The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1897-12-02

Cape May, or Lake George, himself |
persisted trying to rescue the drown
ing; as the newspaper boy not long
ago, supporting his mother for some
years, his invalid mother, when Of
fered by gentleman fifty cents to get
some especial paper, and he got it anu
rushed up in his anxiety to deliver 1t,
and was crushed under the wheels Oh
the train, and lay on the grass with
only strength enough to say, ooh,
what will become Of my poor, SICK
mother now?" .E>
Vicarious suffering? The world IS
| full of it. An engineer said to me on
locomotive in Dakota: eve men seem
to be coming to better appreciation
than we used to. Did you see that
account the other day of an engineer
who to save his passengers, stuck 70
his place, and when he was found dead
in the locomotive, which was found up
side down, he was found still smiling,
the hand on the air brake?" And as
the engineer said it to me, he put MS
hand on the air brake to illustrate MS
meaning, and I looked at him anu
thought, you would be just as much
of hero in the same crisis"
Paul preached until midnight, anu
Eutychus got sound asleep, and fell
out of a window and broke his neck.
Some would say, Good for him. l
would rather be sympathetic like Paul,
and resuscitate him. That accident is
often quoted now in religious circles
as warning against somnolence IN
church. It is just as much warn
ing to ministers against prolixity. Eu-
tychus was wrong in his sOmnolence,
but Paul made a mistake when he KEPT
on until midnight. He ought to have
stopped at II o'clock and there would
have been no accident. If Paul might
have gone on until too great length, let
all those of us who are now preaching
the gospel remember that there is a
limit to religious discourse, or ought
to be, and that in our time we nave
no apostolic power or miracles. Ma
poleon, in an address Of seven min
utes, thrilled his army and thrilled
Europe. Christ's sermon on the mount
eighteen minutes long at ordinary
mode of delivery. It is not electricity
scattered all over the sky that strikes,
but electricity gathered into thun-
derbolt and hurled; and it is not re-
ligious truths scattered over, spread
out over a vast reach Of time, but re-
! ligious truth projected in compact
10Th
: and rives it's Indifference.
When the coming sermon arrives n
this land and in the Christian church
} the sermon which is to arouse the
world and startle the nations and usher
= in the kingdom-it will be brief ser
t mon. Hear it, all theological students
!, all We just entering upon religious
l work. all We men and women who II
= Sabbath schools and other department.
j are toiling for Christ and the salvation
of immortals. Brevity! Brevity!
O But I remark also that the comin
t sermon of which I speak will be
G popular sermon. There are those il
t these times who speak of a popular ser
n mon as though there must be some
y thing wrong about it. AS these critic
e are dull themselves, the world gets tn
:, impression that a sermon is good i
J. proportion as it is stupid. Christ wa
n the most popular preacher the worl
It ever saw, and, considering the sma
e number of the worlds population, ha
d the largest audiences ever gathered
If He never preached anywhere withor
1t making a great sensation. Peop]
e rushed out in the wilderness to hea
lie him, reckless of their physics
J. necessities. So great was their anxiet
'e to hear Christ, that, taking no foo
If with them, they would have fainte
30 and starved had not Christ performe
lie a miracle and fed them. Why did s
le many people take the truth at Christ
y, hands? Because they all understood
lg He illustrated his subject by hen an
#. her chickens, by bushel measure I
al handful of salt, by a birds flight ar
to by lily's aroma. All the people kne
r. what he meant, and they flocked
es him. And when the coming sermon
e. the Christian church appears, it wi
to not be Princetonian, not Rochesterla
not Andoverlan, not MiddletOnian. b
n Olivetic-plain, practical, unique, ear
1g est, comprehensive of all the woe
tic wants, sins, sorrows and necessities
Ill an auditory. ...
ng We hear a great deal of discussi,
ty now all over the land about why ne
Va pie do not go to church. Some say
It's, is because Christianity is dying o,
ng and because people do not believe
le- the truth of Gods word, and all TIL
on They are false reasons. The reason
nd because our sermons are not intere:
A ing and practical, and sympathetic a
ed helpful. Some one might as we'll
A the whole truth on this subject, and
st. | will tell it. The sermon of the !
MS ture-the Gospel sermon to come fol
and shake the nations, and lift peo]
led out Of darkness-will be popular s
for mon just for the simple reason that
ore will meet the woes and the wants a
1o no ~ ~ 2