Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1898-06-10


back the masses; and woe be to those
who stand in the way! They will be
trnmpled under foot by the vast popu-
lations making stampede for Heaven.
| saw in some paper an account of a
church in Boston in which, it is said,
there were great many plain people.
The next week the trustees of that
church came out in the paper, and said
it was not so at all; they were elegant
people, and highly-conditioned people
that went there" Then | laughed
outright; and when | laugh, | laugh
very loudly. "Those people" | said,
"arc afraid of the siclSly sentimentali-
ty of the churches" Now, my ambi-
ton is not to preach to you so much.
1t seems to me that you must be faring
sumptuously every day, and the marks
of comfort are all about you. You do
not need the Gospel half rs much as do
some who never come here. Rather
than be priding myself on a church in
front of which there shall halt 80
splendid equipages on the Sabbath day,
would have a church by whose gates
there should come a long procession of
the suffering, and the stricken, and the
dying, begging for admittonce, You
do not need the Gospel so much as
they. You have good things in this
life, Whatever may be your future
destiny, you have had pleasant time
here, But those dying populations of
which speak, by reason Of their want
and suffering, whatever may be their
future destiny, are in perdition now;
and if there be any comfort in Christ's
Gospel, for Gods sake give it to them!
Revolution! The pride OF the church
must come down. The eXclusiveness
of the church must come down! The
financial boastings of the church must
come down! IL monetary success were
the chief idea in the church, then ! say
that the present mode of conducting
finances is the best. If il is to see how
many dollars you can gain, then the
present mode is the best, But If it is
the saving of souls from sin and death,
and bringing the mighty populations
of our cities to the knowledge of God,
then cry: Revolution 1t is coming
fast. | feel it in the air. hear the
rumbling of an earthquake that shall
shake down, in one terrific crash, the
arrogance of our modern Christianity.
The talk is whether Protestant
churches or Roman Catholic churches
are coming out ahead. ! tell you,
Protestants, this truth plainly: That
until your churches are as free as are
the Roman Catholic cathedrals, they
will beat you. In their cathedrals the
millionaire and the beggar llneel side
by side. And. until that time comes
in our churches, we can not expect the
favor of God, or permanent spiritual
prosperity.
Revolution! 1t may be that, before
the church learns its duty TO the masses,
God will scourge it, and come with the
whip of omnipotent indignation, and
drive out the money changers, 1t may
be that there is to be a great day of up
setting before that time shall come. If
it must come, o Lord God, let it come
now
In that future day of the reconstruct
ed Church of Christ, the church build
ing will be tho most cheerful of all
buildings. Instead of the light of the
sun strained through painted glass,
until an intelligent auditory looks
green, and blue, and yellow, and cop
per-colored, we will have no such
things. Tho pure atmosphere of
Heaven will sweep out the fetid
atmosphere that has been kept
in many of our churches
boxed up from Sunday to Sunday The
day of which | speak will be day of
great revivals There will be such p
time AS there was in the parish Of
Shots, where 500 souls were born to
God in one day; such times as were
seen in this country when Ed
wards gave the alarm, when
Tenant preached and White
field 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 theatre, and warehouse, and bla clS-
smith-shop, and factory, and engine
house; and the auctioneers cry of IA
half, and half, and half" was
drowned out by the adjoining PRAYER
meeting, in which the people cried out:
"Men and brethren, what Shall we
do?'
Oh, my Cod let me live to see that
day! Let there be no power in disease,
or accident, or wave of the sea, to dis
appoint my expectations. Let all
other sight fail my eyes, rather than
/ that should miss that vision. Let all
other sounds fail my ears, rather than
that should fail to hear that sound.
want to stand on the mountain-top
to catch the first ray of the dawn, and
, when flying feet brings the news.
And, oh, when we hear the Gathering
hoofs that bring on the Kings chariot,
may we all 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 dismounts, let it
be amidst the huzza. buzza! of worl d
, redeemed.
} The sea is covered with wrecks and
/ mIltitudcs are drowning. We come out
with the church lifeboat and the peo-
: pie begin to Chamber in, and we shout:
t stop! stop! You must think it costs
, nothing to keep lifeboat. Those seats
at the Prov are one dollar apiece, these
: seats in the middle 50 cents, and those
: seats in the stern two shillings. Please
to pay up, or else founder on little
longer till the mission boat, whose
= work is to save you pennies; wretchss,
shall come along AMI pick you up. We
4; save only tirst-.lass sinners in this
| boat"
Z Archias the maUintrate of Thahias