The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-02

Il
/ need the Gospel half as much as do some
I who never come here. Rather than be
I pridiug myself on a church ia front OF
which here shall halt fifty splendid equip
| ages on the Sababth day. l would have
4 church up to whose gates there should
come long procession of the suffering,
1 and the stricken, and the dying, begging
! for admiuance. You 90 not need the
| Gospel so much as they. You have good
| things in this life. Whatever may be
your future destiny you have had pleas
| ant time here. But those dying popula-
! tons of which I speak, by reason OF their
want and suffering whatever may be their
| future destiny, are in perdtion now; and
| If there be any comfort in ChrIsts Gospel,
for Gods sake give it to them!
! Revolution The pride of the church
must come down. The exclusveness of
the church must come down! The finan-
| eial boastings of the church must come
! down! If monetary success were the
chief idea in the church, then / say that
the present mode of conducting finances
is the best. If 1t is to see how many dol
lars you can gain, then the present mode
is the best. But If 1t is the saving of souls
from sin and death, and bringing the
mighty populations Of our cities 10 the
know ledge of God then I cry, Revolu-
tion 1t is coming fast. I feel IL in tho
air. hear the rumbling of an earthquake
that shall shake down, in one terrific crash
the arrogance of our modern Christianity.
The sea is covered with wrecks, and
multitudes are drowning. We come out
with the church lifeboat, and the people
begin to Chamber in, and we shout stop!
stopl You must think it COSTS nothing to
keep a lifeboat. Those seats at the PROV
are 81 apiece, these in the middle 80 cents
and those seats in the stern shillings.
Please to pay up, or else founder on
fna mis- eifra-.I " a.
work it is to save your penniless wretches,
shall come along and pick you up. We
save only first-class sinners in this boat"
The talk is. whether Protestant churches
or Roman Catholic churches are coming
ont ahead. l tell you, Protestants, this
truth piainly--that until your churches
are as free as are the Roman Catholic
Catbedrals, they will beat you. In their
cathedrals the millionaire and the beggar
kneel side by side. And until that time
comes in our churches. we cannot expect
the favor of God, or permanent spiritual
prosperity.
Revolutionl It may BE- that, before the
church learns its duty to che masses, God
will scourge 1t, and come With the whip
of omnipotent Indignation, nd drive out
the money-changers. 1t may be that there
is to be a great day of upsetting before
that time shall come. If 1t must come
O Lord, God, let it come now
In that future day of the reconstructed
Church of Christ, the church building will
be the most cheerful of all buildings IN
stead of the light of the sun strained
through painted glass, until an intelligent
auditory looks green, and blue, and yell
low, and copper-colored we will have no
such things. The pure atmosphere of
heaven will sweep out the fetid atmos-
phere that has been kept in many of our
churches boxed up from Sunday to Sun
Gay. The day of which I speak will be a
day of great revivals. There will be such
a time as there was in the parish of Shots,
where five hundred souls were born to
God in one day; such times as were seen
in this country when Edward gave the
alarm, when Tennent preached, and
Whitefield Numbered, and Edward Pay
son prayed; such times as some of you
remember in 1857, when the voice of
prayer and praise was heard in theater,
and warehouse, and blacksmith shop, and
factory and engine house; and the auc-
tioneers cry of "a half and a half, and
half" was drowned out by the adjoining
prayer-meeting, In which the people cried
out Men and brethren, what shall we
do?''
In those days of which I am speaking
the services of the Church of God will be
more spirited The ministers of Christ,
instead of being anxious about whether
they are going to lose their place in their
notes, will get on fire with the theme, and
| pour the living truth of God upon an
aroused auditory-crying out to the
righteous, 1T shall be well with you"
and TO the wicked, "Woe! 1t shall be i'll
with you" In those days the singing will
be very different from what it is now.
| The music will weep and wall, and chant
| and triumph. People then will not be
| afraid to open their mouths when they
| sing. The man with cracked voice will
| risk it on "Windham," and "Ortonville,"
| and "Old Hundred" Grandfather will
| find the place for his grandchild in the
| hymn book; or the little child will be
| spectacles for the grandfather. Hosanna
will meet hosanna, and together go climb
| ing to the throne; and the angels will
hear; and God win listen and the gates
of heaven will hoist; and it will be as when
| two seas meet-the waves of earthly song
mingling with the surging anthems of the
free.
| Oh, my God let me live to see that day!
Let there be no power in disease, or acct
dent or wave of The sea, to disappoint my
expectations. Let all other sight fail my
| eyes, rather than that 1 should miss that
vision. Let all other sounds fail my ears,
rather than that l should fail to hear that
1 sound. 1 want TO stand on the mountain
| top TO catch the first ray of the dawn and
with flying feet bring the news. And, oh,
when we hear the Gathering hoofs that
bring on the Kings chariot, may we ali
be ready, with arches sprung, and with
hand on the rope of the bell that is to
sound the victory. and with wreaths all
twisted for the way; and when Jesus dis
mounts, let it be amidst the huzza! huzzal
| of a world redeemed.
Where and when will that revolution
| begin? Here, and now. In your heart
| and mine. Sin must go down; our pride
must go down; our worldliness must go
| down, that Christ may come up. Revolu-
ton! Except a man be born again. he
cannot see the kingdom of God" Why
not now let the revolution begin? Not
next Sabbath, but now! Not tomorrow,
when you go out into commercial circles,
| but now
Archias, the magistrate of Thebes, was
sitting with many mighty men. drinking
| wine. A messenger came in, bringing a let
ter informing him of a conspiracy to end
his life and warning him 10 fee Archas
took the letter, but instead of opening ii,
put it into his pocket, and said to the mes
seuger who brought it: Business to-mor-
] ha inl of he