The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1897-11-26

block Of marble and chiseled await on
II two or three years, and when he
brought in his little child, four OF five
years of age. and he said to her: what
do you think that tsp She said. That
must be the One who took little chill
dren in His arms and blessed them. "
Then the sculptor was satisfied. o my
friends, what the world wants is not a
cold Christ. not an intellectual Christ,
not severely magisterial Christ, but a
loving Christ, spreading out His arms
Of sympathy 10 press the whole world
to His loving heart
But remark again. that the coming
sermon OF the Christian church win be
a short sermon. Condensation is de
manded by the age in which we live.
No more need of long introdnetions
and long applications and SO many d.
visions Of discourse that it may be
said to be hydra-headed. In other
days men got all their information
from the pulpit There were few
books and there were no newspapers,
and there was little travel from place
to place, and the people would sit and
listen two and half hours to a relig-
ious discourse, and ''seven-teenthly"
would find them fresh and clipper. In
those times there was enough room
for a man 10 take an hour TO warm
himself up to the subject and an hour
to cool off. But what was a necessity
is a superiority now. Congregations
are full of knowledge from books, from
newspapers. from rapid and eontinu-
Gus Accommodation; and long dis
QUESTIONS Of what they know will not
be abided II religious teacher can
not compress what he wishes to say
to the people in the space of As min
utes, better adjourn TO some other
day.
The trouble is we preach audiences
into a Christian frame Of mind and
then we preach them out Of it. We
forget that every auditor has so much
capacity for attention, and when that
is exhausted he is restless That acct
dent ON the Long Island railroad came
from the fact that the brakes were out
of order. and when they wanted to stop
the train they could not stop; hence
the casualty was terrific In all re-
ligious discourses we want locomotive
power and propulsion; we want at the
I same time stout brakes to let down at
the right instant 1t is dismal thing,
after a hearer has compreheaded the
whole subject, to hear man say;
Now, to recapitulate,- and "a few
words by way of application and
''once more and finally" and now
to conclude"
Paul preached until midnight, and
Eutyehus got sound asleep and fell out
of window and broke his neck. Some
would say, Good for him would
rather be sympathetic like Paul, and
resuscitate him That accident is
often quoted now in religious
circles as a warning against SOM
Violence in church. 1t is just as
much a warning to ministers against
prolixity. Eutychus was wrong in
his somnolence, but Paul made a
mistake when he kept on until mid
night. He ought to have stopped at II
o'clock. and there would have been nc
accident II Paul might have gone on
to too great length, let all those of us
who are now preaching the Gospel re
member that there is limit to relig-
ious discourse, or ought 10 be, and that
in our time we have no apostolic power
or miracles. Napoleon, in an address
of seven minutes, thrilled his army and
thrilled Europe. Christ's sermon on the
mount,-the model sermon-was less
than is minutes long at ordinary mode
of delivery. 1t is not electricity scat
tered all over the sky that strikes, but
electricity gathered into thunderboli
and hurled; anditis notreligious truth
scattered over, spread out over a vas
area of time, but religions truth pro
jeeted in compact form that fiashei
light upon the soul and rives its indif
ference.
When the coming sermon arrives II
this and in the Christian church-ths
sermon which is TO arouse the world
and startle the nations and usher il
the kingdom-it will be a brief ser.
mon. Hear il, all theological students
all We just entering upon religious
work, all We men and women who in
Sabbath schools and other department.
are toiling for Christ and the salvation
of immortals Brevityi Brevityl
But remark, also, that the coming
sermon of which speak will be pop.
ular sermon. There are those in thess
times who speak of a popular sermon
as though there must be something
wrong about it As these critics arr
dull themselves, tine world gets the i'm
preston that sermon is good in pro
portion as it is stupid Christ was the
most popular preacher the world ever
saw, and, considering the number of th'
worlds population, had the largest audi
ences ever gathered He never preach
ed anywhere without making a grea'
sensation People rushed out in tbs
wilderness to hear Him, reckless o.
their physical necessities So greai
was their anxiety TO hear Christ that
taking no food with them. they would
have tainted and starved had not Christ
performed a miracle and fed them
Why did so many people take the trutl
at Christ's hands? Because they all un
derstood it. He illustrated his subjec
by hen and her chickens, by a bush
el measure, by handful of salt. by
birds flight and by lily's aroma Al
the people knew what He meant and
they floeked to Him And when ths
coming sermon Of the Christian church
appears II will not be Princetonian
not Roehesterian. not Andoverian. moi
Middletonian, but olivetic-plain. prac
teal unique. earnest, comprehensive
Of all the woes, wants. sins, sorrOws
and necessities Of an auditory.
But when that sermon does come
there will be thousand cleaning sci
matars TO charge on it. There are il
so many theological seminaries profes
sors telling young men how to preach,
themselves not knowing how; and an
told If young man in some of our the
illogical seminaries says anything
quaint, or thrilling, or unique, faculty
and students fly at him, and set him
right and straighten him out and
smooth him down. and chop him of
until he says everything Just a,
everybody else says it, Oh, wher