Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-02-09

take hold of a thing merely because it
is new! Try it by the realities of the
Judgment Day. But, on the other
hand, do not adhere to anything mere
ly because it is old. There is not a
single enterprise of the church or the
world but has sometime been scoffed
at. There was time when men de-
rided even Bible societies, and when a
few young men met in Massachusetts
and organized the first missionary So
clety ever organized in this country,
there went laughter and ridicule all
around the Christian church. They
said the undertaking was preposterous.
And so also the work of Jesus Christ
was assailed. People cried out, "Who
ever heard OF such theories of ethics
and government? Who ever noticed
such a style of preaching as Jesus
has?" Ezekiel had talked of mystic
rious wings and wheels. Here came a
man from Capernaum and Gennessaret
and He drew His illustrations from the
lakes, from the sand from the noun
tain, from the lilies, from the corn
stalks. How the Pharisees scoffed!
How Herod derided! And this Jesus
they plucked by the beard and they
spat in His face, and they called Him
this fellow" All the great enter
prises in and out of the church have
at times been scoffed at, and there have
been a great multitude who have
thought that the chariot of Gods
truth would fall to pieces if it once got
out of the old rut. And so there are
those who have no patience with any
thing like improvement in church
architecture, or with anything like
good, hearty, earnest church singing,
and they deride any form of religious
discussion which goes down walking
among everyday men, rather than that
which makes an excursion of rhetor-
lcal stills. Oh, that the church of God
would wake up to an adaptability Of
work! We must admit the simple fact
that the churches of Jesus Christ in
this day do not reach the great masses.
There are fifty thousand people in Ed
inburgh who never hear the Gospel.
There are one million people in Lon
oon who never hear the Gospel. The
great majority of the inhabitants of
thls capital come not under the inn
mediate ministrations of Christ's truth.
and the Church of God in this day, in
stead OF being place full of living
epistles, known and read of all men,
Is more like dead-letter postofiice.
But" say the people, 1.-The world is
going IN no aA hn
tient; the kingdoms of this world are
to become the kingdoms of Christ"
Never, unless the church of Jesus
Christ puts on more speed and energy.
Instead of the church converting the
world, the world is converting the
church. Here is great fortress.
How shall it be taken? An army
comes and sits around about it. cuts
off the supplies, and says: Now we
will just wait until from exhaustion
and starvation they will have to give
up" Weeks and months, and perhaps
year pass along, and finally the fort
ress surrenders through that starva-
ton and exhaustion. But, my friends,
the fortresses OF sin are never to be
taken in that way. If they are taken
for God 1t will be by storm; you will
have to bring up the great siege guns
OF the Gospel to the very wall and
wheel the flying artillery into line. and
when the armed infantry of heaven
shall confront the battlements you will
have to give the quick command:
Forward! Charger
All, my friends, there is work for you
to do and for me to do in order to this
grand accomplishment. l have a pull
pit. | preach in it. Your pulpit is the
bank. Your pulpit is the store. Your
pulpit is the editorial chair. Your pull
pit is the anvil. Your pulpit is the
house of scaffolding. You pulpit is the
mechanics shop. l may stand in my
place and, through cowardice or
through self-seeking. may keep back
the word l ought to utter; while you,
with sleeve rolled up and brow be-
sweated with toll. may utter the word
that will jar the foundations of
heaven with the shout of great vic
tory. Oh, that We might all feel that
the Lord Almighty is putting upon us
the hands Of ordination l tel you,
every one, go forth and preach this
Gospel. You have as much right to
preach as have or any man living.
Hedley Wears was wicked man in
the English army. The grace of God
came to him. He became an earnest
and eminent Christian. They scoffed |
at him and said: You are a hypocrite.
you are as bad as ever you WERE"
Still he kept his faith in Christ. and
after a while. finding that they could
not turn him aside by calling him a
hypocrite. they said to him: "Oh. you
are nothing but Methodist! This
did not disturb him. He went on per-
his Christian duty until he
had formed all his troops into a Bible
class, and the whole encampment was
shaken with the presence of God. So
Havelock went into the heather tenn
pie in India while the English army
was there and put a candle into the
hand OF each of the heather gods that
stood around in the heather temple,
and by the light of those candles held
up by the idols Gen. Havelock preach