The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-02-25

@Bue says some man. Il literally
support the Gospel. and the church IS
open mad The Gospel 8 praaehedi 81
the spiritual advantages are spread be-
fore men. and Il they want 70 Be saved
let them come aud be aaVed-I have
discharged ali my responsibility. Ali
Is that my Masters aptrit2 Is there
not an old Book somewhere that COM
manda us % 60 out into the highways.
and the hedges and compel the people
70 come inf What would become Of
yon and na # Christ had not
como down on tic hills Of
Heaven; and il He had not
come through the door Of the
Bethlehem c-aravausarYs and IL lie had
not with the crushed hand Of The ernel-
axion knocked a1 tire Iron gate of The
sepulehre Of mi spiritual death, ery-
ing: Lazarus, come forth2a Oh, my
Christian friendl this Is no time for In
ertia when hl tho forces Of darkness
seem to be ia full blast!-when steam
printing presses arc publishing inldel
Tracts when express trains are carry
ing messengers Of sin, when fast clip
pers are laden with opium and strong
drink when the night ali of cur cities
is polluted with the laughter that
breaks mp from the ten thousand sa-
looms of dissipation and abandon
ment when the area Of The second
death already are kindled ia the cheeks
of sone who, only a little while ago,
were ineorrupt oh, never since the
curse toll upon Tho earth has there
been O time when it was such an un-
wise, such a cruel, such an awful
thing for the church to sleep, The
great audiences are not gathered in
Christian churches; the great audi
ences are gathered I'd temples Of sim
tears Of u|uutterable wee their bap-
tiam, the blood Of crushed hearts the
awful wine Of their sacrament bias
phemies their Htany aud tha Fgoana 81
the LOST world tla organ difeao 1T their
worship
Ain. you want tn De qualified ta
meet che duties which this age aa
manls oi sou. gou must 0n the one
hand, avoid reckless icono6fasm, and,
on the other hand, not stick too much
to things because they arc old. The
ain Is full OF new plans, new projects,
new theories Of government, new the
ol0gies, and am amazed tosee how So
many Christians want only nov
city in order to recommend a
thing to their condolences and SO
they yaeillate and swing 10 and fro; and
they are useless, and they are unhappy.
New plans- secular, ethicul, philo
sophical, religious, ci~satlantlc, trans
atlantie-long enough to make a line
reaching from the German universities
to Great salt Lake City. All, my
brother do not take hold Of 4 thing
merely because 1t is newt Try it by
the realities 81 the judgment day.
But 81 the other hand, do not adhere
to anything merely because IT is old.
There IS not a single enterprise OF the
church or the world but has sometime
been scofed at There was d
time when men derided ever Bible
societies, and whom a few young men
met In Massachusetts, and organized
the first missionary society ever organ
ICED il this country there went laugh
ter and ridicule all around the Chris
tian church They said the undertake
ing was preposterous And 10 also
the work 81 Jesus Christ was assailed.
People cried out: ''Who ever heard Of
theories OF ethics and govern.
meut2 Who ever noticed such D style
nnaaohinn 81 Iaa.a l-saR nasia
had talked 81 mysterious wings
and wheels. Here came a man
from Gapernaum and Gennessarett and
lie drew His illustrations from tile
from che sand, from the moua-
tain. from the lilies, from the corn
How the Pharisees Heoffedi
How Herod deridedI And this Jesus
they plucked BY tile beard, and they
spat ia His face, and they called Him
this fellowI7 All the great en-
terprlses in and ont Of the church
have at times been scoffed att and there
been a great multitude WHO have
thought that the chariot 81 Gods
would fall to pieces hit once got
out Of the old rut. And so there are
those who have no patience with any
thing like Improvement IN church
architecture, Of 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
rhetorical stills, Oh, that Gle
Of God would wake up
to an %adaptabiiity Of work. We
must admit the simple fact that The
churches Of Jesus Christ Id this day do
not reach the great masses. There are
3D., 600 people IN Edinburgh who never
hear tile Gospel. There are 1000, 900
people ID London who never hear the
Gospel. The great majority % tie in-
labitants of this capital c0me not un-
der THE ministrations of Chrisra truth,
and the church OF God It'll this day. in
stead Of being q place full Of living
apiatles, known and read Of all men, Is
more like a dead-lefter post office.
But Z say The people, athe world Is
to BE- converted; you must be
patent the Kingdoms Of this world
to become the Kingdoms Of Christ z
Never. unless the Church of Jesus
Christ puts on more speed and energy.
Instead 81 the church converting the
world, the world Is converting the J
shurch. Here IS q greatfortrass. How
shall It be taken2 An army comes and
iits around aboHt is cuts of tie sup
and says Now we viii just
wait until from exhaustion and star
satt9n they Wilt have ID give np. Weeks
ind non tlA and perhaps year pass
lIong. and aBalE the fortress sufren
l8rs through that atarYation and ex
lanstion. Bht amy fHienda the fort