Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-11-24


then he brought in his little child, 4
or years of age. and said to her.
"Who do you think that is?" She said,
"That must be the one who took little
children in his arms and blessed
them" Then the sculptor was salts
fed. Oh my friends, what the world
wants is not a cold Christ. not an in
tellectual Christ, not a severely magis-
terial Christ, but a loving Christ,
spreading out his arms of sympathy to
press the whole world to his loving
| heart.
Short Sermons.
But | remark again that the religious
discourse of the future will have to be
short. Condensation Is demanded by
the age in which we live. No more
need Of long introductiOns and long ap-
plications and so many divisions to
discourse that it may be said to be
| hydra headed. In other days men got
all their information from the pulpit.
| There were few books. and tll're were
no newspapers, and there WIS little
travel from place to place, and people
would sit and listen two and half
hours to religious discourse, and
"seventeenthly" would find them fresh
and clipper In those days there was
enough time for n man to take an hour
| to warm himself up to the subject and
an hour to cool off. But what was a
necessity then Is a superfluity now.
| Congregations are full of knowledge
| from books. from newspapers, from
rapid and continuous intercOmmunica-
ton ana long disquiStons Of what
they know already will not be abided
| If a religious teacher cannot compress
what he wishes to say to the people in
the space Of 45 minutes, better adjourn
it to some other day.
The trouble is we preach audiences
into a Christian frame, and then we
preach them out of it. We forget that
every auditor has so much capacity of
attention. and when that is exhausted
he is restless. That accident on the
Long Island railroad years ago came
from the fact that the brakes were out
Of order. and when they wanted to stop
the train they could not stop, and
hence the casualty was terrific. In all
religious discourse we want locomotive
power and propulsion. We want at the
same time stout brakes to let down at
the right instant. 1t is dismal thing,
after a hearer has comprehended the
l.. 4. H. 90. "a
Now to rccapitulatc." and a few
words by way Of application" and
"Once more," and Finally" and Now
TO conclude"
Paul preached until midnight, and
Eutychus got sound asleep and fell out
of window and broke his neck. Some
would say, "Good for him." | would
rather be sympathetic, like Paul, and
resuscitate him. That accident is often
quoted now IN religious circles as a
warning against somnolence in church.
1t is Just as much Il warning to minis
ters against prolixity. Eutychus was
wrong in his somnolence, but Paul
made a mistake when he kept on until
midnight. He ought to have stopped at
IL o'clock. and there would have been
no accident. If Paul might have gone
on to too great length, let all those OF
us who are now preaching the gospel
remember that there is limit to re-
ligious DISCOURSE or ought to be, and
that In our time we have no apostolic
power Of miracles. Napoleon in an ad-
| dress Of seven minutes thrilled his
army and thrilled Europe. Christs
sermon on the mount, the model SER
mon. was less than IS minutes long at
| ordinary mode of delivery. 1t Is not
electricity scattered all over the sky
| that strikes. but electricity gathered
| into q thunderbolt and hurled, and 1t is
| not religious truth scattered over and
spread out over vast reach Of time.
but religious truth projected in COM
pact form that flashes light upon the
soul and riycs its Indifference.
Popular Discourses.
When the religious discourse OF the
| future arrives in this land and in the
| Christian church, the discourse which
is to arouse the world and startle the
nations and usher In the kingdom, 1t
| will be a brief discourse. Hear it, all
theological students, all ye just enter
ing upon religious work, all ye men
and women who In Sabbath schools
and other departments are toiling for
| Christ and the salvation of immortals
-breyity, brevity!
But | remark also that the religious
discourse OF the future Of which l
speak will be a popular discourse.
| There are those in these times who
speak of a popular sermon as though
there must be something wrong about
It. AS these critics are dull themselves,
the world gets the impression that
a sermon is good in proportion as 1t Is
| stupid. Christ was the most popular
| preacher the world ever saw and, con-
| sidering the small number Of the
worlds population. had the largest au-
dience ever gathered. He never preach
ed anywhere without making great
| sensation. People rushed out In the
wilderness to hear him reckless OF
their physical necessities. So great
was their anxiety to hear Christ that.
taking no food with them, they would
have tainted and starved had not
Christ performed a miracle and REQ
them. Why did so many people take
the truth at Christ's handsg Because
they all understood it. He illustrated
his subject by n hen and her chickens.
by a bushel measure. by a handful OF
salt, by birds flight and by a lllys
aroma. All the people knew what ne
meant, and they fiocked TO him. Ana
when the religious discourse OF the
future appears it will not be Princeto-
nian. not Rochesterian. not AndoYerlah'
not Middletonian. but Olvetic-plain'
practical. unique, earnest, compreheh.
siye of all the woes. wants, sins anu
sorrows OF an auditory.
But when that exhortation or dis-
course does cone there will be thou
sand cleaning scimiters to charge on
IT, There are In so many theologicai
semlnarIes professors telling young
mon how TO preach. themselves not