, or
:. cloud OF poverty, or a cloud OF bereavement
or a cloud Of perplexity.H How glad | a.
that you told me that. That is exactly tt
place to which my. text refers. 1t was frol
:. a cloud that God answered Israel-the ciou
q over the chasm cut through the Red Sea
= the cloud that was light TO tn Israalites an
= darkness to the Egyptians. 1t was from
. cloud, q tremendous cloud, that God mac
i reply. 1t was u cloud that was the seer
place of thunder. So YOU cannot get awe
4 from the consolation Of my text By talkiI
L that way. Let all the people under a clOl
a hear it. II answered thee IL tao secret pia'
/ of thunder
&C This subject helps me 10 explain son
things YOU nave not unlerstO0l about mt
Is and women. and there are mu.titu1es
u them, and t.e multitude is multiplying /
the minute. Many OF them have not
y superabun1ance ot education. II you las
= their brain III a ~post-nortem e1aminatio
~ and you could weigh t, Il would not wei:
- any heavier than the average. They ha
' noU anything especially impressive III pc
! .onal appearance. They arenot very tiua
- of tongue. Thy pretend to nothing upus,
in mental faculty or social influence, /
u YOU feel their power; you are elevated
- : their presence: YOU are q better man or
. fatrAr woman haviny rnnfronta1 the
N
lis You know that in intellectual endowme
Oh Won are their superior, while in the mat
on 81 moral and religious inliuenrA thy
he vastly your superior, Wy IS this.
lot To find the revelation u this secret :
De must go back thirty or forty or pernaps>l
al years to the homestead whore this man =
brought up 1t Is a winter morning, aud