The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-11-29

In this discourse III. i&iIi@S'
addresses ell Christian WORKERS anG
describes what he thinks viii b" tn"
modes Of preaching the gospe! in the
future: text, Romans XII, !, o.
mi,i~try, Let US wait on our nl'niSter
Ing" ,
8 hotel at L, xine,on, Ky. one summer
svenir &, gentleman asked me. What
do you think of The coming sermon: /
supposed he vas asking ne il rssaId TO
some new discourse Of Or, Cumming Of
London, who sometimes preached star
ting sermons, ard | replied. i have
not seen it. But I found out after
ward that he meant 10 ask what |
thought would be The characteristics Of
the couipg semen Of the word. the
sermons Of the future, the wo'd tan
mir g as a noun "u'ced tie safoe
as the word coming as an "cjec2v@-
Bus NY mistake Sus" Sted 10 ne q
very important ard practical theme,
''The Coming SerB'on.
Before the world is converted tie
style cfreligious discourse will have to
be converted. You might as we'll go
10 the modern Sedan or Gettysburg
i7h bows and arrows, instead Of rlEcs
and bomb shells ar parks Of ar'iliery as
to ex5ect TO conquer This world for God
BY the old sty les Of exhorlation and
sermonoloey. Jonathan Edwards
preached the sermons most aGaG ted to
the age in which be lives, but if those
sermons were preached now they would
divide an audience into two classes
those sound asleep and those wanting
to go home,
But there is discourse Of the
future. Who sill preach 1t have no
idea In what part of the earth 1t will
he born have 70 idea. In which
denomination Of Christians it will be
delivered | cannot guess. That dis
course of exhcr,ation may be bora IN
the conn,ry melting hou,e on the bau Ks
of the St. Lawrence or the Oregon or
the Ohio or the Tombigbee or the
Alabama. The person who shall de-
liv"r it may this moment be in cradle
under the shadow of the Sierra Nev&das
or in New Eoglaud farmhouse or amid
the .ice6elds of southern savannaS, or
this moment there may be some young
man in one Of our theological semi
naries, in the jnnior or middle or senior
class, shaping that weapon Of power, or
there may be coming some new baptism
OF The Holy Ghost on the churches, so
that some of us who now stand in the
watch-towers of Zion, waking to a
realization of our present in, fhciency,
may preach it ourselves. That coming
discourse may not be 30 years eff And
let US pray God that It's arrival may be
FASTENED while | announce TO YOU what
l think will be the CHIEF characteristics
Of that discourse or exhortaIion when
it does arrive, and I want to make my
remarks appropriate and suggestive to
all classes Of Christian workers.
First of all, l ,emark that that future
religious discourse will be, full of liv-
ing Christ in contradistinction to
didactic technicalities. A discourse
may be full Of Christ though hardly
mentioning his name, and sermon
nzy be empty Of Christ while every
sentence is repetitiouS of his titles.
The world wants a living Christ, not
Christ standing at the head Of a formal
system Of theology, but Christ who
meaus pardon and syu"athy and con-
dolence and brotherhood and life and
heavens poor MAPS Christ, rich man 5
Christ, an ov-rworked man Christ, an
invalid's Christ, a farmerss Christ, a
merchants Christ, and every uan S
Christ.
A symmetrical and fne vorded
system of theology IS we'll enough for
theological classes, but it has no more
business in pulpit than have the tech
meal phrases Of an anatomi>t or a
psychologist or physician in the sick
room of patient. rhe world wants
help. immediate ard world uplifting.
and it will come through discourse IL
which Christ shall walk right down
into the immortal SOUL and take ever
lasting possession Of il d'hng 1t as tuji
Of light as is this Lvu.Ga. Armament.
That sermon or exehrtatiou OF lh. f i
ture will not deal with men III the
threadbare illustrations of Jesus Christ.
In that coming address there will b. ln-
stances Of vicarious suffering taken
right out If every day life, for there is
not day when somebody is not dying
for others-as the physician saving his
diphtherlc patient by sacrificing his
OWE life; as the ship ca tain going down
with his vessel while he is getting his
passengers into the life boat; as the fire
man consuming in the burning build
ing while be is taking child out OF
fourth story widow; as in sumner the
strong swimmer at East Hampton or
Long Branch or Cape May or Lake
George himself perished trying to res
cue the drowning; as the newspaper
boy one summer, supporting his mother
for some years, his invalid mother,
When offered by gentleman 50 cents
to get some special paper, and he got
it, and rushed up in his anxiety to
deliver it and was crushed Gnder the
wheels Of the train aud lay on the grass
with only strength enough to say, Oh,
what will become Of uy poor, sick
mother now?' Vlcarioas sutf,r!ng-
the world is full of it. An engineer
said to NE on locomotive in Dakota:
I'VE men seem to be coming to better
appreciation than we used to. Did you
see that account the other day of an
engineer who to save his passengers
stuck to his place, and when he was
found dead in the locomotive, which
was upside down, he was found still
smiling, his hand on the airbraSe?
And as the engineer said to 1t NE be
put his hard on the airbrake to lllls-
! I laal.aS q. =;