Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1894-04-28


my estimate accurate, ly which / do
not mean tn say that sermons ought To
be only Ii minutes long and PRAYERS
only half minute long Christ had
such infinite power Of compression that
he could put enough into his 10 minute
sermon and his half minute prayer to
keep all the followin.: ages busy III
thought and actiun. ,.uont bat :, Christ
could afford to pray or preach is short
as that, but lie Liant IL teach us COM
preston.
CLrist's Sermons.
At Selma, Ala, the other day was
shown IA cotton press by which cotton
was put in such shape that it occupied
IN transportation only one car where
three cars Were formerly necessary. and
one ship where three ships had been re-
quired, and imagine that We all need
tn ocompress our sermons and our prayers
into smaller spaces
And his sermons We're SD lovely for
sentiment and pract:cality and simplic-
ity and illustration. The light of can
die, the crystal of the salt, the cluck of
"a hen for her chickens, the hypocrite'
dolorous physiognomy, the moth III the
clothes closet, the black wing of raven.
the snowbank of white lilies, our cX-
treme botheration about the splinter of
lmperfection Ill some one else's charac-
ter. the swine fed ON the pearls. wolves
dramatizing sheep, and the peroration
made up of u cyclone in which you hear
the crash Of II tumbling house unwiscly
constructed. No technicalitics, no split
ting of hairs between north and north
west side, no dogmatics, but u great
Christly throb Of helpfulness. do not
wonder at the record which saws,
when ne was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed
him. They had but one fault to find
with his sermon 1t was too short. God
help all of us in Christian work to get
down off our stills and realize there is
only one thing we have to do-there is
the great wound of the worlds sin and
sorrow, and here is the great healing
plaster of the gospel. What you and !
want to do is to put the plaster on the
wound. All sufficient is this gospel if it
~ Ohiy dppiitu- "A iniuisttk pttuCNluk
To an audience of sailors concerning the
ruin by sin and the rescue by the gospel
accommodated himself to sailors YER
nacular and said. This plank bears ="
Many years after this preacher was
called to ste dying sailor and asked
him about his hope and got the suggest
i've reply, This plank bears. >"
Yea. Christ WAS lovely i'll his chief
lifc's work. There were "a thousand
things for him to do, but his great work
WAS to get our shipwrecked world out
of the breakers. That he came to do, and
that he did. and he did il i'll three years.
He took 30 years to prepare for that
three years activity. From l3 to 30
years of age We hear nothing about him.
That intervening Is years | think he
was in India But he came back to Pal
estine and crowded everything into three
years-three winters, three springs,
three summers, three autumis. Our life
is short, but would God we might see
how much we could do in three years
Concentration! lntensification! Three
years of kind words! Three years of liv-
ing for others Three years of self sacri-
flee! Let us try il.
Aye, Christ was lovely in his demise
He had right that last hour to deal i'll
anathematiZation. Never had any one
been So meanly treated. Cradle of straw
among goats and camels-that was the
worlds reception Of himi Rocky cliff,
with hammers pounding spikes through
tortured ncrycs--that was the world
farewell salutation! The slaughter of
that sccnc sometimes hides the lowell
hess of the sufferer. Under the satura-
tioa of tears and blood we sometimes
fail To STE the sweetest face of earth and
heaven Altogether lovely, Can coolest
criticism find All unkind word lac ever
spoke. or an unkind action that he ever
performed, or an unkind thought that he
ever harbored:
What marvel il is that all the ma
tions of earth do not rise up in raptures
of affection for him, must say il here
and now. lift my right hand in solemn
attestation. | love him, and the grief of
my life is that do not love him more
Is it an impertincnce for me to ask, Do
you. my hearer-you, my reader. love
him! Has he become u Fart of your na
ture! Have you committed your children
ON earth into his keeping. rs your chill
dren III heaven are already in his bosom?
Has he done enough to win your conf
dence: Can you trust him. living and
dying and forever: Is your back or your
face toward him? Would you like to
have his hand to guide you, his might
To protect you, his grace to comfort you,
his sufferings to atone for you. his arms
To welcome you, his love to encircle you,
his heaven To crown you:
A Grand Thought.
Oh, that we might all have something
of the great German reformer's love for
this Christ which led him to say. III any
one knocks ut the door Of my breast and
says, Who lives there my reply is.
Jesus Christ lives here, not Martin
Luther. Will it not be grand it, when
we get through this short and rugged
road of life. We can 20 right up into his
presence and live with him world with
out end:
And il, entering the gate Of that heay
enly city, We should be so overwhelmed
with our ulIworthiness On the one side,
and the supernal spl.ndur on the other
side, We get Il little bewillered and
should for u few moments be lost on the
streets of gold and among the FURNISHED
temples and the sapphire thrones. there
would b. plenty To- show us the way and
take us out of our JOYFUL bcwildermcnt.
and perhaps the woman of Main would
say, Come, let me take you to the
Christ who raised my only boy To life "
And Martha would say. Come, let me
take you To the Christ who brought up
my brother Lazarus from the tomb. "
And one of the disciples would say.
Come, and let me take You to the
Christ who saved our sinking ship in
the hurricane On Gennesaret. And
Paul would say, Come. and let me
a