St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-06
COS PEI FOR MANY.
The Coming Big Revival Fur
nishes Another Theme for
Rev. DR.. Vail,
And He Expounds the Great
Problem, "What Shall We
Do TO Be Saved p"

Anticipating that the time is coming
soon when this question will be on the
lips OF hundreds of people in-this city,it
seemed to me proper to say word upon
it before that time shall come, for L
fancy that when we are in the midst of
revival movement we may not be so
lenient i'll opinion as we are in calmer
times. Then it seems to me good to
! notice one other fact connected with
some Of these problems-they were al
ways in the world, there never was a
time when in some form they were not
i'll the minds of men, they were dis
cussed in your earliest childhood, and
they are discussed today. Men are pre-
dieting that they will soon pass away,
but when you and | are all done with
the world, when we have finished our
warfare and laid aside the arm0r of the
soldier, still will men be discussing
these topics. They did not come in
with the Bible. They are found in the
Bible in ali its parts; but they existed
before the Bible, and they are found in
/ the earliest history of man who was al
ready in the world. And in the world
| they will stay to engage the interest of
man until the last wreck shall drift
upon the seas without hand to guide.
What shall we do to be saved? The
very first step towards an answer will
| be to find what it is that man is to be
saved from; then we may talk about the
means. What shall do to save that
! man from danger? Tell me. is it the
man who is clinging 10 the side of a
mountain while the avalanche is tbun-
| dering down? Or, is it the man who
! has fallen over the taft rail of the ship,
and is struggling IN the water. while the
birds are screaming and the captain
! giving his orders to throw out line?
| Or, is it that man who has just come
out of the thiciet over there, while the
brigade is approaching from the ridge,
and unconsciously nearS the spot that
/! will expose him to their murderOus nre?
| Now, tell me which man it is you want
! to save. and | will try to tell you of the
| best means to be employed, for we
| would not employ the same means to
| save all. SO tell me the danger to which
| the sinner is exposed, what the condi-
tions are, and then L will try to tell you
what you may expect i'll his case.
1t is not enough to give the traditional
answer, "Belieye i'll the Lord Jesus
| Christ" That answer is very common,
| but what does it mean? There Is the
! important question; for when you get
to that you stop and say: To-day three
| sermons are preached on this question
| and they are all answered in the same
! way, and yet the men are so different
! that it seems as if something must be
wrong about the answer" Yes, the men
are very different One is a Roman
! cardinal. surrounded by ac0Iytes, en-
| veloped i'll the smoke of burning in
| cSnSe, sustained by d magn ificent organ
and full-voiced choir-and he says
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ" An
other is an evangelist, say Mr.. Mills,
/ and he is surrounded IN more simple
way, but, in the midst Of the enthusi-
! aSm that fills the place, he too says Be
! lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ" An
other is Unitarian, like DR.. Hale, let
me say-the direct descendant, by the
way, I'D personal appearance OF Elijah,
with polish Of modern life added-and he
too uses the words. Well, is 1t not plain
that these words have different mean
ing to each OF these men? We speak Of
men who are liberal in opinion. To one
man Thomas Paine is a representative
liberal. 10 another Phillips Brooks was
an ideal liberal. Archbishop Ireland
fulfillS that idea exactly in the mind Of
third. The words had limited mean
ing in the mind of each. In word,
every expression arouseS in your mind
a picture, an idea, or an emotion as the
case may be-the same expression may
rouse an entirely different idea or pic
ture or emotion in mine. If 1 have
made this clear you will see that to use
the phrase, Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, without qualification, will simply
arouse in your minds here today the
ideas that are there potent and latent.
n ND q
impression that preached the sermon
according to your conception of what
that phrase means.
If have rightly estimated our condi-
ton. then, what shall we do to be saved?
Control our appetites. Use our ambi-
ton by turning it into worthy direc-
tons. Let it be our pride to do the
deeds of charity and go on the errands
of mercy. But how shall we do this?
By rule and custom. Some may do it
that way. Only few have the pa
thence, the perseverance. No; the ma
iority will need the incentive of an
emotional conception of some ideal :;
and i'll one form or other, the means,
all that is SymsOled in the declaration.
believe i'll the Lord Jesus Christ. This
will mean different ways to different
people. To Carlyle that ideal came by
|
hero. and he felt the first thrill when
he declared that two lads of
Annaniale would show the uni
verStY the quality of their inheri-
lance of character. st. Paul lived
in the hope of return of Christ to the
world. He expected to see with living
eyes the descent of the Lord, and TO
hear the trumpet sound that would
awake the dead. He urged men to live
as eXpectilg this Others live in the
IDEAS of life. hope and the promise of
immortality. But. however we get our
ideal, let US have One-have one that
we believe in. and follow it as we would
follow compass.
And remember two things: There is
hidden man in your heart He will
never be satisfied with the excuses you
! make to me. 1t was this hidden man
that laughed at Jean Vatican; it is the
i same that laughs at you when you try
to excuse yourself. Find that ideal and
make peace with it. When you do that
you will find Christ-you will be recon-
| ciled to God.