The Progress., 1897-08-14

side of Ollvet 90 years and never got a
audience. The philosophers sneered at hi
ministrations, and said, ''1his will neve
do!' The lawyers caricaturcd, but tn
common people heard him gladly. Sup
pose you that there We're any sleepy people
in his audiences? Suppose you that an,
woman who ever mixed bread was ignoran
Of what he meant when he compared thu
| Kingdom of heaven with leaven or yeast
| Suppose you that the sunburned fishermen
with the fish scales upon their hands, were
! hstless when he spoke of the kingdom OF
heaven as a net? We spend three years in
college studying ancient mythology and
| three years in the theological seminary
learning how to make sermon, and then
| we go out to save the world, and if we
cannot do it according to Claude's ''Ser-
moniZiDg,' or Blair's 'RLetoric' Or
kames' "Criticism, " we will let the world
go to perdition. If we save nothing olse
we will save Claude and Blair We see a
wreck in sight. We must go out and save
the crew and passengers. We wait until
we get on our fine cap and coat and find
our shining oars, and then we push out
methodically and scientifically while some
plain shoresman in rough fishing smack
and with broken Oarlock goes out and gets
the crew and passengers and brings them
ashore in safety. We throw down our deli
cate oars and say: "What ridiculous
thing to save mon in that way! You ought
TO have done it scientifically and beauti-
1ully. "Ah!' says the shorcsman, eff
those sufferers had waited until YOU got
out your fine boat, they would have gone
to the bottom''
Tho work of a religious teacher is to save
men, and though every law of grammar
should be snapped in the undertaking. and
there be nothing but awkwardness and
laundering in the mode, all hail to the
man who saves n soul.
Christ's Sympathy. |
Christ, In his preaching, was plain, ear
nest and wonderfully sympathetic. We
cannot dragon mon into heaven We ]
cannot drive them in with the butt end of |
q catechlsm. We waste our time in trying |
to catch flies with acids instead of the
sweet honeycomb Of the gospel We try to
make crab apples do the work of pome.
granatcs.
Again, Jesus was wonderful in his sor-
rows. The sun smote him and tho cold !
chilled him. the rain pelted him, thirst
parched him and hunger exhausted him. |
shall l compare his sorrow to the seai /
No. Tor chat is sometimes hushetl into q /
,aim. Shall compare it with the night !
NO, lor that sometimes CLEANS with Orion, |
n kindles with Aurora If one thorn
mould be thrust through your temple, Won
would faint, but here is u whole crown
haoe from the rhamnus, Or spina Christi
small, sharp, singing thorns The mob
makes cross. They put down the long
'cam, and on it they fasten shorter
eam. Got him at last. Those hands.
nat have been doing kindncsses and win.
ng away tcars-hear the hammer driving
no spikes through them. Those feet, thai
ave been going about on ministrations of
against the cross Then
hey lift 1t up. Look, look, lookl Who
VII he'p him now! Come, men of Jeru-
hem' we whose dead he brought to life .
whose sick he healed, who will HELM ,
I'm, who will seize the weapons of the :.
'idiers? None to help! Having carried
lch cross for us, shall we refuse to take =
lr cross for him?
Shall Jesus bear the cross alone Ii
And all the world go free?
No; there cross for every one
And there's u cross for me-
You know the process of ingraftinp
o" pore a ioie into tree and put in tn e =
ahch OF another tree. This tree Of the 1
oss was bard and rough, but into the .
yes where the nails went there have been 1