The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-04-26

Let that be a new departure as a church.
Let that be a new departure as a pastor.
Sympathy Gratitude to God demands
that this morning l mention the fact that
during all these "a years have missed but
one service through sickness. When | en-
tered the ministry, was so delicate / did not
think l would preach three months, but
preaching has agreed with me, and think
the healthiest thing in all the earth is the
religion of Jesus Christ. Bless the Lord,
my SOUL What ingrates we are in re
gard to our healthl
/ must, in gratitude to God. also mention
the multitudes to whom / have been per-
mitted to preach. 1t is simply miraculous,
the attendance morning by morning, night
by night and year by year and long after it
has got to be an old story. ! know some
people are dainty and exclusive in their
tastes. As for myself, like big crowd. l
would like to see an audience large enough
TO scare me. If this gospel is good, the more
that get it the better.
Many have received the gospel here, but
others have rejected it. Now, tell you
what am going TO do with some of my
dearest friends who have hitherto rejected
the gospel. You are not afraid of me, and
lam not afraid of you, and some day, o
brother, / viii clasp your hands together,
and l will turn your face the other way,
and will take hold Of your shoulders, and
while you are helpless I'M my grasp will
give you one headlong push into the king
dom of God. Christ says we must compel
you to come in. Twill compel you to come
in. Can l consent TO anything else with
these men, who are as dear 10 me as my
own soul? l will compel you to come in.
Profiting by the mistakes of the past,
must do better work for you and better
work for God Lest / might through
some sudden illness or casualty be snatch
ed away before / have the opportunity Of
doing 50, l take this occasion to declare my
love for you rs a people. 1t is different
work if pastor is placed in church al
ready built up, and he IS surrounded by es-
tablished circumstances. There are not 10
people in this church that have not been
brought into the church through my min
istry. You are my family. I feel as much
at home here as do in my residence on
Oxford street. You are my family-my
father my mother, my sister, my son, my
daughter. You are my JOY and crown, the
subject of my prayers.
THE PREACHERS AMBITION.
Your present and everlasting welfare is
the object OF my ambition l have no
worldly ambition. had once. have not
now. l know the world about as well as
any one knows it. have heard the hand
clapping of its applause, and have heard
the hiss Of its opposition, and declare to
you that the former is not especially to be
sought for, nor is the latter to be feared
The world has given me about all the COM
fort and prosperity it can give a man, and
have no worldly ambition. have an all
consuming ambition to make full proof of
my ministry, to get to heaven myself and
l. ],
table and cradle and armchair and pillow
and lounge and nursery and drawing room
and kitchen may the blessing of the Al
mighty God come down.
During these - years there is hardly
family that has not been invaded by sorrow
or death. Where are those grand old men,
those glorious Christian women, who used
to worship with us? Why, they went away
into the next world so gradually that they
had concluded the second stanza or the
third stanza in heaven before you knew
they were gone They had on the crown
before you thought they had dropped the
staff of the earthly pilgrimage.
And then the dear childrenl Oh, how
many have gone out of this church, You
could not keep them. You folded them in
your arms and said: 80 God, 1 cannot give
them up. Take all else-take my property,
take my reputation 1Cb NE Keep IQlS
treasure. Lord, I cannot bear this
Oh, if we could all die together, if we
could keep all the sheep and the lambs of
the family fold together until some bright
spring day, the birds a-chant and the wa
tiers a-glitter, and then we could altogether
hear the voice of the good Shepherd and
hand in hand pass through the flood No,
no, no. moi On, il we only had notice that
we are all to depart together, and we could
say to our families: The time has come.
The Lord bids Us away" And then we
could take our little children to their beds
and straighten out their limbs and say:
''Now, sleep the last sleep. Good night,
until it is good morning" And then we
could go TO our own touches and say:
''Now, altogether we are ready to go. Our
children are gone; now let us depart"
No, no. 1t is one by one. 1t may be in
the midnight. 1t may be in the winter,
and in the snow coming down 20 inches
deep over our grave. 1t may be in the
strange hotel and our arm too weak to pull
the bell for help. 1t may be SO suddenly
we have no time even to say gOodby. Death
Is a bitter. crushing, tremendous curse.
play you three tunes on the gospel harp
of comfort, Weeping may endure for
night but JOY cometh in the morning"
That is one "All things work together
for good % those who love God" That is
the secoEfd. And the Lamb which is in
the midst of the throne shall lead them to
living fountains of water, and God shall
wipe all tears from their eyes" That is the
third. During these p years have tried
as far as | could, by argument, by illustra.
ton and by caricature to fill you with dis
gust with much OF this modern religion
which people are trying now to substitute
r IL wi Il
gion of the apostles.
] have tried to persuade yUu that the
worst of all cant is the cant OF skepticism,
and instead of your apologiZing for Chris
tianity it was high time that those who do
not believe in Christianity should apologize
TO you, and | have tried to show that the
biggest villains in the universe are those
who would try to rob us of this Bible, and
that the grandest mission of the church of
Jesus Christ is that of bringing souls to the
Lord-a soul saving church.
But now those years are gone If you
have neglected your duty, if l have neglect
ed my duty, it is neglected forever. Each
year has its work. If the work is per-
formed within the 10 Elonths, it is done for
ever. If neglected, il is neglected forever.
When "A woman was dying, she said,
"Call them back" They did not know
what she meant. She had been disciple
of the world. She said, "Oh, call them
backr' They SAID, "Who do you want US
tocall backs' "Oh,' she said, 'call them