The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-01-08
EVENING DISCOURSE.
Continuation OF the Afternoons In
teresting Subject.


teresting Subject.
want to continue the subject we had
this afternoon. There may be some here
who were not present this afternoon.
Therefore, / will briefly outline the points
discussed then. We were talking about
the Office work OF the Holy Spirit, and
tried to show that His office work was to
convict OF sin, to impart the love. OF God,
fill us with hope and courage, to give us
liberty to testify Of Christ, to teach us all
things, to guide US into all truth and
convert us.
Tonight want to go right on and show
that it is His work to fill us and qualify
us for Gods service. There was one de-
nomination in this country few years
ago that reported that there had not been
a single conversion. Now, / believe that
every church can be fruit bearing il 1t
will, and believe that this very subject
we have before US tonight will show US
how we can bring forth fruit. don't be-
lieve that any church need return at the
end of the year and say "We have
toiled all the year and gained
nothing" i believe that 1t is clearly
taught in the Scriptures that it is the
privilege Of severy true child of God to
bring forth fruit. "Herein is my Father
glorifed that ye bring forth much fruit"
Now, there are god many sons and
daughters of God that are without power.
think there is not one here that will
deny that. do not think that / slander
the church when say nine-tenths of the
church members today are without power.
think il you take one-tenth of them
you will have about all that have
got real Holy Ghost power. Now don't
believe that ought to be, the state of the
church. ] think it would be good idea
when man or woman wants to join the
church to ask him IL he wants TO be a
member with or without power. IL he
says "without power" it would be well to
say eve have plenty of that kind of
church members. What we want is few
with power" I believe you can all have
it il you will. The power is here. This
Old Book teaches us how we can get it.
Now, do not know that am right, but
think you will find three classes of
Christians represented in the Bible, and
/ think you will find them in all our
churches, i'm this audience tonight. The
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John, wkese Nicodemus came to Christ by
night and got life, But he only barely
got it. He didn't get it in all its abun-
dance. Nicodemus worked while Peter,
James and John were enjoying. They
heard all the parallels, saw all the miracles
ate with him, slept with him, and they
were just lifted up into the third
heaven, as you might say, while
poor Nicodemus was living on sawdust.
He didn't get any food for his soul. And
yet suppose he reasoned in this way: 81
am high member. / am a member Of
Sanhedrim, and il should identify my
self with that despised Nazarene should
lose my power and influence" He might
have become one Of the twelve had he taken
the stand. We have got to stoop il we
are going to conquer, and when man is
not willing to take low place to get
power with God, he Is not going to get it.
There is a good deal Of difference between
social power, political power, and kind
of religious power. But these are not the
kinds of power that am talking about
tonight. am talking about Holy Ghost
power. Strength is one thing, and power
is another. The Giant of Gath had
strength, but David had power.
In the fourth chapter of John you will
find higher type of Christian. That wo-
man that came TO the well to get water.
She got the whole well. She got so much
of the living water that you couldn't
have kept her in the Sanhedrim. She
went back into town and told what Christ
had done for her. She drank deeper than
Nicodemus did. Isn't a well better than
Just little water? II / have a drop of
water in tumbler l can truly say have
water, but there would not be any bub-
bling up.
Where to Find the Highest Type.
In the seventh chapter Of John you will
find the highest type, and that is the class
/ want to belong to. II we could only
just get this whole audience into the sew
enth chapter OF John, Providence would
be turned upside down. On that last day
He said, 'If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink, and out Of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water" A man
once said he had a good well but for two
things: II would dry up i'm summer and
freeze up in winter. Every child OF God
ought to be like rivers. / used to
quote Il "river" until one day an old man
asked me where i got the word "river."
] said j fond il in my Bible. He said he
didn't find il that way in his Bible, that
he read "rivers." And now / always say
''rivers." Why? rivers shall flow through
men and women that are filed with the
Holy Cost. We have an idea that the
at,ostles belonged to another race of
beings. Not bit OF It? They got so
flied with the Spirit OF God that rivers
actually flowed from them. And you
needn't go back to those old apostles, not
even one hundred years, to Wesley and
Whitfield. Go right back to
London. Look at Spurgcon. For
nearly forty years he preached
to the largest congregation any man has
preached TO since Christ left this earth,
and his sermons have been translated into
nearly every language under the heavens.
On every Thursday $4,000 OF his sermons
were scattered through the world. /
know that out in the Rocky noun
tains, where there are no ministers, men
have gathered together and read one of
Spurgeon's sermons. i venture to say that