The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-01-03


needn't talk about preaching the gospel
in Providence, we have got to have some
moral reform" "Moral reforml What
we want here is regeneration by the power
OF the Holy Ghost. We have been patch
ing up the old man long enough, and we
want new one now. There are men who
lack OF faith. tell you what, you
Providence, land it will come,
by prayer) and these obstacles and
giants will sink into insignificance. Let
US get our hearts and eyes off OF the
the giants and believe that there Is all
power in heaven.
The next thing we want in order to
be successful i'm our work is courage" The
Bible story about Gideon's move was here
brought to bear upon and illustrate this
point. "Never mind the face OF men,
never mind what people may say about
you. What we want are men and women
who have courage. IL God and Jesus
Christ are the best things in the world let
US proclaim IL.
Enthusiasm Is Necessary.
Now there is another thing we want in
order TO be successful workers, and good
many OF you do not believe in this part of
my address. Enthusiasm That IL what
the church wants, enthusiasm! Let us
see one taking notes. Put it down in big
letters IL you please. What is a minister
in the pulpit good for il he has no enthu-
siasm? / have seen men preaching with a
great big overcoat on. You let minister
drag himself into his pulpit in hHff
lftyfpo onA haIf Hand How IL no
going TO reach the souls OF his
people? The Sunday school Is n
place, too, where there is a
great lack of enthusiasm and real work.
A teacher comes into her class late, and
then tries to gain the attention OF her
scholars; but they are gazing at the moon.
Finally the question book is opened.
John, who was tho first man? 'Methu-
selah.' william, who was the first man?'
Adam THAT is right, you have studied
your lesson Then John speaks up: 'Oh,
| forgot, that was the lesson we had last
Sunday
"There was one place where Mr.. Sankey
and L worked, and upon our ar
rival there we bought newspaper. We
found that there was n whole sermon
in it against the pernicious sermons that
Moody was going TO give. 1t warned the
public OF the undue excitement which
was to be expected, and expressed the
fear that harm would be the result. We
inquired who it was that had been paving
the way for US. We found that the man
was floor walker, and yet he was talking
of undue excitement. Now let there be a
revival OF the industries, a rise in the cot
ton market, in Wall street. Iguess Provi-
dence would know little excitement. So
let there be a revival i'm the moral
atmosphere in Providence, and / think a
little excitement will necessarily follow.
/ cannot understand how it Is that we do
not have more enthusiasm. There is a
story in history about young general
who came in with n handful of soldiers
against an army OF 10000. When the king
heard of the small number on the other
side he dispatched an embassy with the
message that il the general would surren-
der he would give the word of peace.
Upon receiving the message the
general commanded one man to
thrust his sword through his
heart. The soldier obeyed and fell dead
at his commanders feet. Another he
ordered TO Jump I'm yonder chasm, and he
went hence. Then he turned to the mes
senger and said, "We die, but we never
surrender. Now this is recorded in
history. don't know whether IL is true
or not, and don't care. But this / do
know, the book says:
II you are afraid that there is going to
be undue excitement in these meetings,
would advise you not to come around
here any more. Keep away.
Then another thing we need as successful
workers, il perseverance. II we do not
succeed tonight we will try harder to-
morrow night, and IL we do not succeed
tomorrow night, we will go at it with
more energy and determination Thursday
night. What we want is to persevere."
Here another Bible story was brought
in as an illustration of the Importance
and efficacy OF perseverance.
The service was closed with the invita-
tion TO all TO be present the next day, even
though some had not been pleased. Mr..
Moody said he was not here to please, but
to give the message in the hope that it
would eventually reach the hearts Of the
people.