Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1895-03-22
THE SCHOOLFIELD MEETINGS.

There were about 700 men present at
the meeting last night in the M. 4:
Church South. The service opened
with the usual song service. reading OF
requests for prayer and offering OF
prayer by Mr.. Schoolield. He an
nounced general meetings for Friday
and Saturday night-no meeting Sat
urday morning. He then read the
scripture lesson for the evening, after
which Mr.. Ramsay sang, at the request
of a member in the audience, Lies
Railway to Heaven" Mr.. Schoolheld
then read the text for the evenings dis
course from Romans, Sth chapter, 14th
verse. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons OF
God" He announced the topic, Test
of Discipleship'' and said: ''Since the
creation and fall of man there have
been three distinct dispensations-Pa-
triarchal, Mosaical or Phophetical and
Gospel. After the Patriarchal, when
every man was priest of his own house
hold, came the law, communicated
to Moses amid the thunders of Sinai;
and after the prophets came Jesus, the
Christ, God manifest in the flesh, not
to destroy, but to fulfil the law"
He spoke of the memorable discourse
of our Saviour on the night before His
crucifxion as related in St. John, 10th
chapter, and also of the time after the
resurrection and before the ascension
when He appeared to His disciples in
Jerusalem as showing the growth
of the Divine plan, and said, "a short
time after this they were all with ore
accord in one place, &c (Acts End chap
ter, 1st 10 4th verse.) Thus was usher
ed in the dispensation of the Spirit
under which we live tonight. IT led
of the Spirit we are not of the law.
AS many as are led of the Spirit are
sons of God. Viewed from christian
standpoint, there are only two classes
in the world. Either we are children
of God or children of the devil, and
it is astonishing how much the devils
children favor the old man. The Bible
shows two forces at work in the moral
world-God and the good angels on one
hand and Satan and the bad on the other.
The battle is for the conquest of this
world-your soul, my soul, your neigh.
boris soul. Every man, woman and
child who crosses the line of accounta-
bility, unless excused by reason of
idiocy, is on one side or the other.
There is no neutral ground, and you
can't be on both sides, although some
try to be on both sides and some
try to be neutral. You, brother, 1t
matters not how moral and amiable
you may be, if you are not follower
of Christ, you are just as surely fol-
lower of the devil. as the vilest sinner
on earth. You say you don't believe
it. 1 know it. Christ says he that is
not with me is against me, and he that
gathereth not with me scattereth
abroad Now which are you doing?
What becomes of your neutrality ?
Who's on the Lords side tonight ?
Are you gathering or scattering?
Which side is the card table on? Is it
making people better or worse? A
young man came to see me to-day and
told me he had been led astray by rea-
son of the social game. Which side is
ball room on, gambling room, race
course. theatre? Your common sense
will tell you. Social clubs, as rule,
are sink-holes of iniquity, from top to
bottom. They try to hide it and cover
it up, but the devil knows what it is,
and so do you. The world makes a
distinction in sin, but Gods Word does
not. Just read the decalogue and see.
What right have we to say one man is
murderer and hold the other guilt
less, who blasphemes Gods name?
They will stand just the same at the
bar of Gods justice" Mr.. School6eld
then went on to contrast the differ
ence between divine and human laws,
and made several apt illustrations,
shut" he said, there will be but one
question at the bar Of God-guilty or
not guilty. The prodigal was just as
guilty (although not so degraded)
when he left his fathers house with
plenty, as when wallowing among the
swine. l don't believe the devil ever
wanted man to get drunk and wal
low in the gutter Chat is too much Of
an object lesson), but he wants one to
take drink and say, Yes, I will lake
drink when l get ready Under the
garb of responsibility, this man is
servant of the devil and is doing more
harm than the man in the gutter for
that one has lost his influence. A ger
man (dance) club is more dangerous to
young girl than every brothel in the
place. A fashionable gambling room
in private house does more harm than
any low down gambling den in town.
They are the feeders, the primary de-
partment, while the other fellow who
barely escapes the penitentiary has the
graduating class. All the cities of the
plain were destroyed alike. The point
l want to make and emphasize is, if
you are out of Christ, whether your
sins are great or small, you are all
alike. "Ye must be born again" Did
you ever read the definition of unre
generate in Gods Word? Well look in
Romans LIST chapter, Goth to 32d verse.
The sin may be kept down in our heart,
but the germ is there and if restraints
of the church were removed it would |
sprout and grow. o, that the spirit of
God would come and tear the mask
foom our faces and show us sin, as He
sees it. Are you traitor in the camp
of Jesus? One traitor in the church
will do more harm to His cause than a
thousand devils on the outside. Which
ever side we are on, we are on
because we want to be there.
Jesus Christ provides the way, His
Spirit leads you, and the only thing
you have to do is to follow. o, sinner,
tonight wont you turn your back upon
the world and come give that heart,