Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1898-02-03

'''"ii' printing presses are publishing
lhhdcl tracts, when express trains are
carrying messengers of sin. when
last clippers are la,lcn with opium
and strong drink, when the night air
"i our cities is polluted with the
laughter that breaks up from the TO-
900 saloons of dissipation and abandon
mcnt, when the fires of the second
death already are kindlcd in the checks
of Some who, only ii little while ago,
were h"orruPt. oh, never since the
curse fell upon the earth has there been
time when it was such an uuwisr,
such Il cruel such an au FIJI thing for
the church To sleep. The great audi
enccs are not gathered in Christian
churches; the great audiences are
gathered IN temples of sin tears of
nnuttcrahlr Voc their baptism. the
blood of crushed hearts the av ful wine
of their sacrament, blasphcmira their
htany, and the Tr"an, of the lost
world the organ dIrgc of their wur-
ship.
Again, if You want To br qualified To-
meet the duties which tins age de-
mands of You, You must, on the one
hand, avoid reckless icnnoclaSm, aud,
on the other hand. not stick too much
Ia things because they are old. The
air i full of new plans. new projects,
new theories of government, new the
ologic>. and | am amazed Ia see how 81
many Christians want ouly novelty in
order To- recommend thing to their
confidence; and 81 they vacillatc aud
swing Ia and fro, and they are uNclrs,
and they are unhappy. New plans
secular, ethical, philosophical, rcli"-
iouS, ciS-Atlantic. transatlantic long
enough to make line reaching from
the German universities To Great salt
Lake City.
All, my brother. do not take hold of
a thing merely because it is new. Try
il 10y the realities of the Judgment day
But, ON the other hand, do not adhere
10 anything merely because it is old
There is not a single enterprise of the
church or of the world but has at some
time been Scnfrcd at. There was
time when men dcridcd even the Bible
societies, and when few young men
met in Massachusetts, and organ
ever organized in this country there
went up laughter and ridiculc all
around the Christian church. They said
the undertaking was prcpostcrous. And
81 also the work of Jesus Christ was
assailcd. People cried out: Who ever
heard of such theories of ethics and
government? Who ever noticed such
style of preaching as Jesus has"
Ezekiel had talked of mysterious wings
and wheels. Here came man from
Capcrnaum and GcnncS>arct, and lie
drew his illustrations from the lakes,
from the sand, from the mountain,
from the lilies, from the corn-stalllS
How the phari>ccs scoifcd, How
llcrod dcridcd! 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 ut
times been scoifcd at And there have
been great multitude who have
thought that the chariot of Gods truth
would fall to pieces il once got out of
the old rut. And so there are those
who have no patience with anything
like Improvement in church architect
ure, or with anything like good,
hearty. earnest, church singing, and
they dcride any form of religious dis
cusSion which goes down walking
among everyday men, rather than that
which makes an excursion on
rhetorical 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
$4,000 people in Edinburgh who never
hear the Gospel. There are 1000. 900
people in London who never hear the
Gospel. The great majority of the ill.,
habitants of this capital come not un-
der the immediate ministrations of
Christ's truth. and the Church of God
this day, instead of being a place full
of living epistlcs. known and read of
'dlli-saen-~is more like a dead letter post
office.
But" say the people, 1.-The world is
going to be converted; you must be
patient; 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 star
walton they will have to give up"
Weeks and months, and per-
haps a year pass along, and finally the
fortress surrenders through that
starvation and exhaustion. But, NV
friends, the fortresses of sin are never
to be taken in that way. If they are
taken for God it will be by
storm; you will have to bring up the
great siege guns of the Gospel tn the
very wall and wheel the flying artillery
into line, and when the armed infantry
of Heaven shall confront the battle
ments you will have to give the quick
command: Forward. Charge
All, my, friends, there is work for
you to do and for me to do in
order to this grand accomplish
ment. L have a pulpit, | preach
in it. Your pulpit is the bank. Your
pulpit is the store. Your pulpit is
the editorial chair. Your pulpit is
the anvil. Your pulpit is the m cchan-
les shop. | may stand in my place
and, through cowardice or through
self-seeking, may keep back the
word ought to utter; while you, with
sleeve rolled up and brow besweated
with toll, may utter the word that will
jar the foundations of Heaven with the
shout of a great victory. Oh, that we
might all feel that the Lord Almighty
is putting upon us the hands of ordina-
ton! l tell you, every one, go forth
and preach this Gospel. You have as
much right to preach as | have or any
man living.
Iiedley Wears was a wicked man in
the English army. The grace of God
came to him. lie became an earnest
and eminent Christian. They scoffed
at him and said: You are hypocrite,
You are as bad as you ever were" Still
he kept his faith in Christ, and after a
while, finding that they could not turn